2023 Project 52 by Geoff F - Part 2

[Geoff F]

Once again I am attempting to post at least one image each week. No general theme, just a random selection of things which I have seen in each week.

Part 1 is here

2023 Project 52 by Geoff F - Part 1

Week 18 - A rather overcast day but I still had a go at wildlife recording

Common Lizard



Slow Worm



And for a change, some wildflowers

Yellow Archangel - Lamiastrum galeobdolon



Continuing the yellow theme - Yellow Pimpernel

[Geoff F]

Week 19 - Andrews Wood Volunteers. Another volunteer day at a local nature reserve and we were fencing today. But it was cloudy with showers and the work was taking place under trees. Also, I only had my Fuji X20 pocket sized camera so it was a struggle to get anything worthwhile under those conditions. I used some fill flash and did a merge of two conversions from a single Raw file.



1/80 F6.4 Iso 400. Having Iso 400 produced a bit of shadow noise but reducing the Iso meant my shutter speed was dangerously low. Maybe I could have opened up the aperture a bit wider although I also wanted a sufficient focus depth.



1/55 H6.4 Iso 250. I originally cropped this image (and the next one) at 5 x 4 ratio but then thought there was too much uninteresting foreground so I went for 3 x 2 ratio instead.



1/50 F6.4 Iso 250

[Geoff F]

Week 20 - Another attempt with wildflowers in their natural setting. But with small and difficult subjects.

Changing Forget-me-not. These tiny flowers (up to 3 mm diameter) start as pale blue, or even cream coloured, then slowly change to deep blue.



1/320 F11 Iso 400. Merge of three focus points. 7D with Sigma 180 macro lens. Obviously with a tripod.

Cut-leaved Cransbill - Geranium dissectum. flowers about 5 mm across



1/200 F11 Iso 400. Merge of two focus points. Flash used.

Germander Speedwell. Flowers about 8 mm.



Wood Avens - Geum urbanum. These flowers are a massive 8 mm diameter !



1/250 F11 Iso 400

[Geoff F]

Week 21 - Cattle where I was photographing insects today. 7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. Flash used.

Hide behind the bank then all jump up and shoot moo !



That frightened him.



We aren't going to move so anybody walking down this path is going to get mucky boots.



This pair were more friendly

[Geoff F]

Week 22. Another day of insect recording. But I also found time for a few flowers. Flash used with all of them.

Fox and Cubs (Pilosella aurantiaca). Fairly common flower but this was the first one for this year.



7D with Sigma 180 macro lens. 1/200 F14 Iso 320. Merge of three focus points.

Nephrotoma flavescens cranefly. Another first of the year species.



Merge of two focus points.

Striped Slender Robberfly - Leptogaster cylindrica. Not a common species and this was the first one for a couple of years. So it decided to make life difficult for me by getting down among the tall grass then flitting around as I was attempting to find a suitable angle for identification.



1/200 F10 Iso 400. Merge of two focus points.

[billtils]

I always enjoy reading your accounts Geoff, but an extra round of applause for the magnificent Week 22 shots.

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comment.

With that Fox and Cubs flower, in hindsight, I should really have removed that Red Campion in the background before shooting. Although some botanists say that it is wrong to cull one flower in order to make a better composition for another flower. Perhaps I can do something with masking.

Here is another cranefly. Not a perfect composition but a real life shot.

[billtils]

... I should really have removed that Red Campion in the background before shooting....
Here is another cranefly. Not a perfect composition but a real life shot.

Project 52 is not a competition but is about the story-telling and you do that very well. I wouldn't change a thing.

[Geoff F]

Week 23. Looking towards Dartmoor. From where I was recording wildlife this week.



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/500 F11 Iso 320. Merge of two bracketed exposures. Now, I see a tiny speck of a bird in the sky which I will edit on the original.

Splayed Deerfly. A type of horsefly



Golden-ringed Dragonfly. Pity about the background. I have toned it down a bit.

