I think my biggest gain has been going through alot of my old photos and giving them a polish and shine using HDR (high dynamic range) logic. What is HDR I hear you ask? Well when you take a photo it can only capture a certain range of light (and in turn colour and detail). So often to get a good balance of the main subject matter you lose detail in the darker and lighter areas. So true HDR, is to take 3 or more photos capturing the correct exposure for the dark areas, the medium areas and the light areas. Then using some software such as Photomatrix you combine the images to give you a final image that shows the detail across it and with it some fantastic results. You can read more about HDR here, I will admit that alot of my images are only using one image and some digitial magic in Adobe Lightroom, but this was due to the fact I did not take the photos with HDR in mind and so did not have the range of exposures required. Even so it is amazing what you visual information a RAW image contains and the results have been amazing compared to the now quite dull originals, please go see yourself. HDR is something I will have in mind with future photo shoots and I will set up the bracket exposure on camera.

The design page I am very proud of, I still feel it needs some tweaking visually, but then in the words of Leonardo da Vinci ‘Art is never finished, only abandoned’ and a deadline for launch is proof of that. It was a chance to play with unique navigation ideas to view the imagery, again it allowed me extend my coding knowledge through image maps and CSS which is great way to create some fun interaction and still have accessibility in the framework. From here I want to work on design skills and improve what I can create visually using Illustrator and photoshop, maybe one day be featured in those design feeds I keep tweeting or passing on via my google reader shared items.

Anyway, if you are reading this I hope you are at my website already, if you are viewing this through a rss feed, then go have a dig around.

So with the website project relaunch at an end, what is next I ask myself. Well I have a new website to build for a client, need to get my creative writing back on track with posts to Imagine Tales along with a novella. Alongside these as mentioned, more photography and desiging of which the result will be posted up at my website and written about here. And I really do need to get out on my mountain bike.

Till next time.

So what has happened over the last of the late summer that has befallen the UK? Well friends have been married and begin new lives, engagement  and babies are arriving with each new marriage and new eras are beginning all around me.  OK, yes I am thirty-something and friends who I still see with air of early twenties are taking another step into adulthood. But this is no bad thing and it comes with lots of smiles. I hope they all will be happy.

As for me, I am still in that period of change that came up about this time last year and is still ongoing. Job interviews on the horizon (one tomorrow) and with luck I can finally start to plan abit further ahead than 6 months, maybe a snowboarding holiday or Alaska even and look at where I want to be in a few years.

My recent projects have been heavily impacted from job applications and a couple of freelance web jobs for clients and their new maritime business ventures.  On my Imagine Tales website of short stories I have finished the five part story ‘The Grass‘. This tale was started many years ago and it sat going stale with no direction.  At the time I wanted to write of demons, I think I may of recently watched ‘Trainspotting‘ judging by the main characters addiction issues and was still heavily indulgent in ‘Hellraiser‘. But I really enjoyed coming back to this tale now that I want to take my wiriting more seriously.  One of the things I enjoy about posting upto the website on a regular basis is that it forces me to write and lets it flow with ease. I don’t have the time to revise and revise and rewrite, so what you get is whilst given some edit treatment, it is pretty raw still. Even I am often not sure how the story will develop until I sit down in from the of the computer and reread the last part for inspiration to carry on the tale.

Prior to the ‘The Grass‘ I had written the ‘The School‘, a short story based on a dream that occurred last year, I rather manic time and one I wanted to escape and in which this tale highlights with alot of description. Dreams are funny things, some can be harrowing and leave you out of sorts for the new day, but then others leave you peaceful and calm. You have travelled and seen wonders, felt peace and all without leaving your bed.

Anyway one must depart now and begin to think about that job interview tomorrow. Put aside those to be written stories of home furnishing stores of Hell and stealing time.  Till next time my little minions.

This journal started as an experiment in blogging and as part of a drive to get more traffic to my site. But I soon realised that my journal had little direction, no real specific subject matter or concept beyond me going on about stuff in my life. I wanted an outlet for my photography beyond my Frozen Designs portfolio, I wanted to give my photos more purpose. Along with the photography I was writing and coming up with lots of little bits of fiction as ideas popped into my head.  So I decided to combine the lot of it and gave birth (in a manner of speaking) to Imagine Tales.

Imagine Tales is a new web venture for me, whilst frozendesigns.co.uk has been invaluable to me, I knew it was not suitable as it has always been a portfolio website and what I needed was more of an online book. So I ordered the URL, got a new wordpress installation ready and so it began. Hence why I have neglected this journal as my efforts have been directed elsewhere along with poor viewing statistics meaning I lost some motivation to update it.

But now I think about it, this journal does have some purpose it is an chance to blabble myself about stuff that is going in my life, whilst few may read it, it is something to go look back over and remember what makes me me! Not to mention; be able to tell you about cool stuff and also it is another avenue to promote Imagine Tales. So please go check it out,  have a read and subscribe to be notified of new tales being posted.

So what else is going on?

Well I have ventured into the world of motorbikes, passing my CBT a little over a month ago and buying a Yamaha SR125 to zip around on. I gotta say it is fun and traffic no longer seems much of an issue nowdays! I am already feeling the urges for a bigger bike, but that will have to wait till I can afford the big bike test in a year or so. Until then I shall have to feel inadequate at the lights when the big bike pulls up next to me being ridden by a cute blonde chick; like this morning. Still at least I won’t be wrapping myself round a tree from getting too much power too soon.

Today I purchased my first ever stamps for the purpose of collection, it is a new level of geek for me. But let me explain and who knows you could be buying them yourselves tomorrow, especially if you are a fan of the Sandman comics. It is the last release from the UK post office, and it celebrates the mythology of Britain, the artwork is by David Mckean and with it some sort pieces of creative writing by Neil Gaiman. You can get the Mythical Creatures stamps from the Post Office online or by queueing up, which is a feat of human endeavour in itself.

