Marks Wasted Time

Robins in the snow

2012-02-13T13:56:00.003Z

ISO1600, 400mm, 1/400s, f/5.6, noise reduction

Taken on a wander at the weekend, since all the robins around home seem to have taken to the recent trend of singing and interacting at night, even though it's not exactly a noisy metropolis.

ISO200, 350mm, 1/500s, f/5.6, +0.3ev, cropped

Another taken in a passing patch of Sun, it's near side eye was in the shade, but as it turned it's head just before leaving, I capturing the catch light in its eye and a more interesting pose.

It's nice to at finally have something to blog, after getting out for a Sunrise that turned out to be un-inspiring and setting up for a steam locomotive panoramic, only for the train not to show, has led to a bit of a gap in the photographic flow here. Especially frustrating at this time of year when there's a fantastic sunrise burning the sky, I even have my camera with me, but I'm going in the door to work. I think of all the places I could have made the most of the moment - photographers curse.

Happy Valentines Day to all!

I will post again soon...

Arty birds

2012-01-25T13:10:00.002Z

Okay, as usual lets get the excuses out of the way to start with! I've had a bad foot for about two weeks, crutches, painkillers, sleepless nights and all that, so not done much running around with the camera. Bit of a shame as I quite fancied blatting up to Scotland to see the Northern lights this week!

ISO320, 400mm, 1/500s, f/5.6

Starlings surveying their surroundings from a TV aerial, with a textured and coloured background. I liked the shot with the oil-slick rainbow colours of the birds, poses and composition, but felt it was a much better image with some toning and texture to give it a bit of an artistic, contemporary feel.

Review of 2011

2012-01-18T11:25:00.005Z

Well 2011 certainly slipped by in a hurry, with the main event for me being the big tour in september and october, it almost felt like eight months of saving and waiting, followed by six weeks of craziness, followed by two months of "where did summer go? - blimey its Christmas already!".

Between the budgeting and lack of spare holiday I'm not sure that my photography didn't suffer a little overall, especially as when the tour did arrive I un-expectedly felt the desire to bask in the adventure of it all, rather than let my photography have much influence on events (which it usually does). I'm pleased with the photos I brought back, but I know they were not the product of any concerted effort.

I guess the same can be said of my to-do list that I set myself, failing on almost all counts! I definitely got closer to some half decent Kingfisher photos, but the chase continues for another year. So with a self administered, "must try harder", slap on the wrist, most have made their way onto the 2012 to-do list.

The one area I have been really pleased with is the four weddings we've photographed in 2011. I've learnt a lot, had lots of fun and got some great feedback from the couples brave enough to let us be their photographers. With some luck and a concerted effort I hope to build on the experience we've gained and drive this on to be the start of something we can get going properly in 2012.

And with all that waffle out of the way, time for some more tour photos...

Berbers take photos too! - Merzouga

Hands of carpet weaver women in Fez - worked hard for little money

One of the many Mosque doors in Fez medina - almost all exquisitely carved

Cats in the blue alleyways of Chefchaouen - deemed clean animals by Islam they roam most of Morocco

Crescent moon setting behind the Koutoubia Mosque, Jemaa El Fna - Marrakesh

Priests preparing for a large televised service in Santander cathedral, Spain

Board-walk Sunset on the south coast of Portugal

Only donkeys and handcarts are allowed to make deliveries in the Medina - Tetouan, Morocco

Walls made of leg bones and skulls at the Chapel of Bones, Faro, Portugal

Sunset in the Algarve, Portugal

The heavily photographed tannery district of Fez

Wedding #6

2012-01-16T09:55:00.005Z

A selection of images from the wedding we photographed just before Christmas.

Despite the venue's dimly lit, mood-lighting, which proved to be double edged, the very handsome and beautiful couple were fantastic and we had another fun day.

M and P Photography

Lisbon

2012-01-11T12:49:00.003Z

Some photos from a stop off in Lisbon, Portugal on the way back up from Morocco..

One of the many colourful trams, looking colour-popped amongst the grey buildings and cobblestones

A stack of flats adorned with the trappings of everyday Portuguese life in the setting Sun.

Grand architecture and moody lighting, always a bonus.

A Sunset Moonrise

(Selective levels & colour balance in PS)

Morocco

2012-01-09T11:19:00.004Z

A few of my favourite shots from the Morocco tour..

Sunrise over the Sahara

Lantern stall, Moroccan style

Berber preparing camels pre-dawn

"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Khansas anymore!"

Medina alleyway filled with colour

A student meditates in an Islamic university

Hunter - Hunted

2012-01-05T08:02:00.002Z

Two snapshots from a walk at the weekend taken within a few meters of each other, hunter (possibly a Harrier of some kind?) and it's prey, a European Brown Hare which ran right up to us (downwind on a windy day). Luckily for the Hare it ran the opposite direction to the bird when it finally spotted me and demonstrated its 40mph speed across a field.

Useless fact of the day: Hares are the only mammal to have kinetic skulls, where the bones of the skull move relative to each other.

Merry New Year!

2012-01-03T14:13:00.003Z

Hope everyone had a good Christmas and here's to a great 2012, I wish you all the best for a brilliant year.

Been a bit quiet on here, but photographed another successful wedding just before Christmas which kept me busy. A great day, beautiful bride and handsome groom, some challenging venue mood lighting, but we had fun again, got some great fun & festive shots and hopefully all will be happy with the results when they come back from honeymoon.

ISO 100, 105mm, 0.6s, f/10, -1ev, composite

First effort of the new year - flower ball - a set piece photoshop effort with a subtle twist.

I always enjoy doing these once I've finally drummed up the motivation to put the effort in.

Hint: There are no flowers inside the ball!

Tour Blog - Spain

2011-12-13T11:12:00.004Z

A selection of photos from the downward leg of the journey...

ISO100, 310mm, f/9, 1/2000s, -1.6ev

We wild camped on the shore of a reservoir in northern Spain, with a village on the horizon silhouetted by the rising Sun. Taken on the 100-400mm, exposed for the sky and dialled down to minimise burnout as the Sun crested the ridge.

