I’ve not done much photography in the last week or so. I’ve been working on a few websites which has taken most of my spare time.

This has also meant that I’ve not processed all the shots I took in the last few weeks. I’ve managed to do a few from each shoot but still have a few hundred to get through.

I’ll have to leave that all behind for now though because it’s holiday time, hurrah!

I’m off  to the Lake District and will be taking all my photography gear with me. The forecast isn’t too good but there should be some opportunities for plenty of landscapes with moody skies.

In the meantime, here’s a few shots from my last trip to the area, last summer.

One of the projects I’ve been working on recently is a multi-blog site to encourage other photographers to start their own blogs.

I came up with “Cathus Photography Blogs” which is a website where people can go & start their own blog. It’s completely free & there are tutorials & guides to help you get started.

I posted about it in the forums at DSLR User Magazine & as a result 12 people have signed up & started their own blog.

If you’re reading this & interested in trying your own Photography Blog, visit the site, starting a blog takes just a few minutes.

Blogging can be a lonely business, especially for special interest bloggers.

If you have a photography blog, how about trading links; I’ll add you to my links section if you do the same so we might be able to generate some visits to each other.

Just leave a comment with your blog details & I’ll add you.

If you’ve read much on this blog, you’ll know how interested I am in photographers’ rights. I’ve posted about this a few times.

The subject reached mainstream TV last night when BBC1′s The One Show discussed the problem of photographers being stopped taking pictures by police & security guards.

It’s good to see this subject reaching a wider public audience.

If you missed the programme you can catch it again on the BBC iPlayer, it’s the first item in the programme so you don’t need to wade through the whole show. You’ll have to be quick though as it will only be available to watch again for the next 6 days.

You can view the show >> here <<

Good news this week as I have an article out in the September issue of Digital SLR User Magazine.

The article is entitled “Classic Cars” & is part of the ongoing “Get Out There!” series which aims to encourage others to go out & take pictures of various photographic subjects.

It was especially pleasing to be approached by the editor who commissioned the article based on photographs I’d taken at the Knebworth Classic Car Show in June. You can see some of the shots I took in my previous blog entry, some of which appeared in the magazine.

The article includes tips on how to get some good shots together with information on my post processing technique.

The magazine was out to subscribers on 4th August & should be in the newsagents on the 7th.

Of all the subjects I’ve shot in the last couple of years, I’d not tried team sports.

An opportunity arose last weekend to nip down to London to try my hand at some American Football shots. I’ve been a fan of American Football for around 30 years, even before it came over to the UK in the early 80s. I used to listen to it on the American Forces Network in the early hours of the morning.

In fact, I liked it so much I started my own team, with 3 other lads, in the 80s. I played the game for several years & even coached a team at Bedford.

I went to watch the London Blitz playing at home to the Bristol Aztecs at Finsbury Park.

The weather varied from very sunny to quite overcast but was very hot. I found one of the problems was getting the right exposure depending on whether the main subject was the Aztecs in black or the Blitz in white. There is a tendency to underexpose with a white subject so I added up to 2/3 extra stop when the subject was mainly the Blitz.

I called the reception photograph “Touchdown!”, this is a bit of artistic licence really because the ball was actually caught on the one-yard line & then run in for a touchdown.

For the first half of the match I used the Canon 100-400mm IS L (with image stabilisation turned off due to ongoing problems). In the second half I used the Sigma 50-500 which is a bit slower at focusing but gives a little more reach.

The Blitz ran out winners with a score of 39 – 20. I really enjoyed the experience & the end results. I will probably look to doing some more American Football when the opportunity arises.