Sky-land

Finally processing my Thailand photos now that it's dark in the evenings and working in the garden has halted for Christmas.  Not quite ready to start posting them up, so this is just a shot taken out of the window of the hopper plane from Bangkok on our way to Koh Chang.  An evening flight through rising storm cells (the photo doesn't portray just how big these formations were) .. always good for some exciting turbulence, but obviously made it safely.

Off to London next weekend to watch the new Star Wars movie in 3D IMAX which should be pretty cool.  Will be taking the camera with me, so hopefully won't get any grief taking it in with me .. although I might try and find some near by secure storage just in case.

Not a huge amount of time off at Christmas, but hopefully I'll get out and about at some point, whether or not my shutter sees any action, we will see..

Then in about a month I'll be back up to the Lake District again, so hopefully the flooding there has eased by then and we can help the local economy by buying lots of food and beer after a long walk in the fells!

ISO100, 26mm, f/9, 1/250s, -0.3ev, levels, cropped

Steaming 41st

Two photos from a birthday treat trip to Swanage coinciding with the annual steam gala, with several Pullman carriages hauled up and down from Swanage to Corfe Castle throughout the day.
Since they came complete with bar carriages, this hit quite a few of my favourite pastimes - steam engineering, drinking, music (of which it was mostly rocky) and being by the sea .. mix in a couple of good friends and a jolly spiffing time was had by all.

Top shot - loving the pitted texture of the mechanical parts, as if carved from granite, with the wispy steam swirling around in such a great way I couldn't help but crop right in on the details (cropping out more of the wheel - which was good too, but sacrifices must be made).

The second shot is obviously a lot more picture postcard .. feel free to print out and post to your grandpa.

I guess it's worth noting that the distinct lack of me sneaking out of work to photograph passing steam trains has been somewhat halted this year, since one of them overshot a red light early in the season and they had their license to run on the local tracks removed.  I'd like to moan about health and safety ruining the fun, but that's pretty serious on the main line between Bristol - Bath - London!  I just hope they get it back for 2016 ...

Steam driven engineering
ISO160, 160mm, f/5, 1/160s, -0.7ev, cropped square, over-sharpened, levels

Steam locomotive at Corfe Castle November 2015
ISO100, 35mm, f5.6, 1/100s, cropped, levels, curves, saturation adjustments (green down)

Sunbeams over Borrowdale

 

The colour of the heather during our walks in the Lake District in September was amazing, but shot of the day for this particular walk went to the beams of sunlight looking southward toward the southern fells.  Patchy cloud always helps a lot with grand landscapes to give depth and contrast during the day (not at sunset etc).  Happy with the composition and the leading lines heading way off back into the far distant valley clouds .. the haze, cloud and sunbeams providing plenty of natural special effects.  Happy memories of a fantastic walk in the hills for me too!





ISO400, 35mm, f/13, 1/320s, -0.7ev, curves & levels

Wall of Death!

 

Cancelled plans tonight .. as I was going to stray out to Avebury on a star trial - slash - Orionid meteor shower - slash - light painting photography venture, but alas Avebury is in England and that means cloudy weather unfortunately.

 

I did however have a great weekend away at the Swanage Steam Gala at the weekend, combining my hobbies of steam loco photography, drinking, listening to some great local rock tribute bands and just being at the sea side!  Happy days.  Photos will follow .. shortly(ish)...

 

For now .. a shot taken a few weeks back at an old wall-of-death show .. always impressive, with the roaring motors, hot engine smells and shaking walls .. obviously impossible to capture in a photo, but I like the amount of blur on the performers and the combination of young, old, cameras and phones in the crowd.  Listen to this video, whilst looking at my photo and sniffing an oily rag to enhance the experience! 

 

 

ISO4000, 16mm, f/4, 1/40s, -0.3ev, noise reduction, colour balanced (auto WB)

Lacock Abbey Cloisters

 

Living right next to Lacock Abbey and with it being the home of negative film photography as we know it - http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lacock/visitor-information/article-1355821041895/

... it's not a surprise that it was one of the first places I took my old Canon 350D + 17-85mm lens, back in the day.  I recall being frustrated at not being able to get enough of the cloisters in the frame and vowed to go back when I had the necessary kit..  so, about 8 years on, now armed with a full frame body and 16-35mm it's about as wide as it gets without getting all fishy eyed.  Not exactly perfect either at high ISO (no tripod) and aspect ratio correction done in post-processing ... maybe when I get a tilt-shift lens I'll go back again ..

