time (or lack thereof)

Having started back at work, I'm finding I have NO time for photography at all...I haven't entered a competition in weeks, it seems, and I'm concerned that my hobby is having to take a serious back shelf for a while. Which kinda sucks, it has to be said. I grabbed this shot one day when I was getting up at some ridiculous time in the morning:

That was the last photograph I took, and it was taken over 2 weeks ago...I do hate it when life's 'stuff' gets in the way of life itself...

On a positive though, I had my first request for prints of my work - admittedly from my brother as his birthday present, but it still counts...right?!

results...

Well, the theme for the weekend competition was 'beyond reach', so i did a (slightly tongue in cheek) interpretation called 'the housing ladder':

The winner was a lovely shot of the moon:

Speaking of which, I tried to take some shots of the moon recently...not as good as that one though(!). My attempts at a full moon:

...and a waning moon:

Mine just look really washed out and fuzzy in comparison...ah well. I look forward to the day when I can afford a better lens and therefore get a better shot!

competition results

Well, the results of the weekend (and monthly) competitions are in...drum roll please...I came second in the weekend competition with my shot of St Mary's Church (theme = nighttime) with this as the winner:

I'm not ashamed to be beaten by that - a lovely shot! Derby doesn't seem to have the same choice locations as Gent(!).

In the monthly competition (theme = refraction) I came...joint first! My shot:

...and the other winning shot:

Now I think we have to come up with a new theme for this month. Quickly, seeing as it's the 8th already(!).

I don't know how much time I will have for photography for a little while - term has started up at school, and my uni exams are in a (frankly terrifying) 5 weeks...eek.

Dovedale...and Derby at night

I went out to Dovedale today, and was very lucky with the weather - the sun emerged and gave me a lovely afternoon of light. I walked up to the stepping stones:

then I looked up. I saw Thorpe Cloud. I thought to myself "that doesn't look that bad" and decided to climb it.

Turns out it's further than it looks - and steeper! But then when I got to the top (and sat down so I wasn't blown off the ridge) I was rewarded with some fantastic views:

Although next time I go, I shall wear more appropriate footwear (i.e. not these...)

The climb down was terrifying and I swear I nearly died...twice!! Maybe I exaggerate slightly, but you get my drift - decent shoes with some sort of grip would have been a definite advantage...

This evening I spent an hour after dark wandering round Derby taking photos for the weekend competition (theme = nighttime). I was after one of those 'lights reflected in the river' type shots, but the best I got wasn't good enough to enter. Although that's probably not going to stop me putting it up here:

Funnily enough, I had given up and was driving home when I happened to pass this church, so screeched to a stop and took this shot (well, took about 10 shots, of which this happened to be the best):

After this, I was hit on by a homeless man who asked me if I wanted a cup of tea, so I decided I needed to go home and reassess my clothing before being out in public again...(!).