Neil Gaiman has wonderful angle on everything, it’s a little bit off to the side of the typical perspective and in that unique. You will have more than likely seen his latest creation in the guise of the animated movie Caroline, whilst I have not seen it personally I have heard great reviews.

So with the evening drawing near and I must embark upon my iron horse, well iron donkey anyway. I sign off for now and whilst I can not promise regular updates here, I will try to keep posting when I feel the need to shout from the roof tops. In the mean time go read some of my stories at Imagine Tales.

But it did lead me to thinking that whilst having a journal is all nice and well, the successful ones have a purpose beyond the own gratification of the blog owner.  So I need to give my blog direction and purpose. The two main creative outlets for me is my photography and writing, I am working on a bunch of short stories that I to get published, but also tie my photography up with it. Well my journal is ideal place to start it off, whilst it may not be my main stories, it will be my photography with some creative text. I will still add the odd link to things and stuff as well. So lets see how that goes!!!

Laying in Bed in my old Room

Old Room

Stayed in my old room last night.
Lots of memories.
Many smiles.
Some tears.
It was good to see you.

Onto another memory,

Many, many years ago when I was a Technical College at the tender age of 18. It was a dark evening between the departure of Autumn and the arrival of Winter. I remember being sat in the Library watching short films from Channel 4′s ’4mation’ collection. It was already a atmospheric and spooky night, the Library was quiet and generally empty. I grabbed one of the VHS videos off the shelf and sat back down at the CRT television with a the built in video player and massive black headphones. I had found a animation short called ‘The Sandman‘. I was engrossed in instantly, loving the style and story. It stuck with for many years, but had trouble sourcing a copy. But as seasons passed and returned the Internet grew and youtube was born. And once again I could watch the short animation that had spooked me out so much all those years ago. It was directed by Paul Berry who went onto bigger things with the likes of Tim Burton with ‘The Nightmare before Christmas‘ and ‘James and the Giant Peach‘. The sandman inspired by ‘Hoffmanns’ novella ‘The Sandman’ and is is very expressionist drawing on many infulences from German film to Hitchcock.

So if it is bright outside, wait till its dark. If it is noisy and busy around you, wait until your alone…

…is it dark?

…are you alone?

Enjoy…

I got made redundant 4 months ago and lost a lot of motivation about living where I do, so decided it was time to get off the rat race for a bit. I planned to rent out my flat, move back with the folks, find work and save up. Then 2010 take 3 months out to travel Alaska. See the islands and seas off the southern coast, travel up north to Barrow and the artic circle to see Polar bears and then get some snowboard time in back in Girdwood, where I was before.

Not a bad plan all in all, but has fallen short with the current economic climate, the finding work thing has not gone so well. Luckily life in Southampton has improved personally and I found work back at the Coastguard from where I once left. It has opened opportunities to experience the world of journalism, which from my writing perspective is awesome.  The downside is that if I follow this path then the whole Alaskan trip would need to be reworked as I would have to stay in my flat and it would take longer to save up and I expect only to be able to take a month off work with out risk of unemloyment on my return.  Still a month is month and a job is a job.

I hope that freelance web work will help with the Alaskan fund, I get one of two potential perm jobs at the coastguard and my writing amounts to something. In the meantime I have stories to write, photos to take, friends to be with, a girl to cuddle and journal to write.  It’s all good and dreams can come true with the right perspective.

So as I blow my nose which is either the result of a spring cold coming on or the scene of the mother sea lion trying to awaken its dead baby on the rocks after it had been killed by a passing storm. Who knows, but I am off now to be creative, either photos or a story, which ever grabs me first.

Have a marvellous evening all

My first question to myself is why?

Well I can answer for may reasons, firstly to improve my writing. Embarking on a recent fascination of writing short stories based on dreams, my past and my heart I want to go that bit further and maybe get published, be a writer and photographer living on the shores of a lake in a log cabin with a snowy mountain in the background. But I’m sure I’m not alone in that dream. But a journal seems a good place to start whilst I write more shorts.

My website has been a great publishing tool for many years, but generally does not get much traffic, so a personal project to try and get more hits whilst learning to use Google Analytics is another reason for this journal. I have other plans for my website including the posting of my writings as words, audio and moving image.

My next question is what do I post up here, an average day at the office is not that much compelling reading compared to many journals out there. I guess opinions will get involved, but mostly updates on my projects and maybe some life stuff will slip in.

So who am I? Well I’m 32yr old young, listen to alternative-(enter genre here) according to my numerous recent evenings of getting mp3 collection tags correct and tidy for the magic small box that hold so much good music, audio plays and movies. I remember thinking as a child it would so cool to have little gadgets that can do all this cool scifi stuff. Well it seems we do now and it’s awesome. I watch a lot of movies, love anything that is escapism and better with monsters and spaceships. So yes I am geek, but hey embrace your inner geek! Sure beats getting drunk in the city centre and escaping those shirt and nice shoe wearing angry folk. I love the concept of story telling. It’s creating dreams and firing imagination. It can comes in all mediums in these days, from real paper, to digital displays. It can be words, spoken word or images, moving or still.

I work for the UK Coastguard, you know running along beaches in red shorts with a laptop under one arm, saving the lives of hot beautiful women. OK, I maybe lied about some of that, well everything from beaches. I work with the websites and on occasions get on a boat, be it a racing yacht, tall ship or rescue RIB.

One day I will visit Barrow, Alaska.

That’s it for now, until I work out what I should post up next. Battlestar is about to get good!