The morning after we got back from our trip to the Black Sea coast, Tabby, our three year old got up and said, "can you push me on the swing?" "What swing?" She looked at me as though I was stupid, and said "The swing on holidays!" I did try to explain that it was rather a long way away, but she wasn't especially impressed with my answer.

And I did try to produce a slightly less sugary-sweet version, but ended up going with this one as she does look quite cute :)

In other news: WeeklyShot is back after a two year hiatus. Here's how Brandon Stone (WeeklyShot's founder) describes it:

"WeeklyShot is a different kind of group photoblog and photo challenge. Every week we announce a new theme, then photographers interpret this theme and upload their own photos in response. During the week users critique the images and decide which ones get featured on our homepage photoblog for all to see.

WeeklyShot is a small community that is invite only. If you would like to request an invite, just contact Brandon (the guy in charge) and he'll put you on the waiting list. Also, if you send a link to examples of your photography, there's a better chance of getting in."

If you're interested in taking part, you can request an invite from Brandon here, or just ask me – I have quite a few invites available too.

It's definitely a lot of fun, and the feedback you receive on your images, particularly in terms their relevance to each week's theme, is nearly always helpful and constructive. In short, I'd definitely recommend you give it a try.

Oh, and don't be put off by the pig's head if it's still at the top of the home page ;)

This is a shot of Harmony, taking some time out from splashing around the pool.

We've spent the last week on the Black Sea coast, staying in an apartment in Elenite. It was a great week, but after a week of swimming, making sure that the younger kids didn't fall in the pool, and everything else that goes on during a family holiday, Libby and I are now seriously in need of a rest :)

As for this shot: it's Camilla (left), Harmony (right) and Rhowan (almost visible in the middle) playing in the pool, and is one of five portraits that I'll be posting over the next week or so.

For those of you who have been following our Photoshop Tennis games on Facebook (more of which below), my apologies – you've already seen this one, but I thought I'd blog it too as a) it is sufficiently different from the other 'desert tracks' shots that I posted at the end of last year (here, here, here, and here), and b) I really like the way it turned out.

And if you haven't had a chance yet, take a look at our Photoshop Tennis page. The basic idea, as I've already mentioned, is that the participants (myself, Jason Kotecha, Catalin Marin, Miles Storey, and Kathleen Connally) all produce a version of the same RAW file. We then post our versions anonymously (on Friday) and ask people to speculate about who produced each version, and which one(s) they prefer. We then post the details of who produced each version on Tuesday.

If you're interested, Game 1 is here, and Game 2 is here. We'll be posting the next set of images on Friday.

In other news, I'll be away from first thing tomorrow until the 24rd of this month, and won't have internet access until I get back. Look out for some new shots from the 25th onwards :)

This is a shot of Finley, our almost five year old son. He's grown up a lot since he was featured on the cover of my first photography book; Baby Photography Now :)

Every image tells a story.

As I mentioned when I posted my previous entry, 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 – and you can speculate about who produced which version, let us know which you prefer, and so on. On Tuesdays (i.e. today) we'll let you know who created each version.

Anyway, my reason for mentioning it again is that I was looking through my images for ones that we could use for this week's game (which starts on Friday), and came across this shot. It was taken while I was out in Dubai this February, while out shooting with Catalin and Robin Nichols. In the end though, we decided to go with a different image so I thought I'd blog this one today.

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 :)

There are times when the idea of having a photoblog where I don't actually say anything about any of the images I post seems quite appealing. It's not that I don't like talking about most of them, but every once in a while I realise that I really don't have anything much to say. This is a good example; it's just a feather; stuck in the sand.

This is the fourth and final shot in this small series, and in some ways it's my favourite of the four; mostly I think because the effect of the wire is a lot more subtle in this one. As I'd be interested to hear which is your favourite, rather than link to the other three, I've included them below this one. Let me know what you think.

In other news; I've reverted the blog back to the black theme ... for the time being at least :)