 

I'd like to say I planned the shot to be taken on a quiet day, not many tourists, ideal time of day with the Sun just in the right spot to cast it's rays in the right angles, but honesty is apparently a virtue and it was by happy co-incidence .. and about 10 minutes waiting around for a break in the flow of Harry Potter fans passing by to grab this.  I took a few variants, but for me the direct Sunlight through the window really gives the image a boost.

 

A little dismayed that I was too old, big and ugly to join in with the Wizard School event apparently (maybe if they'd had Hagrid school...), I moved on, content with making it look deserted on such a busy day.

 

 

 

ISO3200, 16mm, f/8, 1/250s, -1ev, noise reduction, aspect ratio correction, levels, curves

Great Dorset Steam Rally 2015

 

Some black and white photos from this years GDSR a few weeks back.

I've photographed this very photogenic and diverse event quite a few times and it's very easy to either go trigger happy or get overwhelmed by the amount of stuff going on, so this year I tried to focus on people, rather than shiny (or rusty) machines and have a go at sticking to my new 135mm prime lens instead of the usual 16-35 & 100-400 juggling act I usually perform.  Plus we were with friends this year, so I just snapped along the way, rather than cherry picking my wanderings from a photographers point of view. 

 

Top shot is probably my favourite, two .. very experienced .. gents, carving on a steam powered lathe.  Great characters, amazing craftsmanship .. along with some selective angling for sunlight on the sawdust (lathe-dust?), composition and a clean (crowd free) background.

 

Second shot is of man and machine in harmony: tweaking, feeding, watering, tweaking again .. engineered to last centuries chugging along, this one cutting stone blocks with a giant reciprocating saw blade and water pump for cooling (hence the mud).  Almost a clean background, but lots of interest in the frame anyway.

 

Third image is maybe my joint favourite and token female subject, since it really is 80% male dominated outside the craft tents and show horses (old fashioned stereotyping is part of that generation I guess).  Always a sucker for hands with a history of hard work, with the corn sculpture giving interest & story and even the texture of the table top adds texture..  a nice image.

 

Last up is a night shot of the engines powering the steam fair, along with the many onlookers.  A bit of a snap shot, but it's reasonably clean, for such a busy image, with interesting shadows and pools of light and detail.  It completes the mini collection of shots nicely anyway.

 

 

ISO100, 135mm, f/2.5, 1/1250s, -0.3ev, levels & curves

ISO100, 135mm, f/2.5, 1/1250s, -0.3ev, levels & curves

ISO100, 135mm, f/2.5, 1/250s, -0.3ev, levels & curves

ISO12800, 35mm, f/2.8, 1/250s, dodge & burn, noise reduction

Gardening

 

So having spent the year so far renovating the garden and building a pond, the least I could do was snap a few pics of the wildlife that's already moving in..

 

First off is one of the hundreds of spiders, not the biggest, but one of those crazy marking ones .. (I'm not an arachni-expert).  Shot with flash against a moody sky, straight from camera.

 

Next up is a shield bug up close, almost didn't post, but just about good enough to make the cut .. again, he was fine with me using a little fill flash..

 

Last up, a European Otter!!  Ok .. so this isn't in our pond (yet) .. taken at the New Forest Wildlife Sanctuary during a recent family visit.  I thought I'd sneak it into this post to get it up into the webisphere.

ISO400, 105mm, f/8, 1/640s, on camera flash, ambient -2ev



ISO400, 105mm, f/10, 1/200s, on camera flash, cropped

ISO400, 400mm, f/5.6, 1/400s, -1ev

Bournemouth Airshow 2015

 

OK - time to get some of these photos processed and posted!!

These three are from the Bournemouth airshow a few weeks back now.  Top is the last flight that I'll see of the Vulcan bomber which retires to a museum this year, a fan favourite and puts on quite a show with its four thundering engines and elegant design (only three engines working in photo?).

 

Second is a Russian MIG 18 from the 50s era which saw a lot of action in Vietnam.  My favourite shot of the day, great soft light on the smooth bodywork at that angle - straight from camera - happy days.

 

Last up is the Typhoon, the star of the show, showing off its completely mental agility and power, seemingly tearing the sky apart with its roaring engines.  Stood on the end of the pier, this is with my 100-400mm, desperately panning to keep up with the plane with it's afterburners on.  Again, quite flattering light and so low I think the sea is acting as a gentle reflector to throw detail into the undercarriage..