ISO800, 16mm, f/3.5, 1/25s, -1.3ev, noise reduction

Segovia Cathedral at night

ISO640, 30mm, f/6.3, 1/40s, -1ev, curves, desaturated, dodge & burn

Artisan workman's bench, Toledo

ISO100, 16mm, f/8, 1/60s, -2ev, tripod, cable release

Spanish windmill at Consuegra.

There was a film crew recording the final scenes of a movie the night we stayed at Consuegra which limited angles a bit, but happy with this one and the previously posted panoramic moon rise.

ISO125, 400mm, f/6.3, 1/640s, -1ev, cropped

Spanish dragonfly.

I didn't take my macro lens (only so much room on a motorcycle!), but still managed to get a few wildlife shots using my telephoto lens.

ISO100, 16mm, f/10, 1/80s, -2ev, selective blurred layer

A dreamy sunset in Andalucia

ISO100, 16mm, f/13, 1/60s, -0.6ev

Snow warning signs at the side of a roasting desert canyon road. It was high thirties (Celsius) and was always strange to ride past ice warnings, snow ploughs and ski lifts in the sunny mountains.

Tour Blog - Panoramics

2011-12-02T15:14:00.010Z

Without realising it at the time I appear to have become partial to sweeping panoramic images on my motorcycle tour to Morocco in sept/oct. Before leaving I had set quite high expectations of the photos I would try and take while I was away, but very early on I seemed to loose all track of any plans and immersed myself in the absolute luxury of timeless freedom.

I love photography so much it usually impacts on holidays a lot, but to my surprise, I was so caught up in the adventure that I was content to let the adventure dictate the photography and not the other way around. I think the only photography induced stress was seeing so many shots in Morocco and just not having the time and patience to stop, take helmet & gloves off, get camera out and take the photo on my DSLR.

As for security - the dodgiest place was probably the UK! Morocco certainly felt very safe. I did get some sand in the focussing rings of my lenses etc, but nothing too concerning or unexpected.

The volcanoes of the Auvergne, France

Misty valleys in the Pyrenees

Windmills at Consuegra, Spain

I'd like to be able to say we carefully planned our visit to coincide with the full-moon rise and sunset, but it was just pure luck. Not only did we get to live for a while measuring time and direction from the Sun, we got to see a complete cycle of the moon, which was full when we rode south through Spain and was back full again on the way back up northwards.

The Spanish side of the Pyrenees

Roman aqueduct at Segovia, Spain

Andalucian sunset

Terraced fields in southern Spain

Sunset at Azrou, Morocco

Moroccan streets come alive at night with children, families and food, while Egrets fly in to their roosts as a call to prayer echoes out from the mosque.

The entrance to Todra Gorge, green strips of vegetation and farmland cling to the rivers

The top end of Todra Gorge, women work the fields in a beautiful landscape that I struggled to capture. If there was one place I'd have loved to stay for a sunrise it was here.

My motorcycle parked up for lunch on the Tiz n Tichka pass through the Atlas mountains

The barren land between the Atlas mountains and the Sahara desert

The ancient kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou

Essouira harbour under a sea fog, large sardine boats left and blue shark fishing boats right

Zambujeira Do Mar, Portugal on the way back north

25 de Avril bridge at sunset, Lisbon

The incredible Vasco de Gama bridge, Lisbon

Have a good weekend everyone. Will start posting some more tour photos next week!

More randomness..

2011-11-30T11:08:00.002Z

ISO100, 100mm, f/11, 1/400s, -1ev, straightened & cropped

Sunset dogwalker on Pendine Sands (of land speed record fame)

ISO1600, 17mm, f/5.6, 1/2500s, -1.6ev

cropped, levels, selective curves, saturation, noise reduction

Steam locomotive Tangmere plods through autumn countryside, pushed by a diesel engine (I guess they had a problem). Composition is okay considering I wanted the autumn colours in there, but the sky was pretty ugly, the Sun recently clouded over and my settings aren't exactly optimised.

Report card: C- Must try harder next time!

Backlit Hoverfly

2011-11-24T10:33:00.004Z

ISO100, 105mm, 1/400s, f/2.8, -2ev, levels, cropped

A hover fly doing what it does best in a beam of autumn Sun.

They always look great with the Sun glowing through their body and giving them a silver lining, but I also liked how the streaks of Sunlight in the background turned out and the glistening raindrops on the leaves give it a nice ethereal backdrop. Light levels were just about spot on to use near perfect settings too, with low ISO still giving a nice speed to avoid camera shake and blur the wings nicely, while keeping to f/2.8 to optimise the bokeh and dialling the exposure compensation right down to capture those highlights.

Faerie Ring

2011-11-23T10:00:00.000Z

Out picking mushrooms sunday and was lucky enough to find a hidden patch of 20+ Fly Ageric mushrooms! Certainly the most I've ever seen in one patch. Used by many ancient tribes for its hallucinogenic properties and possibly even by the vikings as a fear inhibitor. Although it might have spiced dinner up significantly, we just stuck to photographing them.

Seasonal Quad

2011-11-22T14:22:00.005Z

A quad of sunlit, autumn leaves. Taken with the aim of capturing the same subject in a variety of shots and combining them to form a condensed, colourful snapshot of autumn woodland.

Home

2011-11-14T15:43:00.002Z

It's been a long while since I've posted here, since I headed out on my trip to Morocco over two months ago now. Plenty of photos taken (although not as many as there might have been) which I'm still in the middle of processing, so rather than put the blog on hold any longer here are a couple of shots from the weekend...

ISO1600, 320mm, 1/400s, f/5.6, +1ev, noise reduction, levels

Grey squirrel cramming in as many berries as possible before the cold arrives.

ISO200, 105mm, 1/250s, f/4.5, -1.6ev, flash+diffuser, tripod, cable release

Possibly the last macro flower/bee shot of the year before winter arrives.

Everything must go!

2011-08-26T09:32:00.006Z

The trip to Bournemouth Air Festival didn't quite go to plan, so no shots of Spitfires or the Red Arrows as a nine. RIP Flt Lt Jon Egging. With my tour to Europe and North Africa only a week away I'll be trying to keep my camera kit charged, ship-shape and empty of shots. My folder of discarded shots has been stacking up a little lately and as I've not been too active posting (and probably won't be the whole time away) I thought I'd just post them all up...