[Geoff F]

Week 24 - Salcombe Fish Quay. Another day and another wildlife site. Beside the estuary this time. I had to shoot with my Sigma 180 macro lens and the light angle wasn't ideal.



1/500 F11 Iso 400.

Stripe-legged Robberfly. Merge of two focus points but I still couldn't quite get everything in focus because my subject was in a difficult mood.



Musk Thistle. Merge of three focus points.

[Cantab]

Week 24 - Salcombe Fish Quay. Another day and another wildlife site. Beside the estuary this time. I had to shoot with my Sigma 180 macro lens and the light angle wasn't ideal.



1/500 F11 Iso 400.

Stripe-legged Robberfly. Merge of two focus points but I still couldn't quite get everything in focus because my subject was in a difficult mood.



Musk Thistle. Merge of three focus points.

Geoff, in post #10 I noticed the number of trucks crowded on the dock. Were the boats busy unloading their catch?

[Geoff F]

Those lorries will be waiting for boats to arrive with crabs for them. The boats alongside the quay have just unloaded their catch and are preparing equipment ready to go to sea tomorrow.

This slightly different angle shows somebody towing a crab storage box towards the slipway in order to land to a lorry. Some boats land daily to local processing factories while others store up their catch in these boxes to supply live crabs to the European market. That very long lorry has tanks of sea water to keep the catch fresh on the journey.



I didn't have any lens between 70 mm and my 180 mm macro and I was reaching up to peep over a hedge so my shooting options were limited.

[Geoff F]

Week 25 - Sunshine with bits of cloud. One of the locations where I was recording wildlife last week



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/500 F14 Iso 200. Merge of three bracketed exposures.

[Cantab]

Geoff, I noticed that the photo had a large depth of focus, then saw that you'd shot at f14. Your exposure settings worked well.

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comment. I had been thinking about that scene for some time, but it needed an interesting sky, so I waited a while. The shooting position was a narrow path with hedges so my angles were limited.

[billtils]

Your patience was rewarded - and should be noted by all those who would have rushed to the computer and implemented a sky replacement. Well done you on many fronts here.

[Geoff F]

Week 26 - Extremes of boating. I was trying to get some more images for the next local history society calendar (2025). I rather liked the extreme differences in size (and cost) between these boats. For the calendar, I need 4 x 5 ratio images which can be a bit of a challenge.



Canon 7D with 70-200 lens. 1/400 F10 Iso 400. Merge of two bracketed exposures.

And an even cheaper way of getting afloat



1/640 F10 Iso 400

A few sailing boats were having a bit of a race.



1/1250 F10 Iso 400. The light kept changing and although I stayed in the same position my shooting angle varied as I quickly moved my attention to capture various scenes.

[Geoff F]

Week 27 - Rain coming. I left home in sunshine but by the time I arrived at the wildlife site, half an hour later, it was already clouding over. However, I persevered for a couple of hours until it actually started raining. Managed a few insect records to make the day worthwhile.



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/320 F11 Iso 400. Merge of two bracketed exposures.

A Xyphosia miliaria fly egg laying.



1/200 F10 Iso 640. Flash used.

A pair of Common Red Soldier Beetles.



And a Black & Yellow Longhorn Beetle

[Cantab]

Geoff, a great set of insect photos. It appears that your presence did not interfere with what they were doing!

The perhaps unusual composition/viewpoint in the first photo works well IMHO. Is that purple loosestrife in the foreground? Further back, I made out corn (North American speak)/maize (British speak).

[Geoff F]

I will have to do a double check on the original images, Bruce, but I think those plants are Rosebay Willowherb. They look rather similar to Purple Loosestrife and both plants grow in this area.

The alternative common name for those Soldier Beetles is Bonking Beetles, for obvious reasons. Many insects have been scarce this year but I regularly see over 50 of them in an average day.

Maize, used for animal feed, is becoming a common crop around here. The problem is that it is started under protective fleece, to provide early warmth and protection from birds. They now use a plant based fleece which is allowed to degrade in place but it requires quite a period of warmth to fully dissolve into compost.