Two bees or not two bees..

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..

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..

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..

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!!

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

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

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

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

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..

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

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

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..

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

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

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..

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

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

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..

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

Busy-ness

Frosty morning walker

Been very busy the last week decorating, so had no camera time at all. Not such a torture since the snow and ice has disappeared too, but I'll try and make an effort if it returns at the end of the week again. This is a photo from a week or so ago, shot directly into a misty rising Sun to give a nice backlit glow, catching the walkers breath and casting long, mirror-image shadows of both the walkers legs and park bench legs.

ISO250, 210mm, 1/400s, f/5

The Lunchtime Winter Photo Challenge

With it being dark outside work hours, I set about a (slightly extended) lunch-break challenge to go and snap some winter scenes while the weather was nice and in-clement! With the scenic village of Lacock just 5 minutes away, I headed over and did a lap of the area in record time..

First shot was luck, but then you got to be out there to get lucky! A buzzard settled in a snow laden conifer tree as I was walking down the road. Taken at 400mm at ISO1600, I've had to do some fairly heavy noise reduction and cropping, but still a nice blog worthy image I think, if not great technically. ISO1600, 400mm, 1/250s, f/5.6

First landscape style shot was also taken with the zoom lens, a scene that I've driven past many times and thought would make quite a nice composition, looking out over the village cottages and church. To be honest, it has looked better with a bit more fog and snow about, but the snowy trees just about make it wintery enough and the chimney smoke is a nice bonus!

ISO500, 135mm, 1/250s, f/9

Frozen reeds. Taken on tripod at f/22 to smooth out the water and get some motion in the reeds. I almost chose to convert this to black and white, but then changed my mind as I do like the contrast of the warm and cold tones. Foreground levels tweaked. ISO100, Tripod, 16mm, f/22, circular polariser, 1.3sec

One of my favourite bridges in the area, this time photographed surrounded by frozen trees and grasses. Straight from camera. ISO100, Tripod, CircPlrsr, 31mm, f/22, 0.6sec

Followed by a quick drive back to work to defrost.

Overall I am pleased with the results, considering. Just shows what you can capture in such a short period of time. Looking forwards to the next one...

December

There's been some fantastic weather for snow-scapes and winter sunsets recently if you're lucky enough to be able to get out in them! I've driven through some great looking parts of England the last two weekends, but not had much chance to photograph them unfortunately. This is a snapshot taken a while back, down the Kennet & Avon canal.

Urban Snow

Not had a gritty urban shot for a little while, so here's a recent shot taken in Bath.

All the elements fit nicely into a neat composition, with the bonus of the snow making the bridge railings really stand out. Usually I go mad with dodging, burning and selective curves on these type of images, but this one is just desaturated and a small dose of curves over the whole image.