I have started work on a few websites in the past but time constraints and other factors have meant that I haven't made as much of a presence on the web as I would have liked.
The first of my websites was created using Microsoft Front Page back in about 2001 and was a simple site devoted to some of my hobbies at the time (model making, roleplaying games, programming and mathematics). The site was hosted by an ISP called lineone that I was with, however they were taken over by Tiscali and I switched providers so unfortunately have been unable to update it for a number of years but it's still around and I do still receive comments about it.
My second attempt at a website was started after I became involved in uploading photographs to stock agencies on the web and so continued the theme of my hobbies but concentrated on just two: Programming and Photography. Even though the scope of the website was smaller than the previous one time commitments prevented me from completing the site but now that I have some extra impetus from this blog I have decided to start updating it again after a couple of years break.
The extra impetus for updating my second site came not only from this blog but also from a third website that I started and completed during April 2009. I came across an online web editor called SiteMaker via a friend and decided to give it a go making a small site to promote my photographs. The site became ShaneKennedyPhotography and was very enjoyable and easy to prepare.
Links to my three sites are here:
http://website.lineone.net/~s_kennedy/
http://www.dpw-shane.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk
http://shanekennedyphotography.webeden.co.uk
I'll add links to online galleries and stock photo sites later,
Shane
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Queen - Some More Digital Art by Shane Kennedy
Computers, Photography, Digital Art...is this blog too geeky/nerdy/anoraky to be considered interesting?
Oh well, this is the second in what may (possibly) become a semi-regular feature showing off some digital art that I have created.
This is another piece of work that was created for the "Faces" competition back in 2003 (see my other blog post called Facedown). It's a surreal piece of art that shows a couple of Queen of Spades playing cards with the face of one of them removed and floating away. When I created it I didn't have any reason for the face being detached like that it just sort of happened and I liked the result. No playing cards were harmed in the making of this picture it was all done by combining two photographs and using Adobe Photoshop to cut out the face.
Hope some of you like it and more later,
Shane
More about me...and Computers
I am very much a child of the computer generation. I got my first computer as a Christmas present in 1982; I was 9 years old at the time and so, obviously, wanted it primarily to play games. I consider myself lucky to have been around in a time when the games machines were still computers rather than just consoles. I mean by that that the computer I received (a Commodore Vic-20) had a full keyboard and built in BASIC language so that it could be used for so much more than just playing games including learning how to program (unlike today's Playstations, Wii's and X-Boxes).
In fact at that age I couldn't afford to purchase new games very often but I came across magazines such as Computer and Video Games (C&VG) that included pages of game and application code created by the readers. With a bit of effort buying one magazine could provide the same excitement as buying three or four commercial games. I used to spend hours sat in front of the computer typing in the code (with one finger). Most of the time the games worked first time and were enjoyable but occasionally I'd get to the end of the listing only to find that the game wouldn't run due to a syntax error or that it didn't play properly due to a mistake in the code. Most boys my age would probably have given up at that point but I was the type of child to sit down and try to work out why it didn't work - could I find something in the listing that looked wrong or could I find a similar piece of code in another listing?
It was this sort of thing that gave me a background in programming although, just like photography, it's a hobby not my job. I have some small programs online for download that I will link to in future posts; some of them are not finished as I don't get as much time to devote to the pastime as I used to but they are still available if anybody is interested.
I've dabbled in several languages over the 26 years that I've owned and used computers including Commodore BASIC, AMOS, C, Visual Basic, Delphi and Biltz Basic (I suppose the latter three are the ones that I've been the most fluent with though).
My computers have included the Commodore Vic-20 mentioned above as well as a Commodore C-64, Amiga 500, Amiga 1200, several PCs and a couple of laptops. I have also experienced friends and relatives owning Sinclair Spectrums, BBC model Bs, Atari 800s, Amstrad 464s, Sega Megadrives, Nintendo DS's and Nintendo Wiis.
