Hi all,

With the change of my main website address to PepperArt I have decided to create a new matching blog with a fitting title rather than continue with this one.

Please now continue to follow my stories at the following address: -

www.pepperartblog.blogspot.com

All new posts will be made on PepperArt Blog and you can keep up to date with my news using the new ‘follow’ feature or just simply bookmark the new address if you prefer.

So.. what are you waiting for? You’ve probably already missed an update!

Hope you like it!

Now is such a great time to get out with the macro lens on the new fruits of nature.

My first image below is of a ‘Spring Snowdrop’ or ‘Snowflake’ plant. I just love the peridot shade of green on the petals!

Next I think I’ll be looking for dew drops on plants with ladybirds etc. Or scenes within dew drops.

Remember to keep checking back on my gallery for new additions.

Golden Bubbles, originally uploaded by sppepper.

I’ve been itching to get my macro lens out because I feel like I’ve been glued to my wide angle lately.

I thought I’d try something a little bit creative.

I set my tripod up high enough to enable the camera to be level with the top of the counter in my kitchen. I filled a small tumbler with soapy water and added a touch of food colouring. I had ran out of straws so I used the casing of an old Parker pen to blow into the tumbler to create more bubbles. Composed, and snapped away.

I just got news that one if my images ‘Urban Directions’ was accepted in a national digital exhibition; ‘Photo2009′ organised by The Vale of Evesham Camera Club.

This was my first set of submissions to a national exhibition like this so I consider myself very fortunate to have been accepted.

You can see my image (in the colour section) amongst the other successful applicants at Photo2009. If you sort by ‘Author’ and click on ‘Steven Paul Pepper’ you will be able to view my accepted image.

These BPE exhibition acceptances are something which I will be striving for this year. After I achieve 25 total acceptances I will be able to apply for my BPE 1* accreditation.

We got there at about 6.30 am as dawn was just approaching. Trying to park the car amongst all the massive puddles (more like pits full of water) in the dark was fun. I’m glad i wasnt driving – cheers Paul. We then trundled across the soft sand towards the lighthouse and set up the beasty wide angle Sigmas (10-20mm). Sweet lens!

After walking around the lighthouse trying to find the right spot (without too much crappy graffiti – and it was crappy) we clicked a few shots off to set up and associate with the scene.

I haven’t got round to processing my sunrise shots yet but for me it was later in the morning as the sun was rising that liked best when i got this little gem: -

Check out the star from the 'bling' filter!

After Talacre Beach we got out the old trusty map (paper version of course) and scanned the coast for some other local opportunities. This led us to Llanddulas Beach where we found some interesting features.

When we arrived, we saw some bird spotters and fishermen near the car park of the beach. My immediate thoughts were ‘silhouettes of the fishermen’ or something similar. But we decided to scout the rest of the beach first. It was a great thing we did because at the end of this stretch of the beach we found a stunning bit of falling water (you might say, waterfall). I say stunning because the light was just creeping up over the background rocks and glistening on the water.

I knew exactly what shot i wanted but in order to capture it i needed to be on the other side of the fast flowing water! Some steady footwork and tight gripping on my equipment (photographic equipment, that is) was needed to take the ‘hairy’ journey to the other side. – a bit frightening (frightened for the safety of my equipment) but totally worth the effort: -

Check out the lush light on the rocks! Yum!

After i got this shot i didn’t care what other opportunities there were. I just knew i had captured something pretty spesh. I think the water and the rocks make this image look pretty powerful.

After Llanddulas we headed in the direction of home and decided to stop off at Flint Castle along the way. There is a sort of big moat/low area of ground around the bottom of the structure so we walked around the outside area first thinking we would get a shot of the whole subject but it turned out that there wasnt really a great angle to shoot from considering we were at mid-day now and the light was creating all sorts of harsh shadows. So i headed inside the ruin.

As soon as i walked in i noticed this big circular well-hole (yes, i know they tend to be circular) with a grid on it and one corner of the castle ruin lit up with bright sunlight – obvious compositional choice for me: -

Well.... it's a castle

Like I said, I have lots more exposures to go through and process but these are just a little taster from my selection so far.

Click on the images to take you to the larger versions. Please feel free to leave a comment or ask any questions etc.

Anyway.. here is my little moment in explore. It was way back on 10th October 2008. (I didnt even know about explore at this point LOL).

My traffic 'light trails' in Explore!

Me and a couple of lads from camera club took a trip out to the coast of heswall on the wirrall. We originally went there to photograph the washed up (well, moored) boats at low tide in the estuary, but whilst we were there we got talking to a local who was a fellow photographer from Heswall Photographic Society.

He turned out to be a very useful and knowledgable tour guide to us. One of the most memerable spots he showed us was Perch Rock Lighthouse in New Brighton. I managed to get some great shots here. Have a look at my Flickr to see the heswall images.

Perch Rock - New Brighton

CH507

Red Rope and Sunrise

There were about 15 or so images showing various different scenes from different wars/conflicts.

The images were pretty hard hitting and definitely worth a trip to see whilst they are still there.

More Magnum info can be found here.