My Run

My Run, a set on Flickr.

Uploaded some more images to the My Run series using Lightroom. Sadly that's my trial period over so it's back to version 1.

Lightroom 3.3

Irvine a photo by Max_Fax on Flickr.

I downloaded a copy of Lightroom 3.3 to test. I was trying to see wither it was worth the extra £79 to upgrade or should I go down the road of paying the cheaper price of £45 for Aperture. I thought they would both be similar and it would be a no brainer, Aperture is just the same program with the an Apple logo on it. I must confess, I was wrong. Lightroom 3.3 is amazing! The gradient tool alone would put any other RAW processing software to shame.

That being said the price tag on Aperture is so tempting. Is the gradient tool really THAT good? Well...yes. The whole package is just superior.

Sadly, I am a man of few means and it looks like I'll be forced to take the cheaper route. My LR3.3 trial comes to an end in two weeks and I will be gutted to see it sit there in my Applications folder knowing what it can do and not being able to use it. Never mind. I've got a Lottery ticket!

New Look Website

I have finally got round to updating my website. It's not all done and dusted but it is a start.

www.davedickie.co.uk

What The Blood Revealed

What The Blood Revealed
Originally uploaded by Max_Fax

Had a wee last minute shoot with my old band What The Blood Revealed on Tuesday night. Quite enjoyed trying out some ideas that I'd like to develop further.

Bike

Bike
Originally uploaded by Max_Fax

I know I haven't 'blogged' for a while. It's not that I don't want to, it's just this whole life thing. It tends to get in the way. Anyway, I was able to develop some films I had shot for the 'My Run' series. Go have a look, say nothing and leave me ranting at the stars.

I'm drunk right now and Kings If Leon are on the telle. It's time for bed...and a purge of all things shit. Peace!!!!!

Faces

Faces
Originally uploaded by Max_Fax

I attended a basic life support course last week. It was very basic indeed but it was good to get out the department. It's great when these images present themselves to you.

Evolution of Photoshop

Love this. Amazing.

Infographic: The Darwinian Evolution of Photoshop by Tech King

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Last of the season?

Last of the season?
Originally uploaded by Max_Fax

Well I thought I had made it through the summer with out seeing too many of these horrors. My phobia is subsiding about them these days. I actually like looking at their faces now. Very Art Deco I think.

See Me... Photography Competition.

I was sent to photograph the local winners of the See Me... Photographic prize this week. The theme this year was 'Support' which turned up some quite interesting takes on the subject.

The competition is organised by the charity See Me... which aims at removing the stigma of people who suffer from mental health problems. It's a very worthy cause and is a great way of using photography to help reflect on people's attitudes towards mental health issues.

Check out the website here: See Me...





Of all the entries the one bellow caught my eye. It didn't win and isn't what you would call a great photo in the traditional sense but it still draws me in. It's a self portrait of a victim of bullying. Sad but reaffirming I think.





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Location:Ayrshire

Awards News and Sandro, Ex-What The Blood Revealed

Sadro Ex-What The Blood Revealed
Originally uploaded by Max_Fax

I was able to get out with my camera the other night. It was Sandro Del Greco's last gig with my old band What The Blood Revealed. When I got there I was told that they had been on for ages and that it was their last song. I jumped down the front and startted shooting away in what can best be described as 'pish light'. Anyway excuses aside I got a few images that I'm happy with so go have a look.

In other more me orientated news, two of my submissions for this years Institute of Medical Illustrators Awards won a bronze certificate. The first was of a Papule in a a left ear. Not very exciting but I really was quite chuffed with the way it looked. I had cross lit the ear from the left with a rim light from the right. I'd go into more detail if I had the inclination but I don't. So secondly my black and white image of Seafeild hospital (derelict), seen earlier in this blog, giving me added impetus to get on with the project I have been trying to start for almost a year.

Speaking of which, a patient I photographed turned out to have access to Seafeild Hospital. I explained my project to him: the taking of images of the condemned hospital with condemned film from our old stock. He seemed very keen to be involved and now that I have won the award I think it will put a bit of momentum on the whole project. We can but hope.

A New Direction

I've been asked by a hair stylist to shoot a model for a new line in hair care products. I've never done anything like this before so I thought 'Bonus! Something other than weddings!' it's coming up on Sunday (weather permitting) and the model in question is a former miss Scotland finalist. How it got to this point from the 'few head shots' I don't know...and don't really care. I like trying new things and it will be good to put my camera to other uses besides just weddings. If I could make money doing my own projects I would be happier of course, but these jobs help fund those projects in the first place.

