The Saturday Site: 2

This week I've chosen Light Stalking, which is a magazine-style website that showcases great photographs. There's always something new to read, the articles are well-written, the photos are amazing, and you get an introduction to the work of lots of top-notch photographers. The credit links alone can have you buzzing around the net for hours! Light Stalking also write tip-style articles, and occasionally review photography books and gear. They're very active on Twitter and Facebook, so you don't even have to visit their website to get your daily photo fix.

When you first visit the site there's an annoying pop-up inviting you to subscribe to their newsletter, but other than that, the site is fairly user-friendly. The advertising is pretty low-key, and it's all relevant to people interested in photography (no promises of weight loss miracles or making millions working from home!)

Day 68

I was so busy yesterday that I didn't get the time for my usual early morning and late afternoon 'camera breaks'. I thought I'd have to take some shots indoors, after dark. Then, about an hour before sunset, I glanced out of the window, and saw this!

Day 67

Our rusty old caravan might be a bit of an eyesore, but it's an interesting place to explore with the camera.

Day 66

Why, oh why am I drawn to views that really need a macro lens when I don't have one? It's almost as if I enjoy being frustrated!

Day 65

Three colours today:

Red,

brown,

and gold.

Day 64

Animals are always doing such funny things. It's a great feeling when you manage to capture animal antics on camera. Have you ever seen a sheep shaking itself dry? It's hilarious. I'd love to get a shot of that!

Day 63

Early morning dew on a thistle head. This is as close as my lens would let me get. Guess what's top of my photography wish list -- yep, that's right, a macro lens!

Day 62

This photo, which I took with the Canon, is of the cellophane on one of our new kitchen cabinets.

This one is an iPhone/Hipstamatic shot of a lampshade.

The Saturday Site: 1

Welcome to my new weekly feature, The Saturday Site, where I share links to cool photography sites I've found.

For my first pick I've chosen This Week in Photography, a free, weekly audio podcast covering pretty much everything to do with the world of photography. It's aimed at both professionals and amateurs, and while a lot of what they talk about is quite technical, there's still a lot to interest someone like me, who's just starting out in the hobby.

If you follow the link above it will take you to the page on iTunes where you can subscribe to the podcast, but TWiP has also got a website and forum, here.

Day 61

We spent some time at our neighbours' yesterday. Their garden was looking so lovely, I nabbed Iain's iPhone and took some Hipstamatic shots.

I look forward to the day when I'll be able to take photos of our own garden. At the moment we're still living in the middle of an empty field!

Day 60

From alert to comatose in 30 seconds...

Day 59

Today's shot is a view of the valley from the bottom of the hill, on the roadside near our gate.

Day 58

Today's photo is shot no. 3 in the 'Monthly Skull' series. Here's Scully as you've never seen her before. "All right, Mr De Mille, I'm ready for my close-up!"

Day 57

Here are a couple of things I've learned so far from taking part in this project:

1. If you're drawn to something as a subject for a photograph, but none of your shots come out right, try changing your point of view.

Over the last week or so I've taken dozens of shots of this fence during my morning photo shoots, but none of them worked. All I had to do to get the right shot was to wait until the evening, hop over the fence, and take the shot from the other side. But it took me a long time to work that out!

2. Ignore the classic rule about never shooting into the sun. 

You can get some interesting effects shooting into the sun, especially when it's low in the sky.