The Watchers

2011-08-25T14:59:00.003Z

ISO100, 16mm, 1/25s, f/8, -1ev, de-saturated, levels, curves, dodge/burn

Wedding #5

2011-08-22T20:54:00.004Z

A selection of shots from my last wedding a couple of weekends ago..

Simplicity

2011-08-17T13:17:00.003Z

ISO1000, 105mm, 1/200s, f/4, -2ev, noise reduction

7 Spot Ladybird on a reed, with rain drop

ISO100, 105mm, 1/640s, f/4, -1.6ev, transparent lighten blur

Sunlit window-ledge flower

Off to Bournemouth Air Festival this weekend, always up for budget friendly free events!

Local birds

2011-08-15T10:56:00.003Z

ISO1250, 560mm (400mm + 1.4x teleconverter), 1/1000s, f/8, -1ev

Noise reduction, cropped

A family of Grey Wagtails feeding in a town centre stream

ISO1600, 400mm, 1/500s, f/5.6, -1ev, noise reduction, cropped

A new born Moorhen waves its "wings" for attention.

ISO400, 380mm, 1/2000s, f/5.6, +2/3ev, noise reduction

A chorus-line of finches.

Note: high shutter speed is because I was photographing them flying on and off of the lines, but decided upon a static shot in the end instead.

Playtime

2011-08-09T10:08:00.003Z

A toy train steams out of Bristol.

I'm absolutely not a fan at all of false tilt-shift photos, but I found it vaguely amusing so have decided to share it anyway. It was originally part of an extreme wide Bristol panorama that I didn't deem worthy...

Hometown Tornado

2011-08-04T14:37:00.009Z

ISO1600, 35mm, 1/800, f/8, -2/3ev

noise reduction, dodge/burn, selective curves, desaturated

Probably the best kind of Tornado to have sweep through your home town, todays lunchbreak challenge finally left the macro lens packed away in the bag for once.

Just past her 3rd anniversary since being constructed in 2008, she spent today ferrying passengers between London and Bristol as The Cathedrals Express to help pay off her construction bill of £3million.

Chippenham station isn't without interest either. It is a grade II listed building, with much of it still dating back to the 1850's when it was a major station, being just one stop away from the Swindon Great Western Railway works.

Old photo of Chippenham rail yard (uncredited):

Things have been somewhat downgraded these days, but it did win the prestigious Station Excellence Award in 2005.

Green fly

2011-08-03T08:07:00.002Z

ISO1600, 105mm, f/3.2, 1/160s, -1ev, noise reduction

Simplicity, a clean colourful background and a sharp point of focus make for my next blog worthy photo.

Off to Bristol (br-iz-ol) this afternoon, so with a little luck, a bit of spare time and the weather playing ball you might just get something a little different next post!

Macro Clearance

2011-08-01T07:00:00.001Z

Norton Dreams

2011-07-28T12:00:00.002Z

ISO400, 100mm, 1/1250s, f/4.5, -1.6 ev, retouching

An old Norton glints in the dappled sunlight of a leafy avenue.

Taken after the end of a local motorcycle meet, where bikes of all kinds line the streets. Thankfully the owner of this very photogenic machine felt the need to stay late.

Using ISO 400 to add some noise - rather than adding it in Photoshop as most people recommend. Exposure compensation dropped almost right down to capture those bright highlights and deepen the shadows.

Wednesday

2011-07-27T16:08:00.002Z

ISO800, 105mm, 1.200s, f/5, -1/3ev, noise reducation

A bit more colour for the mid-week.

Shot quite a few strong patterned butterflies today, with the idea of possibly converting one to black and white, but this photo was the one that I felt was the best of the collection and impossible to turn off those colours. A nice shiny 7 spot ladybird with simple flowers and nice background composition.

Monday

2011-07-25T08:20:00.003Z

ISO400, 105mm, 1/640s, f/8, -1.6ev, noise reduction, cropped

Starting the week off with a fantastic splash of colour and a nice photogenic pose.

Meadow Brown

2011-07-22T07:37:00.005Z

ISO400, 105mm, 1/320s, f/5.6, -1ev, cropped, noise reduction

On a lunch-break when every butterfly seemed too busy to pause for a portrait, this Meadow Brown was the only one whose curiosity/fear overcame it's compulsion to take flight. Very nice patterning on its lower wings, and nicely up-lit by the natural leaf reflector, if a little bit green. (shot with Sunlight pre-set white balance - as always)

Cropped square to make the most of the luscious green surroundings

and simplify the frame.

With hindsight maybe a couple more clicks of aperture, but its possible the background bokeh would have suffered for it. The tilt on the photo I decided at the time was to point the end of the leaf into the bottom right corner (taken portrait orientation), but I decided against that format in post-production and maybe for this format a more anti-clockwise angle would have been more favourable, but again I quite like it - sometimes it's nice to have something tilted the "wrong" way - even if it was by accident.

Hope everyone has a photogenic weekend. If it ends up raining alot you might even see a lesser-spotted MWT weekend blog post! - Mark

Nice weather for ..

2011-07-21T09:33:00.002Z

ISO1600, 300mm, 1/320s, f/8, -1/3ev, noise reduction, cropped

I'm not sure I'll ever get comfortable with letting more than a few rain drops fall on my camera, even with weather sealed L lenses on it, but with no umbrella available (or my rain cover safely left back at home?!) a few riverside trees enabled me to get a few rainy shots while I was waiting for my MoT yesterday. An eye catch-light, bubbles, raindrops, splashing droplets and water dripping of the beak making this one the pick of the batch.

Two duos

2011-07-15T12:13:00.003Z

Belltower

Composite of bracketed, focus stacked images. Noise reduction.

Two photos from a lunchbreak trip to a local village church and two photography quotes I liked after a quick search aroung the web...

