Damn you Cheese!

For the first time in quite a while I had some cheese and crackers just before going to bed. That's a big mistake and I now remember why i don't do that!

Awake most of the night and when asleep, dreams I can't really recall but I know I've had.

Photography for the Web

I've been asked to pop into Neals Farm and take some pics of the animals and surroundings for them to use on their Web Site.

http://www.nealsfarm.com/


You can see the set of pictures I'm proposing for use on their web site at Neals Farm Pictures

Comments appreciated as always

Ma Kettle got a new computer

Since I have bought an new MacBook Pro, Wendy has decided that it's time she got into using computers a bit more. We've set up my old PowerBook G4 for her so she can use email, iPhoto, Safari and iChat.

Now all I need to do is a bit of training so Wendy doesn't get lost with all this techie stuff.

Sunny Henley

Well, here we are sitting in the glorious sunshine in our back yard. Listening to internet streamed BBC Radio 4.

Simple pleasures...

Henley Advert - Final release

Thanks to Dan, this is what I'll be showing the club on Tuesday

Advertising Henley Photo Club

I've agreed with a local photographer (Stephen Agar) that we can put some sort of poster in his window to advertise the club. I've made up the following A4 displays. I'll be showing these to the other members at the usual Tuesday evening gathering at the pub.
Artistic advice welcome.



I'll be adding text to each photo on this one telling about the club

Family History

I've been checking the family trees on GenesReunited.com and found some links to the counsell family history going back to the 1600's. I've not checked and verified these yet but they do look promissing.
Take a look at the Counsell Family Tree

Here's a photo of Walter George Counsell with 2 of his sons. The photo was taken in Australia. The younger boy is Sidney Counsell (some spell it Sydney Counsell).

Media Training

A bit of background...
I'm working on the ntl:Telewest merger at the moment (and for the foreseeable future) great project (Programme) to be involved. I'm getting involved in very senior management meetings where I have to present "Stuff".

Having lead a presentation for the workstreams I am managing and feeling like I could have done better, I got a phone call from my managers boss (Keith).

My immediate thought was, OH MY GOD how do I manage to keep my job!

Keith opened with one simple question. "How do you think the meeting went?" Gulp!, I think it went reasonably well but I could have done better I think. I continued to ramble for a couple of sentences until Keith butted in saying why don't you stop digging and let me tell you what I think.

I stopped and listened.

You did a great job!
What you're missing is delivery

More compliments followed and a bit of "coaching advice"

What you need is some Media Training. Learn how to deliver the message without giving too much away and you'll be worth twice what we're paying you. I'm NOT offering you pay pay increase though!

Good advice which I'll take and use.

Henley Camera Club Site

If you're interested the new site (such that it is) is available for preview at:
Henley Camera Club

Dr Foster

We're off to Gloucester on Sunday for a photo outing with the camera club.
There'll be a competition next season with pics taken on the day only allowed to be entered.

I hope we fare better than Dr Foster who went in a shower of rain.....

I'll post some pics next week.

Not well again...

A week ago I started feeling like I had a little bit of a cold. Not too bad but a blocked nose and a few sneezes.
Saturday I took a turn for the worse and felt aches and pains as well as a bit of a cough etc.

Now a week later having dosed myself up with all sorts of medicines and cough syrups I've started to feel better.

The coughing has made me feel like I've had a damn good kicking. A few more pain killers'll sort that out Oh and a few glasses of wine too!

Coughing has almost gone now but the sore lips have started so It's ZOVIRAX all the way now...

I've just checked. Last time I had a cold was 28th March this year!!. 6 weeks between colds; thats not good!

Annual General Meeting

Well, its come to the end of the year for the Camera Club so we had the prize awards and general meeting last night. Somehow I got elected to the committee to look after advertising and the web site.

http://www.henleyphotoclub.com/

As you'll see from the link above it's currently not the most pro site you will have ever seen so it shouldn't be too difficult for me (and RapidWeaver) to make improvements.

I'll update you when the changes are made!

Apples new TV ads

I've just watched the new mac ads.

Hello, I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC. The better ad is my favourite.

Very very funny.

Watch and enjoy.

Photo Competition Results

If you're a regular reader you'll know I entered a photo competition on Tuesday 2nd May at my local camera club. I posted the entry pics earlier.

These are the results:
Motoring History. The judge really like the composition and went so far as to say that I couldn't have taken it from a better angle. He spotted the slight over exposure on the top right but forgave it given the obvious harsh sunlight.
Well, after comments like that I expected to get at least 17 out of 20.
Final Mark - 15

In Flight. Once again the composition is dead right, according the the judge, he thought that the top 25% could have been cropped to give the image more impact on the bird. The picture is not sharp in any way so I lost loads of marks for that.
Final Mark - 10

Shelly. The judge liked this although comments on the light available on the day were way off base. He thought that the photo was taken on an overcast day with not much light available. The lighting is a bit flat I suppose. He marked me down the for the stray hair across the face.
Final Mark - 15

COLD!. My first image in the "Artistic License" section. The judge thought I'd not manipulated this at all and that the day the photo was taken it looked warm. He should have been there! However I got a surprisingly high mark
Final Mark - 15

The Wier. The judge just did not get this one. The only real comment made was that the water looked like it was going in the wrong direction and that the main area of foam was burnt out.
Final Mark - 10

For a 1st competition entry I am very pleased. Now I have a better Idea of whats needed to get high marks.

Healthy Diet

Now, I thought that a mixture of fruit veg. meat and water in good quantities would n=mean I had a pretty healthy diet. Seems not though as I've been feeling a little tired lately.

I did some reading up on brain chemistry and found some interesting info. I've added a supplement to my diet, "Centrum Performance" which claims to enhance both physical and metal performance. Its a multivitamin compound tablet which I chose because of the high concentration of B6. It has 300% RDA of B6 which the brain chemists on the net say is a great way to beat the tiredness I've been suffering from of late.

I've taken the tabs of 3 days now; this is my 3rd day; and am already starting to feel better and less sleepy. Of course this may be a placebo effect so I'll continue for a month and see what the difference is.

Braunston Happening

We spent a busy day at the Braunston Happening. This is a glorified Jumble Sale where we had a stall so we could sell all the old rubbish we had left over from the house move.
We set off at 05:30am and arrived at just about 8am having stopped for petrol coffee and a dog walk.

I was pretty busy the whole day on almost top selling form although there were surprisingly no takers for the old car washing sponge I'd priced at 0p. Yes that's right NO MONEY. right at the end though some kids came along and a 12 year asked if it really was zero pence. I said yes. Can I have it then he said. "so long as you give me nothing!"; The boy was happy with his new purchase!
To get rid of some of the really naff stuff we had I insisted that if they bought one thing they had to take something else for free. This worked, so clearly they'll have to make the journey to the tip to get rid of the stuff instead of us having to.

I got a chance to take some photos of flowers in Connie and Johns garden. Here they are.

FLOWER POWER


Comments Welcome...