Another Status Update, Yippee!

I have decided to go all-out and create a new website. The new site will be similar to this blog but with some extras (see this previous post for more details) and a completely new design. I don't have a timeline for when the new website will be ready, but I'm hoping that it'll be done by the end of this month.

Status Update

Hi guys,

I'm thinking about taking this project to the next level. A whole new website rather than just a simple blog. Image series rather than just the random images I'm doing at the minute. I'll still do random images too, but explore ideas more fully. Possibly some video, though I've not really got any ideas for that right now.

I suppose if I do go with this plan, I should work on promoting it. Other than the occasional post to Twitter, I've done zero promotional work for the blog. In fact, I kept so quiet about it that only one family member has seen it and I refused to tell her the address (she forgot it after seeing it on-screen). I wanted to see if it would grow organically without any interference. While the visitor numbers aren't spectacular, it has amazed me to see people from from all corners of the planet show up on my visitors map (I use Google Analytics for visitor tracking).

I still need to think this through properly (the idea only came to me 10 minutes ago). If anyone has any ideas, your comments are always welcome.

In other news, the 'Verge of LA' book is almost finished. I'm not sure when the website (vergeofla.com) will start updating again. I'll make a new post once the book is ready and the site is back up and running.

Cheers,
John (in the UK).

P.S. I'm going to need a new name for the blog/site if I'm going to start a new domain. 'alackofimagination.com' is available but it's too cumbersome for my liking. Any ideas?

Red Light and Blue

In Lights - Full View

Major computer problems have put my projects on hold temporarily, here's the unzoomed/uncropped version of "In Lights". I'm not sure which version I prefer.

Hollywood and Vine

In Lights

Downtown

My friend Lance told me that lots of people claim that LA doesn't have a downtown area. It does exist, I was there. I can't wait to go back.

Gate to Nowhere

Yellow Submarine, Now in 3D

Yellow Submarine

Hope in Nineteen Eighty-Four

Two days ago I said that I wouldn't post any more LA images for a while. That didn't last long did it? The next image won't be LA based, I promise. Probably...

Dodger City

A view of Downtown LA from the car park outside Dodger Stadium (with a taxi driving through the shot). I think this will be the last of the LA images for a little while. I'll probably drop more some in here and there, but I'll get back to more random subjects from now on.

Neon Drive-by

Taken on the way back to Lance's pad after watching the LA Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds.

Running the Light Gauntlet

Another photo that was taken a journey back to Altadena after a cool drive from one end Sunset Blvd to the other. Here's the first Sunset trip photo that I posted.

It's been too long since the last update, hopefully this makes up for it. Two new images and a site redesign.

Verge of an update

Hi guys,

Sorry for the lack of updates in the last couple of weeks, I've been very busy with another project. I'm pleased to introduce Verge of LA. It's a website (and soon to be a book) featuring some pretty cool stories, videos and pictures. Please do check it out and all feedback is greatly appreciated.

I'll be back with new images for the blog very soon.

Cheers,
John (in the UK).

www.vergeofla.com

Downtown Rainbow

The original photo from this image was taken in Downtown LA. This is an area I want to explore more next time, I only made a brief stop on my last visit. If anyone would like to spot me the airfare, please don't hesitate...

Feathered Friends

I'm not sure if I like this image or not, but I think there's something there. The original photo was taken in Chinatown, Los Angeles. The missiles are kindly provided by the Iranian government. They are kind folks...

Venice Sunset

Here's a shot of Venice Beach that I took after a great drive along Sunset Boulevard. If you ever find yourself in LA, I suggest taking the same trip. You start in Downtown LA and end up at the Pacific Ocean. From here, you can take the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu in one direction and Santa Monica and Venice in the other direction.

Union Station

Here is the main entrance to Union Station, Los Angeles. It's a very cool building, great architecture. I have more photos from the station that will probably find their way onto the site in one form or another.

NoHo Metro

This image is of the North Hollywood Metro station. I think it was my favourite metro station, though Hollywood & Vine was cool with it's film reel walls.

Through the Looking Holes

I wasn't too happy with the image I posted yesterday so I thought I'd try a different background photo. Let me introduce you to the maker of the best breakfasts in all of LA, Chef Jeff! Jeff can be found at the Coffee Gallery in Altadena. I highly recommend the Cloud Nine omelette.

Hooray!

Altadena Palms

Here's a photo of four palm trees in Altadena, California. You don't get sky like that (or palm trees) where I live.

Blind Baseball

Here's a Dodgers bat, ball and glove keyring that I bought at Dodgers Stadium a couple of weeks ago.

You might notice an American theme on here for a while. I have no idea how long it'll last.

Retro USA

To me, this image screams USA as shown in movies from, let's say, the 1950s maybe through to the 70s. It's what I used to picture in my head as a child when I'd image what America looked like.

Smiles in the Night

This photo was taken a journey back to Altadena after a cool drive from one end Sunset Blvd to the other. If I had to guess, I'd say this photo was shot somewhere in Pasadena, but don't quote me on that.

Light Race

This image was captured on the freeway going through downtown Los Angeles. I am now in Runcorn. This is not a situation I am happy with...

Two Faced

Spotted from my flight between Manchester and Chicago. I was somewhere over Canada at the time, possibly Newfoundland. When I took the photo I only spotted the central face, can you see the other?

