Travel Snaps !

[Stagecoach]

For the past couple of months I have been unable to be very active here at CiC and even less active with my photography as I was in the UK after having departed Fiji in a rush due to my mother being seriously ill there. Fortunately things turned out well and I'm now back home in Fiji, along with a pile of new photographic toys

I did manage to get a few days away in Wales and an opportunity to have a play but the cold gives little incentive for early morning or late evening shooting. Anyway, here's a few serious shots I managed to get.

No 1 - Windswept tree


No 2 - Pentre Irfan Burial Chamber in Pembrokeshire. The top stone is around 17 tonnes.


No 3 - A lucky find


No 4


No 5 - This was the site of shipbuilders Vosper Thornycrofts in Woolston Southampton where many years ago I served my apprenticeship, how things change.


No 6 - The agents I had used in Southampton upgraded me to a Marina apartment for the final week there, tough.


Grahame

[FootLoose]

hi Grahame,
nice set. I like the first shot and love the 3rd. That would hang on my wall.

Re the first one: there is a bright blade grass right in the middle that really bothers me. At first I thought there was piece of grass in the foreground that was unfortunately co-aligned with something in the distance which made it look like a reflection. I think if you removed that, the eye would flow more smoothly across the scene.

The third one might be helped a little if you toned the light down on the rock. The light has to be one it because its sunrise/sunset, but I find it just a fraction too bright at the moment. JMHO.

[deetheturk]

Very nice, Grahame, I like them all but #1 is my favorite, I see you have plenty pixels to play with now

Cheers David

[Mike Buckley]

All of them are wonderful. They make me want to go there. Excellent use of simplicity in the first four and mood in all of them.

Great to know your mother is better now!

[Kris V]

#1 is my absolute favourite!

[Shadowman]

Nice series and exposures.

[John 2]

Glad to hear that all is well at the UK end Grahame. Nice set. Particularly like the cloud in no.5. I agree with Greg on the third image and my thought would be to lift the FG shadows a tad. Something like:

[IzzieK]

Glad to you have you back. Sorry about your Mom being ill but I hope she is OK now...

My favourite is #3 hands down...#2 and #5 are coming close to second and third though all your shots are nicely done...

I do not know, John (2) but I kinda like the original better...must be my eyes...

[Ziggy]

Nice snaps. As far as #3 I think I would go in middle between the original and the edit.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Grahame, excellent shots, I'm glad that your mother is fine now

[Mike Buckley]

I generally lift shadows only when detail in them needs to be revealed. In this case of image #3, all of the details are revealed at a glance in the original. Lifting them loses the rich, natural character of the image for me.

[Stagecoach]

hi Grahame,
nice set. I like the first shot and love the 3rd. That would hang on my wall.

Re the first one: there is a bright blade grass right in the middle that really bothers me. At first I thought there was piece of grass in the foreground that was unfortunately co-aligned with something in the distance which made it look like a reflection. I think if you removed that, the eye would flow more smoothly across the scene.

The third one might be helped a little if you toned the light down on the rock. The light has to be one it because its sunrise/sunset, but I find it just a fraction too bright at the moment. JMHO.

Thanks for the comments Greg. You are right, that grass blade needs removing in No 1 and I'll look at toning down the rock slightly in No 3. For info these were each taken just prior to sunset, far too cold for sunrise shots.

[Stagecoach]

Very nice, Grahame, I like them all but #1 is my favorite, I see you have plenty pixels to play with now

Cheers David

Thanks David. Yes, three times as many pixels if I want

I spent three weeks trying to decide between three camera models then found the perfect solution to reaching a conclusion, take the other half to the camera shop with me

Just need to find myself some macro subjects to see if there's a noticeable difference in IQ now.

Cheers, Grahame

[dje]

Lovely set of shots Grahame, with great light.

Dave

[Stagecoach]

All of them are wonderful. They make me want to go there. Excellent use of simplicity in the first four and mood in all of them.

Great to know your mother is better now!

Thank you Mike,

The first four are shots of which if able to I would repeatedly return to capture in different lighting and weather conditions and would also have loved to have a wider FL lens with me. I had borrowed a tripod of which was really designed for a P&S and would have loved something that enabled shooting from a lower angle.

[Stagecoach]

#1 is my absolute favourite!

Thanks Kris, another vote for No 1

[Stagecoach]

Nice series and exposures.

Thank you John

[Stagecoach]

Glad to hear that all is well at the UK end Grahame. Nice set. Particularly like the cloud in no.5. I agree with Greg on the third image and my thought would be to lift the FG shadows a tad. Something like:

Thank you John,

I certainly prefer the image with the rock toned down but find the foreground a bit too bright now. There was not much time spent on PPing these by me and I'm wondering if I can selectively lift the plough on its own slightly, I'll have another go.

[Stagecoach]

Glad to you have you back. Sorry about your Mom being ill but I hope she is OK now...

My favourite is #3 hands down...#2 and #5 are coming close to second and third though all your shots are nicely done...

I do not know, John (2) but I kinda like the original better...must be my eyes...

Hi Izzie, my Mom has recovered well from a heart attack and they also found she had fractured her back, she's now back home. Whilst there I was able to take both her and my father to see a care home of which they are going to move into shortly, a wonderful place and somewhere they will have a greater quality of life and not have to worry about the daily chores of shopping, cooking etc. For 85 and 89 years old they deserve an easy life.

Whilst taking No 3 I had an audience of cows behind me but they did not bother me, I just had to be careful of what they had left all over the ground, yuk

Grahame

[Stagecoach]

Nice snaps. As far as #3 I think I would go in middle between the original and the edit.

Thanks Jim,

Agree about No 3, further work required.