Life, but not as we know it!!

Duxford War Museum, frustrating

2013-09-26T18:10:00.002+01:00

I managed to get a couple of hours in the Duxford war museum and thought I'd be able to get some nice photos. Sadly, as with a lot of museums, the urge to cram as much stuff in for display, ultimately detracts (in my opinion) from many of the exhibits.

I guess I have to recognise that the role of the museum is to preserve and display stuff, but in cramming so much in, all sense of scale is lost. As is any chance of getting a good photo of a plane without it being half covered by the wing of another, or having another planes prop growing out of it!

I somehow felt sad when looking down on a Vulcan that seemed to "shrink" with all the other stuff wedged around it, as did Concorde and a Lancaster. I know its a big ask, but would less actually be more? would these exhibits be more impressive if given the space to.. breathe or show off?

Would the Venus de Milo be as impressive surrounded by other works a few inches away, or under the arm of another sculpture? Would the Mona Lisa still shine if on a wall with 30 other works a few inches away?

Anyway, they do a great job of restoration and I know its expensive to display this stuff and they need to maximise the space they have, so rant over.

To get an idea of what I mean about being crowded, click on the panorama below.

Panoramic view inside the Hangar at Duxford War Museum.

Adobe- Give Lightroom a "back" button....please.

2013-09-17T10:59:00.000+01:00

I'm really hoping that as a result of this post, someone will point out that I'm being an idiot and have overlooked this feature and its already there. But I've Google'd and can't find an answer and it is driving me nuts.

In Lightroom "Develop" module, there is a handy "History" function that records the changes you've made to an image and this is great, but its not where I would like to see a "Back" button.

I would like to see a "Back" button in the Library section, that acts like a breadcrumb keeping track of the images I have looked at in the current session. This way I can flit backwards and forwards between images that I've looked at that may be in different folders or collections without trying to remember where they are. Think of it as the backwards and forwards buttons on a web browser that take you through the webpages you've visited. See the mock up below.

Mock up of how the Lightroom Back button feature could look.

I think it would be a great addition, and if its already there........I'm an idiot!

Lightroom 5, Spot Removal Tool (Not a Healing Brush!)

2013-06-25T18:57:00.001+01:00

One of the tools I do use regularly got a makeover in LightRoom 5 and is one of the bits that there has been a fair amount of noise about. The spot removal tool was great for, well, spots. You could also creatively use it in other ways, but to be honest it was a bit limited as it only worked by placing a circle over the thing you wanted to remove, so if you wanted to remove something that was long and thin, you'd have to put a big circle over it and then have LR work its magic, which did not often give great results.

In LR 5 you can now "paint over" the long and thin (or really any irregular shaped) things you wish to remove and Lightroom will do much better. I've heard this feature described as being akin to CS6's healing features but sadly it really isn't, it IS much better and will mean in some cases you won't need to go to CS6, but its not the same and its not as good (in my opinion).

Original image and blemish removal comparison in CS6 and Lightroom 5.

Take this image for example, top left is the original, and there's a nasty branch covering the bird on the left.

Top right, shows the branch "painted" in with the CS6 Healing brush, and the image below it shows the result. Pretty good.

Bottom left shows the new Spot Removal Tools' attempt at the same thing. Because it samples from a nearby location it has carried across bits of the branch and the birds leg, which means more cleaning up.

So its a great addition to Lightroom and improves the tool a lot, but a Healing brush it isn't.

Peter.

Lightroom 5 New Features in Use

2013-06-22T12:02:00.000+01:00

So I've now purchased LR5 and moved over to it fully, which was a pretty painless process (apart from the pain in my wallet!). The thing with running the Beta version was that whilst you could play with the new features, its not the same as having it as part of your standard workflow, I've often found that "cool new features" or plugins etc quickly fall by the wayside and don't become a regularly used feature when they are added to your normal day to day work.

So which features have quickly been integrated my workflow and which have not?

Well actually its not that simple because often I have to remind myself to use the new features as my ways are seem quite entrenched.

One of the features I am using regularly is the "Visualise Spots" function that comes alive when the "Spot Removal" tool is activated. Its ideal for highlighting dust spots as it says, but I've also found it really useful to check whether other manipulations have left artifacts that you don't notice at first but could become visible later.

As an example:

Puffin coming in to land on Staple Island.

In this shot of a Puffin, coming in to land, I mucked it up and got half a Puffin in at the bottom. I could have cropped it out but I wanted to keep a good bit of space around the flying one so elected to use the new version of the "Spot Removal" tool that now allows use over irregular shapes.

