Thank you for checking out our latest news page. On this page we outline the latest 'Mark Allen Photography' news and other information. You may also want to check my personal blog, that includes my most recent photos and comments.
Av coming soon.
My son Robert died in June, he would have been 30 in August. Robert helped me out at weddings and was looking forward to a couple of forthcoming events, but sadly that will never happen.
"The ultimate tragedy
the harshest reality
our child is dead.
When we lost our parents
we lost our past
losing a child we have lost our future.
Mornings are the worst
for a few seconds we forget to remember
that our son is dead.
It hits us like a tidal wave
we drown every morning, over and over
like Groundhog Day."
A short Audio Visual can be download from here. (It is a Windows (PicturesToExe) file.
It is a long away away, but New Zealand is a photographer's paradise. I have prepared a short Audio Visual to display my photography of New Zealand. It can be viewed in a number of ways, click here for the streaming YouTube version, and here to download a Windows (PicturesToExe) file that is of much higher quality.
At my local camera club, for 2008/09, I won ' Photographer of the Year'.
I won this last year 2007/08 and at that time, it was the first time a 'novice' from the club had taken the award - previously held by an 'Advanced' member for many, many years. As a result, I moved from being a 'novice' to 'advanced' member within the club.
This year I thought Gavin McKee (another new 'novice' member) was certain to win POTY for 2008/09. But I was lucky in the last competition round to win three 1st's, two 2nd's and one 3rd. Sadly; Gavin didn't feature as well and he ended up with 92 points to my 102.
At my local camera club, for 2008/09 I have won the Projected Digital Cup.
I recently set up a group on Redbubble called 'Friends of Bangor and North Down Camera Club. I am pleased to announce that one of my photos and 5 others from the group were featured on the main home page of Redbubble. Considering the size of Redbubble's membership and the hugh number of photographs submitted daily - being featured on their hoe page is quite an honour and achievement.
At my local camera club I achieved 1st place in Advanced Colour Panels and 2nd place in Advanced Mono Panels. I have prepared a short Audio Visual to display the six colour and six mono photographs - with some relaxing music. Members of the Pictures to Exe AV Forum described it as "Four minutes of sheer bliss"
At the Northern Ireland Audio Visual Festival, held at Ballyearl, I achieved a Photographic Alliance of Great Britain - Green Ribbon, Highly Commended for this Audio Visual. My other entry "Black and white are Colours Too" received acclaim for the excellent standard of photography.
Our wedding photography was featured in Wedding Ideas magazine.
Our wedding photography was featured on the Sky Wedding Channel.
I intend to use this page to record any Nikon D300 tips and tricks that I find on my travels.To date I have found around 20 interesting items. Feel free to let me know if you have or find a D300 golden nugget and I will include it here.
I have two new AV's,' Dakota' - featuring Custer State Park and 'Yellowstone in Winter'. They can be downloaded from my Slideshow page here.
Hoodoos - grotesque, eerie and often whimsical... are on display here, along with ancient trees and scenic views from the rim.
Famous for its unique geology of red rock spires and horseshoe-shaped amphitheatres, Bryce offers the visitor a "Far View" from the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in southern Utah.
I live in Belfast,Ireland, and my house is just 305ft above sea level. I found that walking down into Bryce Canyon, at 10,000 ft, meant that I had to allow twice the time to walk back up again! It took my breath away in more ways than one! A stunning part of world. I visited it some years ago, without a decent camera and so revisited it this year - simply to enjoy it again - and get some photography. I hope you like it.
After a boat trip up Antelope Valley, the next day I expected the early morning sun to create great shadows on the walking trip. But what I didn't know was this was the 'Slot' canyon and therefore was very, very dark and only really got the sun at midday. And that to get decent shots a tripod was essential! As a result I was forced to use ISO 1600 to 3200 to get enough light for hand held. Thank goodness for the Nikon VR lens that allowed me to get some images at 1/15 sec.
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The Pickles new interactive "3D Wall" lets you effortlessly drag, click, and zoom your way around a wall of pictures for an extraordinary, full-screen viewing experience. Why mundanely flip through online photo galleries or squint at thumbnails from Google Image Search when you can fly through an immersive, full-screen experience instead? From Flickr to Google Images, and even Facebook and Friendster, PicLens works with a growing number of your favourite web sites. Click here to find out more.
Every year my local camera club has an 'Exhibition' competition. Members are encouraged to submit their best work and an outside judge awards 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each category. The winning images are publicly displayed. This year (and last year) the images were displayed at the Flagship Centre in Bangor, Northern Ireland. We mount the photos on panels and offer contact details of the camera club. We find that this attracts new members to our club, indeed it was after viewing the Exhibition at he Flagship that I decided to join Bangor and North Down Camera Club.