In other news my IMI (Institute of Medical Illustrators) award submissions were posted the other week. Subjects (good ones) have been a bit thin on the ground the past couple of years so if I win anything it will be a bonus. Anyway here's hoping, I'll find out in a few weeks. Go have a look at previous winners www.imi.org.uk


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What's Best For Them...

What's Best For Them...
Originally uploaded by Max_Fax

This poor girl set up her nest on our bathroom windowsill. Kim wouldn't let me get rid of them. She said that we should leave the window open and they would make their way out when they hatched. Hmm. Interesting theory. Anyway, once they hatched she changed her mind about the subject but still wanted to spare their lives. I explained that they would die as a result of being moved anyway, and that the mother was due to die anyway. If you look at her abdomen it has collapsed as a result of her starving herself to protect her babies. Anyway I scooped them up as gently as I could and sat them in the pile of wood in the garden. Who knows, they might make it.

Sucioperro (Unscene)

Sucioperro
Originally uploaded by Max_Fax

Another one from the archives. This is one of my favourites, taken on my Centon DF-300. Small and basic SLR camera but I still love it.

Open Goal

Village Centre Car Park, Bourtreehill
Originally uploaded by Max_Fax

I've put together a wee project over on Flickr in honor of the World Cup. I hate football but even i must acknowledge it's omnipresent hold on the world.  Link here!

Busy is not the word.

I got back from a little family holiday last week. Nothing extravigant or anything just a few days away in the Lake District at a caravan park named The Beeches in a small village called Gilcrux. It was nice to get away despite our most exciting visit of the weekend being a trip to a pencil museum in Keswick. We went to a James Bond museum directly behind the main pencil factory afterwords and it was guff. How sad it was that 007 was shown up by a 2B.
Anyway, after our return life seems to have hit a fast ball at me. I've got so much work on at the moment that I might just colapse in a heap of panic and farts. The wedding on Saturday was a blast though. Hardly felt like work at all.


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Duffy dies

http://gu.com/p/2hff8/ip

Sad news indeed. I watched 'The Man Who Shot The 60s' on BBC 4 a few months back about his return to photography after a self imposed exile. An amazing talent and one third of the Cockney Trinity that dominated 60s fashion photography Bailey and Donovan being the others.


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Caught

Caught
Originally uploaded by Max_Fax

It's the start of summer which, for the small insignificant creatures around us, is time of reawakening and rebirth. Also it's a time when many such little 'uns meet untimely ends. Good news for my 'Windowsill Graveyard' series bad news for the arachnids, insects and other crawlies that creep!

Lazy Saturdays

I'm sitting watching Art Rocks with Gaham Nash talking about his photography and thinking about the job tomorow. I'm shooting a christening in Renfrew, a first for me and my first big job outside of work this year. Although I'm not dreading the actual job I am starting to want a bit more from my photography. Doing these jobs is a good way of funding other projects but in doing them I'm always worried about denying myself days like this. Just sitting doing nothing is a good way of healing the mind. I think that I may give more attention to my own projects next year avoiding these hefty jobs. We'll see though. There might be a D400 round the corner!

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IMI Glasgow School of Art 3D Design Studio Visit

Our institute, the Istitute of Medical Illustrators, held a gathering in the new premises of the Glasgow School of Art 3D Design Studio on the Clyde last night 26/05/2010.  I was amazing to say the least.  We were shown 3D displays of various historical sites on a screen so big that God would've complained about it being too big...if he was there.  Also we got to wa;k through the torso of a man with an odd shaped penis before ending on a trip down the colon. As horrid as it sounds it was quite amusing and interesting getting a 'turd's-eye-view'. Ever wondered where the sweetcorn in the toilet came from? Well now I know. If you can get down and see this place and see how a work place should look...like an Ikea with good views...then do it.



Along with the jaw dropping offices and amazing technology on display Ashley Cowie gave a talk on the Roslyn Chapel and basically destroyed all the myths and nonsense that surround the place. Check his book out if you can.


Pics on Flickr.

Memories

My Final Wish
Originally uploaded by Max_Fax

I'm getting to the stage now where I'm harking back to the 'good old days'. I gave my band What The Blood The Blood Revealed up last year and haven't picked up the bass since. It hasn't really been a problem up until recently when I came to realize that I had abandoned the project I pretty much dedicated my entire playing days to. Unscene was the name I had given to an exhibition I was hoping to put on at the Harbour Arts Centre at some stage. The closest I got was a room of my photos to show along side the photographer Alisdair Devine's exhibition. Sadly this fell through when the plug was pulled on the Low Wattage gigs (more on them later) and the project was relegated to the attic along with my hopes of ever putting it into any format. Now though I might just put it together on Flickr and see what happens after that. So here is one of my favorite images I captured during that mad period. More to come!