Salford Quays by Day and Night

So my little photoshoot on the balcony the other night has inspired me to take more photos around the Quays. It's such a nice area and there's so many photo ops just waiting to be had, shame on me for not taking advantage of it sooner. I've named the project "Salford Quays by Day and Night" because I plan to do a ton of photos both at night and during the day. I don't plan on them all being HDR though. But HDR does work well with night shoots and I'm doing the night side of right now.

There's a chance they could be used promotionally for work at the rugby club too.

So here's the next one in the series:



I'm not as happy with it. Mainly because I framed it too tightly which left very little room for lens correction (the building in the background is still slightly tilted but I couldn't correct it anymore or I'd be cropped off the corner of the theater). I'll probably reshoot it but it'll do for now.

Unfortunately, it's raining tonight and tomorrow we're seeing comedian Michael McIntyre so the next photo will have to wait.

I'll leave you with a video of Michael McIntyre Live at the Apollo:

And more from our boring lives...

It seems the only thing eventful in our lives at the moment is rugby games! Bah! But here's some juicy gossip: last night, one of the "fans" verbally abused our head coach in a very threatening manner. Apparently, Shaun (the coach) was visibly shook up and admitted he should have walked away but was afraid if he turned his back on the guy, he would be physically attacked from behind. Shaun is a pretty tough guy and though he's never shown that side to me, I imagine he can be very intimidating. So for him to be shook up and fearful means this "fan" must have been very aggressive and threatening.

So apparently, despite Salford beating a few of the best teams in the league this season, when we lose, our "fans" are entitled to abuse our head coach. I'd like to blame it on the alcohol but apparently the same guy has since been on the unofficial forum proudly bragging about the altercation.

The good news is, Paul witnessed it all, we know who the guy is and we will be banning him for at least the rest of the season. Next season, he can "plead his case" but it's not guaranteed the ban will be lifted next season either. If he attempts to gain entry to one of the games during his ban, it will be extended to a life time ban and Steve will get the police involved. I don't understand people who behave this way to begin with but least of all do I understand how they think they can get away with it, especially when they go bragging about it on the internet.

And in other, slightly related good news, I think I got some really good shots from this game (one of them being to the left). I've set up a flickr account because uploading to blogspot reduces the image quality so much. All my work is up there now, including the rest from the match last night.

Happy 4th of July from England!

Tonight, Amanda and I are going to Ladies Night! Another one of the players is celebrating his 10th year with the team and it's customary for him to hold several events for it. There's a fancy dinner dance one, a golf day, a ladies night, etc.

So anyway, I decided to go shopping for something to wear last minute and while at the Trafford Centre, Selfridges (a department store) had a bunch of American food brands you don't normally find over here for the 4th of July! Steve tells me they always have this stuff at Selfridges (they just had it out on the front display for Independence Day) but I'm sure if I'd known that, I would have taken advantage of it before now!

On another happy note, Salford had a surprising win last night against St Helens - haven't had time to process the pics from it yet but for now, here's a picture of all the American foods I got at Selfridges (yes, that's our couch in the background). I'm now off to get ready for Ladies Night - hopefully I'm not too worse for wear tomorrow for webcam! lol

Robin Gets Hit by a Ball

That's right, last night I got hit by my first ball. After narrowly escaping being hit from the front thanks to my quick reflexes, it bounced off the boards behind me and hit me in the back. Luckily, by that point it had lost much of it's momentum and didn't hurt. But the fact that it came inches from hitting my camera, which would have then hit me in the face, did shake me up a bit. As I result, anytime the action got anywhere near me again, I was too busy making sure the ball wasn't coming my way to take any pictures!

That, combined with the fact that Salford played poorly and were defending more than they were on the offense (which meant they were all the way at the other end of the field where even a 300mm lens can't reach) meant I did not come away with many photos.

But here they are - this was an away game so that's why Salford are in black instead of red.





And now, I'm off to lounge in the rare English sunshine!

In Honor of Nan

Well, we lost this time but at least the sun was out and I got a few good shots.

But it occurred to me while I was watching the game that Nan would have really liked the players tight shorts. I remember she used to love watching Baseball just to see the athlete's "cute butts" lol. And I really had to laugh and think of Nan when this happened:



Sorry, Malcolm! (That's the player). It was too amusing not to take the picture.

But now for some normal photos:





And I'll leave you with a link to one of my photos used on the Official RFL (Rugby Football League) website.

Da Vinci Exhibit

It's a bank holiday in England (so we have off work) - Easter Monday. So we took the opportunity to visit the Manchester Art Gallery. I mainly wanted to go because there is currently a Da Vinci exhibit of some of his sketches from the Royal Collection.

It was very interesting and I asked Steve which was his favorite - he picked a map of a river! All those gorgeous sketches and he picks a map, lol. I think my favorite was the horse statue but I'm bias.

After the art gallery we got something to eat and it was such a nice day (imagine that in England!) we decided to walk home. Probably walked a total of 4 miles which is not like me at all. Had I known we'd walk so much I would have worn different shoes though - my heels are sore.

On another note, Salford just beat one of the best teams in the league (Leeds) which is very surprising and Steve is very excited, lol. Apparently Salford haven't beat them in 32 years so it's kind of historic!

All in all, a great day!

It's pouring down but we won!

It was pouring rain today (of course, because it was a game day) so I spent most of my time trying to shield my camera from it. Even worse, the hardest part was trying to swap lenses without getting water IN the camera. I think I managed it because the camera appears to still be operating fine, lol. I got a few good shots despite the rain and even better, while I was attempting to dry my hair with the hand drier in the bathroom and injuring my neck in the process, the Reds won! Bring it on Salford!