 

Vulcan Bomber - last flight on south coast, August 2015
ISO 160, 560mm (400mm + 1.6 teleconvertor), f/8, 1/500s, +0.6ev
Cropped, vignette, curves to bring out clouds and fumes 

MiG 18 - Bournemouth Airshow 2015
ISO400, 560mm, f/8, 1/500s, +0.6ev, noise reduction



RAF Typhoon from 29 Squadron, soon to have their 100th anniversary -
surely one of the oldest fighter squadrons in the world (?)
ISO640, 560mm, f/8, 1/500s, +0.6ev
Noise reduction, a dash of levels, curves and clarity
 

Dragonflight

 

Some shots from the weekend on some wasted time down the local canal.

 

Dragonfly in flight
ISO1600, 340mm, f/8.0, 1/2000s, noise reduction, cropped
Patience, practice and lots of failed attempts later ...

Dragonfly in flight with sunlit reed background
ISO1000, 400mm, f/8.0, 1/2000s, noise reduction, cropped
A bit of aperture to increase DoF, plenty of shutter speed, pre-focussing on a spot and quick fire shutter release.

Dragonfly with hiding spider
ISO400, 400mm, f/5.6, 1/400s, noise reduction, cropped
Didn't notice the spider until it was in Lightroom!  Amazing colours and details - love nature photography.

Dragonfly laying eggs
ISO640, 400mm, f/5.6, 1/320s, cropped
More patience .. waiting for her to land, then a nice bonus .. she starts laying eggs in the water in front of me.

Dragonfly Lavae with adult dragonfly starting to emerge from it's back
ISO1600, 400mm, f/5.6, 1/400s, noise reduction, cropped
Full circle .. a lavae climbs out of the water, attaches to the reeds and an adult dragonfly starts bursting out of the thorax.

Token Kingfisher photo!
ISO320, 400mm, f/5.6, 1/400s, cropped
Swift grab from a distance of the local kingfisher feasting on the canal goldfish
(canal was infected by some idiot releasing them)



Once in a blue moon ..

 

A big fat full moon again tonight .. a super blue moon, no less!

 

Super - since it's so close to the Earth at the moment and blue because it's the 2nd full moon in a month!  Pretty rare and very cool.

 

Since we're solidly in middle age apparently and instead of going down the pub, fell asleep on the sofa, I got to shoot some pics from the back garden.  Bottom is just a max zoom - 400mm x 1.6 tele-convertor and cropped - on tripod with 10 second timer (looks like cable release is tucked away in wedding photo bag).

 

Top photo is our black cat, Bertie, a huge (7.5 kilo) rescue Bombay, doing his best to eclipse the moon, whilst sat on a shed roof, watching the bats and critters rustling below.

 

 

 

 

No time for excuses

 

Well the only bad thing about spending my time efficiently and getting stuff sorted is that I don't have much (any) to waste on photography.  It's a sad, sad state of affairs.  For the first time in probably all my DSLR years I have gone a whole month without taking a photo!  I am ashamed.

 

Still, the garden is nearly done and will no doubt provide quite a few more photos than before and the wedding photo processing from our wedding in May (!!) is finally done.  At some point I should get some new shots up and .. after 4 months of neglect, I can start processing my Thailand photos!!

 

Starting to plan the next big trip too, so no time to loose.

 

In the mean time, this wasp was irresistible this morning, sat on the window glass.  A heap of exposure compensation brought him/her to life and blew out the background and dirt on the window (more shame!).

 



Window wasp or miniaturised surveillance drone?
ISO5000, 105mm, f/16, 1/100s, +1.7ev, noise reduction

High ISO since I didn't have time for tripod-age (flash would have bounced off glass),
macro lens - of course, f/16 to get all the depth of field at such a close distance,
and a whole dump load of exposure compensation - dark subject on a light background - just manually judged from experience rather than using spot metering etc.



Wasted time well wasted!

 

After many, many hours and many, many miles of training (and many inches of support tape!) 

it all paid off at the weekend and I know a fully fledged marathon runner!  Probably one of the most amazing days I will experience that is certain, a totally amazing day well worth all the pain and sacrifice!  Since this is a photography blog, here is a token "still life" kind of arrangement:

 

 

.. you will have to excuse me while I exploit my blog to try and get some marathon advice out that I didn't find in advance and may be useful ... some may seem obvious, but it's nice to know for sure.. all information below relates to my experience starting from the mass start (red) in Greenwich Park in 2015.

 

1.  If you have foot problems in training, look up how to use KT/Rock tape.  This stuff is how I made the finish line and it honestly got me through mild plantar fasciitis and metatarsalgia/bunion pain despite having expensive, professionally fitted trainers.

 

2.  The expo at the Excel centre is going to properly get you going, with lots of other excited people, videos of famous runners and the odd theme tune or chariots of fire blasting out.  Try and channel it into excitement and don't make yourself even more nervous!

