[ d u n g c a r t d o t c o m ]A place for the stuff that leaks out of my head

Losing The Light from duncmc via flickr.

An archive shot of the Humber Bridge from February this year. Again the high tide and stillness of the water made great conditions for photography. I have often been accused of adding the vertical light reflections artificially, but other than a white balance adjustment to remover the orange cast from the street lamps, and tweaking the contrast and saturation, this is as it came out of the camera.

It’s Been Forever Since from duncmc via flickr.

This one was taken in January this year – I stopped on the way to work one morning, arrested by the spectacular pink light cast onto the clouds from the rising sun. When I got down to the river I was thrilled to see the state of the water. The tide was high and the surface of the river was totally calm – my favourite conditions.

Light And Shadow from duncmc via flickr.

Another from the archives. This was taken in February this year and is another from my Humberscapes series. A night shot of the Humber Bridge, stretching out across the river looking south towards Lincolnshire. The shadows cast onto the water and the foreshore from the street lights on the bridge made for an interesting composition.

In A Roundabout Way from duncmc via flickr.

There isn’t much happening in the way of inspiration at the moment so here’s one from the archive. One of my most popular photos on flickr, depsite the mundane subject matter. This is the footbridge near the Daltry Street flyover on the Clive Sullivan Way in Hull. The blurring may not to be everyone’s taste but it was required to give more focus to the subject.

Despite having become quite attached to the old Canon EOS 300D, times move on and I have finally replaced it with the 400D. The fact that Leigh from the band was eager to take the 300D off my hands smoothed the upgrade path considerably. However, as I was selling it to a mate I felt that I ought to do something about the specks of dirt that had accumulated on the sensor (or more accurately, on the infra-red filter that sits in front of the sensor in the camera).

The circular spots on the image that are a result of these miniscule bits of sensor dust have gradually become more noticeable over the last couple of months, to the point where they were really quite annoying. They often required retouching in Photoshop, but the prospect of damaging the delicate sensor with a cotton bud put me off taking the plunge and cleaning the thing. As it happens I needn’t have worried.

After a spot of Googling, the concensus seemed to be that the Photographic Solutions cleaning kit was the best bet. And I can heartily recommend them. They offer three starter kits for different sizes of sensor – number 2 does the EOS series, and I picked one up from local dealer Hilton Photographic for £22.95. It took a couple of swabs to remove all the dirt, but the process was painless.

Although the sensor inside the camera is undoubtedly very delicate, the greatest risk is that the shutter curtains get damaged if they close while the swab is inserted in the camera body. The actual process of swabbing the sensor is relatively straightforward and risk free if the instructions that came with the cleaning kit are followed.

Of course if you do happen to mash up your sensor as a result of reading this post, then I’m afraid I can’t be held responsible. But it really is a breeze.

Seafish from duncmc via flickr.

The sun sets behind the Seafish Industry Authority’s offices on St. Andrew’s Quay (East) in Hull. The north tower of the Humber bridge is just visible in the distance to the right of the building, above the derelict lock gates in the foreground.

The lock gates are at the entrance to the now silted-up St. Andrew’s Dock, which was the main trawler dock in Hull until it was decommissioned in 1975. This must once have been one of the busiest parts of the city, but most of the dockside buidings here are now decaying and overgrown. The site is now earmarked for regeneration.

I took this picture in December 2006 and it featured in the BBC Humber Photo Galleries for that month.

Chimneys #3 from duncmc via flickr.

The third and final image in the series. This one I like for the shapes, and is probably my favourite of the three.

Chimneys #2 from duncmc via flickr.

The second in the series. I like this one for the tonality in the image.

Chimneys #1 from duncmc via flickr.

This is the first of a series of three pictures taken while walking near the river. The subject matter and treatment of all three photos is very similar, but I like each one for different qualities. This one I like for the symmetrical composition.

Enough Of The Suspense from duncmc via flickr.

Another of my many shots of the Humber Bridge. I took this back in March and used HDR processing to bring out the detail in the image. I like the quality of the water and the contrast in the underside of the bridge on this one.