Project 52 by Letrow

[Letrow]

Daddy gull



I wasn't hanging over the cliff edge Gillie, but these birds were right on the edge. The edge is crumbling all the time, so I tend to keep my distance, as it is a long way down.

I was able to get to about two metres for these photos and maybe I could have been closer, but I realised just in time why they didn't move and did not want to disturb them any further.

And this is where we were at the time



Lovely views and we tend to go there every time we are near.

[FrankMi]

Hi Peter, I really don't have any constructive criticism to offer but I often see images with a lot of views and little or no comments so let me just say that I am enjoying you work very much. Thank you for posting.

[AndyB1975]

Peter, If I am not mistaken the picture above is of the Belle Tout Lighthouse on the South Downs near Beachy Head in the UK? Your location is confusing me! Were you on a trip over here?

Nice shot of the Herring Gull above too.

[Letrow]

Thanks Frank.

Andy, you are right about the lighthouse, that is the one. I live in the Netherlands, but we were over in Sussex for a couple of days. We stayed near Rye and if the weather permits (it wasn't great this year, but good enough) we try to go to Beachy Head. One of the best views that I know with those white cliffs.

[AndyB1975]

Peter

I had to look at your picture twice, I didn't think there could be another lighthouse like Belle Tout with it's location and that coastline. I remember watching this whole building being moved back when it was nearly falling off the cliff many many years ago. Shame I wasn't into photography in those days. Although I don't think it will be long before it has to be moved again.

I live very close to there and walk the dog around the cliffs and past that exact view on an almost daily basis

[Letrow]

I envy you Andy, that is a great place to walk your dog.
Strange to hear that they actually moved that lighthouse, but good that they did. It really belongs there.

This one is beautiful as well and there is one good spot to photograph it from. This is from 2011.




A very old one:




And this one is also from last year:



It is a very remarkable coastline and I love to come back there.

Are you familiar with the Tiger Inn in East Dean? I do investor relation work for a Dutch firm and one of the London based analysts I knew a while back had actually lived above that inn in his youth. Strange coincidence.

[johnbharle]

The second photo is a statue of Erik riding a butterfly, and it has been placed in the middle of Thijsse's Hof.

I don't recall ever reading that book, but I do remember a picture that looks like the statue. Very Art Nouveau. Were there posters and other images made of Erik and the butterfly?

[Letrow]

I don't recall ever reading that book, but I do remember a picture that looks like the statue. Very Art Nouveau. Were there posters and other images made of Erik and the butterfly?

The book is from 1940 originally and I don't think it has been translated. I think he is mainly famous in the Netherlands.

By the way, he begins his book with a text by Leonardo da Vinci:

"Noi tutti siamo esiliati, viventi entro le cornici di uno strano quadro. Chi sa questo, vive da grande. Gli altri sono insetti."

"We are all exiles, living within the frames of a strange picture. Who knows this, lives large. The others are insects."
(in a letter to Gabriele Piccolomini)

Well, nothing wrong with insects of course.

[Letrow]

First of all a second statue from Thijsse's Hof



The man in who's honour it was made: Jac. P. Thijsse

[Letrow]

And an English swan with little ones:



I liked the reflections in the water

[Letrow]

And from another angle



The whole family together.

[dje]

And from another angle



The whole family together.

Lovely shot Peter.

Dave

[FrankMi]

Awwwww... They are so cute! Not the statue, I'm not sure I recognize him, the baby swan!

[Letrow]

Thanks guys. It is interesting to see that Dave likes my second photo best. I PP-ed the first one early last week because I liked it best and then after a few days thought I might give the other a try as well (I have a few more shots, but having shot it with my 105mm lens and not wanting to move in case I disturbed the family, I was a bit restricted. The others weren't as nice in my opinion).
Now I think the second one might actually work better than the first.

[dje]

Thanks guys. It is interesting to see that Dave likes my second photo best. I PP-ed the first one early last week because I liked it best and then after a few days thought I might give the other a try as well (I have a few more shots, but having shot it with my 105mm lens and not wanting to move in case I disturbed the family, I was a bit restricted. The others weren't as nice in my opinion).
Now I think the second one might actually work better than the first.

Peter it's true that my first impression was that I preferred the second. However when I look at them again, I feel they are both good in their own way. I think I still prefer the second marginally, probably because the composition and the water is more interesting. However the first is probably a better shot of the swans themselves.

I think the appeal of a bird shot is enhanced by the surroundings and pose - a very sharp shot of a bird itself, without much else, can sometimes be a little un-interesting IMO.

Dave

[Letrow]

Peter it's true that my first impression was that I preferred the second. However when I look at them again, I feel they are both good in their own way. I think I still prefer the second marginally, probably because the composition and the water is more interesting. However the first is probably a better shot of the swans themselves.

I think the appeal of a bird shot is enhanced by the surroundings and pose - a very sharp shot of a bird itself, without much else, can sometimes be a little un-interesting IMO.

Dave

I agree with that.

[Letrow]

A big rusty head in close by the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury. Photographed on my recent trip there, but PP-ed later on.



I like it, even the incompleteness of it. And the colour stands out nicely.

[Letrow]

Doggies this week, trying to get the lighting right on the dark one







and trying for that blurred background

[Dave Humphries]

A big rusty head in close by the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury. Photographed on my recent trip there, but PP-ed later on.



I like it, even the incompleteness of it. And the colour stands out nicely.

Hi Peter,

Sorry I missed this one, the colour certainly does make it stand out and it's a lovely bit of art, in nice light and well exposed, unfortunately, its location does it no favours.

I really like this, and if mine I would have spent some time cloning out some of most obvious distractions to simplify the composition as far as possible.

Moving on to this week's doggie pictures ...

#1 is lacking eye contact and the collar attracts attention
#2 is over exposed and has a little too much space on right for my taste
In #3 you have definitely succeeded with the exposure on "the dark one", there are just two things I'd do; clone out that 'horizontal' blade of grass and tone down the bright flowers to the left of his ear in background.

Hope that helps you Peter, although I do seem to have highlighted a lot of negatives without mentioning many positives, sorry.

[Letrow]

No problem Dave, it's good actually to hear some of those things.
I am not really into cloning I have to admit, unless something really bothers me. Mostly that is in macro photos though, in this kind of photo I tend not to meddle. Somehow it doesn't feel right to me.

The eye contact I agree on, that would have worked better on the photo.

The overexposure is a difficult one, so I'll have to think about that in case we get another sunny day. I am now thinking about how my friend's Westie would look in the sunshine. Sunlight on white...hmmm.