However; last year someone stole, from the public display, a photo by David Foster. David is a well known and respected photographer and it is believed that his photo was framed and then sold on - as a 'David Foster'. This year, I have discovered that someone has stolen one of my photos (of Stormont). I suppose I should be flattered. Clearly someone liked my photo of Stormont so much that they felt they had to steal it. I have now joined the very exclusive 'Had my photo stolen from the Exhibition - Club'.
I achieved 'Photographer of the Year' at my local Camera Club 2007/2008. I am, understandably, well chuffed with this for number of reasons. I joined my local camera club in Sept 2006 (without a camera) and in Oct 2006 then bought a Nikon D80. In Dec 2007 I decided that I was enjoying my photography so much that I sold my D80 and bought a D300 with the 18-200VR. I have been amazed at the performance of both the D300 and the 18-200VR.
POTY ( local camera club ) results. ('F' = Foundation (or Beginner), 'A' = Advanced member)
From what I have heard a 'Foundation' member has not won POTY for many years, so I am understandably very pleased with this result.
1st: Mark Allen [F] : total points to date 85
Competition One: 1 x 1st = [5] , 2 x 2nd = [8], 2 x 3rd = [6], 1 x Short list = [1] Total = 20
Competition Two: 1 x 1st = [5] , 1 x 2nd = [4], 1 x 3rd = [3], 1 x Short list = [1] Total = 13
Competition Three: 1 x 1st = [5] , 1 x 3rd = [3], 1 x Short list = [1] Total = 9
Competition Four: 1 x 1st = [5] , 1 x 2nd = [4], 1 x 3rd = [3], 3 x Short list = [3] Total =15
Panels: 2 x 1st = [10] , 2 x Short list = [2] Total = 12
Competition Five: 1 x 1st = [5] , 1 x 2nd = [4], 2 x 3rd = [6], 1 x Short list = [1] Total = 16
Audrey Argue: 1 x 2nd = [4], 2 x Short list = [2[ Total = 6
2nd: Alan Harvey [A] : total points to date 54
Competition Two: 1 x 2nd = [4] , Total = 4
Competition Three: 1 x 1st = [5] , Total = 5
Competition Four: 1 x 1st = [5] , 2 x 2nd = [8], 1 x 3rd = [3], 1 x Short list = [1] Total = 17
Panels: 2 x 2nd = [8], Total = 8
Competition Five: 1 x 2nd = [4], 2 x Short list = [2] Total = 6
Audrey Argue: 2 x 1st = [10], 1 x 3rd = [3], 1 x Short list = [1] Total = 14
3rd: Harry Pettis [A] : total points to date 52
Competition One: 1 x 1st = [5] , 1 x 2nd = [4], 1 x Short list = [1] Total = 10
Competition Two: 1 x 2nd = [4], 1 x 3rd [3], 1 x Short list = [1] Total = 8
Competition Three: 1 x 1st = [5] , 2 x 2nd = [8], 1 x Short list = [1] Total = 12
Panels: 1 x 1st = [5] , 1 x 3rd = [3], 2 x Short list = [2] Total = 10
Competition Five: 1 x 1st = [5] , 1 x 3rd = [3], 3 x Short list = [3] Total = 1
This show was awarded 1st Place in the 2008 Northern Ireland Photographic Association, Audio Visual Festival, 23.2.2208.
2007: Norway (18MB) here
Two of my images featured in the NIPA Beginners Competition 2008. By coincidence they were both taken on the same day, while out walking at Kearney, Portaferry.
"Rock Pools" Highly Commended
Kearney Rocks; Commended
The editor of WDC did not have enough quality entries so he went on to Flickr and in one of the Flickr travel groups asked:
"We're running a travel photography competition which closes tomorrow, so here's a last minute invitation to enter your best travel photo."
My entry was one of over 100 photos submitted and can be seen on page 98 September Edition, What Digital Camera.
First Place, The Christine Hamilton Cup, Foundation Mono General:
"Lobster Floats".
Also Best Foundation Mono Print, The Novices Cup:
"Lobster Floats"
Second Place, Foundation Colour Landscape:
"Stormont"
Third Place, Foundation Colour Landscape:
"Ground Zero"
Commended, Foundation Colour Portraiture:
"Smile"
Commended, Foundation Colour General
"NY Skyline"
Commended, Foundation Mono General:
"Numbers"
