Snow, the moon, and the usual ice...

One of the dominant topics in the UK for the last month has been the weather.  The arrival of snow seems to paralyse this nation - we're never ready for it, we can't cope with it, and we like to grumble about it as much as possible.  The cul-de-sac that we live on is located on a slope, so even the smallest hint of wintery weather can have a big impact on the residents.  Luckily, the residents in our cul-de-sac are pretty public-spirited when it comes to crappy weather, which is why I've now got many more hours of snow-shovelling experience under my belt!

Having the snow on the ground can present some great photo opportunities, but only if the weather plays ball.  We've all seen some beautiful snowscapes, with virgin snow shining brightly under a blue sky.  This doesn't happen in Stoke On Trent.  Overcast skies and dirty snow are the norm here when it comes to winter!  But there are a couple of residents who enjoy running around in the snow - Lucy and Lola, who seem to relish in exploring their winter wonderland.  Or at least they do until they get bored and trudge back inside to the warm!

Regular readers will know that I have a fascination with photographing the moon.  Before Christmas I picked up a Tamron 500mm f8 reflector mirror lens, something that I've had no experience of before, and I thought I'd try it out with a moonshot.  On the plus side, the 500mm lens gives a larger image of the moon, which is a definite bonus.  However, the notion that the lens needs an adaptor to fit onto my Nikon D90 means that no matter how sharply I set the manual focus, it'll never be as sharp as a dedicated Nikon lens.

I'm still pretty pleased with the results I can get from it, and maybe there's something in my method that I could adjust to get better results, but compare the above shot to this one that I took with a Nikon 70-300mm lens on the same camera:

One day I'll take the perfect moonshot, but until then....


The hockey season continues on throughout the winter months, what with it being a winter sport.  So as per usual I've been pointing my lens at the action and hoping to capture some moments worth capturing.  Yolanda, Lauren and myself are getting more coverage these days, with a new avenue having recently opened up - the Manchester Evening News are carrying match reports in their print edition, so we've managed to get our photos in print.  Which is nice!

Shooting the hockey is still as enjoyable as ever, and so long as it remains enjoyable then I'll carry on doing it!

Thanks for reading!