 

3.  On race day:  Free water is available in the waiting area.

 

4.  There are quite a few trees at the start area, handy for stretching and sheltering from Sun/rain.  There are also a few marquee tents to get out of the cold and plenty of loos.   

 

5.  Don't dispose of your old fleece until you are near the start line (took mine off when I entered the course)

 

6.   If you're starting from the rear areas (sections 7-8-9) it took ~30 minutes from the start at 10:10am until I crossed the line.  You walk/shuffle the whole way, while waving at the TV camera ahead.

 

7.  There are toilets right by the start line, if the extra 30 minutes wait caught your bladder out, don't panic!

 

8.  Don't bother taking jelly babies, plenty of people offering them along the course - most either wearing gloves or from a bowl if you are worried about cleanliness.  Quite a few are children too and will likely give you a very motivating "good luck" to go with your sugar boost!

 

9.  The crowd are awesome.  It is really true and will help massively, just try not to get too emotional!

 

10.  It's hard to keep energy levels consistent over the whole race, don't get too down when you start to struggle, you will get your 2nd wind! (and 3rd & 4th)

 

11.  Carry minimal kit with you.  Besides jelly babies, the water stations are frequent and well stocked, quite a few physio & St Johns stations (call a marshal if you or someone near has an issue), they hand out Vaseline and will help with blisters or tight muscles etc.  I just carried my usual gels (Gu) - I did however like the Lucozade gels & sport drink and would train with them to make it easier (I only found out about Lucozade gels & stops when the map is announced - too late to change training or nutrition plans).

 

12.  Listening to music - I found music massively motivating during training, so took my phone and headphones on the marathon, however apart from the odd mile where spectators can't get to (tunnels, road works etc) you will struggle to hear it!  I doubt there was barely a single kilometre without music, a party, a band, cheerleaders, charity supporters or groups of children cheering, which personally did motivate me much more than my music. 

 

13.  I did however find my headphones very handy for listening to my pace (with a running app), to slow myself down at the start and keep myself pushing at the end.  I just used one headphone in and cupped my hand over it so I could actually hear what it was saying!!

 

14.  The finish line is a crazy place.  Lots of crying, official photographers, joy and relief.  Your legs will stiffen up if you sit down, no matter how much stretching you do.  Walking like a robot and going down stairs like your knees don't bend is a badge of honour that will only (mostly) get you respect from those rushing past you.

 

15.  Driving afterwards was ok for me, my legs were just glad that my arse was taking the load for a while!  90 minutes through busy London traffic and then 60 minutes on the M4 wasn't too bad .. although I was glad to get home! 

 

16.  If you end up slogging out a 6+ hour finish time (for whatever reason), just forgive the odd person who asks how long you took and sounds a bit disappointed when you tell them your time, they don't know that it really doesn't matter.  During my training I was aiming for a sub 5 hour time, but ended up with 6 due to injury interrupting my training.  There is a reason the marathon doesn't have a clock at the end of the course - every single person on that start line or lining the course cheering is amazing and that's what it's all about.

 

 

 



The Return

 

Can you believe it, it's a new blog post!  Rumours that I gave up photography for lent can now be quashed and these are my favourite excuses for why I've not posted in near 3 months:

 

1.  Thailand overload - I spent 3 weeks motorcycling around northern Thailand, complete with (thoroughly insured) 5D3 and lenses.  A truly amazing place that it is very easy to take lots of photos and catch irritating diseases from - like a chronic inability to process so many photos in Lightroom!

 

2.  Darkness and garden renovation - early nights (back in feb/march at least) and weekends full of filling skips with junk, rock, bricks and earth - all in the final aim to make my garden photogenic, insect friendly, frog friendly and bird friendly - or as friendly as the cat allows anyway.

 

3.  Marathon training!  Possibly the only valid excuse - I am just a week away from my attempt on the famous London Marathon!  I am certainly built more for sitting at a computer than I am for running, but life is too short to not at least mix things up a bit, so I've been running 4-5 times a week (upto 18 miles) over the last 4 months.  This un-doubtably gets in the way of things, but it's also for a great cause, so if by some remote chance you're reading this and want to support my chosen charity I would be very appreciative: 

 

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MarkCoombesMarathon

 

Right.  To counter that I have three reasons why I hope to start posting regularly again soon:

 

1.  I have hundreds of Thailand photos, some of which I like, which I will be sharing soon, along with some background info and stories to go along with them.

