Well you just wouldn't Adam & Eve it - for the first time in what feels like weeks the forecast last night for this morning was one of dry and bright, not warm but who cares! No rain and no grey skies! So I was up at half 3, out the door by 4 and in Manchester by half 4 - 30 minutes before sunrise. I shot for about 4-5 hours pausing briefly for a black coffee and a croissant in Starbucks with all the poor business types off to their daily slog around 8am. I had a blast! It feels like ages since I've put in such a concerted effort in what was pretty decent light. I whacked all 3 Baldelli mix albums on the iPod on repeat and I reckon I got at least half a dozen new shots for the Manchester Calendar. The shot above taken just round the corner from the Printworks was shot at F4.5 @ 1/100 sec. 200 ISO. I like it a lot, but its probably not a calendar image. The ones below are however. The first one is the tower of Manchester Cathedral, and yes that is the moon next to it (The moon was in the sky 'till gone 8am) shot at F8 for 1/100 sec and then "Selenium toned" in Lightroom. I like the feeling this toning gives the image, combined with the sunlight and the shadows gives quite a surreal effect.
This next shot features the corner of the M&S / Selfridges building and a tower from the Royal Exchange. Shot at F4.5 and 1/25 sec.
I've still more processing to do and these are just quick Lightroom exports.I reckon if the weather holds this week, then I should be able to get the updates finished 
On a side note, I popped into the shop I got the D300 from whilst I was out to find out why the wireless remote (ML-L3) I bought for my D70s would not appear to work with the D300. It turns out that the D300 has no infra-red capability and that I need to give Nikon another 150 notes for another piece of kit (the ML-3). I nearly fell off my chair (or I would have done had I been sitting on one). How can they build a camera as cool as this packed with more features than you can shake a stick at, and not include Infra-red! Once I got back to the ranch, I did some trawling on t'internet and found a product called a Phottix Cleon wireless transmitter for D200/D300 & D3 that will work over a 10 times greater distance than the Nikon option and has a 2 second delay for use on the Bulb setting for the vast sum of.... £17.50! Ok, so it's not quite as pretty as the Nikon option, but hey that's like over £100 less! I'll let you know how well it works when it arrives from Hong Kong - I hope its better than the last piece of cheap junk I got (a wireless flash remote for the D70 that worked once and then never again!)
And finally (I nearly forgot to mention) after 12 sessions with my personal trainer, umpteen visits to the gym, a complete change of diet and no booze over the last 4 weeks I've finally started to shed some poundage! 5 and a half last week to be precise. Apparently the result of sitting behind a desk all day for the last decade or so, and generally being a complete lardass has resulted in my metabolism slowing to the rate of a giant snail... with very large boots on. But finally it appears to have ditched the boots in favour of some trendy sandals and it's actually on the move again! WooHoo!! Only another 20 pounds to lose.