And it looks like this.

Distracting Half Puffin Removed

Which looks ok (I've left the LR dot in to show where the half Puffin was). However if you then invoke the "Visualise Spots" function it looks like this.

Visualise Spots function showing blending errors

You can now clearly see that there is a dark crescent visible which is where the Puffin has been removed, so this needs a bit more work. Incidentally this function has also revealed a spot (may be dust may be an object in the distance), this is the proper function of the tool, so using it to check for blending blemishes etc is not its prime function but is helpful nonetheless.

I'll Post a few thoughts on the new "Spot Removal" tool, which I'm finding a bit disappointing but perhaps my expectations were too high!

Peter.

Lightroom 5 impressions

2013-04-22T19:11:00.001+01:00

I've been using the public beta of Lightroom 5 for a few days now and thought I'd share my first impressions. As I'm not a pro photographer, my usage of Lightroom is more akin to that of a "normal" amateur photographer so please bear that in mind when reading on. I'm finding new features all the time but here are my thoughts on a couple that I will use a lot. Thankfully they have not thrown away the main interfaces so it all has a nice familiar feel.

Reflecting on my workflow, I seem to do the majority of my photo handling in Lightroom, only going off to other programs when absolutely necessary. In LR4, this meant anytime that cloning or more complex healing was needed for example. With LR5 adobe have brought us a proper Cloning tool and Healing brush, which is great. Not sure if its me but the healing brush seems to not be quite as good as the one in Photoshop but for simpler jobs the tools are great.

When knocking out dust spots, there's now a function that makes them more visible which is great as it means you get them all and quickly too.

There are tools for automatically straightening/levelling images and they do seem to work on most images so will be a useful addition.

A nice new feature (and its puzzling why it wasn't there all along), is a full screen mode. Any picture can now be viewed quickly at full screen by pressing "f". This is a really nice "little thing" that makes a big difference.

One thing which is not there though is an erase brush function on the gradient tool. I use the gradient tool a lot but its a bit heavy handed, would be great to get the super smooth graduations of this tool but be able to brush them out where you don't want them. Yes you can fudge it with the current adjustment brush but its not the same.

The other thing I would love to see is a facial recognition tool that can tag faces in the library. I've tried it in Picassa and thought it worked really well and it could save ages and help keep your library organised.

I'm wondering though if there is enough new in this release to be a new version, feels like Lightroom 4S to me at the moment. Hopefully there's more goodies to be discovered!

Canon Powershot G11 Compact Lives Again

2013-04-09T13:15:00.002+01:00

My Canon G11 has had more than its fair share of use and abuse, typically going places that my prized DSLR kit doesn't go for fear of damage. So it didn't surprise me when the screen turned everything orange after being in my rucksack on a particularly cold ski trip (it might've been the temperature or when I crashed out!). It was still usable and I stuck with it.

Latterly though the big jog wheel on the back was beginning to play up, often needing to go round several times before it registered any movement and often the setting I was adjusting went the wrong way. The wheel is used for many functions from scrolling between images in playback mode, to setting Shutter, Aperture and Exposure mode. For me it was kind of a critical problem.

So it was looking like to would be time to bin it and buy a replacement. But here's the thing, I've kind of got attached to it. I've taken some great shots with it, shots that have scored highly in competition, (most recently a Highly Commended in Photoplus magazine), and images that I'm personally pleased with. I also know how to get a good shot out of it and have often gone out with it when my friends have taken their DSLR's (Recent trip to Canary Wharf comes to mind).

So what to do. I got the idea to "Google" the jog wheel issue to see if it was a common problem and whether anyone was doing repairs (and if so how much). Well I wasn't disappointed. I found a video on Youtube (watch it here) that showed a workaround AND a fix that takes no time at all to do (and works great).

That set me thinking, so I had another "Google" this time for screen replacement, and sure enough I found another video on Youtube (Watch it here) that shows how to do it. I found a new screen for £25, and fitted it myself (a bit fiddly but not too bad) and I'm pleased to report the G11 is working perfectly.

Fully functional Canon Powershot G11 with shiny new screen fitted.

It never ceases to amaze me what an amazing resource the Internet is. It also amazed me that I nearly dumped an expensive piece of kit for fear of high repair costs. A lesson has been learned.

My thanks to Digitalkamera Reparatur for the screen repair info (lots of other repair guides there too) and Hungrygary for the jog wheel fix.

