Richard Mackney

Creative Technologist

Photography

Visiting Devon

Devon is a massive County! As a family we visit on a yearly basis and there's still many areas we haven't yet travelled to. It's hard to resist the old favourites and it's interesting to see how they change each year - Croyde for example has become such a tourist hot spot and is becoming pretty crowded since we first discovered it's charms in the mid nineties. This year our base was once again in … [Read more...] about Visiting Devon

Thornbridge Hall Garden Party 2013

Sunday saw the 11th Annual Charity Garden Party at Thornbridge Hall and it was the 4th time visiting for us. The first year I concentrated on creating images with my SLR but then I got lazy and now just use my iPhone. Although it's a garden party, the actual hall is open to the public for the day and it's a great opportunity to have a quick peek at the modern restoration. It's … [Read more...] about Thornbridge Hall Garden Party 2013

North Devon

Wow, last week turned out to be a pretty good week to get away. A trip to North Devon was on the cards - this time in a group of 15! We got down a day early and stayed at a site where we once had a seasonal pitch, Willingcott Caravan Club Site. I wasn't sure about the weather ... Then we cheated, and moved onto Willowfield Lake Cottages for the week - complete with personal hot tub, … [Read more...] about North Devon

The Lakes

This Bank Holiday weekend we took the opportunity to jump in the bus and drive North. After 160 miles we landed in the Lake District and pulled up to Windermere Camping And Caravanning Club Site. We took the Quechua Base Seconds XL living area which literally popped up in seconds and then took a few minutes to peg out six guy ropes. The last time I visited the Lake District it was … [Read more...] about The Lakes

iPhone Panoramic from Cornwall

On a recent trip to Cornwall I decided that the only camera I was going to take would be the iPhone. I love the quality of the image from my SLR, but the extra bulk and fact that I would already be carrying my iPhone made me want to see if I could be happy with the results from one device. A cool feature of the iPhone is the inbuilt panoramic function and I tried to capture the atmosphere of … [Read more...] about iPhone Panoramic from Cornwall

WordPress as a PhotoBlog

Since I posted "Life after Posterous – a search for a new blog tool" in March I have exclusively used WordPress as my PhotoBlog and ScrapBook. I had previously used WordPress and built up knowledge but since moving from Posterous I've been through a pretty steep learning curve. Much of the curve has been to do with the server installation and configuration on Amazon EC2 but I have also … [Read more...] about WordPress as a PhotoBlog

A View From The Saunton Sands Hotel

I'm falling back in love with my SLR. This weekend I packed for a couple of nights in my most favourite place in the World (Saunton Sands in Devon, UK) and it was only a last minute decision to chuck my SLR in the MINI. I thought I'd be happy with just my compact camera and iPhone - but I was wrong, the SLR wins every time. Here are a few RAW shots that I've downloaded onto the iPad and had a … [Read more...] about A View From The Saunton Sands Hotel

Road Trip around France

A couple of years ago I took our touring caravan across the ferry for a trip around France but due to the fact that towing a caravan from Derby to Poole takes so long (220 miles at 50 miles an hour) we decided to stay only 15 miles from Cherbourg in Normandy. This year we decided to leave the caravan and hop further by having short stops in a tent - It sounds easy, but with two small children to … [Read more...] about Road Trip around France

Willowfield Lake Cottages

If you are looking for a family holiday in North Devon you should consider Willowfield Lake Cottages. Set in Braunton Burrows - a Nature Reserve, with 5 miles of stunning golden sands and surf close by at Saunton and Croyde. The complex has it's own swimming pool, games room and adventure play area as well as some of the cottages having their own private hot tubs! Armed with my SLR and edited … [Read more...] about Willowfield Lake Cottages

New Photography Studio

  Here are a few before and after pictures of the new Mackney Photography Studio in Darley Abbey, Derby. I'm really impressed that my brother Simon and Wendy have done such a fantastic job on an empty un-used space. Simon had the foresight to plan the new studio with multiple areas for shooting, meeting, changing, relaxing and viewing. He's also created a secure office area where the … [Read more...] about New Photography Studio

Crich Stand – The iPad Edit

This morning we drove the 5 miles from our house to Crich Memorial, it was a beautiful crisp morning with blue sky and only a few clouds. The view of Amber Valley from here is amazing, especially if you go to the top of the tower. There was an ice cold wind this morning, so the 360 degrees of exposure meant we couldn't stay up there for long. The tower was built in 1923 to commemorate the 11409 … [Read more...] about Crich Stand – The iPad Edit

UK Caravan Sites

Here are links to the sites we've visited in the last few years, some we've visited more than once and are planning on returning again this year. If you are planning on touring this year, have a browse through the links as they give you a good idea of the quality of the site. View Caravan sites we've visited in a larger map   Carsington MAY 2008 Hawthorn Farm MAY 2008 … [Read more...] about UK Caravan Sites

