My Weekly Photos During 2015 - Part 2

[Shadowman]

I really like the last shot, the image of nature within a nature setting is so unusual yet acceptable visually.

[IzzieK]

......I don't seem to be able to transfer my thoughts into actual photographs. Like I said, it is that bluebell scenario again; looks fantastic in real 3D life but just doesn't work out as a photograph.

Don't worry Geoff...we all suffer from creative blockage every now and then. Last week, I suffered from the same...how I am going to translate those 300 photographs into an article will be the problem plus choosing which ones will go into publication. Maybe if I drink a shot of vodka I will get my thinking cap back...hope, hope, hope. I have to learn how to drink...

The last batch on your walking the trail event looks like a fun thing to do...teaching people to be responsible in treating and treading through nature is a wonderful endeavor on the part of the organizer. I suppose you do your own trail walks and stumbled on this one. They are great shots but the way.

[Geoff F]

Thanks.

That site is where I take all the flower shots for my Project 52 thread and a lot of my insect work. Also the area of those bird box checking images.

Every month there is one volunteer day for maintenance work and I have been attending for the past two years. Then there are special extra events like this one and others to come like the flower survey day, etc.

This site is too large for the small number of full time staff to manage on their own, and they have three other sites in nearby areas; so having extra free hands means that work can be done with a bit more environmental care than having to work with heavy machinery.

[Geoff F]

Week 26 - Around the Quayside

Had a bit of a wander around the quays today but the light was a bit on the harsh side and I've got a few other things wrong.



7D with Canon 70-200 lens 1/2000 F11 Iso 400. This was my first test shot and I was leaning out from the unfenced quay to get a suitable angle, so I wasn't level and had to crop back a little too tight particularly at the bottom. By the time I had made some adjustments and reshot, the scene had changed. I have messed about with the edit and I'm still not sure about correct colour, although the pure whites seem about right.

Shooting from across the creek where a boat was unloading to a lorry on the quay.



1/500 F11 Iso 200

Around the corner, another boat was coming in to land its catch.



1/400 F11 Iso 200. The background is perhaps a bit busy but I wanted to catch the boat between those two markers and also had to be careful of the light angle so I didn't have many options. I did take a slightly earlier shot as it was approaching with a cleaner background but that meant the boat was bow on and didn't seem to have so much impact.

And in a nearby beer garden an off duty chef relaxes. Just a quick candid shot. He is squinting a bit as he looks towards the light.



1/640 F8 Iso 200

[Cantab]

Geoff, I enjoyed all four pictures. In the first picture, there is what might be described as a wooden crate or box with a man inside it. What is it? In the third photo, the channel that the boat is squeezing through does not look very wide!
When you're taking these sorts of pictures near the water, do use a polarizing filter?

[Kaye Leggett]

These are a nice set, a good reportage style. I wouldn't worry about the busyness as fro me they are part of the scene, after all the coastline in the South of Devon is not a quiet one at his time of year.

[IzzieK]

Very good environment shots there, Geoff...reminds me of Geelong in Oz whenever I go there to buy my shellfish stuffs in the old days. The jetties are bustling with movement...you live in a good area there, near the sea, fresh seafood, quality restaurants and lots of opportunities to photograph...my...my...I am getting envious...

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the replies.

These boats are all unloading their catch of crabs. Sometimes they are stored in floating wooden store boxes until required for market which is what is happening in the first image where they are being removed from the box and transferred to the lorry.

You can see more of that happening, Bruce, in this extra photo.



Those poles mark the width of the low water channel so they are fairly close together although slightly staggered so there is more width than it appears from this photo. The boat (Claire Louise) is a little over 40 ft long.

In the old film days I did occasionally use polarizers but that was chiefly to move the colour balance between yellow and blue; which is so easy to do now in different ways with digital editing.

Some people regularly use polarizing filters but I have never found them to be of any use. In theory, if they actually worked, it would be a wonderful answer to so many potential problems; but I just watch my exposure and frequently use some exposure compensation as required. I do have a skylight filter but that doesn't make a lot of difference.

Certain light angles on water can produce a very dark sea which needs a bit of special editing technique on the blue channel to change the shadow setting slightly. In which case I often vary the Blend Mode of my Curves layers so one changes the blue level while general brightness is changed with another layer set to Luminosity mode.

[IzzieK]

Thank you for this tip, Geoff...I will remember this. Either I always forget my CF or it is in my lens and forget to remove it for indoor shots...

Thanks for the replies.

These boats are all unloading their catch of crabs. Sometimes they are stored in floating wooden store boxes until required for market which is what is happening in the first image where they are being removed from the box and transferred to the lorry.

You can see more of that happening, Bruce, in this extra photo.



Those poles mark the width of the low water channel so they are fairly close together although slightly staggered so there is more width than it appears from this photo. The boat (Claire Louise) is a little over 40 ft long.

In the old film days I did occasionally use polarizers but that was chiefly to move the colour balance between yellow and blue; which is so easy to do now in different ways with digital editing.

Some people regularly use polarizing filters but I have never found them to be of any use. In theory, if they actually worked, it would be a wonderful answer to so many potential problems; but I just watch my exposure and frequently use some exposure compensation as required. I do have a skylight filter but that doesn't make a lot of difference.

Certain light angles on water can produce a very dark sea which needs a bit of special editing technique on the blue channel to change the shadow setting slightly. In which case I often vary the Blend Mode of my Curves layers so one changes the blue level while general brightness is changed with another layer set to Luminosity mode.