Project 52 by Geoff F

[Letrow]

Left and right of that exact scene, there is nothing of interest. Which is why I have specifically cropped to that size.

But at the head of the creek, turning 180 degrees, is that little old bridge which I posted previously, at low tide. Here it is again at high tide.



ps. I am thinking about moving a few sheep around to place some in the middle of the field.

Great shot Geoff, I like the reflections. My eyes do wander to that open field, so you might be right.

[Donald]

I think this is a lovely scene. The composition and arrangement of the image makes for a well balanced, harmonious picture. The line of the water flow takes our eye gently, but clearly through the scene.

[Bunty Plumchip]

Sheep can be very unco-operative- there they are, looking all picturesque in a landscape, but refuse to stand still in the optimum position for composition. LOL.

I remember you said you wanted to use 52 to record your year of the world around you- these show the landscape at its most English to me- July/August fields , redolent of long hot haymaking summers (even if one never actually experienced them- I think it is in the genes somewhere) makes one wonder why anyone would want to be anywhere else. One can almost sit in these photographs and eat cheese and pickle on home made bread! down with scrumpy of course).

[Nicola]

I like tis one most, Geoff
if only there was the clearest air... I can see a small haze that turns th background a bit blueish...
perhaps a ploarizer could be of any help?
good shot

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments.

Clear air in the UK, Nicola? No such thing - this is as good as it gets, with plenty of moisture in the air.

I was using a UV filter although I find they usually don't make that much difference. At one time I always carried a polariser but rarely used it.

Most of the time I found it simply darkened the scene without adding anything, except reducing the reflections which I wanted to retain. So exposing for the brightest elements then recovering the shadows during editing seems to work best for me.

Those distant houses are around 2 miles away, quite a bit further than the far waterline with trees. And I wanted to retain something of a blue sky, which we have seen so rarely this summer!

However, possibly editing the houses to slightly reduce some blue using a layer and mask is certainly something with which I will experiment.

[Nicola]

Geoff,
I understand you clearly
but let me disagree on one point
I have been in UK few times, but one of these (on summer) I spent about 21 days travelling from London to Cape Lizard (Cornwall) and didn't fall any drop of rain! I'm going to find some pictures I took of that holidays to see how clear were the air... it was the film era!

[Geoff F]

Very occasionally, Nicola, we get a high pressure weather system 'stuck' over the UK and hot dry weather does last for a few weeks.

I remember right back to the summer of 1976 which was so dry that water reservoirs ran low and some people had to collect water from tankers, or from restricted hose pipes connected to the public water system.

Eventually a government minister, I think he was called Peter Howells, was appointed Minister for Drought. And within one week, in true British fashion, we had torrential rain; so he then became Minister for Flood.

And people still had to queue, in the rain, to collect their household water in buckets!

Where I lived, the water supply came from the Dartmoor hills so although we had restrictions on water usage it still came out of our household water taps.

[Nicola]

i remember right back to the summer of 1976 which was so dry that water reservoirs ran low and some people had to collect water from tankers, or from restricted hose pipes connected to the public water system.

Eventually a government minister, i think he was called peter howells, was appointed minister for drought. And within one week, in true british fashion, we had torrential rain; so he then became minister for flood.

And people still had to queue, in the rain, to collect their household water in buckets! :d

.

:d

[Geoff F]

Nicola, I have adjusted that shot to slightly and selectively reduce the blue highlights and placed it alongside the previous image for comparison.

[Geoff F]

Every year, during the Regatta, a group of parachuting teddy bears jump from the top of the Firemen's Practice Tower to raise funds for the regatta.

It was a dull day and I really struggled with this event. I tried to photograph the descending parachutes but even at 1/1600 they all slightly blurred. This was the best of 100 shots; and it needed careful editing to avoid problems with image noise.



1/1600 F8 Iso 800. 7D with 24-105 L lens. I sharpened on a layer (luminosity blend mode) then carefully applied the effect to selected areas. Next year, if it is sunny, I will have to try with a faster speed.

