Joe McElderry projected on Town Hall

South Shields’ X Factor finalist Joe McElderry had his image projected onto South Shields Town Hall yesterday evening before ITV’s “X Factor” was broadcast to the nation. The South Shields student is one of the hot favourites to win ITV’s annual talent show and the whole town is now backing him to become a major star and this series of images were projected to encourage locals to remember to vote for him to ensure his continued success.

Click picture to enlarge.

Remember my latest daily image postings are now available at South Shields Daily Pictures.

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Dawn at Seaburn

This week’s well deserved pick from those submitted by the members of Curly’s Corner Shop Message Board is this wonderful early morning shot taken just down the road from South Shields. It was taken by South Shields Man Brian Riley, and I think it’s a wonderful local shot to show the world.

Camera info: NIkon D90, 18mm lens, 1/30 second, f16, iso 100

See South Shields Daily Pictures for my latest works.

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Come and see South Shields in a new light

Since moving my daily picture posts on to a new free host at Animus3 I’ve been astonished at the reception, the interest, the leap in page views, and the plaudits. Aminus3 hosts thousands of similar photoblogs in hundreds of countries around the world, yet in a few short months their editors have twice chosen to put my pictures of South Shields in their daily “spotlight” which highlights the “interesting and the extraordinary”. I’m a little taken aback to be honest. Additionaly my pictures of South Shields have also been featured on their front page twice too.

If you haven’t done so already, why not go to South Shields Daily Pictures and see what all the fuss is about.

I’m a South Shields bloke, proud to live in South Shields, I love the place and enjoy showing off it’s best bits to the rest of the world. The photoblog has the traditional ease of navigation (left to go backwards and right to go forwards, and top of the page to see the whole lot in thumbnails) which makes the site very easy to use and find your way around. If you like what you see, please be kind enough to consider leaving a comment.

This week I have been showing Remembrance Day pictures and these will be followed by fireworks – enjoy!

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False bay/Black point, Eyres Peninsula, South Australia

I’ve chosen this picture from those contributed from the members of Curly’s Corner Shop Message Board this week, it was submitted by Cheryl Abrahamson and depicts False bay/Black point in South Australia near where she lives in Whyalla. I chose it because it is so synonymous with the coast line around South Shields, Marsden, and Whitburn.

According to Cheryl this location is one of around three breeding grounds around the world for the giant cuttlefish and lies about 40 minutes drive from her home town. To me, it does not look that far removed from Whitburn beach!

The picture was taken on Cheryl’s Nokia mobile phone.

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I saw three ships/boats

I have decided to choose this picture from those submitted by the members of Curly’s Corner Shop Message Board (which now hosts over 188,000 posts), it was taken by local businessman John France at Lake Windermere in the Lake District, hoping that he doesn’t mind me pushing his original through Photoshop to create this composite.

Of  his original shot John said:

“I took this picture in the fog on the edge of Lake Windermere at White Cross Bay, I took a few pics from the shore but for this one  I walked to the end of a jetty and I found the effect of only the boats and the water in the pic all the more peaceful.
White Cross Bay is very popular for kayaks and other water sports but fortunately for me it was quite early in the day
and the lake was calm and mirror like,which helped the atmosphere of the photograph enormously.
I almost forgot I took the pic on my mobile phone (nokia 97) goes to show how much mobile technology has come, don’t you think ?”

We certainly agree John, but hope the shock of this new look doesn’t cause too much upset.

Camera details: Nokia N97, 5.4mm lens, 1/1000 second, f2.8, iso100

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To see my latest work please go to South Shields Daily Pictures where we are currently in the middle of a series of giant American trucks from a circus that visited South Shields recently.

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South Shields lad set for stardom

18 year old Joe McElderry from Westoe, South Shields has been setting the world alight after his performances on television’s X Factor, the programme created to create new stars of the future. Joe is the big market mover amongst the punters willing to gamble on his winning the talent show, where he is mentored by Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole, he has been backed down from 12/1 to 4/1 to win the contest.

In the second live show young Joe sang “Where do broken hearts go” after advice from Witney Houston, here’s the video of his performance

The windows of Joe’s parents’ house are covered in posters advising people to get on the telephone and VOTE FOR JOE!

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The Blacksmith

This week’s contribution from the members of Curly’s Corner Shop Message Board, the busiest online forum in South Shields with over 185,000 posts, comes from Lolita (known as Danet) who resides in Victoria, Australia.

The picture of the blacksmith was taken at the historical Mont De Lancey in Wandin (Yarra Ranges of Victoria).

Courses in Blacksmithing are done here, with accredited certificates. Lolita adds:

“It was a lovely day viewing the whole estate, then to come in from the cold damp raining spring day, into the blacksmith workshop with the fires going, all toasty and warm where I took this photo.”

The Mont De Lancey Blacksmithing Group comprises over 50 enthusiasts who meet every weekend at the authentic Mont De Lancey Blacksmith Shop.The aim is to keep the blacksmithing craft alive by demonstrating and sharing the knowledge and skills of forging with hammer and anvil. The highlight of each year is the annual Australian Blacksmith Convention. The event sees blacksmiths from all over Australia come to Mont De Lancey to display their unique skills and tools for all to enjoy.

Mont De Lancy Blacksmithing Group

Camera details: Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3, 28mm lens, 1/8 second, f33, iso 200

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To keep up to date with Curly’s latest photographic work please see South Shields Daily Pictures.

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Edinburgh Buildings

Photo shop – get it?

The Edinburgh Buildings are on the corner of King Street, South Shields and include a photo processing shop on the ground floor where you can take your cd-rom, memory card, usb stick etc. to have your photos printed, ideal for a bit of heavy photo processing I thought, so off I went and got to work on it.

This image originally came from three separate ,jpg files (bracketed at two stop intervals) and they were processed as an HDR (High Dynamic Range) in Photomatix, before the result was sent to Photoshop to have a few extra layers and a mask added, to finish it off I flattened the image and did a bit of dodging and burning in the sky. Cool, I thought – Photo-shop!

What do you think?

Having made one or two HDRs now I’m almost hooked, so I’ll be featuring a few of them shortly in South  Shields Daily Pictures where you can catch up with my latest work.

Camera details: Pentax K100D, 28mm lens, 1/125 second, f8, iso 200

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Red sky at night

A wonderful red sunset sky captured by 49 year old South Shields man Brian Riley, showing the view of the few remaining cranes at work on the River Tyne at Aker McNulty Marine in Commercial Road, South Shields.

Brian’s well captured picture was my favourite amongst those submitted by the members of Curly’s Corner Shop Message Board last week (a forum for Sanddancers and ex-pats which now hosts more than 185,000 posts!)

Camera details; Canon D90, 200mm lens, 1/40 second, f5.3, iso 200

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To stay up to date with my latest work please go to South Shields Daily Pictures, currently showing the story of the 2009 BUPA Great North Run.

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Uncle Sam’s American Circus

The Big Top has just gone up and the circus is in town with huge big trucks and trailers camped on the Bents Park in South Shields. These guy ropes are anchored to some of the huge big American trucks as the big tent went up.

Camera details: Pentax K100D, 28mm lens, 1/500 second, f6.7, iso 200

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This photoblog is no longer updated daily, to see my latest work please go to South Shields Daily Pictures.

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