Shane
In fact at that age I couldn't afford to purchase new games very often but I came across magazines such as Computer and Video Games (C&VG) that included pages of game and application code created by the readers. With a bit of effort buying one magazine could provide the same excitement as buying three or four commercial games. I used to spend hours sat in front of the computer typing in the code (with one finger). Most of the time the games worked first time and were enjoyable but occasionally I'd get to the end of the listing only to find that the game wouldn't run due to a syntax error or that it didn't play properly due to a mistake in the code. Most boys my age would probably have given up at that point but I was the type of child to sit down and try to work out why it didn't work - could I find something in the listing that looked wrong or could I find a similar piece of code in another listing?
It was this sort of thing that gave me a background in programming although, just like photography, it's a hobby not my job. I have some small programs online for download that I will link to in future posts; some of them are not finished as I don't get as much time to devote to the pastime as I used to but they are still available if anybody is interested.
I've dabbled in several languages over the 26 years that I've owned and used computers including Commodore BASIC, AMOS, C, Visual Basic, Delphi and Biltz Basic (I suppose the latter three are the ones that I've been the most fluent with though).
My computers have included the Commodore Vic-20 mentioned above as well as a Commodore C-64, Amiga 500, Amiga 1200, several PCs and a couple of laptops. I have also experienced friends and relatives owning Sinclair Spectrums, BBC model Bs, Atari 800s, Amstrad 464s, Sega Megadrives, Nintendo DS's and Nintendo Wiis.
Shane
Monday, 27 April 2009
Facedown...Or Is That Up?
Just before I continue posting my background into the world of photography and hobbies I thought I'd take a small break and say a little bit about the picture that is attached to my profile (also shown here to the left).The picture was originally entitled "Facedown...or is that up?" but has recently been shortened to just "Facedown". It shows the back of a playing card but with a photograph of my face superimposed on it. I was trying to make an effect that looked like an anguished face trying to burst out of the card and spent a lot of time trying to warp the detail of the card around the contours of my face.
It was orginally created the image for a photography competition entitled "Faces" but I didn't win anything with it. I have uploaded it to a few websites including my own and have adopted it as a kind of avatar on sites such as Facebook and a couple of online forums.
I'll try to post other pictures and brief details like this from time to time but tomorrow will probably return to introducing myself, Shane.
More about me...and Photography
I was used to having cameras around the house from an early age through my dad but, even though I borrowed his Pentax and Praktica cameras often, I didn't really get the photography bug until 2001 when I purchased a second hand Kodak DC-265 digital camera. I know the purists amongst you will be aghast at that but I was always a child of the computer generation and so when I got the opportunity to own a camera that would bring together photography and computers I took it with both hands (so to speak).
The "instant" results and not having to pay for processing of the film really gave me the impetus to go out (or even stay in) and try new things. As an amateur with a film camera I would never have spent hours taking pictures of flowers in the garden from different angles or using different aperture settings because I couldn't afford to buy the films and pay for the processing. But with a digital camera I could experiment with all of the camera settings without it costing me money. I started uploading to some web based galleries (such as pbase and ePhotozine) and brushed up on my photo-manipulation skills shortly afterwards.
In 2003, after a couple of years of use, the 1.6 megapixel camera wasn't producing high enough quality files for me and the prices of more advanced cameras had substantially reduced so I bought myself a Sony DSC-F717 digital 'bridge' camera. The 5mp sensor and much higher quality pictures impressed me and I increased my photo presence on the web by uploading work and being accepted as a contributor by iStockPhoto. Since then I bought a Sony Alpha 100 DSLR, then upgraded to a SOny Alpha 350 DSLR and joined many more Stock Photo Agencies that I will detail in other posts and that feature on my websites.
