2016 Project 52 Challenge - 1st quarter by Geoff F

[Geoff F]

More details of the Project 52 Challenge are here

2016 Project 52 - Guidelines, FAQ and Index

Anybody can start their own thread and you can even join in at a later date.

My images will show something of the area where I live including landscapes, people and events.
As an added challenge this year, each photo will include a person or an animal somewhere within the overall scene, but not necessarily obviously spotted.

I'm trying to think of a secondary title for my project. Possibly something like Living with the Landscape because I am attempting to show how animals or people interact with their surrounds; but at the moment I'm not really sure where this journey will lead me.

Week 01. Aveton Gifford Scenes. On the way to photograph birds from a birdhide I saw a few other possible images.

Low Water in the estuary.



7D with Sigma 150-600 lens (at 180 mm) 1/1000 F11 Iso 400. The first time I have tried any long distance landscape type scenes with this big lens.

Ideal transport for the Tidal Road.



1/640 F11 Iso 1250. Set up for bird photography when I saw this possible long distance shot so I just had to go with what I had. Handheld. Just about OK but not quite as sharp as I would have ideally liked.

And the real reason for me being there. 'Don't you point that thing at me!'



1/1600 F11 Iso 1250. I love this 'facial expression'.

[Wavelength]

Very nice, especially the third one

[IzzieK]

I love the third one too...that was a good capture. I'll have a go of my own P52 later this week after the NY.

[bnnrcn]

#3 looks very nice and cute Geoff

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments.

Week 02. More Rough Weather. Poor light, from the wrong angle, and not much worthwhile surfing action so between the showers I turned my attention to what was happening on the beach.

Creating Beach Art and all you need is a pair of wellies for a bootiful picture!



7D with Tamron 34-70 lens. 1/160 F11 Iso 800.

Fetch



1/640 F11 Iso 800. I needed to keep the shutter speed high to keep the surf sharp and that was really a little on the slow side.

Going Surfing Some attractive local scenery!



1/1000 F11 Iso 800. Switched to my Sigma 150-600 for a bit more reach. This was at 160 mm.

Watching the Surfers



Tamron lens at 70 mm. Sky darkening so the shutter speed was getting too slow. Tried brightening the image but that looked a little 'washed out' so I darkened the blacks a fraction; possibly a little too much?

[bnnrcn]

Blacks don't seem too much to me Geoff. If the image was mine I would crop the land and the pole(?) in #2

PS. I forgot to say that I like the images

[Cantab]

Geoff, I love the first photo -- it's wonderful! I also enjoyed the surfing shots. I'm beginning to recognize this cove with the rocky shore and the day beacon. It's presumably is near your home? [edit: I saw Binnur's post after typing mine; I like the day beacon.]

As I've probably commented before, I much prefer sharp images of waves, etc rather than dreamy murk. I'd have thought that 1/640 would have frozen the surf in the first of the surfing images but, as you noted, not quite. But the photos do a good job of conveying a sense of the location. They remind me of a visit several years ago to an oceanside cabins upisland on the west coast of Vancouver Island where there's usually a good surf rolling onto a sandy beach from the open Pacific.

[Geoff F]

Thanks.

I want to keep some of the land and pole because that makes the scene recognisable. Previously I did try cropping close to the top of the pole and the same amount from the left side, similar to #2, but thought the reduced sky looked a bit 'cramped' when compared against the open 'loneliness' of this version. I was looking for a scene where the people are being somewhat 'overwhelmed' by the landscape and not the main centre of attention.

This little beach is only half a mile from my home so I often nip down to see if anything interesting is happening there.

The harbour and estuary are on the left and there is a narrowing of the land here with shallows to the right so although the area is fairly sheltered, except from the south east, it does sometimes create a bit of turbulence when the ebb tide comes up against a fresh wind. But only this rather messy sort of low surf.

[Geoff F]

This shows the north side of the cove with the old castle showing in the distance.



And the only image of an actual surfer which came anywhere close to being acceptable. All of my shots suffered with some noise because of the poor light and fairly high Iso.

[Cantab]

Geoff, this a very beautiful cove. Is the harbour entrance on the other side of the castle? Whoever built the castle obviously wanted direct access to the ocean!

[IzzieK]

All very nice scenery, Geoff...I have gotten used to your photography style and am enjoying just looking at each one of them. I particularly like the first shot in the first batch for a favourite of them all...

[Geoff F]

Thanks.

I have found an image from last year which shows the castle and harbour beyond it at a different angle.

The castle was, as far as we know, constructed by Henry VIII when there was a threat of French invasion/raids on the south coast. But there are also records of raids from Moroccan pirates particularly along the south and west coasts. At that time nobody lived right on the coast due to safety worries. There were small harbours and places where boats were pulled up on the beach but the nearest towns or villages were a mile or so inland.

During the English Civil War this castle was extended and strengthened by Edmund Fortescue to provide a safe Royalist harbour. The navy sided with Parliament so there were only a few small harbours available for the King's forces. Hull was a larger port which was Royalist and Bristol changed hands a couple of times.

Towards the end of the Civil War the castle was eventually taken by General Fairfax's troops and was partially blown up. It has remained like this ever since, although a little bit of repair work is occasionally undertaken to correct any weather damage.



There is a small creek and more of the town on the distant left side which is hidden from view and on the right side there are a couple of other creeks. The largest one goes inland for 5 miles and sub divides into several smaller creeks.

