*DaveMc

For my entire life I've had all the artistic talent of a blind, thumbless monkey. My solution to this problem has been a simple one - I bought a camera. Still, there is a large part of me that still really wants to learn to draw.

So, does anyone out there in DA Land have any suggestions on a good way to go about doing this? Should I take a class, buy a book, take a walk down to the crossroad at midnight or just stick with the monkey-cam?

Dave

I recently discovered that Kodak have decided, at last, to discontinue my favourite film, HIE High Speed Infrared. This finally pushed me into sending my Nikon D100 off to be upgraded to full-time infrared. This has been the best thing I've done in ages - a whole new style to play with.

I'm also extremely pleased to have a Daily Deviation for the image . I'm just delighted with the recognition, and the chance to get my work in front of more eyeballs.

Thanks to for the suggestion and to everyone for their kind comments so far.

Dave

As I'm primarily a lightpainter, I do a lot of work in dark studios, and as a result, trip over things a lot. In an effort to reduce this laughter-inducing behaviour I built a radio shutter release for my camera. My models are now less entertained, but I'm that little bit more efficient, and slightly less bruised.

DIY Radio Shutter Release instructions on McAleavy.org

Well, I finally got round to writing the lightpainting tutorial I've been meaning to do for ages. While I was taking this image of Jay I shot some behind-the-scenes setting-up type shots to try and illustrate the process. You'll find the page here:

Lightpainting Tutorial on McAleavy.org

I’ve decided to have a go at making some albumen prints, so I spent the evening breaking eggs and separating the white from the yolk. Having witnessed the fate of a good dozen of its fellows, one egg made a valiant and slippery bid for freedom, flew across the kitchen and attempted to hide in a cupboard. This resulted in a considerable amount of swearing and the unscheduled washing of a stack of plates. The egg did not survive.