"Having a camera does not make you a photographer any more than carrying a hammer makes you a carpenter"

"Which is your favourite photograph?" - "The one I am going to take tomorrow"

Clearance

2011-07-12T09:26:00.003Z

A clearout of my blog folder from the last few weeks of pics, which I didn't feel deserved to host their own post.

Two macro bugs, a lame midday stop-off at a lavender field and a Bee Orchid.

.. and the macro keeps coming ..

2011-07-11T15:18:00.002Z

ISO400, 105mm, 1/500s, f/9, -1 2/3 ev, noise reduction, cropped square

The background in the areas that I've cropped off was quite interesting, but I wanted to put full focus on the vortex-like pattern of the flower and the hover fly.

These flies are shiny little blighters, so I set exposure compensation significantly down to avoid the glare burning off the end of the histogram (pattern/evaluative metering).

Grasshopper

2011-07-11T09:28:00.002Z

ISO1250, 105mm, 1/200s, f/11, -2/3ev, noise reduction, levels

Amazing detail and texture in this grasshoppers carapace and wings.

Usually jumpy little things, but you can find the odd one whos curiosity overcomes

it's desire to flea.

Last Day

2011-07-08T08:42:00.002Z

ISO200, f/5.6, 260mm, 1/500s, -2/3ev (pattern), desaturated, dodge & burn.

Buskers, special offers and empty shops encapsulating the current financial climate.

Taken in Swindon high-street with my extremely un-stealthy 100-400 which can make candid shots pretty tricky.

RAF Lyneham - Final Fly-by

2011-07-01T11:27:00.003Z

The last C130 Hercules' flying out of RAF Lyneham perform a final flyby over the north Wiltshire coutryside.

They have flown the skies over my home town all my life and the area will never be the same again. I've had a soft spot for them since flying in one as a child over the Bristol channel with the tail gate down and have very happy memories of cycling out to Lyneham in summer holidays to sit at the end of the runway and watch the Hercs taking off. A sad farewell.

More macro colour..

2011-06-30T10:35:00.002Z

ISO400, 105mm, 1/2500s, f/4, -2/3ev, noise reduction

Wearing out my macro lens this summer! Three more shots from photos taken in this weeks lunchbreaks, just trying to hone my attention to composition, clean backgrounds, sharp focus and aperture. Not an ideal ISO setting on this first shot, I guess I was flitting between in-flight shots, but happy with the composition, pose, background and aperture.

ISO800, 105mm, 1/800s, f/8, -1ev, cropped (from portrait), noise reduction

Been avoiding bees a bit this year since they're everywhere and I've done quite a few in the past, but pleased with this shot since I successfully predicted it's next destination, set suitable settings and took just one frame in the space of a couple of seconds.

The thistle was well away from any background distractions, so f/8 turned out nice (I pre-focussed on the thistle), with the fast shutter speed freezing the bees motion, but still blurring the wings and a -1ev exposure compensation (pattern metering) as I was shooting into bright Sun.

ISO400, 105mm, 1/2000s, f/5, -1ev, noise reduction

Another thistle, another Skipper. Amazing to see the colour difference between the thistles in these shots, I'm not sure if they're different species or just gain colour as they mature?

As before, trying to keep that background clean and/or nicely blurred and let the amazing colours, patterns and textures of nature do the rest.

Large Skipper

2011-06-29T10:00:00.002Z

ISO400, 105mm, 1/2000s, f/4.5, -1ev

Large Skipper moth on a wild Early Purple Orchid.

Excuses: I'd left the ISO high from a previous shot, but at least at 1/2000s I didn't have much worry about camera shake! As always with macros this year - trying to get my backgrounds cleaner, so happy with this one. No processing, straight from camera except for noise reduction (thanks to my ISO blunder).

Michael

2011-06-28T07:57:00.002Z

An amazing stained glass window of Saint Michael.

Michael is an Archangel (the only one mentioned in the bible) meaning a leader of angels, he is commonly portrayed in a more angelic guise, but is shown here much more in his form as a warrior dressed in medieval armour.

He commanded the armies that fought Satan in the Book of Revelations, coming down from Heaven to imprison Satan (embodied as a dragon) for a thousand years. Hence, like St George he is often illustrated standing over a dragon. Also similar to St George he was made a patron saint of Chivalry in the medieval period and is patron saint of many police and warrior groups today, most popular with airbourne units.

Battle of Chippenham

2011-06-27T12:48:00.003Z

Some candid character shots from the weekend re-enactment of the battle of Chippenham.

The fog of war casting silhouettes of canon, pike and musket.

A Royalist cavalry rider at the gallop and a Parliamentarian flinches as his musket fires.

Ale and water for a defeated Parliamentarian cavalryman and his mount after a long, hot battle.

Oliver Cromwell

2011-06-24T13:13:00.002Z

ISO1600, 23mm, 1/800s, f/8, selective levels/curves, noise reduction

The Oliver Cromwell steaming past a Somerset village at a fair gallop, not bad for a 60 year old that's for sure. Cropped "widescreen", I'm happy with the result, the weather had been glorious Sun until five minutes before she arrived and then it clouded over, causing a few ISO and exposure compensation setting changes, but I think the high ISO and muted/cloudy light has definitely brought out that slightly surreal, painted quality.

Butterfly of the day..

2011-06-21T12:38:00.002Z

ISO100, 105mm, 1/200s, f/3.5, -2/3ev, colour balance (green reduction)

Since lunch-breaks have just turned into a procession of macro efforts, I've re-named today's post accordingly. Still nice to get good shots, even if they aren't as varied as I'd like. I guess at least today's is a new species for this blog - as far as I can remember.

Hopefully get something a little varied later in the week as I have a visit to Bristol tomorrow and another local steam locomotive Thursday (weather permitting), then some more wedding photos to do at the weekend again!

More macro

2011-06-20T13:53:00.002Z

ISO100, 105mm, 1/200s, f/5.6, -2/3ev

One Day Wildlife Clearance

2011-06-08T10:25:00.003Z

A bit of a wildlife clear out today, with a selection of rejects from the last couple of weeks, including a Graveyard squirrel, heart-shaped leaf ladybird, a bug with a view, the blue wings of a butterfly and the stripey eyes of a damselfly.

