My 2014 Weekly Photos

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments.

[Geoff F]

Week 07 - Highest Tide of the year plus a gale

A few samples from a flooded town. Some of the lower lying areas flood fairly regularly and this occasion was relatively little thanks to an absence of rain at high tide times.

But it was an overcast early morning (8 to 9 am) so light levels were poor which meant some compromises had to be made over my shooting settings.

The Quayside and Road



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/160 F5.6 Iso 800. None of these settings would have been my idea choice.

Going to Work - through the water



1/160 F8 Iso 800. With this fairly high Iso the other settings were just about acceptable.

At least it's not getting in the beer!



1/40 F8 Iso 800. A quick shot - if I had thought about it, I would have opened up the aperture a little to give slightly more shutter speed.

Keep Calm & Carry On Shopping!



Another quick shot with the same potential problem (1/50).

The Rubbish Cart must get through!



1/160 F8 Iso 800. A slightly better shutter speed but this was chiefly to prevent the sky from over exposing; and that turned everything else dark. So some recovery was needed during editing.

No Cream Teas Today



1/200 F8 Iso 800. I would have preferred a faster shutter speed for these waves but like the other shots I didn't want to push the Iso above 800 on such a dull light day.

Dressed for the Weather

A worker at the flooded car park. After all their pumping, they are actually further behind now!



1/400 F8 Iso 800. This is getting towards the sort of shutter speed I wanted previously.

[FrankMi]

The dramatic first image has quite a story to tell Geoff! Nice set and great action, particularly in the last two!

[John 2]

Week 1 is gorgeous. Week 7 is awful, the floods I mean. The fact that some people have been suffering since Christmas doesn't bear thinking about. I hope things improve soon. A nice, interesting set of images though Geoff.

[Sergio M.]

Sheesh, that's quite a bit of flooding. The life boat sign in the first image tells the story and it's probably what you need to get around. Very powerful images, Geoff.

Sergio

[Brownbear]

I always love the scenes of everyday life you share. Beautifully photographed. I especially like the 1st image (nice framing) and the 3rd image.

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments.

Compared to some places, this little bit of flooding was quite tame.

The South West of England railway lines were all unusable for several days due to flooding, a landslide and the far south line was washed away at one point where it goes along the cliff edge. That line is likely to be closed for some weeks!

[Geoff F]

A day of brighter periods today, between the showers. So I had a walk along the cliffs near Hope Cove. The tide was fairly low and with an onshore breeze I had hoped for a little more in the way of clean surf. But the waves were more of a confused chop.

A distant rainbow kept appearing but it was mostly too faint to have much effect.

Hope Cove with Thurlestone in the distance



1/640 F11 Iso 400. 7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. I also tried some shots at F8 to give me a little more shutter speed for the waves; but I eventually ditched all them as they just didn't quite have the detail and focus depth of the F11 shots.



I tried some closer shots with my Canon 70-200 but it was really a bit too far for the conditions.



1/1250 F8 Iso 400

The rainbow did briefly brighten a little.



1/800 F11 Iso 400

[Sergio M.]

I enjoyed viewing all four images, Geoff. I like the depth created by the layers of rocky cliffs in the first two and how my eye is led into the distance. In the last two the rainbow with spots of white buildings scattered througout make for a very pleasant viewing experience.

I noticed an arch (?) of some kind in all the photos. A very interesting natural formation.

Sergio

[Letrow]

Those shots of the flooding give a good impression of life down there at the moment Geoff. We just hear about it on the radio now and then.
Strangely The Netherlands doesn't have much rain this winter and it is a mild winter too.

[Geoff F]

Those shots of the flooding give a good impression of life down there at the moment Geoff. We just hear about it on the radio now and then.
Strangely The Netherlands doesn't have much rain this winter and it is a mild winter too.

But, Peter, the Dutch spend money on flood prevention in advance of the problem occurring!

Here on the south west coast we are used to getting rain but the worst of it has passed a little to the north. The high ground of Dartmoor and North Devon often get far more in the way of rain.

Sergio, that village name of Thurlestone refers to a rock with a hole. So it must have been there for a long time. And a very exclusive area to live now!