There's a Mouse in the Garage!

2013-03-28T09:20:00.003+00:00

So we noticed that a container for bird feeder peanuts on a shelf in our garage always had husks around it, then we noticed on closer inspection what looked like Niger seed on the shelf too. I thought my wife topped up the Niger feeder, she thought I had. When we spoke about it, turns out neither of us had topped up the Niger seed and on closer inspection it turns out they were mouse droppings.

Ok, time for a trap, not the springy shut type but a laser trap. After setting peanuts in the same spot on the shelf for several nights (which were all gone by morning) it was time to set the trap and get a look at my nocturnal visitor.

I rigged my Phototrigger to shine a laser beam over the peanuts, and prefocussed my Canon 7D with a Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens onto the same place. I also had a studio flash (operated by radio control) pointing at the same spot (with a snoot and honeycomb, lighting the scene from behind the camera).

Click the image to enlarge

Then it was just a matter of waiting and hoping. As things cooled down the beam would wander and the 7D would start to rattle off pictures, so I had to frequently check and reset things, hoping this wouldn't put off the little fella from making an appearance.

But then, he (I've no idea if its a he or not) put in appearance, apparently the lure of the peanuts was too strong and he ignored all the new stuff that had appeared, and the blinding flashes of light!

Click the image to enlarge

I think he's kinda cute.

Peter.

PS: No animals were hurt during this photoshoot!

For info the PhotoTrigger website is here http://www.phototrigger.co.uk/

Jumping Dog [Explored]

2013-02-20T13:37:00.001+00:00

As a dog owner and photographer, I'm never without a willing (for a reward) subject to take pictures of. George my 2 year old Sprocker Spaniel has given great service right from when he was a pup (one of his puppy pics has been sold by Getty many times). He's done Studio work, Outdoor work, been composited, off camera flashed and loads more besides.

His latest modelling session involved an idea I had to get him to jump straight up at the camera for a quirky shot. It worked out quite well and I posted a couple of images onto Flickr. For me these were work in progress, it was the first time I tried it, and as it was a dull day, high ISO was needed resulting in more noise than I wanted.

However, the citizens of Flickr did not agree and both images got "Explored" and one of the images picked up over a thousand hits in just one day, which is very good for me.

You can see that image here.

I thought I would put together a short video of how it was done, there's a couple of tricks I discovered along the way. Hope you enjoy it, George certainly did.

I would love to see other peoples attempts.

The New Canon 7D MkII

2013-02-15T15:54:00.002+00:00

A good friend of mine has been fortunate enough to come into some money that he can direct to new photography equipment. His current camera is a Canon 5D mkII and as he's primarily a wildlife photographer he also has a canon 300mm f2.8 lens with teleconverters. Whats interesting (and difficult) is deciding on where to spend his cash. He's leaned towards a 5D Mk III, and some longer glass and then veered towards a 1DX. Naturally this dilemma has been well explored down the pub.

But it did set me thinking about what features are important to me (since that's what I'd base my purchase on) and what I'd like to see in the next Canon 7D revision as the 7D seems to be the best fit for me at the moment.

I'm ok with the APS C sensor so I wouldn't want to see the 7D move to full frame.
More Megapixels would be great, personally I'm not convinced by Canon's trend to smaller better pixels, give me around 30mb and I'd be happy.
I would like to see lower noise levels at higher ISO, and higher total ISO..
GPS built in would be great, now I've started using a separate GPS tagger, I've come to love the feature.
A flip out screen, this would be a real boon for field macro work and other non straight shots, I love this feature on my G11 point and shoot.
A couple more frames per second would be good, but the current model is not too shabby.

And that's about it really, of course one can ponder things like in camera images stabilisation, but that's unlikely. Overall its not a big list, which goes to show what a good camera the 7D is, and how closely it meets my needs.

Fingers crossed for the 7D MkII.

What do you think? are there any features you'd like to see? Are 1DX pixels better?

Highly Commended

2013-02-05T12:14:00.000+00:00

Just a quick note to say that if you are in your local newsagent and pick up a copy of Photoplus magazine and turn to page 40, you'll see a picture of mine of Beach Huts in Southwold , taken just after a storm had blown through.

I've had images make it onto coverdisk galleries before but this is my first time in print so I'm really pleased.

