May « 2009 « Blog: Photography by Dan Santillo

May 25, 2009

Night Time Photography

Tags: Brecon Beacons, long exposure, Night Photography, Pen y Fan, stacked images, stacking images, star trail — Dan Santillo @ 10:20 am

I’m tired today. With good reason. I was awake for 22 hours yesterday, I got to bed gone 5am this morning and I’ve had 2.5 hours sleep. But it wasn’t all in vain. I decided my target for this month was to photography Pen y Fan at night to show the rotation of the earth in the form of star trails. So, I drove out to the Neuadd Reservoirs and got there at 9:30pm. I walked half a mile up onto the hill, found a suitable spot and settled down. I balanced my 5D Mark II on a bean bag and rock whilst the 5D got the tripod. I waited until 11:30pm when it was dark enough and set about taking a series of 30 minute exposures. The 5D battery lasted for under 1.5 hours of exposure whereas the 5D Mark II battery lasted for over 4 hours! I left the hill at 4am after taking lots of photos, drinking lots of coffe and getting cold knees. I even dozed off to sleep for a few minutes, but fortunately woke up before the 30 minutes of an exposure was over. I stacked the images in Photoshop this morning. This is the result:

Pen y Fan Star Trails (Canon 5D Mark II) 3 hour exposure

Pen y Fan Star Trails (Canon 5D) 1.5 hour exposure

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May 19, 2009

New Outlet, New Cards, New Printer, Good Brecon Craft Fair

Tags: brecon craft fair, brunel fireworks, Epson R2880, greetings cards, Pontardawe, Pontardawe Post Offce, Royal Albert Bridge, Saltash, saltash fireworks — Dan Santillo @ 10:57 am

The weather has been terrible so I haven’t been out and about since early last week, although when I’ve got stuff I have to do indoors I’m always grateful for bad weather as I don’t feel so bad about not going out. The Brecon Craft Fair was on Saturday and I pulled out all the stops and have done all I can to improve my display. I had 14 framed photos on display in my new frames and it seemed to work. The weather was bad, May is supposedly the worst retail month of the year and there was a small holders’ show in Builth Wells so it was expected to be a bad day for sales. There was often a lot of people around my stall and I even sold a framed photo! This is something I’ve never done at Brecon before, so it was very good. I took twice as much as May last year, so I’ve definitely got it right I think. I should have taken a photo of it really – maybe next month…

The Bookshelf in Saltash is now selling my Brunel fireworks cards. There are 6 different designs and they’re blank inside so if you’re in Saltash, make sure you check them out! They also sell fridge magnets with my fireworks photos on too amongst other products of mine.

Pontardawe Post Office by The Cross will soon be my selling greetings cards (by the end of this week). They’re initially taking 3 different designs of Pontardawe itself to see how it goes. After speaking to someone at the Brecon craft fair, I really decided I need to increase my outlets, so this is very good news.

My trusty Epson R2400 died – this one lasted 18 months (my first lasted 12 months). I think it was due to printing on thick card which damaged the heads as everyone else seems to have Epson printers that have lasted for years. I have now replaced it with the highly regarded Epson R2880, so any orders will now be printed on this fantastic printer.

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May 14, 2009

Fantastic Canvases

Tags: brunel fireworks, Canvas, fireworks, may 2009, Royal Albert Bridge, Saltash, saltash fireworks, Tamar Bridge — Dan Santillo @ 7:20 am

In the Buy section of this site, I sell my photos canvas prints. I’ve just made up a 16×10″ canvas of the Saltash fireworks which looks absolutely stunning! They sell for £38. The canvas is water-resistant and hard wearing. I’ve sold several of this size as they are cheap enough for peoplt to afford but look expensve. Here are some photos of it.

16x10" canvas

Gallery wrap - i.e. the image is wrapped around the edges

The back of the canvas with a hanger that allows it to hang flat against the wall

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May 12, 2009

Oxwich Bay Sunrise

Tags: Gower, oxwich bay, sunrise — Dan Santillo @ 8:41 am

I got up at 4am again this morning and drove to Oxwich Bay. The roads reminded me of 28 Days Later when everything is deserted and no-one’s around – there weren’t any ‘infected’ though, thankfully! It was very cold on the beach even with hat and gloves! The pre-sunrise sky was fantastic though! Once the sun had risen, the light wasn’t great so I went back to the car and was home by 6:30am!

Oxwich Bay (Canon EOS 5D Mark (II)

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May 11, 2009

Three Cliffs Bay

Tags: bluebells, Gower, sunrise, Three Cliffs Bay — Dan Santillo @ 2:35 pm

Since I redesigned my website and applied some Search Engine Optimisation, the number of hits has increased and so has my online sales, which is very good! I had a very nice letter in response to the latest order where the buyer told me how pleased he was with his purchases. It’s always nice when people take time out to tell you they are happier with what you’ve done.

This morning was a very early start – I got up at 4am and drove out to Penmaen where I walked to the cliffs above Three Cliffs Bay with the purpose of photographing the bluebells at sunrise. It was a little breezy and involved climbing part of the way down the cliff and lying on the ground, but I’m happy with the results! I was back home at 6:45am – I had to look after Willow when Paula went to work.

Three Cliffs Bay (Canon EOS 5D Mark II)

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May 5, 2009

Brunel 150 Celebrations

Tags: brunel 150, brunel bridge fireworks, brunel fireworks, Cornwall, fireworks, may 2009, may fair, Royal Albert Bridge, Saltash, saltash fireworks, Tamar Bridge — Dan Santillo @ 11:07 am

I went down to Saltash in Cornwall over the weekend to photograph the steam train going over the Royal Albert Bridge (aka Brunel Bridge). Unfortunately, the steam train was cancelled at the last minute, although I didn’t find out until I’d waited a few hours for it… The fireworks in the evening, however, went ahead and they were some of the best fireworks I’d ever seen! It was also some of the most difficult photography as the fireworks were so intense that it was difficult not to over-expose. I was working with both my 5D and 5D Mark II using a cable release and infrared remote control. Below are a couple of the best. For more, see the special gallery.

Brunel 150 Celebration Fireworks (Canon 5D)

Brunel 150 Celebration Fireworks (Canon 5D Mark II)

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