There is a cliff top golf course on the left side, but mostly out of view from this angle.

[deetheturk]

Nice images Geoff,well captured!

[Geoff F]

This thread by Dovrob started me thinking about an idea which I had put off several times.

Still lifes

So due to yet another dull and windy spell, I had a try. Everything went well, or so I thought, until I looked at the results on my computer screen. All quickly ditched, and I reshot.

Much better this time - but, once again, all rejected when I saw the full sized images.

Another day and another try, but this time I used a little bit of extra lighting instead of just ambient light. I didn't want to use flash or too much lighting in a confined space (my work shed) so it meant some long exposures on a tripod.

Week 09 - Retired and Worn Out. And whinging about the twinging!



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/4 F11 Iso 400. Two shots with different focus points, and a merge of two different Raw conversion settings.



1/3 F11 Iso 400. Also with a merge from different Raw conversions.



And this one at 1/5. I set my exposure for the brightest areas then recovered the shadows during editing; but on reflection, I should have tried bracketed exposures.

These have come out reasonably along the lines of what I had in mind but this is definitely not my preferred type of photography. Anyway, just for a bit of fun!

[bnnrcn]

Hi Geoff,I like #2 very much,nice composition,nice colours.And light is well balanced.

[TonyW]

For me, still life pictures are still too difficult but there are some things I want to photograph. Getting the light and background right are what stump me.

In these images, the lighting seems to work very well naturally. They are all clear and nicely lit. That was very clever. I have a little bit of a problem with the arrangement of the items because it does not seem quite logical and related to how they would be used.

[Dovrob]

Hi Tony
I'm glad I managed to inspire you to try still life again, certainly a hard genre to tackle. Must admit I'd like to see more contrast in the lighting in your shots, they're too bright and flat for my liking. I would also have left the medication out and focused on the tools. In the last shot especially, I love the sawdust and I think that image has the components to make a lovely shot. I would also like to see a little experimentation with a shallower depth of field, to help separate the tools from the background.

As ever these are just my musing, take what you like and leave the rest- happy snapping

[TonyW]

Hi David, there is a confusion of identity. These are not my images here. I was commenting on Geoff's.

Tony

[Dovrob]

Hi David, there is a confusion of identity. These are not my images here. I was commenting on Geoff's.

Tony

Sorry Tony, Confusion sometimes i8s my middle name

[Geoff F]

I was wondering if I had sufficiently brought out the rust in these tools so I have had a slight re edit to selectively darken some areas.

My motivation behind these shots was chiefly aimed at fellow manual workers who have reached retirement; and after a lifetime of hard toil, our bodies are worn out - like these rusty old tools.

And 'salvation' comes in the form of a variety of joint and muscle pills/creams which provide some relief.

But this may be lost on some 'office workers' although many sportsmen eventually find themselves in a similar position.

I tried to create an arrangement where the tools were subtly 'pointing' towards the source of relief.

Anyway, edit #1. I changed a Curves Adjustment Layer to Multiply Blend at 30% with some selective masking.



With the second image, I changed the Curves Layer to Luminosity Blend and added an Adjustment Layer set to Multiply which was selectively added to just the rusty areas.



And with the third image I also changed a Curves Layer to Multiply Blend (70%) and selectively applied it to the rusty areas.



Possibly I need to do some prints then have another think. I always seem to struggle with images on a screen because they never seem to look as good as prints. Possibly because I am more used to prints.

My workshed is actually just a shed, about 8 ft x 6 ft so space is limited. The pillar drill is actually situated in a corner and comes forward at a 45 degree angle so there is only 1 ft between the drilling table and the end wall. Which limits the size of work area, although it is a Radial Arm Drill so I can gain a couple of extra inches at a push.

I had thought about removing the clutter from the back wall but it then lacked the 'reality' of the average small workshop.

I wanted to include as much detail as possible; hence shooting at F11 to give as much depth of focus as I could manage with shooting close to the subject.

[Letrow]

I like the colours you have in there Geoff, especially the red (again). I am not sure about the source of relief in there. Although they add colour, they make it less of a still life for me (although most still lifes are probably put together in a deliberate way).
Your tools are very rusty, is that because you're close to the sea or have they been unused for a long time?