You can see the original image on Flickr here

Geo Tagging your Images

2013-01-25T17:15:00.001+00:00

If your're anything like me then you may not be the most disciplined photographer when it comes to Tagging and Cataloging your images. This is frustrating especially when you've been on holiday or a photography trip and some time after the event you want to know where a particular image was taken. This is where Geo-Tagging comes in. Geo-Tagging is simply a way to add the place where the the picture was taken to the rest of the "Meta Data" that is recorded alongside your photo when you click the shutter. A GPS chip, logs your Longitude and Latitude data (your position), and then when you take the image from your camera, software or Google Maps etc can tell you exactly where your shot was taken.

I've always liked the thought of being able to Geo-Tag my images, but for some reason mainstream camera makers seem reluctant to add this feature as part of the camera and charge a fortune for a specialist accessory. The only choice then is to use an external GPS.

The principle of using an external GPS unit is that you carry it around with you while you are shooting, and it constantly records your position at any given time. Each of your images will have in its Meta Data the time the image is taken. So as long as your GPS clock and your camera clock are synchronised, some clever software can look at the time each image was taken, cross reference that with the GPS data to find out where you were standing at that moment in time, and then add the location co-ordinates to your photo. Brilliant!

I've tried a couple of alternative methods in the past, I've used a program for the Iphone, which worked but sucked the battery dry in a couple of hours, and I've used a Garmin unit which worked, but is relatively big and heavy, you certainly know its in your pocket!

Garmin Etrex and GPS Datalogger

I recently stumbled on (for me) a genre of product called a USB GPS data logger, and because it doesn't have to be a phone, or carry tons of maps and a screen etc can be slimmed down to the size of a large USB memory stick, you can see the difference in size in the picture above. There's a big difference in weight too, the Garmin weighs in at 171g whereas the USB one comes in at 33g. So its small and light a slips easily into a pocket. This one has an internal battery, with a reported 18 hour life and charges from a USB port.

GPS Photo Tagger main screen

This unit came with some software called GPS Photo Tagger which downloads the data from the device, allows you to edit the data if you wish will add the location data to your photos, or export the data as a GPX file for importing into other programs (I use Lightroom for this).

Lightroom 4 Maps with GPS Track and encoded images.

Lightroom 4 had a new module called Maps and allows images to be placed on a map where they were taken either manually or by importing a GPX file and letting Lightroom work out where the images were taken. I export a GPX file from Phototagger and import that to Lightroom and let it do its stuff which takes seconds.

It would be good if Lightroom 4 could import data right from the device to take away the intermediary step, but it all works well enough.

USB GPS Data Logger

For info, I got the device from Amazon for less than £30, just search for "USB GPS data logger" and you should get some options.

I should also mention that the data from the GPS unit also records your trip, so distance walked, altitude reached is all in there and should you wish to you can see all of that on a Google map via the Photo Tagger software.

Great Stuff.

The making of the Dangling Spider

2012-10-24T21:44:00.003+01:00

Freshly spurred on by a recent afternoon spent taking pictures of Spiders with other members of our local camera club I wanted to try and take things up a notch. I had in mind a macro picture of a Spider dangling from a single gossamer thread against an all black backdrop, looking like it had descended at night and was only lit by the moon.

Hmm, ok where to start! I managed to find a Spider that would do the job, one of those fat ones in the garden with a white cross on its back, they seem to make a web almost on demand and with a small stick you an carefully catch the web and lift it, and the Spider into the air.

But how to light it (remember its at night) , how to focus on it (its macro so shallow DOF) and how to freeze it so it is sharp when it will be moving, as may its appendages be.

I came up with a solution, and made a video showing how it was done, its only a couple of minutes long and I hope you like it (literally "like" it :-) ).

One of the resulting images

You can view more images here just search on "spider"

The Photo Trigger was supplied by High Speed Photography UK and the "spare pair of hands" are from Amazon, amazing value at less than £5 each, I use them loads.

Cheers Peter.

A Lexar card reader, a worthwhile upgrade for a change!

2012-10-07T13:57:00.000+01:00

I don't know about you, but often when I upgrade a piece of IT kit I have great expectations of improved performance in one way or another. But more often than not I'm left feeling disappointed, particularly when it relates to my PC. I've always thought it odd that hardware and software is bencharked to show us that something is faster because the difference is not that tangible, i.e. it doesn't feeling that much faster.

Well I'm pleased to say that a recent purchase is stunning in its performance. Downloading images from a memory card can be a tedious business, yes I go and make a cup of tea too, but its still pretty painful. I decided to buy a new card reader so that tipping 16gb of images into my PC would be faster.

