I've photographed this structure before, but it never fails to inspire me: taken while out shooting with Simon Jenkins yesterday morning.

Some days, even though the wind is howling, you're chilled to the bone, and have a headache and a cold, it's worth dragging yourself out. And I'm glad I did today: the light was fantastic.

I've been in Eindhoven for the last couple of days, and haven't had a chance to shoot any new images, so here's one from last weekend: shot while wandering around with Neil Sandbach during a 1-2-1 training day. Neil has posted some great shots from the day so check them out on 500px.com.

This was taken earlier today, underneath Blackpool's Central Pier, about an hour or so before high tide. I was down on the seafront with Neil Sandbach for the first part of his one-to-one training day: shooting in the morning, post-production this afternoon. I got one other shot that I'll post in a day or so and Neil got around four or five that I expect will end up on 500px: at least I hope they will, they were great shots :-)

I was down on Blackpool beach yesterday morning, getting filmed for a short opening video for the press conference I'll be involved in Dubai next month, for the launch of the Sony SLT-A99. The last fifteen seconds were of me setting up this shot. As I was being recorded I wasn't paying quite as much attention as I might normally, but I'm pleased with how this one turned out.

And again, I'm seriously impressed with the A99, it's a very capable camera.

I've posted quite a lot of images of Blackpool's Central Pier, some of which are quite similar to this one, but it's a structure I find myself returning to again and again.

Here's another one from my recent trip out with Andrew Thatcher: the old end of the pier at St. Annes. As always, let me know what you think.

I've also uploaded this one as this week's Mini-PSD as the change between the original and final image is quite dramatic.

This was taken back in September during my Creating Dramatic Images workshop in Blackpool. It's a shot of Blackpool's Central Pier, taken from the North Pier, and while it's not an especially dramatic seascape I do like how it turned out, particularly in terms of the detail in the foreground waves.

captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter image editor plugins (etc) cropped?

3.44pm on 17/9/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 70mm f/3.5 1/1600 aperture priority +1/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none 1x1

This is a shot of one of my favourite structures, the old end of the pier at St. Annes, on the north west coast of England. I've photographed it many times before but this is one of my definite favourites.

I've also added this one as this week's Mini-PSD as the processing was quite interesting, particularly in terms of balancing the left side of the image with the right. If you've taken a look at the original you'll see that the left-hand third is quite a bit darker than the rest of the image. When I took the shot I thought that this would prove to be an interesting aspect of the final image. The more I worked on it though the less I liked it – it just looked wrong, as though I'd added the extra darkness/density on purpose.

Anyway, after a while I realised that it wasn't going to work so reprocessed it to balance both sides. If you're subscribed to the tutorials and download this Mini-PSD you'll see that the first curve is labelled Curves 17, a fair indication of just how long I messed around with this one before deciding on a strategy that would work :)

captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter image editor plugins (etc) cropped?

1.29pm on 20/9/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 24mm f/11.0 1/320 aperture priority +2/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 Topaz Denoise 16x9

This shot was taken during my Creating Dramatic Images workshop last weekend. We'd spent the morning working through a variety of topics but spent most of the afternoon photographing the seafront and North Pier. I'd been shooting the sea, but was glad I turned round in time to grab this shot.

If you're interested, my good mate Craig has posted an alternative version here:

http://www.id7.co.uk/iblog/?p=1473

captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter image editor plugins (etc) cropped?

3.40pm on 17/9/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 70mm f/2.8 1/2000 aperture priority +1/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none no

It's been a while since I posted a shot of the old pier at St. Annes, and while this isn't especially dramatic I do like it.

captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter image editor plugins (etc) cropped?

3.05pm on 26/3/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 57mm f/11.0 1/60 aperture priority -1/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 Topaz Detail minor

This is a follow-up shot to the sky rolled down, taken about five minutes after that one. In this instance, I shot from very low to the ground to capture some of the reflected sky in the water on the beach. Of the two I think I prefer the previous one, but am really pleased with how this one turned out too. Let me know which is your favourite.

Oh, and as we the previous shot I mentioned, this one was also constructed from two originals: one exposed for the sky, and a lighter shot to bring out some of the detail in the foreground.

I'll also be adding this one to our collection of Mini-PSDs, probably at some point tomorrow. It's due to be uploaded on Monday, but as I'll be spending most of the day travelling back to the UK with the kids I think I'll post it a day early.

captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter image editor plugins (etc) cropped?

10.19am on 10/2/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM 35mm f/11.0 1/800 & 1/2000 manual n/a evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none minor

If you followed our games of Photoshop Tennis (which we're planning on resurrecting some time soon) you may remember this image: taken from Blackpool's North pier last October.

And talking of Blackpool ...

I'm heading back to the UK twice over the next few months, and have set aside some dates when I'll be able to provide some one-to-one training, either from our Blackpool office or possibly elsewhere in the UK, on either photography, post-production, or both. Some of the dates have already been booked, but the following are still available:

Thursday 10th February
Friday 11th February
Saturday 12th February (may already be booked)
Sunday 13th February (may already be booked)

Thursday 24th March
Friday 25th March

captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter image editor plugins (etc) cropped?