Swanage

2011-06-06T12:33:00.003Z

ISO800, 260mm, 1/500s, f/5.6, -2/3ev, noise reduction, colour balance, levels

A family of swans sail past during a recent Kingfisher stakeout.

I happened to be nice and low for this shot, so shot them on their level and captured a nice moment with some eye contact, both parents looking inward and even some vocal participation in progress. Background isn't the best, but pleased with the composition and main subject.

Chippenham Folk Festival 2011

2011-06-03T11:54:00.003Z

ISO200, 365mm, 1/500s, f/5.6, -1ev

A trio of black and white portraits from last weekends folk festival. Wasn't down there for long due to other duties and commitments, but pleased with the odd snap I did manage to grab.

ISO100, 360mm, 1/640s, f/5.6, -1 1/3ev

Who said a portrait has to have a face in it. Plenty of character on show without. Bright but hazey weather acting as the big, diffuse soft-box in the sky.

ISO125, 370mm, 1/500s, f/5.6, -2/3ev

Morris dancing and drinking beer, Britain in a snapshot.

ISO100, 115mm, 1/500s, f/4.5, -1ev

.. and a splash of colour to finish on, with another micro-encapsulation of the event.

Project KFC

2011-06-02T09:44:00.002Z

ISO1600, 400mm, 1/500s, f/5.6

curves, levels, cropped, cloning, noise reduction

Project KFC is back on track again this year, same river, just a few miles further upstream.

Managed to get this shot this morning (hence the postponement of the folk festival shots promised).

Not exactly straight-from-camera, with not insignificant amounts of noise reduction, sharpening, cropping and cloning out the odd messy branch, but heading in the right direction. Certainly a decent starting point anyway and not bad considering it was just on the way to work, rather than properly set up.

Grave stalker

2011-06-01T10:17:00.003Z

Not usually too long until a graveyard photo pops up on here, this time from a cemetery in Bath and a weathered statue of a woman at rest. There's often lots of angels and cherubs around, but always nice to find such a photogenic one.

Stay tuned for a few Folk Festival photos tomorrow..

Bittern

2011-05-31T11:52:00.002Z

Bittern steam locomotive, running as the Dominion of New Zealand

Emerging from Box Tunnel

American Chrome

2011-05-24T08:18:00.002Z

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..

2011-05-20T09:41:00.001Z

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

Reed Bunting on reeds

2011-05-19T14:20:00.003Z

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

A male Reed Bunting sings in the morning sunlight

Vicki & Bill

2011-05-18T06:39:00.009Z

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

2011-05-17T10:37:00.003Z

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

Gypsy horses in the Wiltshire landscape

Steam & Green

2011-05-16T06:49:00.003Z

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

2011-05-12T10:10:00.000Z

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

2011-05-11T10:49:00.002Z

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..

2011-05-05T11:08:00.004Z

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

2011-05-05T09:57:00.001Z

Common Blue

2011-05-04T07:30:00.002Z

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

Windows 2011

2011-05-03T16:16:00.002Z

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

2011-05-02T10:00:00.000Z

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

2011-05-01T10:00:00.000Z

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.

Bank Holiday 2

2011-04-30T10:00:00.000Z

ISO125, 105mm, 1/200s, f/5.6, -2/3ev, cropped, colour balance (reduce green reflection)

A woodland butterfly ponders life amongst the undergrowth. Backlit by the Sun to highlight the transparent wings and rim-light the feathered edges.

Bank Holiday 1

2011-04-29T10:00:00.002Z

The first of 4 scheduled blog posts to celebrate the double bank holiday weekend. All taken at lunch break thursday.

ISO800, 105mm, 1/500s, f/7.1, -2/3ev, noise reduction

A Trio of Dandelions

2011-04-28T11:00:00.003Z

The seasonal favourite for April with so many photographers, the humble dandelion.

Three shots taken yesterday in an attempt to capture it in different ways.

ISO400, 105mm, f/11, 1/200s, -1ev, levels, noise reduction, desaturate yellow

Two images layered of the same frame, just two different focal planes

ISO400, 105mm, f.5.6, 1/200s, +2/3ev (purposefully over exposed)

My favourite of the trio. ISO320, 105mm, f/7.1, 1/200s, -2/3ev. Desaturated, noise reduction.

Pick 'n' Mix

2011-04-27T07:28:00.008Z

Starting this week with an odd selection of left over images of possibly the most diverse collection of subjects that even I have posted before. They're an acquired taste I must admit, but hopefully something of interest ..

ISO100, 275mm, 1/6400s, f/5.6, -1ev, levels, colour balance (reduce yellow), desaturate blue

Sunlight refracted through ice crystals in a cirrus cloud. The pure beauty of this is way above the abilities of me and my camera to capture, so much of the subtle colours have been lost. I often don't post up things like this, considering it a failure to capture how something looked, but maybe it's possible to look at the image and let your imagination make up for it's short-falls.

You can always rely on great light inside an old church it seems. This time inside St John the Baptist church in the fabulously history rich Colerne. The village has a long history dating back to hill fort remains from many year BC, it was mentioned in the Domesday book (11th century) and the church houses fragments of an 8th century Saxon stone cross. The church itself dates from 1190, with many medieval features still remaining, including a large array of well preserved gargoyles and carved faces. The bell tower holds 8 bells dating from 1652 and a single handed clock from 1685, one of only a handful of hour-hand only in England, but unfortunately not very photogenic since the clock face was restored in 2008.

Flowers at Lacock abbey walled garden.

Channel mixer, vignette, added noise, added texture, colour balance, reverse curves (lower contrast), dodge/burn and generally just trashed it to look like an old photo.

A bit of fun with an old car parked up at the suitably ye-olde looking Reybridge.

Wedding shoot went brilliantly on saturday, glorious weather, lots of happy people and no disasters. The staged studio lights were a complete hit, working really well technically and bringing out everyones inner celebrity, with a queue forming for the best part of an hour. Was great fun and got some really nice photos, bride and groom were happy, so another successful event in the bag.

Just one more lesson learned this time... when you're photographing the bride arriving and everyone else is making their way into the venue, make sure you don't get locked out!!