My PC has USB 3.0 ports which are supposed to run a lot faster than USB 2.0 so I upgraded to a USB 3.0 card reader, and after a bit of research I made sure that it supported UDMA which is meant to allow fast transfers from the card. I settled on a Lexar unit from Amazon which was at a good price. I'd also seen many no name units on Ebay etc but decided to pay a bit more for a quality name.

The unit came with its own cable which is different to a USB 2.0 cable and I located the USB port on the back of my PC and plugged it in. It was recognised instantly and added to the system with no problems.

Time to test. I plugged an 8gb Sandisk Extreme Compact Flash card into my old car reader and transferred a folder containing 61 images (1.57GB's worth) to my desktop, the card is rated as 60MB/s.

Transfer speed of Sandisk Extreme Compact Flash card
on non UDMA USB 2.0 card reader.

The screen grab above shows the transfer speed and the estimated time the transfer will take, definitely time to go and make a cup of tea!

So then it was time to try the same card and file set in the new Lexar card reader. The new reader has a couple of things in its favour, 1- its running on the faster USB 3.0 system, so the data can get from the card reader to the PC faster, and 2 - its a UDMA reader which means the data can be read from the card faster by the card reader than a non UDMA card reader.

Transfer speed of the Lexar Professional USB 3.0
Compact Flash and SD Card Reader.

As you can see from the screen grab above, the difference is staggering. Transfer speed has gone from less than 3MB/s to over 40MB/s and transfer time from around 10 minutes to just over one. Just doing rough maths, that means that a full 8GB card would transfer in just over an hour, whilst the new Lexar reader would do it in around 8 minutes or so.

The new Lexar Compact Flash card reader shows a clear benefit and I feel is well worth the money. I'm interested to find out why a 60MB/s card transfers at just over 40MB/s and will investigate since it'll be worth knowing whether a Sandisk Extreme Pro card rated at 90MB/s would still transfer at around 40MB/s or faster. Not that I'd be buying the Pro card purely on download speed, in camera buffer to card speeds are a more important reason.

So this is a rare occasion where a new IT purchase hasn't left me slightly deflated!!

Starting to get busy

2012-09-07T08:23:00.000+01:00

Its been a while since my last post, lots going on, but not too much with photos and where I have been taking pictures I've had time to throw them onto Flickr but not to put something together here as it takes more time than I've had available. So if you get the chance you could head over to my Flickr page and catch up with what I have been able to post.

One of the big things I've done is build a modest Log Cabin in the garden so I now have a proper working office space which is great and will mean I have more time for the things I want to do here, including a guide to how I do Macro.

I've also taken what is probably my best wildlife picture of a Gannet diving into the Sea. Lovely trip out on a boat with friends, fantastic spectacle, if you want to do it contact the Scottish Seabird Centre

Out of the blue I've a few commissions which is good, I've a couple of great ideas to portray an industry in a new dynamic way, and with luck I'll get the chance to do the same for another industry too. Now if I could only make some money at this!!

Almost forgot, I wanted to have a go with Wordpress as a blogging tool so set up a site that is a guide to getting the best out of photographing the places I've already been to so you don't make the same mistakes I did, its called My Photo Spots and I'd welcome any feedback on the posts.

Bye for now.

Reflecting on the trip - learning points

2012-06-20T14:50:00.001+01:00

Our trip to Scotland was great fun, and while it seems churlish to moan about the weather (blue skies every day temperature just below 30C), as photographers it did cause us a few issues. Whereas I had hoped for leaden skies, summits shrouded in mist and cloud, etc etc we had the odd puffy blue cloud instead. Unfortunately, this meant that during the day we had very flat high contrast scenery with little detail, making for lacklustre shots. Evenings produced some lovely vistas though.

The trip also provided an opportunity to observe how four very different photographers interpreted the same situations. This was not just in technique and equipment chosen, but also in enthusiasm for a subject. I have to confess to being uninspired enough a couple of times that I didn't bother getting out of the car to take a shot as in my opinion, all I would end up with would be an uninteresting image, rendered so by the very strong midday sun. To note though, my pals that did make the effort made the best of a bad job and got some nice shots.

One of the highlights of the trip was the opportunity to get close up and personal with a nesting pair of wild Ospreys. This session provided a lot of food for thought in regard of wildlife photography and equipment.

Iphone photo of Osprey nest top of tree left and
Osprey in tree on the right, the little dot towards the top,
not the dot further up thats a Crow.

The picture on the left was taken from my Iphone to "scene set" and also provide the GPS location for where we were.

