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