My 2015 Weekly Photos - Part 3

[Geoff F]

Nice captures Geoff, is the young lady in the first image the one with the bug on butt?

There are no ladies in the first shot, David; just wrinkly aged men and one young guy.

I was supposed to be helping that lady plus one other to sort through another sampling point but thought I must get some shots now because this was the last clearing to be sampled.

My thoughts, about quickly assessing the scene ran something like. Must have somebody taking notes on their pad; must have somebody looking intensely towards some flowers; must show the grass height and must show that there is more than one group there. Then it was a case of checking the light angle and attempting to quickly find an angle where everything else would come together.

Then back to sampling our plot before I got accused of skiving off.

ps. I have always thought that any quick real life candid shots must show the subjects in a good situation, so people learn to trust me when I point a camera in their direction. I don't see the point of taking embarrassing shots of ex friends!

[Geoff F]

Week 30 - Dull days beside the sea. I mentioned elsewhere that we are having a lot of dull cloudy weather with mist and drizzle; but not nice photographic fog, just dreary weather. So I had a go at snapping these scenes; but without much success. This is the best of them and taken with my Fuji X20 pocket camera but the conditions were really expecting too much of this camera and it is a bit on the noisy side.



1/550 F8 Iso 400. I did drop the Iso back to 200 which helped with the noise; but, of course, the scene had changed by then and I preferred the composition of this shot.

Taking the holiday photos. Another quick shot of a scene which I liked; but the conditions were still against the capabilities of that camera.



1/750 F7.1 Iso 400. Once again I took the first shot at Iso 400 to see what my options would be, and of course it was this initial scene where I saw a possible photo; and everything had changed by the time I lowered my Iso.

The next day I tried a beach shot in drizzle with well wrapped up people walking around. But although I had better equipment with me I just couldn't get the shot I wanted with a strong close foreground subject. Slightly more distant subjects were beginning to soften around the edges due to the conditions so when the rain got heavier I gave up and went home!

[IzzieK]

Still you made use of whatever dull day you have...good for you...I would have back off and stayed at home under the circumstances...

[Kaye Leggett]

I sympathise with you. Grey old days are not good for the photographer and we get too many of them. I was in Whitstable yesterday, a lovely place with oodles of photographic opportunities if it were not for the really dull dark grey sky . So as Izzie says, well done you for getting out there and trying, as yesterday I just left my camera in its bag.

But hey, today the sun is shining, hope it is with you too.

[Geoff F]

Week 31 - An Overgrown Path

Mostly sunny today so I went out to photograph insects then wondered if I could get a shot of this overgrown path and bridge. But it wasn't quite working because there wasn't a focal point or an obvious reason for taking the shot; and just at the right time this birdwatcher appeared from around a bend in the path. No time for thinking; just go with what I have and hope for the best!



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens 1/80 F11 Iso 400.

If it had been a posed shot there are a few things I would have changed; so just regard it as Rural Street Photography.

[Ndukes]

That works really nicely Geoff.

[Cantab]

Week 31 - An Overgrown Path

Mostly sunny today so I went out to photograph insects then wondered if I could get a shot of this overgrown path and bridge. But it wasn't quite working because there wasn't a focal point or an obvious reason for taking the shot; and just at the right time this birdwatcher appeared from around a bend in the path. No time for thinking; just go with what I have and hope for the best!



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens 1/80 F11 Iso 400.

If it had been a posed shot there are a few things I would have changed; so just regard it as Rural Street Photography.

Geoff, if the birder is on the path, you've successfully proved that it's overgrown. I think the photo works well.

[IzzieK]

I was thinking if this is a selfie, I'd advise you to mow your lawn. +1 to Bruce's comment....

[Geoff F]

The path is actually made of duckboards across a marsh so that is why he is carefully 'feeling his way' and looking downwards.

[Shadowman]

Nicely done on the path and the almost vanishing birdwatcher.

[Geoff F]

Week 32 - Regatta Events

This week my activities were somewhat curtailed by having to be a 'Regatta Roadie' but I did manage a few photos although poor light or restricted angles was a limiting factor in many cases.

Children's Rowing.



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens 1/320 F11 Iso 200. Getting a bit slow with the shutter speed but I just got away with it. Shooting from the rescue boat so I had to take what I could find in the way of camera angles which often meant shooting across the bright light.

Fishing Boat Race



7D with Canon 70-200 lens 1/250 F6.3 Iso 400. Poor light and shooting from the shore so many potential problems and a lot of rejects. Shutter speed and aperture are both on the borderline side but increasing Iso would have produced too much noise; so I had to take a chance.