So you can see things are pretty small (but not as small as at the nearby RSPB reserve which is really far away!

The birds are sitting in trees on a small island and luckily its easy to get down to the waters edge and set up a tripod and chair.

Cameras trained on the Ospreys

So that's exactly what we did as you can see in the following photo. We were joined by a couple of other chaps. Notice how two of us are sitting close, that's me and a buddy that is well into wildlife photography.

It gave us a good opportunity to do a little comparison of the kit we were using and the outcomes.

I was using a Canon 7D, a Sigma 120 - 400mm lens and a no brand 2x converter. My buddy was using a Canon 5D mk 2, Canon 300mm f2.8l lens and a Canon 2x converter.

If we crudely priced these up then I would guess the 300mm lens alone would far outweigh the cost of my entire setup! but hey lets not dwell on that!.

So we had the same subject, doing the same things, in the same light from the same spot, the only difference, was kit and photographer. So how did we fare? Well in terms of zoom I had the advantage, as I started with 400mm at the long end, with 2x converter giving me 800mm and then a sensor crop factor of 1.6 which meant a massive 1280mm! whereas my buddy had just 600mm. I also I had the advantage of a far higher frame rate of up to 8 frames per second versus 3.9 of the 5D mkII.

Of course its not all good, at full zoom, the Sigma 120 - 400 has an aperture of f5.6, add the converter and I lose two "stops" so it becomes f11. That's pretty dark, and as we were photographing birds I wanted a high shutter speed so had no choice to up the ISO, with all the sensor noise that brings. Needless to say, my pal didn't need as much ISO though he'd too dropped two stops to f5.6.

The other main difference in this setting is mega-pixels. 7D =18mp and 5D = 21.1mp, so he can throw away 3mp of data in a crop and he'll be at my total image size, if I crop in 3mp I'm down to 15mp and much further and the image could get ragged.

So anyway lets look at the images:

Canon 7D, Sigma 120- 400

This is mine, if you view it full size you'll see its really not sharp.

Exif data:1/1250 @f11 and ISO 400, 800mm

5D mk II, Canon 300 f2,8L

This is the 5D version, really nice and sharp.

Exif data: 1/1600 @ f8, ISO 400, 600mm

So there we have it. The compromises that manufacturers have to make to bring components down to affordable levels do have an impact when situations become more extreme, like the high zoom levels here. In more normal situations I'd expect the differences to be less stark. We were blessed with very good light, if it had been overcast I would have really been in trouble.

Time to start saving!!!!

Scotland day 7- At the Edge

2012-05-25T22:21:00.001+01:00

Last day here today as we are heading home tomorrow (short Blog as packing). The Pine Marten was a no show last night and his cheese sandwich was still there in the morning! Fort William first today for the Harry Potter train at the station. In my view trains look poor in stations so I didn't bother taking pictures. Caught it later on though going over the viaduct made famous in the movies, thought it was going to be more of a spectacle than it was.

It was a landscape day today and I managed a paddle on a beach at Moray Estuary as we followed the coast road then went on down to the Ardnamurchan Lighthouse the most Westerly point on the mainland, right on the edge!

Will be posting images over the weekend.

Scotland day 6 - Here There and Everywhere

2012-05-24T22:15:00.000+01:00

Short blog tonight as my laptop is set up to remotely detect Pine Martens coming for a toasted cheese sandwich, outside a window! Seen one of them already so may be lucky! Oh still no Red Squirrel!

Scotland Day 5 - Dolphin day!

2012-05-23T22:37:00.001+01:00

We thought a revisit to Chanonry Point would be a good idea, now that we knew the routine better and could prepare better. Sadly though, the Dolphins were a no show.

Reflected Yachts at Chanonry Point

The waters were very still though and a hazy mist made for nice scenes I shot a few different angles and here's one for now.

After breakfast (lorne sausage for me!) and regrouping, we booked with Ecoventures to go on a boat trip from Cromarty to see Dolphins. This was much better, very nicely run and they even let me sit at the back so I could use my fisheye lens on a monopod, held up in the air to take pictures.

Saw loads of Dolphins, they reckon around forty or so, some with calves. While they came quite close I only managed a couple of shots that were any good. Sadly my side of the boat was shooting into the sun so all Dolphins were silhouttes and no good at all.
Some of them jumped clear of the water but I missed them too which was maddening.

Looking for Dolphins

After the boat trip we made our way to Lochindorb, where we saw Red Grouse and Curlew, didn't take pictures as they were too far away.