A midweek macro clear-out..

2011-04-19T13:56:00.005Z

With the hope of restoring a bit more variety into the mix, here are 3 macro shots from the last few days. (None from today as I had a dentist lunch-break challenge).

ISO100, 105mm, 1/800s, f/4, -2/3ev

Not all butterfly shots have to be blazing with colours.

ISO160, 105mm, 1/200s, f/4

7 Spot ladybird on a bluebell.

ISO400, 105mm, 1/640s, f/4, -1/3ev, cropped, saturation

Thistle & Bee, taken at Lacock over the weekend. Pretty happy with this one, nice and clean, a good bee, a good pose, a good flower and the lawn colour background really makes it pop. Some more light or a catchlight on the eye would have been nice, but it's somewhere handy.

Studio Lights

2011-04-18T20:24:00.004Z

Shot a bunch of test shots with my new studio lights this evening, just to make sure they don't have any nasty habits before they get their first serious trial at the weekend. Was good fun, and the lights were solid. Shot this dead head cowboy with just a single softbox to one side, nice and simple, then cloned out the tripod he was balancing on in PS.

Then a quick shoot with Paula and her new dark hair, which despite the addition of a bounced fill light off the ceiling, stayed dark.

Lunchbreak photofest..

2011-04-18T13:31:00.002Z

ISO400, 105mm, 1/200s, f/7.1, -2/3ev, noise reduction, cropped

Today's lunch-break photo session was far from a challenge, so has been temporarily re-named. Although there is an unhealthy amount of macro flora and fauna on show, so maybe the challenges will be to get some variety back on the blog this week!

The first damselfly of the year in this shot. Certainly seems early and is the first I've seen despite walks along the local river and canal over the weekend. Always a welcome splash of colour on my blog anyway.

Friday clearance..

2011-04-15T07:58:00.001Z

A clear out of the last weeks left-overs to add a little fun and colour..

Church jug

2011-04-13T16:21:00.004Z

ISO1600, 27mm, 1/25s, f/4.5

Selective levels, selective transparent lightening blur, noise reduction

Moody natural lighting (an ever present commodity in churches it seems) side lights a great old religious vessel. Not a photo that will ever dazzle, but more of a still life study in light, shade, texture, detail and tone.

Finally received my studio lights yesterday too after Royal Mail lost the first set and THT Trading (Amazon) took four weeks to send a replacement. Not best pleased, but the item seems decent enough, I will set about trying them out this week and see what I can come up with...

Photograph-y Hell..

2011-04-12T11:29:00.002Z

Stuck at my desk with the Sun shining on the world outside. Photograph-y hell.

ISO500, 20mm, 1/30s, f/2.8, -1.1/3ev

Selective: levels, curves, blurring, cloning, spot removal, noise reduction, colour balance

Vale of Pewsey

2011-04-11T10:33:00.002Z

ISO100, 16mm, f/14, 1/50s, circular polariser, -1/3ev

Selective curves, dodge/burn, 2 raw exposures combined

The Kennett and Avon canal meandering across Wiltshire, cutting a peaceful and pleasant path through the Pewsey Vale on a sunny spring day.

Friday flurry..

2011-04-08T13:15:00.002Z

Another sunny lunch-break, another quick blog update..

ISO400, 105mm, 1/400s, f/4, -2/3ev, noise reduction

Spider macro against a nice clean background.

ISO125, 105mm, 1/160s, f/3.2, -2/3ev

The first bluebells are firing into colour in the local woods. Brace yourself for more photos of these beauties over the coming weeks!

ISO100, 105mm, 1/500s, f/4, -2/3ev, cropped, highlight recovery

A Brimstone Butterfly taking a breather on the woodland floor. It's wings turned out to be the perfect reflector and were extraordinarily bright, but rather luckily, could still be recovered while processing the RAW file.

Two bees or not two bees..

2011-04-07T12:03:00.002Z

ISO200, 400mm, 1/1600s, f/5.6, cropped, levels, saturation

Another swift lunch-break challenge today, lots of bees and dandelions, so they were the target of choice today, with the aim of capturing one in flight. I'm counting today as a failure, since I'm not pleased with either shot, both having poor depth of field/focussing, but as always it was very nice to get out in the Sun anyway.

ISO200, 400mm, 1/1250s, f/5.6, cropped, levels, saturation

Lunchbreak challenge..

2011-04-06T15:43:00.002Z

Fantastic sunny day today. Full speed on the bicycle to a local wildlife reserve and church to broaden my lunch-break horizons. Saw a few other photo opportunities on the new route which will provide suitable hunting grounds for future challenges, but settled on this one of today.

A peacock butterfly poised atop suitably photogenic twisting flowers, under dappled sunlight, against a shaded background.

Usually butterflies are too busy and full of energy mid way through a sunny day for the macro lens, but this one didn't seem too bothered by me.

ISO100, 105mm, 1/320s, f/3.5, -2/3ev

Not just for Christmas..

2011-04-05T12:09:00.002Z

Pretty bleak out there today and no camera with me, so here's one I prepared earlier.

Taken yesterday through foreground leaves and branches to create a muted, hazy natural vignette. Not much choice in the matter since the Robin was at the centre of a spring flowering bush, but always good to be able to turn a potential negative into a positive.

With good weather predicted from tomorrow onwards we'll see what I can find tomorrow..

ISO400, 400mm, 1/500s, f/5.6, -1ev

Noise reduction, cropped, colour balance (to balance out the green light bounced and filtered via surrounding foliage)

Lunchbreak challenge..

2011-04-04T13:33:00.002Z

Another overcast sky, perfect for a rolling landscape, but being constrained to push-bike range it was into another local patch of greenery looking for some macro detail again. Slightly more successful this time in that I actually got to blog pretty much what I was looking for, unlike last week. Nice subdued cloud filtered shading and great natural textures, but with colours that I just couldn't bring myself to turn black and white. Darkened fairly significantly in photoshop using levels to pop those textures.

ISO1000, 330mm, 1/640s, f/5.6, -2/3ev

Levels, noise reduction

Lunchbreak Challenge - FAILED!!

