A number of changes

After printing most of my images to sell on a Canon Pro 9500 A3+ printer, its finally been at the repair shop too many times and my patience with it has grown way too thin. As good as the printer is it has developed some kind of feed error and prints the first swathe slightly off and then bands repeatedly throughout the print. Canon showed no interest ( except quoting me approx £180 + VAT for someone to come out to look ) and I had to find alternative means to get it up and running.

With the ink costing a fair chunk of money - £9 for a thimbleful and its also 10 colour - I decided to sell on some equipment that I wasnt using and take the plunge in to something more usable. The 135mm F2 lens for the 5D has gone ( I shed a quiet tear.... ) but I'm now running an Epson 7800.

Being roll fed - 24" - and the inks costing around 4 times as much as the Canon for 20x the amount, its opening up a whole new arena of larger scale prints. As I printed most images at full A3 for max impact, a 24" x 40" has a wow factor the smaller models just can't match.

I also shot my first wedding a few weeks back - I'll post pictures in another post.

Liverpool Piazza Market

Involved in this tomorrow - should be interesting.
Only problem is the weather forecast - whether or not it pours down or just continually drizzles... I'm going to nip over to Argos later to see about a gazebo - dont know whether it'll stand on the paving but its either that or sou'wester and soggy pictures.

Penwortham Gala, Preston

Screaming kids, funfair rides, smell of greasy burgers. Inadvertently released overpriced helium balloons head skywards - cue more screaming.

Ruffs Dog Show - Preston

The world of competitive dog ownership comes to Ashton Park in Preston.
Pooches and partners of all varieties and sizes queue in the sporadic drizzle in front of judges - four eyes yearning for rosettes ( at least I like to think the dogs know whats going on ).
Waggiest tail and shiniest nose clinched, crowds disperse to the tombola raffle and inevitable dog training stalls.

Made in Britain

Not necessarily a statement on the country as a whole, more just elements available to point a lens at.

New images in PAD Gallery Preston

It was about time I changed over old images and refreshed with new at the PAD in Preston. A couple sold from the last submission and hopefully more of these will be taken.

Now we know that swine flu isnt really going to obliterate the population or those kind bankers aren't going to take back all our homes, there is really no excuse not to pick one up and adorn that empty wall space between the pictures of a woman scratching her arse at tennis or dogs playing pool.....

A lot of the photos I've been taking are getting more thematic or series led - I seem to be spending a lot of time at the beach or barren moor - and also playing with off camera flash is a new nightly ritual so picking single images can sometimes be a little difficult.

Week off the treadmill

3 days in the lakes, 1 day at the beach, and 1 at the Museum of Science and Industry.....
It can't be school half term can it?

In this 'economic downturn' or whatever the name is for it this week, I can do what I enjoy best and pull on my boots and go for a walk.