10.52am on 14/10/10 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 25mm f/8.0 1/160 aperture priority +2/3 evaluative 200 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none minimal

This is a companion shot to this one, a shot of Blackpool Tower, taken on my trip back to the UK in October. In many ways I think I prefer the first shot I posted, but I do like this one too.

On a related note, I'll be using this image for our latest Mini-PSD: the 52nd to be added to the archive since we started including them as part of our tutorials. If you're interested, I'll be uploading it at some point tomorrow morning.

captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter image editor plugins (etc) cropped?

10.52am on 10/10/10 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 24mm f/16.0 1/1000 aperture priority -2 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none 16x9

This is the third and final shot of Blackpool's North Pier that I'll be posting: taken from the south side of the pier. I'm not sure which is my favourite of the three that I've posted, but I do like how this one turned out.

In related news ...

I've added the first image from this short series as our latest Mini-PSD.

captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter image editor plugins (etc) cropped?

9.33am on 14/10/10 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 24mm f/8.0 1/250 aperture priority +2/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none minor transformation

Here's another shot of Blackpool's North Pier, taken a few minutes before my last entry, and in some ways I think I prefer this one. As always though, let me know what you think.

In other news ...

My latest Critique Slot Screencast is now live. These are a part of our online tutorials and are based on an image submitted by one of our members. The basic idea of each screencast is to work through the original image (critiquing the various changes that were made) and then reprocess the image from the original RAW file.

captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter image editor plugins (etc) cropped?

9.04am on 14/10/10 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 70mm f/8.0 1/80 aperture priority +2/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none 16x9

Blackpool's North Pier is probably one of my favourite man-made structures, but since moving to Bulgaria I haven't had quite as many opportunities to photograph it. When I was last back in the UK though (in October) I did get three or four shots that I like, of which this is the first that I'll post. If you're interested, the rest of my shots of the North Pier are here:

.../galleries/north_pier.php

captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter image editor plugins (etc) cropped?

9.11am on 14/10/10 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 27mm f/8.0 1/80 aperture priority +2/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none 2x1

The last few times I've been in Dubai as an instructor at one of the Gulf Photo Plus training events I've managed to grab quite a few shots, either during my shooting workshops, or while out and about with my fellow instructors. This time though (the FotoWeekend event) we've been really busy so I haven't got much to show you other than the two shots that I've already posted ... hence today's image, a shot of a pair of broken sunglasses on Blackpool beach.

That said, I'm heading down to Oman later today for a few day's shooting with Bobbi Lane. We don't have any fixed plans, but I suspect we'll spend time on the beach, down at the Souks, and might take a trip further out to grab a few landscapes. We're travelling for most of today, but I might have something to post by tomorrow evening.

As many of you know, I was back in the UK last month, providing some one-to-one photography and post-production training for Jason Kotecha. We both had a great time, and both got some great shots, but this is the last one I'll be posting; taken moments before we packed up our gear and headed home after a long day's shooting down at St. Annes.

As it was such a great day, I've included all the day's shots below the main image. I hope you enjoy looking through them again as much as I enjoyed shooting and post-producing them.

Coincidentally, Jason posted his last shot today too:

http://www.escapism-online.com/blog-entry.php?pid=288

On a related matter, Jason, Catalin Marin and I have just started a new venture: Photoshop tennis. If you're interested in finding out a bit more about it, and seeing our first game, you can do so here:

http://www.facebook.com/Photoshop.Tennis

The basic idea is that each Friday, at or around 4pm GMT, we'll post three different edits of the same RAW file. Initially, we're going to post all three anonymously, but will let you know who produced each version after a day or so. Our first set of images have already generated some interesting responses :)

I don't think I'll ever tire of photographing this former section of St. Annes pier – it's a wonderful structure. Jason also posted another shot yesterday:

http://www.escapism-online.com/blog-entry.php?pid=280

In other news: I've recoded my templates to make the 'show the original' feature a bit tidier. I've also added the same functionality to the individual pages in my galleries. As best I can tell, it works as it should, but do let me know if you have any problems with. Oh, and my apologies if you're using IE7 or IE6, but IE is such a dog of a browser to code for that I've disabled the feature rather than spend hours trying to write conditional code and CSS to make it work. If you really need to run IE (hint: get Firefox, or Chrome, or any other browser for that matter) then download version 8.

Oh, and I'm also compiling a list of photoblogs that have a 'show the original image' feature that switches one image for another (i.e. I don't mean ones that have the original and processed images both visible at the same time). So far I've come across these ones:

http://movie.leova.com/ (the earliest example I know about)
http://www.escapism-online.com/ (Jason's site)
http://mynicki.net/
http://www.momentaryawe.com/
http://kevoto.com/
http://alangraham.co.uk/

If you know of any others, or are planning on implementing this feature yourself, let me know and I'll update the list.

Update: here are some more blogs that have been drawn to my attention since I posted this entry:

http://www.batailley.net/
http://www.endlessinstant.com/photoblog/
http://www.andreapress.net/
http://dailypicture.v-raven.de/
http://www.butterweck.de/pholog/
http://photoblog.wojciechjarosz.com/