2011-04-01T13:29:00.003Z

With gloomy skies and bleak lighting I was in search of something with contrast and texture that I could convert into a black and white photo .. something a little different. However, my three best opportunities for a decent snap were: a bright red bull-finch, some red, black and yellow gold finches or this swathe of flowers. So, my apologies, but for todays lunch-break challenge it's yet more colours ..

ISO400, 235mm, 1/500s, f/5, -1/3ev

Cropped, noise reduction, curves, transparent blurred lighten layer

Reversal

2011-03-31T14:42:00.002Z

A blood red Sun falls from the sky silhouetting an old oak and a distant pylon.

Originally consigned to the scrap pile because of the power lines, but I've just about managed to convince myself it adds interest - a contrast of mankinds thirst for energy and it's love of nature. Nice colours anyway! In fact the Sun was far redder in reality, but hard to re-create that without making the image look too false.

ISO100, 400mm, 1/100s, f/6.3

Colour adjustment, saturation, graduated levels

More bugs

2011-03-29T08:51:00.002Z

Two more lunch-break challenge bugs, a tortoiseshell butterfly against to perfectly blue sky and another humble 7 spot ladybird on the same tree, but taken with the 105mm macro lens. The direct sunlight may be harsh, but it definitely pops the colours out!

Above - ISO100, 400mm, 1/1250s, f/5.6, -2/3ev - cropped (branch on left side of frame)

In hindsight I should have upped the aperture and sacrificed some of that shutter speed for depth of field, but that's why I keep practicing. Also a shame that this was taken between two foreground branches, so I couldn't expand the space around the butterfly to the left .. it's still a little cramped to me, but nice colours and detail anyway!

ISO100, 105mm, 1/320s, f/8, -2/3ev

I think with the change in weather due for the rest of the week, my lunch-break challenges might become quite a bit more challenging.. but we'll see.

Lunchbreak Challenge

2011-03-24T11:00:00.003Z

With spring well and truly blazing I seem to have become addicted to bringing my camera in every day at the moment. Yesterday was another lunchtime wander close to work and it was beautiful weather, a warm Sun, cool breeze and an explosion of insects and butterflies battling for territories and the first blooms.

Two shots I deemed blog worthy, both taken with the big zoom. Top is a Bombyliidae or bee-fly mid flight.. and yes it was quite a tricky shot to bag!

ISO100, 350mm, 1/500s, f/5.6, -2/3ev - straight from camera

The second photo is my first - and no doubt, not the last - butterfly photo of the year. A Tortoiseshell sipping the amber nectar in the Sun. Simple, but always stunning.

ISO100, 400mm, 1/640s, f/5.6, -2/3ev - cropped

Lost

2011-03-22T15:58:00.003Z

A once loved bear, who looks like they've been off on an adventure, now sits waiting for their owner to pass by again. Nice textures for black and white too!

ISO100, 190mm, 1/250s, f/5.6, -1/3ev

Desaturated, levels, curves, dodge & burn, cropped

Lunchbreak challenge..

2011-03-21T15:46:00.004Z

Another day, another challenge. Lots of ladybirds around at the moment and a scattering of early flowers combined to good effect and with a nice simple background too. Light is a little flat, but try as I might I failed to control either the subject or the clouds.

ISO1600, 105mm, 1/100s, f/8, -1/3ev

Noise reduction, cropped, curves

Two other shots taken recently of ladybirds.. just to turn it into a mini-montage...

Three 7 spot ladybirds having a meeting.

Primed for take-off. Not technically great, but shows the transparency of the wings nicely.

Lunchbreak Challenge

2011-03-15T16:34:00.002Z

Another lunch break challenge to find some spring flowers. I had my eye on some stunning crocuses the last couple of days, but today they had lost some of their vividness, so I had to wander elsewhere to find this blossom instead.

ISO160, 105mm, 1/160s, f/3.5, -1ev, straight from camera

Lunchbreak challenge

2011-03-11T13:15:00.002Z

Been bringing the camera into work the last few days. Wandering out at lunch is pretty limited by range and time, but it's nice to get outside while spring is creeping in. Saw a Red Kite circling above today which is quite rare for this area still, but this was the best shot of a pair of crows in a freshly ploughed field. Nice simple composition and crows always have good character I think.

ISO100, 400mm, 1/500s, f/5.6. Straight from camera.

Cut and dye..

2011-03-08T07:50:00.002Z

A rare appearance of a MWT portrait shot today, to celebrate the radical transformation of Paula's hair being about 50cm shorter and 99% redder! Taken using low natural light and diffused flash bounced off the ceiling.

ISO1600 (to add texture), 16mm, 1/50s, f/4, -1 2/3ev, -2ev flash exposure compensation

Desaturated, colour balance (green tint), levels, dodge/burn

I couldn't help but take this shot of hair dye and a rusty razor we had hanging around from decorating. I like it a lot.

ISO1600, 105mm, 1/200s, f/8

noise reduction, colour balance (correction), sharpened, cloned out a couple of specks of dust

New Forest Wildlife Center

2011-02-25T09:44:00.004Z

Taken last weekend at the New Forest Wildlife Park, okay so it's kind of cheating, but nice to see them close up once in a while. If anything its good practice for the real thing, especially after a few weeks of too much moving & decorating and no where near enough photography!

ISO1600, 320mm, 1/250s, f/5.6. -2/3ev. Straight from camera.

ISO1600, 375mm, 1/160s, f/5.6,-2/3ev. Straight from camera.

My 2011 Challenge Checklist

2011-02-11T15:31:00.004Z

Right, this year is going to be the year I finally get around to doing some of the photo techniques I always wanted to try out. Besides continuing my efforts to get a decent Kingfisher photo this year, here is my check-list:

- Star trails

- Light trail cityscape

- Daylight long exposures using my newly purchased 8 stop ND filter (a bargain off eBay for £6!)

- Possibly some motion shots whilst riding my motorcycle

All hopefully with an added twist to them if I can.