Final stop of the day was Anagach Woods as Red Squirrels are frequently seen there. Yeah right, not even a hint of one, so back to our Bothy, where we spent a fun evening putting all our stops into Google Earth!.

Moving on to Ballachulish (I think) tomorrow.

Scotland day 4 - no Red Squirrels

2012-05-22T18:01:00.000+01:00

Flushed with our success with the Ospreys yesterday despite the sun being in the wrong place, we decided to head back to the same spot this morning, when the sun should have been in the right place.

The birds were still there, and delightfully, the male was off catching fish which he brought back for his partner. I tried to use a 2x teleconverter but this was not a success (images not sharp) and reverted back to the Sigma 120 - 400mm lens on its own. Was able to get some nice shots. We were joined by a local twitcher who generously shared his knowledge of what had been seen where, much appreciated. Told us where we might catch Red Squirells at a local garden centre that also ran a tea and cake shop with a big window onto a feeder viewing area

Sadly although we had tea and cake the squirrels were a no show. Lots of birds though and we were assured the Squirrels had been seen in the morning. Next Stop was the RSPB Osprey reserve where Red Squirrels had also been regularly seen.......nope none there either. Last stop was a feeding station in the woods that our new friend had told us about, found it after a while, lots of nuts in the feeders but no Squirrells. We waited around a bit just in case and I took a short nap. I didn't miss anything! Red Squirrells then so far, are ones that got away.

Whilst on the move, we stopped at the highest beach in Britain, very surreal to be in the sun, on a beach, with people skiing in the mountains you can see behind you.

This evening will be spent trying to do dramatic landscape shots on some Lochs, and tomorrow its back to the Chanonry Point for a second crack at the Dophins and we're also got a Dolphin trip on a boat booked (so probably won't happen for one reason or another).

Should be fun.

Scotland Day 3 - Success at last!

2012-05-21T21:18:00.004+01:00

After the nights snoring competition we all seemed to drift into the kitchen at around 05:30 - 06:00 for a cuppa, seems none of us had a great nights sleep. Nevertheless come 07:00 we were on the road and heading to Chanonry Point. We arrived in good time, just as two ladies that had been watching for Dolphins gave up and wandered off, that filled us full of confidence.

Wobbly shot of a pair of Dolphins, one with its head out.

Stayed put though, and after a while a single Dolphin obliged and came and entertained us, and then another and a couple more. It soon became clear that all they were going to show us was backs and tails, not very good, I managed a shaky shot of a pair where one had its head out of the water, but if they don't jump out its more of an actual spectacle than a photographic one!

After that and a Scottish breakfast, we headed to Cromarty and saw oil rigs parked in the bay, and a pair of Mergansers.

Male Merganser, last one I saw was in Iceland

From there it was a quick dash off to the Cairn Gorm Muntain Railway at Aviemore, where incredibly, in Mid May they still have a prepared Piste and it was quite busy for Skiers and Boarders, of course that messed up our trek to the top but we're getting used to disappointment now.

Skiing on May 21st 2012 at Aviemore.

A swift coffee at the restaurant, a few pics and down again. This time off to a secret place to take pictures of an extremely rare bird, the Capercaillie.

Final stop of the day, Kincraig to see a pair of Ospreys nesting and take a few photos. Sadly the sun was behind them so we only really had silhouettes to work with, think we may be back tomorrow morning.

Topped the day of with Haggis and chips, and a couple of Bellhavens!

A better day by far.

Day 2

2012-05-20T19:59:00.002+01:00

Not sure what it is with us and boats. The RSPB runs a boat trip up the Firth of Forth on Sunday at 10:30, so we were there bright and early having checked out of the Northcraig Cottage B n B. We arrived at he jetty under the railway bridge in good time but the boat had left at 08:30. Apparently they know all the posters put up have the wrong time on them and telephone number but haven't got round to taking them down. Not Good.

So off we set to our evening digs at Grantown on Spey, a Bothy run by Craggan Outdoors. We took the scenic route taking in two ski resorts and some wonderful landscapes. Rather oddly we came upon a restored Mini Cooper sat in the middle of nowhere and with no one about! not a great fan of the mini but this was in excellent condition.

We stopped off lots for the odd shot but the sun was really high (yes Sun!) which made everything a bit flat, as in this shot.

Off to see the Dolphins at Chanonry Point tomorrow, no boats involved!

Strange first day.