 

2.  Lighter evenings are officially here!  Hurrah!  I have a car and a motorcycle that are currently (touch wood) working.  I'm photographing another wedding over the May bank holiday in a lovely location - which I will post highlights of permission pending. 

 

3.  I may have bought a new lens too!  That has got to be my first in a long, long time - at least 7-8 years by my reckoning.   o.O   I now have the pleasure of attaching a Canon 135mm f/2 L lens to my 5D3, specifically for wedding and portrait shots.  First impressions are that it's just as great as the reputation that precedes it.  The three photos attached were taken with it and left large than usual for some ideas of the sharpness, bokeh and DoF etc.

 

 

 

ISO100, 135mm, f/2, 1/2000s, fill flash (full power, high speed)
Fill flash held at arms length to right and forward.  With the fixed focal length and a minimum focal distance of nearly 2 meters, it's tricky to hold flash close enough - especially when your usual off camera flash holding assistant is standing in as the model!

ISO100, 135mm, f/2, 1/6400s (!!!), -1.7ev
Crazy shutter speeds compared to my sluggish 16-35mm f/2.8!  haha

ISO800, 135mm, f/2, 1/125s, -1ev
Taken in a dark back room of the church we were nosing around I finally managed to make the ISO rise.



Amsterdam in light and shade (pt. 2)

 

The black and white half of my Amsterdam photos, emphasising the light, shade, texture, form and details over the colour. 

 

We are off to Thailand on Friday for three weeks, so it will be a while before I post again.  Hopefully when I do it will be with a big backlog of monk, temple, landscape and Thai portrait photos to process!  Bags are packed, route is planned, camera is insured .. just counting down to lift off now!

 

My travel camera kit is still a bit undecided, but it'll be whatever I can pack into and strap to my trusty crumple shoulder bag.  Whether the flash or macro lens make it will probably end up being a last minute decision..

 

ISO100, 160mm, f/9, 1/160s 

Sunset canal
ISO200, 150mm, f/5.6, 1/125s, -1ev, cropped

ISO1250, 160mm, f/5.6, 1/160s, -1ev

Courtyard roof of the naval museum
ISO100, 16mm, f/4, 1/160s, -0.7ev

ISO5000, 33mm, f/2.8, 1/40s, -1.3ev, noise reduction

Amsterdam in colour (pt.1)

 

Some photos from last Novembers Amsterdam trip.  For the sake of not flooding them all in one post I've decided to split them into colour and mono (pt.2).  The first four are just nice scenic shots that kind of sum up Amsterdam on a beautiful autumn day, of which we were lucky enough to get 3 of in November!  Personal favourite is the cyclists in the sunset lit cobbled street, potential to crop into it on both sides, but I like the whole photo as it is too.  Lots of potential for reflections and shadows here, both in windows and water which is nice.

 

The middle two are from the Halloween parade .. always great when others are celebrating your birthday!  ;o)   The big 40 last year, so had a great time with the help of some local beer and superb food.  Happy days.

 

The last was a snapshot of a child photographer taking a photo of the glamorous graffiti.  Fairly risky shot in these times, but I really like it .. I don't do nearly enough street photography and happy with this image, even if it was at super high ISO.  .. and I was especially impressed that the girl had a proper camera and not a smart phone held at arms length!  Hallelujah!!

 

 

ISO125, 35mm, f/9, 1/40s, bracketed composite image

ISO320, 31mm, f/8, 1/30s, -0.7ev, cropped & straightened

ISO400, 365mm, f/5.6, 1/320s, -0.7ev

 

ISO100, 35mm, f/2.8, 1/2500s, -1.3ev, cropped & straghtened

ISO12800, 400mm, f/5.6, 1/125s, -1ev, noise reduction

ISO12800, 390mm, f/5.6, 1/160s, -1ev, noise reduction

ISO12800, 170mm, f/5.6, -1ev, noise reduction

Canal Kingfisher

Taken in low light along a cloudy canal-side walk.  Not a great photo, but since they are my long-time nemesis I thought I'd post it anyway.  Seen a lot of them recently on walks down both the local river and canal, hopefully the latter managed to survive the canal icing over last week. 

 

This little guy (males have all black beaks) was pretty chilled out about our presence, so this was taken from about 7m distance and we just sat watching him fish for about 20 minutes, being successful on the last of 4 attempts (2nd photo - note fish in beak).  It would be a good spot to take more KF shots, but usually this path is busy with dog walkers - thankfully we were out in the cloud, cold and rain, so it was quieter.

 





ISO2000, 400mm, f/5.6, 1/500s, +0.3ev, cropped, de-noise