Raft Race



Fuji X20 1/550 F9 Iso 200. Poor light and I only had my 'pocket camera' with me. The scene from this angle is a bit over complicated but it does show something of the town and the overall activity.

Adult Rowing Races

This year, instead of shooting from a rescue boat and getting in close, I decided to try some more scenic shots from the start line. But that meant shooting from a greater distance and although it was initially a clear light I was shooting across low evening light which produced a lot of over blue sea; and by the time of this shot the light was going behind the hill.



Canon 70-200 lens 1/400 F6.3 Iso 400. I didn't want to push any of these settings any further so I soon gave up after this shot due to failing light.

A lot more shots to edit but I had to quickly pick out a few for the local paper; so I may add on some more over the next couple of days.

[Cantab]

Geoff, this is an enjoyable collection of photos. My two favourites are the children's rowing (looks of concentration) and the fish boat race. When I first looked at the fish boat race, my eye went to the significant bow wave/wake being created by the blue and white boat and what appeared to be two men standing on the water, waiting to be knocked over. But then I noticed they were on boards! (I don't recall what the the boards are called but see them regularly on the waterway near where I live.)

I've never seen or heard of a raft race before. But there's an annual bathtub race at Nanaimo, upisland from where I live: http://bathtubbing.com/ .

[IzzieK]

If I were to choose just one, I'd like the kid's too and the last one looks good too...

[Geoff F]

In the first scene, you can see that she has a problem but hasn't quite worked out what has gone wrong. In reality, one of her oars has come out of the rowlock.

But adults can also have unexpected problems; as we see with this rather embarrassed team of local Firemen.



And problems on the turn has caused these two boats to collide.



Finally, another one from the Fishing Boat Race which is looking up the harbour. This shot was really a bit too distant for the weather conditions but I've done what I can to show the wider scene with as much clarity as I could manage.



And in answer to Bruce's question. I think those two men on the water are using what is simply called Paddle Boards.

[Geoff F]

And what you refer to as Bathtub Boats look rather similar to what we once called Hydroplane Boats. Here is one in a local maritime museum.

[Cantab]

And what you refer to as Bathtub Boats look rather similar to what we once called Hydroplane Boats. Here is one in a local maritime museum.

Yes, recent highspeed bathtubs seem to have been turned into hydroplanes. My recollection, however, is that in the early days of the bathtub race actual bathtubs were used. They kept the rescue boats busy.

[Geoff F]

Yes, Bruce, bathtubs have been used for various events.

A few years ago a friend sailed a bath plus an outboard motor from Denmark to Russia for a charity fund raising project.

We had used home made rafts which people had to lash together then enter them in the race. For some people the raft construction was the best bit of the event but as so many people were finding they simply didn't have enough time to build a raft the entry level declined. So this year a retired boatbuilder produced 6 identical rafts which were stable and strong. They could then be easily taken to bits for storage until the following year.

The rest of my Salcombe Regatta photos are here:

http://www.pbase.com/regatta

[Geoff F]

Week 33 - Vintage Machinery Show

This year I wasn't impressed with the show. Virtually all of the working exhibits were placed in a way where it was impossible to get clean backgrounds without a lot of modern stuff like vehicles or caravans etc in a prominent position.

In other years there have been tractors etc working in a field away from the show ring where you could obtain decent camera angles. But this year there were few of these exhibits and when I did find a potential scene the operators were often wearing obviously modern clothing; like baseball caps etc.

It might be me being unreasonable, but that sort of thing totally ruins the atmosphere for me.

Anyway, I did what I could with the available options and tended to go more for close ups where the unwanted elements could be excluded.



7D with Tamron 27-70 lens. 1/640 F8 Iso 200 and a merge of two Raw edits to lift the shadows a little.



1/400 F8 Iso 200. I had to crouch down to avoid a line of parked cars showing just behind the baler; then quickly move to one side as it approached towards me.



1/640 F8 Iso 200. This guy was wearing modern looking sunglasses so I had to catch him from this angle.



1/320 F8 Iso 200







Not sure which of them was doing the driving.

[IzzieK]

Now that we have seen the colour version, we (I) want to see some in these series converted to B/W ala Donald's...

[Geoff F]

Time is the problem at the moment, Izzie. So many insect shots still to be edited and identified, then all the sightings written up into proper records.

Then, various organisations will be requesting some of my time for various non photographic duties. Such is the bustle of retirement!