Bittern

Bittern steam locomotive, running as the Dominion of New Zealand

Emerging from Box Tunnel

American Chrome

ISO100, 16mm, 1/60s, f/8, -2/3ev

cloning, levels, curves, de-saturate, colour balance, noise reduction

'68 Mustang

ISO400, 105mm, 1/200s, f/8, -2/3ev

cropped, colour balance, over-sharpening, de-saturated, blurred lightening layer

Friday - the light at the end of the tunnel..

A fridge magnet, a crystal and the Sun combine to make for a colourful end to the week.

Reed Bunting on reeds

ISO100, 400mm, 1/1000s, f/5.6, -2/3ev

A male Reed Bunting sings in the morning sunlight

Vicki & Bill

A variety of photos from our latest wedding shoot including: waiting for the bride to arrive, candid shots, studio lit shots, a really cool cake and a Las Vegas honeymoon themed Photoshop image.

The studio lights worked well, I got some nice shots in a limited time and was really popular. Set up was just kept really simple - the main softbox was high, front, right, just to the side of the camera and a second softbox low on the left, pointed down and reflected off the stage that we were working on. Worked really well, even on the large groups that queued up for a shot. Was a really enjoyable day, no thanks to being locked out minutes before the ceremony! Best wishes to Vicki and Bill.

Gypsy Horses

ISO100, 130mm, 1/250s, f/7.1, -2/3ev (pattern metering as usual)

Gypsy horses in the Wiltshire landscape

Steam & Green

ISO1600, 20mm, 1/500s, f/10, -1/3ev, selective curves

Two old steam locomotives charge through the Wiltshire countryside on their way to London.

Background

ISO500, 105mm, 1/160s, f/8, -2/3ev

Two more lunch break macro shots. Above, balancing on the end of some grass with a really nice background. Not sure what this bug is, but it's one I've not seen before.

ISO800, 105mm, 1/1600s, f/6.3, levels

Yet another dandelion, this time shot from below, using a background tree to create a dark halo around the backlit dandelion.

The recent rainfall should put a stop to my lying on the ground for a while, so hopefully I can find something else to photograph instead. Nearly finished processing all the photos from the last wedding now, then hopefully I'll have a bit more time outside lunch-breaks and work to concentrate on something a bit different for a change. Been a long time now since a sunrise or a Kingfisher attempt!

Dandelion Supernova

Becoming a bit of a mini project photographing Dandelions at lunch-break recently, this time with a large dose of Photoshop. Converted to black and white using channel mixer, keeping the green channel low to darken the green background. Curves to elevate the brightness of the main subject, then a hefty dose of levels to drown out the remaining background to near black.

Makes a change from posting up macro bugs anyway.

(of which there are plenty more to follow soon)

If you go down to the woods today..

Four photos taken yesterday lunch break, with my trusty macro lens taking the strain again..

ISO800, 105mm, 1/4000s, f/4.5, -1ev, cropped, noise reduction

ISO100, 105mm, 1/640s, f/3.2, -2/3ev, cropped

ISO400, 105mm, 1/500s, f/4.5, cropped, noise reduction

ISO1600, 400mm, 1/500s, f/5.6, -2/3ev, noise reduction, levels, colour balance

Roman Mosaic Heart

Common Blue

Images of a male common blue butterfly taken yesterday lunch break.

Windows 2011

Some of the best stained glass work I've seen in a while and to my co-named saint to boot. Stunning colour, tones and detail without even taking the age of it into account. They don't make them like that any more!

Always up for some stained glass dragon slaying action. Not up there with my favourite St Georges, but well worthy of a slot on the blog.

Bank Holiday 4

ISO100, 105mm, 1/640s, f/5.6, -1 2/3ev, cropped, levels, desaturated background

A male Orange Tip butterfly on bluebells.

A personal favourite of mine, this butterfly, with glorious colour and details, especially in contrast to the cool blues of the Spanish bluebell. Not as close as I would have liked, but with the Sun shining down full strength he was far too active and I was pleased to have grabbed this effort.

Taken using my usual evaluative metering, but with those highly reflective white wings I dialled down -1 & 2/3 ev exposure compensation to avoid burning out the details. However, I then burned the highlights back out a little in photoshop anyway as it looked a lot more natural than the original exposure curve.

Hope everyone had a great bank holiday! Roll on the next one..

Bank Holiday 3

ISO800, 105mm, 1/3200s, f/3.2, -1ev, cropped, levels, noise reduction, colour balance (reduce green reflection)

The alien world of the damselfly, with eyes like Jupiter.

Taken at ISO800 because I was using a larger aperture setting prior to this shot, but the 1/3200s helped freeze the leaf that was swaying in the breeze anyway.