2012-05-19T23:07:00.002+01:00

Bit of a strange day, started off ok but got to Seahouses and found the boats to the Farne Islands were cancelled due to rough seas, tried hard but the captain would not be persuaded! So We called the Sealife centre at North Berwick and got ourselves booked on the Sealife Safari boat trip to the Bas Rock Gannet colony, shot up the coast and arrived to find they had double booked us and we couldn't go! So we had a leisurely drive to South Queensferry in Edinburgh to take pictures of the Firth of Forth Bridges. Weather improved greatly but we couldn't park near the rail bridge as an ocean liner had pulled up and was dumping its passengers there. Still got some nice shots off, and had a chance to play with graduated filters too. Then we decided to go and see the Falkirk wheel, as the light was good. Sadly it had closed for the day but was impressive nonetheless. Back to Edinburgh to find our digs, which are comfy and clean and right under the Firth of Forth railway bridge, earplugs are the order of the day. Out for a quick fish and chips, then off to the road bridge viewing point only to find the police had roped it off as someone was trying to end it all by jumping into the river from the road bridge. So back to digs and time for sleep, hope tomorrow is a bit more straightforward.

Scotland here I come

2012-05-18T12:33:00.000+01:00

I'm off tomorrow morning with 3 photography buddies for an 8 day photography trip to Scotland. Not quite sure where we're going but I do know that the Farne Islands, Aviemore, Edinburgh, Inverness and Chanonry Point are in the mix somewhere.

Whilst there I shall be thinking about How to Make my pictures different from those taken before in those places. Might be a big ask.

I seem to have packed loads of gear but no clothes yet, best get on that. Weather forecast looks ok ish, may even be some snow left on the hills.....make that warm clothes!

I'll be updating here frequently so check back often and keep an eye on Flickr, Facebook and Twitter too.

Misty Morning Bluebells…..or are they?

2012-04-25T22:05:00.001+01:00

Bluebells flowering in English woods is a widely anticipated spectacle that many photographers look forward to. For the last couple of years we’ve pitched up and taken our pictures and whilst some of them are pleasant images, it’s difficult to do anything outstanding or more creative than before.

So we hatched a plan!

Last seasons Photoshop fake!

As with most of our plans, it hatched at the pub, and went along the thought process of “how could we do it different”. All sorts of ideas surfaced, but one developed from the recognition that pictures in woods where there is a mist in the air with sun behind the trees creates light shafts and dappled light on the ground. Wouldn’t it be good if the ground were strewn with Bluebells! I’d faked one in Photoshop last year but wasn’t happy with it.

Leaving it to our fickle weather was unlikely to deliver the right conditions when we had the time to go and take pictures. Then someone said “I know a bloke with a smoke machine for his disco”……

Of course to run the smoke machine meant we also needed a generator, luckily we had access to one and off we went.

Sadly the Flowers are not fully out yet but we may try again when they are more fulsome.

You can see our setup in the pics below. I’m not overly happy with my efforts 1 and 2 we could have done with the wind blowing the other way, so we’ll take an electric fan next time!

Generator in the distance,
waiting for smoke machine to charge up.

Instant mist!

Taking our pics as "mist" clears.

As always comments hints and tips welcome.

Peter.

Ironic Heron

2012-04-22T23:27:00.002+01:00

I live on the edge of a nature reserve (Paxton Pits), and one nice byproduct of this, aside from the ability to be in the reserve within two mins walking, is that some of the residents make it out and visit our feeders, or fly over our house (Geese, swans, gulls, Buzzards, Red Kites etc). The reserve had a good Heronry when we moved here 20 years ago, which to me seems to have been usurped by Cormorants in recent years.

Still, while walking my dog around the reserve there I found a couple of spots where there is a regularly a Heron hunting, unless of course I have my camera with me, which is pretty pointless with the dog as he scares everything within half a mile. So I’ve been nipping out when I can, several times a week to try and get a pic of a Grey Heron, either hunting or more likely flying away.

So imagine my surprise when my wife calls me into the garden saying she thinks a Heron has landed on our neighbours roof (yeah right). Anyway, I pulled myself away from the football and wandered out with my Canon G11. Amazingly there actually was a Grey Heron, sitting bold as brass on our neighbour’s roof!

I took a couple of shots then ran in and dug out my 7D and Sigma 120 400mm lens and ran out again. The bird decided at that point that it had to go, and flew off over my head and away. I managed to get a few shots off with the 7D but it was all a bit rushed.

Feeling really lucky to have seen and photographed it, but I bet it’s not hunting when I look for it tomorrow!

7D Pics here

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