More photos to come over the next few days/weeks/months (I have 660 from my trip, although a chunk of those were multiple "safety" photos).

Oh, I'm back from L.A. now, in case you hadn't guessed.

I'm on Holiday

Hi Folks,

There will (probably) be no updates for the next two weeks as I'll be out of the country.

There's a chance that I'll be able to update while I'm away, but I wouldn't bank on it.

Cheers,
John in the UK.

Window Motion

As with the previous image, this photo has had a little colour adjustment but that's it. What you see is pretty much what came out of the camera.

Green Motion

This was a photo taken with my digital camera. The only thing I've done to it is a little colour adjusting.

Wall of Evil

Lies

Three images in one evening, I spoil myself. Well, the first one was more a tech experiment that anything else I suppose.

The idea for this image came about when I was searching for a quote to use on the previous image. I had planned on writting something on the floor but couldn't find anything appropriate. I found the quote from Robin Green and I thought "that's crap". I had planned on making an image using just that quote until I stumbled upon the quote from Roosevelt and it seemed to fit perfectly.

Right of Target

Remoteness

This image was created because I wanted to play around with the macro function on my camera. I then decided that I wanted to have another play around with mixing black and white with colour.

Sorry for the lack of updates this week. I have been trying to sort out a new template for the blog but things never quite work as I want them to. You may have noticed a new template was online this past week but it was broken (the sidebar wasn't playing nice). I left it up while I worked on fixing it but I couldn't find out what was causing the problem. I've put the old template back up for now as I'm fed up with trying the fix the new one. I might try and create another new one in a week or so, we'll see.

Brisk Morning Walk

I'm back! Hopefully I'll have more over the weekend as I recover from my "Man Cold".

New images delayed

Hi guys,

Just a quick note to say that there has been a delay in updating the site this week. I had major computer issues last week which came to a head at the weekend. My graphic card and RAM died leaving my with a useless PC. Both have been replaced now though and I am back up and running.

Now that my PC is working again (albeit slowly while I wait for extra RAM to be delivered), I am ill. Nothing serious, but it has wiped out most of my energy. Hopefully I will be better soon and there should be a new image on the site in a day or two.

Cheers,
John.

Under Surveillance

Ever get the feeling you are being watched?

I recommend clicking on this image to see the larger size. I don't think it works as well in the smaller blog size.

Budding Photographer

Which is better, the red (above) or the orange (below)?


When viewing the large versions of the images, I prefer the orange. However, I prefer the red when viewing the small images. Hmm...

Sheepish Visitor

Is the text clear enough in this image? I'm not sure if it's completely readable at the small blog size.

Black and white is better than colour, apparently...

I think I messed up the corner curls a little but I ran out of time so there we go. Damn those stinking rules. Which idiot came up with them?

The title of this post is inspired by my new favourite movie podcast, Edge of the Frame. Take a listen, you might like it.

Caption competition

I struggled to come up with anything good for the captions in this image. Does anyone have any better ideas?

It is what it is

From Wikipedia...
In philosophy, quiddity is identity or "whatness," i.e., something's "what it is."

Ghostly Wii

Apologies for the day late update. I hope you enjoy the picture. If you don't enjoy the picture, then you are a heartless robot, or something to that effect.

Jungle Vision

I love using manually creating things instead of just creating them completely from scratch in photoshop. Any ideas how the "jungle" texture was done? The answer is hidden in this post.

Defiant to the End

Pure Evil?

I decided to try and make an image for use in a children's book. I have no book to go with this or any future images however. Maybe I should make one. Maybe not. I could cause some serious mental problems, best steer clear of that idea.

Does anyone else think that the birds look pretty damn evil? Especially the first bird with the evil eyes... (you might need to click through to the larger image to appreciate the evilness)

Floating Screen

Here's another image I captured while playing around with the exposure settings on my camera. I'm a big fan of the way it conveys movement in a still frame. Also, I really like the ghosting effect it gives.

I'll move onto something else soon, I promise.

Template changes needed?

I think I need to revamp the blog template. Some sort of navigational aid is needed to make it easier to find images. I'm thinking that I might add a 3rd column and put mini-thumbnails. More fingernail than thumbnail. I could also add the rules and maybe a brief summary of aims (even though there are no specific aims).

My fear is that adding an extra column could cause problems for people that are using low resolution monitors

Maybe I should add the fingernails as a bar below the header image.

Does anyone have any better ideas?

Jedi Nephew

Gervais in Motion

I was playing around with my camera last night. I got this image while testing out the exposure times.

I've made the image in the post link to a larger version. If anyone wants me to do the same to the previous images, let me know.

Messy Shadows

I'm not sure what it is that I like about this photo. I think it's either the lighting or the colours, maybe a bit of both.

Confusion

Evolution: Help Needed

Well, I did say that I might try something completely different. Sorry about the low reward but I'm saving for a holiday. I'm sure you'll be able to make some extra cash should you manage to find the missing link. Good luck to one and all.

P.S. I'm much happier with this image than the last two. I still can't decide whether or not I like them (Dashing Flyby and Neon Curves).

Dashing Flyby

I think I'm done with this almost abstract graphic style for now. I might have another play around with drawing on top of photographs next time. Then again, I might try something completely different. We'll have to see where the mood takes me.