Project 52 by Geoff F

[Geoff F]

The spiderweb shot was a bit of a compromise, Peter. I had to shoot at a bit of an angle to the web in order to get the flower sharp. Also to prevent the background leaves becoming too dominant.

I originally tried a wider shot which had more flowers surrounding the web. But it didn't quite work. Neither did several other attempts. And I have had a few different crops of this scene before finally settling on this angle.

I'm not really sure what 'official figures' that 180 lens has. For me, it usually depends on the 'fly away' distance anyway. Which is frequently well off minimum focusing point; and I often add a 1.4x converter so that produces different results.

I have tried it with a 25 mm extension tube which works well for 'studio work' but would mean going closer than the fly away point for most insect species.

For flower work however, I often find the 24-105 actually achieves a better result.

[Geoff F]

I'm a bit early this week but probably won't get anything better; and if I do, it will keep until next week.

Sunny patches between the showers but still a stiff breeze. Waves breaking on a sand bar at the harbour entrance as I walked along a coastal path.



I tried to keep some foliage as a bit of foreground but that risked losing sharpness on the waves. So the settings had to be a bit of a compromise. Not sure if I have lost a bit of detail in the waves during uploading or if it is just this poor monitor.

1/800 F11 Iso 400. 7D with 24-105 lens.

Around the corner, sheltered from the tide, there were some surfers at a beach which is virtually impossible to access from the path, where I was shooting.

This scene presented another challenge so I had an experiment with the Sigma 150-500 lens, mostly around 400 mm. Another bit of necessary compromise. Used my lightweight easy carry tripod, but it was a lot better than handheld.



Using F8 gave variable shutter speeds over 1/1,000 at Iso 400 so I just set Av to F8 and shot away while hoping for the best. This was 1/1,000 but I knew the sun angle was going to need a bit of editing.



This one came out at 1/1,600 which I thought was about right.



I need to double check the Exif on this one. I increased the Iso to 640 but it appears to be giving a shutter speed of 1/5,000.

Most surfing in the UK, unfortunately, doesn't consist of those clean perfect waves and clear air as can be found in some locations. It's more about messy short lasting surf with a lot spray in the air.

To counter the light angle problem, I made two Raw conversions then merged them so as to lift the harsh shadows a little, and reduce areas of noise.

[FrankMi]

Hi Geoff, in the first image at this distance I really can't tell if there is a focus issue with the waves but you can increase the apparent sharpness by increasing the contrast just a bit.

[oldgreygary]

Suggested shutter speed of 1/2000 and at least a 400mm lens for surfing! Source a book called 'Capture the Moment' Auth. Andy Hooper which is subtitled as 'A practical guide to sports photography'.

Cheers for now

Gary

[johnbharle]

Those were quite nice. I can tell he has on a wetsuit. Guess it's kind of cool there by now.
john

[Geoff F]

Suggested shutter speed of 1/2000 and at least a 400mm lens for surfing! Source a book called 'Capture the Moment' Auth. Andy Hooper which is subtitled as 'A practical guide to sports photography'.

Cheers for now

Gary

My guesswork was for somewhere between 1/1600 and 1/2000 but without opening the lens beyond F8. That 150-500 lens works reasonably well around the F8 to F11 range but can sometimes get a fraction softer at F6.3.

Ending up with two shots at 1/5000 (or the one shown here which was 1/6400) was a little beyond what I was aiming at producing. I wanted to keep the Iso fairly low because I knew there would be shadow problems with the light coming across the scene.

But the trouble with this sort of scene is that you often only get one chance so it is a case of have a bit of a think - then hope for the best.

In fact, the final shot was the last run of the last surfer so there definitely wasn't any second chance.

John, the English Channel is probably around it's warmest at this time of the year. But still rather cool, particularly with a chilling fresh wind.

[Geoff F]

We don't get much autumn leaf colour here, so here is an alternative form.





A slightly toned down edit.



7D with 70-200 L lens plus flash on a tripod.

Each photo is a merge of two shots at different focus points.

ps. on reflection, I think the stem of the brighter leaf towards the top right corner (second image) needs cloning out. I've already tided up a couple of other leaf stems.

[Nicola]

very sharp images Geoff
anyway, the light doesn't convince myself much... but I can't say exactly why... too direct? too flat?...