.. and with any luck lots of travel pics from my trip to France-Spain-Morocco-Portugal in September! We also have a few more weddings to do this year following on from the success of last years wedding - which reminds me I need to blog some of those! Also a family portrait request which should be fun and challenging and possibly a local hotel website to design & photograph for.. turning into a bit of a mini-sideline career it seems!

Off to the New Forest Wildlife Centre this weekend, so with any luck I should well and truly get my shutter finger back working again for the year ahead..

Call waiting..

2011-02-01T09:55:00.003Z

An old dial phone enjoys its retirement at Blunsdon Railway station.

Safely locked behind closed doors, unfortunately I couldn't stage it into a more dynamic scene, with maybe the receiver and a few coins on the shelf. Still some nice details though.

ISO200, 24mm, 1/40s, f/5, -1ev

curves, added noise, desaturated, transparent lightening blur

Happy snap

2011-01-13T09:50:00.002Z

Frozen lock keepers cottage.

A bit of a picture postcard pic today I'm afraid, reminds me of the kind of photo you put together in a 500 piece jigsaw, but with being so busy lately it's from the leftovers of a few weeks back.

ISO100, 23mm, 1/40s, f/11, circular polariser

colour balance

Sleigh ride home

2011-01-11T12:48:00.002Z

A father pulls his daughter homeward on a sleigh in the snow. Wasn't going to post this, but with some processing and a square crop it's grown on me, with a couple of things I really like about it.

ISO400, 400mm, 1/500s, f/5.6, +2/3ev

Noise reduction, cropped, desaturated, added a transparent highlight blur vignette

Just another..

2011-01-07T14:17:00.002Z

Just one last post from my last batch of photos, I wasn't going to blog it but have finally decided to grant it a showing thanks to it's wintery ethereal qualities.

ISO640, 35mm, 1/50s, f/11.

Levels, curves, desaturated blue channel, noise reduction.

2011-01-06T13:23:00.002Z

Another photo taken in the blanket of snow from a couple of weeks ago.

ISO160, 16mm, 1/30s, f/11, +1/3 ev, circular polariser.

Curves, levels, cropped, colour balance (foreground), cloned out footsteps (foreground).

Might be a bit of a break for a while as I am moving and decorating for the next couple of weekends. If I do get a chance to get out and take anything I'll post it up.

White Christmas

2011-01-05T09:59:00.003Z

Taken on a Christmas day walk through some local fields, tree shadows cast across an untouched field of snow by the low midday Sun. Not quite as clean and simple as I would have liked, but I do like the shadows, glistening snow and tiny walker in the distance. I chose a mid-range aperture as a balance between decent depth of field, avoiding too much star-burst effect on the Sun and avoiding any lens flare.

ISO100, 16mm, 1/100s, f/13, circular-polariser.

Colour balance adjustment and cloned out a telephone cable.

Winter Birds 4

2011-01-03T10:00:00.000Z

The fourth and final photo in my mini-series, a Kestrel hunting from a frozen tree in the morning mist. Not rating highly in colour or detail, but in atmosphere and simplicity I think it makes it worthy of posting up. It was -11°c this morning and the mist was freezing onto everything, the metal legs of my tripod were sticking to my scarf and gloves it was so cold, how birds can continue to function in these conditions is amazing. The mist diffusing the light created a natural vignette which works well when cropped square.

400mm, 1/500s, f/5.6, ISO200, cropped, levels, desaturated

I must confess to annoying myself on the day I took this photo. I was walking along approaching a river bridge when I saw something colourful on a frosty branch just to one side, less than 5 meters away. I had my zoom lens on and camera at the ready, but stood for several seconds trying to figure out what it was - was it a kingfisher? It was so still that I started thinking it was a childs glove.. or even a dead kingfisher.. then in an instant it turned its head and flew away. Ouch! I've missed some photo opportunities in my time, but that was a corker! Nothing like learning the hard way.. again!

Winter Birds 3

2011-01-02T10:00:00.001Z

The third shot is another Robin, this time searching the undergrowth of leaves, ivy and snow.

The skies were heavy with fog, not ideal lighting this time, but not a bad shot.

220mm, 1/400s, f/5, ISO1250, noise reduction

You might notice I've been shooting quite a few of these using auto-ISO (from the 200 and 1250 settings that aren't in the default manual ISO selections). I've found that generally it works really well on the 50D usually picking an ISO setting that allows me to concentrate on the other settings (focal length, aperture, shutter speed). I only really set it manually when I'm either requiring a higher than normal shutter speed to freeze movement or I have the camera stabilised on the tripod or a handy fence or post etc. Of course I still need to keep an eye on it and lower is always better, but with the quality of noise reduction software these days I find myself worrying about it much less lately. It's still nice to know I have the knowledge to judge which ISO I should be using if I need to though!

Winter Birds 2

2011-01-01T10:00:00.001Z

Happy New Year! Wishes for a good 2011 to everyone!

Next up and probably my favourite of this mini-series of bird photos, a Wren foraging amongst a snowy patch of hedge line. Low winter Sun providing the soft, warm light, reflecting off the snow and elevating the shot significantly.

400mm, 1/640s, f/10, ISO200, cropped

Winter Birds 1

2010-12-31T09:48:00.002Z

The first photo of a series of bird photos that I took over the last couple of weeks.

Today's is a Redwing migrant feeding on the neighbours apple tree with snow providing a nice pale backdrop. The five foot fence that divides our gardens doubled as a hide and tripod, very handy.

560mm (100-400mm lens + 1.4x teleconverter)

1/1000s, f/8, ISO800, +1/3 ev

Levels, curves, saturation and noise reduction.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-30T11:22:00.002Z

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, best wishes for a great new year!

With a bit of a backlog of photos to get through I've decided to upload a special Christmas multi-panorama post today. Without really noticing, I appeared to have taken several over the last few weeks. If I'm being philosophical, then I think it's because the snow has led to scenic panoramas, but since I live in a pretty flat area, it's naturally lent itself to this format. The cynical part of me argues that it's lazy and an easy way out of not finding "proper" landscape spots, but I kind of like them anyway...

Winter Sunrise at Lacock

Oakfields at Whitley

St Marys in the snow

The Snowball Stand-off

More to come soon as and when time allows...