This event is popular with children who sponsor a bear of their choice (6 available). If their bear lands closest to the centre spot they win a larger bear as a prize. The regatta makes around £5 for each jump and there can be around 20 jumps during the event.

Due to my regatta duties of Chief Gofor and photographer I will be very busy for the next week. Probably two weeks or more by the time I edit everything.

More photos to follow. This evening's Greasy Pole event meant shooting with high speed flash at 1/1000 so I'm not sure how many of those shots will be keepers.

Swimming across the harbour, mud race and some rowing needing attention tomorrow. Glad I don't have to actually compete in these events!

[Letrow]

A difficult challenge Geoff. The parachutes aren't big, so they will descend quickly. And then there is the all the background of course
You managed to get one bear, while it still descended. I like that. I would have thought a longer lens might have given you more isolation, so I wonder about the 24-105mm.

[Geoff F]

A bigger lens was rejected. Peter. It gave 'timing problems'. With the smaller lens in portrait ratio I found that if I pre-focused on the right area I could push the shutter as soon as a bear appeared in the viewfinder and the actual shot gave the bear 'floating down' just above the target landing area.

Trying to pick up and follow the target with a larger zoom resulted in total failure.

Part of the problem is that the parachute 'hanging ropes' have become twisted so they were dropping fast that they should. We will have to sort this out before next year.

A few years ago, I managed some good shots by a bit of 'cheating'. Hanging the parachute from some fine fishing line on a windy day gave a realistic effect.

However, here are a couple more shots from the first day, just taken at random from many which I have yet to process. I have tried to pick shots which display the essence of the event; although they may not be technically the best which I shot that day.

Pavement Drawing.



Difficult to find some clear shooting space between all the legs etc that were around.

Greasy Pole



A traditional country sport. Sit some children on a pole sticking out from a quayside then make them fight each other until one falls into the water.

This shot shows a couple of the older girls.

40D with Canon 24-105 L lens 1/1000 F5.6 Iso 400 High Speed flash. I was getting a bit of over exposure on parts of skin and clothing so had to use a bit of flash compensation which made other areas a bit under exposed. So I've had to do a bit of careful editing to brighten the dark areas and remove some noise from the shadows.

I went back to the 40D in case I got some serious splashes - which mean a cheaper total loss.

[Geoff F]

OK, I've gone on a bit of a ramble above one photo a week in order to give a little more insight into some of the the varied events from the Salcombe Regatta.

Wingwalking Display



In order to blur the propeller, I shot at 1/250 (Tv setting)with a Sigma 150-500 lens handheld. And with this particular shot it ended up with F18 at Iso 200.

Fishing Boat Race



A fairly long shot, once again with the Sigma 150-500 at 500 but on a tripod this time. 1/500 (Tv) with Iso 400 gave F11.

I had a few problems with colour balance because the evening light was rather yellow plus an excessive dark blue cast to the sea. So I edited with 2 Curves layers; one with the layer blend mode set to Colour and the other using Luminosity blend mode.

Fireworks



I'm not keen on excessively long firework photos so this was shot at 1/10 (Tv) with Iso 400 which resulted in F4. Canon 24-105 lens on a tripod.

This is actually a mix of 3 shots with the layer blend modes set to Lighten so as to merge the black backgrounds without any visible seams.

Rowing



Once again, Tv setting because I needed to prevent any subject blur. I was shooting from the safety boat. 1/640 at Iso gave me F11. And, again, the evening light and excessive dark blue sea needed editing.

I rather liked how the men from the sail training vessel (Royalist) are lined up to watch the ladies race.

Children's Rowing



I have produced another tighter crop but this version also shows part of the town - and a sign on the post.

1/640 (Tv) yet again to prevent any blur, also shooting from the safety boat. Canon 24-105 L lens.



Another close up of the children's race. The pale blue boat does seem to keep reappearing but that is just coincidence.

I also have a shot of the same boat during a men's race where the rower has let his oar jump out of the rowlock which cost them a close finished race.