[Letrow]

Well spotted Geoff, beautiful colours and patterns here.
On the light I agree with Nicola. Although it doesn't really bother me, the effect is visible if you look a bit longer. But then again, without the light these colours could not be achieved I guess.

I had the same feeling in week 35, when you shot the birdhouse. In that case the photo without flash looked better than the ones with flash if I remember correctly.

[Geoff F]

I took a few shots, with a tripod balanced very unsteadily on the rough ground, and varied the exposure/flash output quite a bit. And also changed the camera angle around.

The scene was quite dark.

Eventually decided on the best camera angle shots and edited them as I could. My monitor tends to give a slightly over bright view so I usually try to err on the side of brightness which then looks good in print.

Sometimes, like this shot, there isn't any pure white from which to take a brightness measurement level.

Anyhow, I've had another tweak with some Curves adjustment layers and slightly edited the brightness, with Luminosity Blend Mode, and dropped the red saturation a fraction.

The re edit is now alongside the previous edit.

[ronlane]

They look good to me Geof. You capture some pretty cool things, which probably means that I just need to get out more.

[FrankMi]

Nice detail and brilliant colour Geoff! It looks like the kind of a subject that you could get some fantastic close-up or macro shots with, particularly with the bands in the second image.

[Teton Chuck]

Geoff, what kind of image would you have gotten if you had just taken a long exposure and no flash?

[Geoff F]

Geoff, what kind of image would you have gotten if you had just taken a long exposure and no flash?

Very dull, Chuck, little colour in the woodland shadows. I did try a variety of settings. And the unstable tripod was a potential hazard.

[Geoff F]

A few brighter periods this week but heavy showers as well.

This particular day started bright and clear with a moon in the blue sky but it wasn't long before the first shower cloud appeared.

The Morning Moon is Melting into the Mist



7D with Sigma 150-500 at 500. 1/250 F11 Iso 100. On tripod with cable release.

And during the afternoon, this rainbow appeared in the harbour during a heavy shower.



I was driving by so pulled in and picked up the 40D plus 70-300 Canon lens that I always carry in my vehicle.

1/250 F11 Iso 400 at 70 mm

A slightly closer up shot which shows the fishing boats a little clearer



1/400 F11 Iso 400

On reflection, I could have dropped the Iso a little which may have helped with the noise of these darkish scenes. An L quality lens may also have worked better, but my old 70-300 is a reasonable lens for the money. Although shooting at the lens extremity also wasn't the ideal position either.

I reduced the noise a little by editing two Raw conversions, one to reduce the background noise level and the other a bit sharper for the fine detail. Then combined the layers with an edited mask.

Several Curves adjustment layers also tweaked the various brightness problems; plus some selective use of blur brushes.

[Donald]

Been trying to work out why I prefer the first rainbow shot to the second, even though in the first the rainbow is pretty much in the centre of the frame. I think it's the inclusion of the roofs and the foliage. It just grounds it for me. Super image.

[Geoff F]

I took a few different shots and crops to the pub last night to get some opinions on which to upload, and that one did get the best response.

There is a little spare space to the right but that makes the rainbow position even worse. I tried some 5 x 4 ratio crops but didn't really like them. It seems that the rainbow needs to be on the right or central. Having it more to the left seems to make it look as though it is going too far out of the scene and not well balanced.

The second shot is a little sharper as well as having a 'better' positioned rainbow.

But as one viewer remarked, with the first shot the rainbow looks closer because there is a distance reference point in the hedge. The second image could have been miles away.

However, each Christmas I have to produce some cards for my local fishermen's organisation so the second shot with rainbow and fishing boats might well fit this requirement. That was part of my thinking when I took the scene.

[Letrow]

Love the rainbows. Actually I like the second better, the lines work best for me in that image.
I like the size of the moon, shooting this at 500mm is a good idea, but a bit more contrast would have made it better for me.

[Teton Chuck]

Geoff, I like the first and third the best. I don't find the lack of contrast in the moon to be a problem. And in the third shot the rainbow with the colors of the boats is very nice. They are all very nice rainy day shots.

[FrankMi]

Hi Geoff, Great captures, all. I like the stronger rainbow colour in the second image but overall I think the first one, being anchored, just feels better to me.

For my tastes I think bumping the contrast in the moon shot, likely by boosting the blue background, would make the mood stand out a bit more.