I have photographed a few weddings for friends and done some formal potrait work but my main interests are just taking natural, unposed, photographs of anything that I like the look of and experimenting both in camera and on the computer. As I upload photos to this blog and if you visit my websites (more of which later) you will notice that very few of them contain people, I'm not adverse to taking pictures containing people but it's hard to find willing models and very easy to find nature and architecture (flowers, landscapes and buildings are always available).
I don't claim to be any good at photography and I certainly can't explain every little detail about camera features or composition etc. but I enjoy taking pictures and have sold a few in the past so hopefully I'm doing something right...and if not well I'm still having fun and isn't that the important thing?
More later,
Shane
The "instant" results and not having to pay for processing of the film really gave me the impetus to go out (or even stay in) and try new things. As an amateur with a film camera I would never have spent hours taking pictures of flowers in the garden from different angles or using different aperture settings because I couldn't afford to buy the films and pay for the processing. But with a digital camera I could experiment with all of the camera settings without it costing me money. I started uploading to some web based galleries (such as pbase and ePhotozine) and brushed up on my photo-manipulation skills shortly afterwards.
In 2003, after a couple of years of use, the 1.6 megapixel camera wasn't producing high enough quality files for me and the prices of more advanced cameras had substantially reduced so I bought myself a Sony DSC-F717 digital 'bridge' camera. The 5mp sensor and much higher quality pictures impressed me and I increased my photo presence on the web by uploading work and being accepted as a contributor by iStockPhoto. Since then I bought a Sony Alpha 100 DSLR, then upgraded to a SOny Alpha 350 DSLR and joined many more Stock Photo Agencies that I will detail in other posts and that feature on my websites.
I have photographed a few weddings for friends and done some formal potrait work but my main interests are just taking natural, unposed, photographs of anything that I like the look of and experimenting both in camera and on the computer. As I upload photos to this blog and if you visit my websites (more of which later) you will notice that very few of them contain people, I'm not adverse to taking pictures containing people but it's hard to find willing models and very easy to find nature and architecture (flowers, landscapes and buildings are always available).
I don't claim to be any good at photography and I certainly can't explain every little detail about camera features or composition etc. but I enjoy taking pictures and have sold a few in the past so hopefully I'm doing something right...and if not well I'm still having fun and isn't that the important thing?
More later,
Shane
Sunday, 26 April 2009
Google Adsense
Sorry guys but I've just signed up to Google Adsense. Hopefully the ads won't be too intrusive but some of them will appear on this blog. I'll also be adding (no pun intended) them to another website of mine in due course.
If the ads do seem to be intrusive I have the option of disabling them but it'll probably help to keep me interested in this blog and so will be better for my viewers in the long run.
More posts with some substance later,
Shane
If the ads do seem to be intrusive I have the option of disabling them but it'll probably help to keep me interested in this blog and so will be better for my viewers in the long run.
More posts with some substance later,
Shane
First Post
Well I've just signed up at blogger.com (fairly obvious since you're reading this!!) and this is my first post.
I suppose like almost everybody else that has signed up here and created a post this first post will be an introduction to the world of blogging.
My instincts as a hobbyist programmer are screaming to make a post that says "Hello World" but I'll refrain from that as this blog is supposedly going to be about my attempts at photography and digital art (although programming may well be introduced at some point).
For now let me just introduce myself and there'll be more later.
My name is Shane Kennedy, I'm from Yorkshire in the United Kingdom and I'm a (very) amateur photographer and digital artist (although I also have a full time day job that is completely unrelated).
More later,
Shane
I suppose like almost everybody else that has signed up here and created a post this first post will be an introduction to the world of blogging.
My instincts as a hobbyist programmer are screaming to make a post that says "Hello World" but I'll refrain from that as this blog is supposedly going to be about my attempts at photography and digital art (although programming may well be introduced at some point).
For now let me just introduce myself and there'll be more later.
My name is Shane Kennedy, I'm from Yorkshire in the United Kingdom and I'm a (very) amateur photographer and digital artist (although I also have a full time day job that is completely unrelated).
More later,
Shane
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