Painting Layer Masks on iPad

I love using layer masks in Photoshop, it's probably one of the most used features when I'm editing photos. When I started looking at iPad photo editing appsI wanted layer masks to feature. Here are a few screenshots of the apps I'm now using. The above image is from an iPad app called Fotolr Photo Studio Pro HD (£1.99) - it seems to be mainly for touching up faces, but I found it could be used … [Read more...] about Painting Layer Masks on iPad

Photo editing with iPad

Here are a few photo's I took today with my SLR and imported onto the iPad for editing. I mainly used Snapseed and an app called Finishing Touch to remove the number plate. At the moment I'm not sure if the RAW file was used or the JPEG version. I think I need to find a decent RAW importer for the iPad. I have no idea how this is going to look on a large screen, but it is still the original … [Read more...] about Photo editing with iPad

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ10

It was my Birthday a couple of days ago and a I received a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ10. I'm really pleased. Having the iPhone everywhere I go is obviously very handy when I need to take a shot and share it. I take my DSLR with me when I'm going to a special event or when I'm wanting to capture really high quality images. But I wanted a compact travel camera with GPS for when I'm traveling … [Read more...] about Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ10

Thornbridge Hall Garden Party 2011

Today we went the the Thornbridge Hall Garden Party. Emma and Jim (I don't know them, but I pretend I do) really know how to throw a charity event! The grounds were full of children's activities from pony rides to archery and for the adults there was live music, a craft fair and lashings and lashings of beer from the Thornbridge brewery. I thought it was great last year, but this year it … [Read more...] about Thornbridge Hall Garden Party 2011

My Artwork on Canvas

One of my friends asked me if they could get one of my images (Saunton Beach Hut Extreme) on a canvas wrap for their living room wall. It was the first time I've enlarged any of my digital work and to be honest was interested to see the final quality of the picture. I prepared the digital file and made a few adjustments to the layers as my friend wanted a slightly less looming sky. Here is the … [Read more...] about My Artwork on Canvas

Backstage Pass tour at Derby Museums

Today I was invited to an event called #glamderby (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) - it was a backstage tour of Derby Museums aimed at sharing the expertise of cultural institutions with Wikipedia editors. As I am neither a cultural institution or a Wikipedia editor, I was there to help photoblog and amplify the events of the day. If you follow me on twitter, you may of been annoyed … [Read more...] about Backstage Pass tour at Derby Museums

Geotagging with Panoramio and Google Latitude

I like geotagging my photos and the iPhone does this with ease. But sometimes I want to use my DSLR which doesn't have a GPS device built in and it can be a pain when I am adding my DSLR photos to Panoramio as I have to try and remember my location when I took the photo. Enter Google Latitude, which I already run in the background on my iPhone to let me friends stalk me. I noticed that there was … [Read more...] about Geotagging with Panoramio and Google Latitude

How to backup flickr

It's a sad reality that in recent times there has been talk about the stability of some online social services. Since Delicious determined that there is not a strategic fit at Yahoo! many flickr members are starting to think that this service may go the same way. I don't think flickr is going anywhere anytime soon, especially as it's a paid for service. However, it's always important to have an … [Read more...] about How to backup flickr

Caravan & Motorhome Show 2010

This post will update throughout the day with live images :) As usual, it was an amazing show. This year it even had a CAMRA Ale bar! I took the opportunity to sample a few ales as I was not driving and also try out a couple of electric bikes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBDux-dApfw   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJjRwChFEWE     You might also like … [Read more...] about Caravan & Motorhome Show 2010

The Derby #Twissup

Here are a few pics from the Derby #Twissup that I took part in yesterday. The itinerary and list of pubs can be found on the Tweetvite page ... http://twvt.us/twissup It started at 10am and finished after 11pm, we traveled by public transport for the whole day and I had a great time with a great bunch of beer appreciators or #Twissartists. The #Twissup … [Read more...] about The Derby #Twissup

Thornbridge Hall Garden Party 2010

Yesterday I took the family to the Thornbridge Hall Charity Garden Party in Ashford in the Water, Derbyshire. Now, some reading this (does anyone read this?) may be thinking that this was in fact a selfish act, as we all know Thornbridge also have a superb brewery ... well, I didn’t have a drop of beer .... actually, that’s a massive lie, but the family did have a lot of fun and plenty of money … [Read more...] about Thornbridge Hall Garden Party 2010

Photography for BrawnGP F1 Winners

I've written a blog post for the PhotoBlog on Mackney Photographyand just wanted mention and link to it here ... As you may know I work with the Formula One Champions Brawn GP through my Derby based web design and development company Fish Media producing their eNews that gets sent out to a rather large database of fans. You may also know, I work with my Brother Simon Mackney and his photography … [Read more...] about Photography for BrawnGP F1 Winners

Chicken Tikka Masala in Slow Cooker

I got a slow cooker recently after seeing and tasting it's benefits at a friends and have since made a few dishes, but the time came last night to invite Nige and Alison over to return the favour. I think the slow cooker is ideal for a curry, the flavours are totally marinaded over a long time and the slow cooking of meat just makes it melt in the mouth. Using a slow cooker is also great if you … [Read more...] about Chicken Tikka Masala in Slow Cooker