Sailing



Another action shot, from a boat, so 1/640 but with Iso 200 this time. 24-105 lens. Another shot which is intended to use the town as a background.

More regatta photos will appear on www.pbase.com/regatta as soon as I am able to work my way through editing a great many shots.

[Teton Chuck]

Geoff, I have enjoyed your photos of the regatta. They do a nice job of providing an image of where you live and the importance of water to your community. I know we are all trying to get "great" photos, but sometimes I like having photos that simply tell me something about people and places. I will be thinking of these images as we exchange notes into the future.

My favorite photos are or the children drawing with chalk, the girls falling off of the "log", and the children in the row boat race (shot from behind). The first two do a good job of isolating the subjects and their activities. The children's race simply made me smile. Cute kids having lots of fun.

Considering the large number of things in the background of most of your shots, I think you have done a good job of capturing the activity and providing the viewer with a good understanding of the setting. Hope you are having fun.

chuck

[FrankMi]

Greasy Pole



A traditional country sport. Sit some children on a pole sticking out from a quayside then make them fight each other until one falls into the water.

Now this is a shot I really like! Action, great expressions, a clear sense of what went on before the shot was taken and what will happen right after this moment in time. This image clearly tells an exciting story. Well done, Geoff.

[oldgreygary]

Now this is a shot I really like! Action, great expressions, a clear sense of what went on before the shot was taken and what will happen right after this moment in time. This image clearly tells an exciting story. Well done, Geoff.

Agree with Frank on this one. Captures the action superbly.

Cheers for now

Gary

[Donald]

OK, I've gone on a bit of a ramble above one photo a week in order to give a little more insight into some of the the varied events from the Salcombe Regatta.

And I'm glad you did. A set of images that are not only individually nice to see, bit collectively amount to a super documentary of the regatta.

In terms of the individual images, I do think Fishing Boat Race is a beauty.

[Letrow]

Nice shots Geoff. I really liked that plane with the smoke coming out and that fishing boat race. Looks like a great lens to work with.
The first rowing photo is funny, because of the contrast that is visible between the ladies making an effort and the gents relaxing and looking on.

[Geoff F]

Many thanks for the positive comments.

Due to regatta commitments, I've only been making quick visits to CinC over the past week and I still have a considerable number of shots to process and upload to the regatta P base site.

And on Saturday, after photographing the children's rowing I rushed off to shoot the local vintage machinery show. That will appear as Week 34.

[Geoff F]

Unlike many static agricultural machinery shows, my local event actually has equipment working in the nearby fields. Where you can see the whole history of agriculture.

Starting with four-legged horsepower.



1/80 F14 Iso 200 which was a mistake. I had been shooting with F11 but the setting became accidentally moved.

This year, most machinery operators were wearing authentic dress which I thought was a great improvement photographically. But this 'horse driver' was wearing designer sunglasses which just didn't fit with horse ploughing. However I managed this angle where he is sufficiently hidden behind the rear end of the horse.

Then ploughing with two steam traction engines which drag a 'plough' across the field with wires stretched between them.



1/200 F11 Iso 400 (7D with 24-105L lens)

A close up of the 'plough'.



Horticulture is also represented with special small sized equipment.



1/200 F11 Iso 200

Full sized heavy farm machinery



The mechanic had been struggling to free up the dropping mechanism.

And finally a bit of simple but ingenious technology the reversible plough.



This clever device means that it is possible to make the furrows face the same way no matter which direction the tractor drives. Which saves a lot of time by avoiding having to plough in a square; which eventually joins in the middle; or to only plough in one direction.

Although with our steep fields it was often only possible to actually plough downhill.

I had a few problems with over saturation in the red channel due to the very shiny nature of this highly polished tractor.

And finallly an unusual exhibit from WW 2 which is outside of normal farming.



And when I get a bit of spare time I will do some B&W conversions.

ps. more photos from the show here http://www.pbase.com/crustacean/2012_vintage_show