Nature Photography Blog

Fionnphort Panorama

Mark J M Wilson — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 07:20:00 +0000

Fionnphort, Isle of Mull, Scotland

A couple of years ago I stayed on Iona for a couple of nights to get out early looking for Corncrake. I didn't get any luck with the Corncrakes (heard loads, saw a few deep in the iris beds) but had fun with the scenary. The above is a panorama is looking at Fionnphort at 05:55 on 25 May 2010 (click to view larger).

For the technical minded, it is created from 16 frames with my Canon 1D mkIIN, 500mm and 1.4x, resulting in a 143 megapixel image (30,770 x 4,640 pixels) or a 3.0 x 0.5 meter print!

You can see some of the detail by navigating around the Zoomify version of the image below (requires Flash).

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Camera gear for sale

Mark J M Wilson — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 19:55:00 +0000

I am selling some of my camera gear to make room for new purchases. Full details and photos can be found from on the links below.

Canon EF 400mm f5.6L USM - SOLD

Canon EF 20mm f2.8 USM - SOLD

Canon EOS 20D -SOLD

Please share this with your Canon loving friends!

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SOLD: Canon EF 20mm f2.8 USM

Mark J M Wilson — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 19:48:00 +0000

Canon EF 20mm f2.8 USM - SOLD

Excellent condition, all glass is clean and free from damage. The lens body is also unmarked.

Purchased new in 2006, not used much since 2008 when I replaced it with a 17-40mm. Currently sells at £400 new, so this is an excellent price for an immaculate lens.

The sale includes: Original box, lens, caps.

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SOLD: Canon 400mm f5.6L USM

Mark J M Wilson — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 19:47:00 +0000

Canon 400mm f5.6L USM - SOLD

Excellent condition, all glass is clean and free from damage. The body is almost completely unmarked - there is a light scratch on the tripod collar and the foot is lightly scuffed from attachment to triopds.

The lens was purchased new in 2005 from Park Cameras and has a date code of UT (2005).

The sale includes: Original box, lens, caps, case (unused) and Lenscoat hoodie (neoprene lens cap that slips over the lens hood). I will also include a home made neoprene cover - not as nice as a lenscoat but cost me nothing.

Canon EF 400mm f5.6L USM

Canon EF 400mm f5.6L USM
Canon EF 400mm f5.6L USMCanon EF 400mm f5.6L USM
Canon EF 400mm f5.6L USM

For Sale: Canon EOS 20D

Mark J M Wilson — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 19:47:00 +0000

Canon EOS 20D - SOLD

This camera body is in excellent condition, fully functional, free from major scuffs or blemishes and has less than 17,000 shutter actuations.

It was bought new in September 2005, became my second body in early 2006 and has been relegated to a camera bag since September 2008.

The sale includes: Original box, Camera, cap, charger, manual, 1 Canon battery, 1 non-branded battery. It does not include the USB lead.

Adobe Lightroom 4 Beta

Mark J M Wilson — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 05:24:47 +0000

Its that time again - I can't believe it is more than 2 years since the Lightroom 3 Beta and exactly 6 since the very first Lightroom beta!

Rather than repeat myself and others, here are some of my favourite resources:

My first thoughts are here: http://www.wildphotoforum.com/blog/2/entry-8-adobe-lightroom-4-beta/

Adobe's Tom Hogarty announced it here: http://blogs.adobe.com/lightroomjournal/2012/01/lr4betanowavailable.html

You can get the beta from here: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom4/

I'll be mainly discussing the beta on this Wildphotoforum thread: http://www.wildphotoforum.com/topic/1269-lightroom-4-beta-announced/

Victoria Brampton has a new version of her excellent keyboard shortcuts here:

http://www.lightroomqueen.com/keyboard-shortcuts/

Adobe have posted a list of resources here:http://blogs.adobe.com/lightroomjournal/2012/01/lightroom-4-beta-resources.html

Its early here in the UK, so I'm going back to bed!

Enjoy :-)

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Adobe Carousel

Mark J M Wilson — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Adobe announced a new product today at Photoshop World - Adobe Carousel.

So, what is it?

Adobe describe it as seamless access to your image collection whether you’re on a desktop, tablet or mobile phone. It shares both your images and any adjustments you have made. The best bit is the adjustments are non-destructive, just like when you are working in ACR or Lightroom.

Key features:

Simple library browser
Drag an drop photos to add to Adobe Carousel
Single click, non-destructuve editing with slider based refinement (similar to ACR and Lightroom)
Application looks the same on desktop and iPad
Add photos direct from your iPhone
Share a Carousel with other people and all can see, edit and add photos

Key information:

Supported platforms/devices: iPhone 3GS and 4, iPad 1 and 2, iPod Touch 4G and Mac OS X 10.7 (Windows support scheduled for early 2012)
Import as many photos as you want
Install Adobe Carousel on as many devices as you like
30 day free trial available
Introductory price of $5.99/month or $59.99/year (offer ends 31 Jan 2012)

I'll add more information as it becomes available.

Updates:

Adobe product page is now available: http://www.adobe.com/products/carousel.html

Photoshop.com blog post on Adobe Carousel

Follow @AdobeCarousel on twitter

Adobe Carousel on Facebook

Macworld article: http://www.macworld.com/article/162157/2011/09/carousel.html

Dust bunnies

Mark J M Wilson — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 21:54:18 +0000

Working up an image this evening and decided it was time to clean the sensor on my trusty old Canon 1D mkIIN.

All those white circles are the 'worst' dust bunnies (spots)...there are still a few left...

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Photo subject - full lunar eclipse 15 June 2011

Mark J M Wilson — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 05:28:54 +0000

Wondering what to photograph this week?

Time to brush up on your lunar techniques because the longest lunar eclipse in 11 years should be visible in the UK on

Adobe Lightroom 3 performance tips

Mark J M Wilson — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 17:00:53 +0000

Adobe have posted some official words on how you can get the best performance with Lightroom based upon your computer specifications and set-up.

See http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/400/kb400808.html

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