If you go into the properties and Exif data of the image which shows the northern side of the cove there will probably be a GPS map of the whole area.

[purplehaze]

Love the beach art photo, Geoff. Great perspective and I like the framing.

[Geoff F]

Thanks, Janis.

Week 03 - Another Dreary Sunday Afternoon in January

I saw the Black-headed Gull looking miserable, during another bleak showery day around 3.30 pm, and wondered about creating a scene around him. Only had my Fuji X20 'pocket camera' and the light was decidedly poor but I had a go anyway.



Fuji X20 1/680 F8 Iso 400. Merge of two Raw conversions. On reflection, I should have lowered my Iso which would have reduced the noise problems, but some of the other shots which I took at the same time required a higher setting and I was wandering around concentrating more on composition than individual shot settings.

But at least there is crab for lunch.

This Curlew was fishing for small crabs in this little 'stream' at low water. I saw him catch three crabs in total which, like this one, were taken ashore to be eaten. Yet another day of heavy showers.



7D with Sigma 150-500 Sport lens. 1/320 F8 Iso 800. Shooting towards the light although on a dull day.

Common Sandpiper in the Rain. And looking totally fed up with it!



1/250 F8 Iso 800

[Kaye Leggett]

More details of the Project 52 Challenge are here

2016 Project 52 - Guidelines, FAQ and Index

Anybody can start their own thread and you can even join in at a later date.

My images will show something of the area where I live including landscapes, people and events.
As an added challenge this year, each photo will include a person or an animal somewhere within the overall scene, but not necessarily obviously spotted.

Week 01. Aveton Gifford Scenes. On the way to photograph birds from a birdhide I saw a few other possible images.

Low Water in the estuary.



7D with Sigma 150-600 lens (at 180 mm) 1/1000 F11 Iso 400. The first time I have tried any long distance landscape type scenes with this big lens.

Ideal transport for the Tidal Road.



1/640 F11 Iso 1250. Set up for bird photography when I saw this possible long distance shot so I just had to go with what I had. Handheld. Just about OK but not quite as sharp as I would have ideally liked.

And the real reason for me being there. 'Don't you point that thing at me!'



1/1600 F11 Iso 1250. I love this 'facial expression'.

Well done on embarking on Project 52 again. I look forward to seeing your area again. The first in this series lends itself to further shots at different times of the year and at different tide levels if it's not too far from home to re-visit.

[Kaye Leggett]

This shows the north side of the cove with the old castle showing in the distance.



And the only image of an actual surfer which came anywhere close to being acceptable. All of my shots suffered with some noise because of the poor light and fairly high Iso.

These tow are delightful and a fabulous example of what you can do on a dull old day. The first has so much going on but you achieve a good image which doesn't look crowded. Andthe second - well done. I was on the Cornish coast for the week over new year and didn't see one surfer upright, even in shallow water

[Kaye Leggett]

Thanks, Janis.

Week 03 - Another Dreary Sunday Afternoon in January

I saw the Black-headed Gull looking miserable, during another bleak showery day around 3.30 pm, and wondered about creating a scene around him. Only had my Fuji X20 'pocket camera' and the light was decidedly poor but I had a go anyway.



Fuji X20 1/680 F8 Iso 400. Merge of two Raw conversions. On reflection, I should have lowered my Iso which would have reduced the noise problems, but some of the other shots which I took at the same time required a higher setting and I was wandering around concentrating more on composition than individual shot settings.

But at least there is crab for lunch.

This Curlew was fishing for small crabs in this little 'stream' at low water. I saw him catch three crabs in total which, like this one, were taken ashore to be eaten. Yet another day of heavy showers.



7D with Sigma 150-500 Sport lens. 1/320 F8 Iso 800. Shooting towards the light although on a dull day.

Common Sandpiper in the Rain. And looking totally fed up with it!



1/250 F8 Iso 800

Great character shots, particularly the third one.

[Shadowman]

This shows the north side of the cove with the old castle showing in the distance.



And the only image of an actual surfer which came anywhere close to being acceptable. All of my shots suffered with some noise because of the poor light and fairly high Iso.

Nice set.

[Shadowman]

Thanks, Janis.

Week 03 - Another Dreary Sunday Afternoon in January

I saw the Black-headed Gull looking miserable, during another bleak showery day around 3.30 pm, and wondered about creating a scene around him. Only had my Fuji X20 'pocket camera' and the light was decidedly poor but I had a go anyway.



Fuji X20 1/680 F8 Iso 400. Merge of two Raw conversions. On reflection, I should have lowered my Iso which would have reduced the noise problems, but some of the other shots which I took at the same time required a higher setting and I was wandering around concentrating more on composition than individual shot settings.

But at least there is crab for lunch.

This Curlew was fishing for small crabs in this little 'stream' at low water. I saw him catch three crabs in total which, like this one, were taken ashore to be eaten. Yet another day of heavy showers.



7D with Sigma 150-500 Sport lens. 1/320 F8 Iso 800. Shooting towards the light although on a dull day.

Common Sandpiper in the Rain. And looking totally fed up with it!



1/250 F8 Iso 800

At least you were able to capture the blues in the sky on the first image. Nice captures.

[Geoff F]

Yes but only by exposing for the sky then brightening the darkened areas with a separate Raw conversion and doing a mock HDR merge. If I had exposed 'correctly' for the foreground the sky details would have been lost.

The downside was a bit of noise in the foreground shadows but I have selectively reduced that to a level which is just about acceptable.

Also, thanks for the comments, Kaye and John.