2017 Project 52 - 3rd Quarter by Geoff F

[Geoff F]

I have had a go at some of the skies but at certain angles where I was shooting towards the grey light there wasn't much detail to be found and I had to concentrate mostly on the main subject.

However, here is one where I have messed about to bring out a bit more sky detail. Any more tweaking and it starts to look unnatural and noisy. I may have pushed this version a bit too far.

[Geoff F]

Week 34 - Tall Larch Trees. I have looked at this scene a few times when searching for insects in the area and kept thinking about how could I get an acceptable angle to show the tree height and avoid a lot of unwanted stuff in the foreground? So when the light was good and a decent sky, I took a gamble on an unusual size ratio. At least, I shot in 2 x 3 ratio with the intention of hopefully cropping to something usable.



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens 1/250 F11 Iso 400. On reflection. I would have liked to show a fraction more at the bottom and could have lost a tiny bit of sky. Not much of an acceptable option though because the base of the closest trees soon became full of unwanted messy foliage and I was already at 24 mm with my back against a bramble hedge.

A little further along the path there was a clump of Indian Balsam flowers, so I had a go with them but really struggled to get clean angles and sufficient depth of focus where I wanted it without including too much messy background. This is the best of many attempts.



180 Sigma lens 1/100 F11 Iso 400



I tried both lenses and various camera settings, mostly without any real success.

[Cantab]

Geoff, the larch photo is a real success. Having such a narrow tall image shows off the height of the tree.

Are your larch deciduous? Although there are no larch out here on the coast there are larch (larix occidentalis) in the Interior (i.e., the mainland part of British Columbia inland from the coast). There's also an alpine larch in B.C. but I've not seen it.

The Indian Balsam flowers also turned out well.

[skitterbug]

Regarding Week 34 selections - You may not have been completely satisfied with your pics but they are pictures with stories to tell. I like them. I also appreciate that you post the settings that you used. This added information is helpful for me. Thank you!

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments. I assume those trees are the standard European Larch, although I haven't actually looked that closely at them. Maybe there will be some interesting winter shots to be had at this site?

[bnnrcn]

It looks better than the original Geoff

I have had a go at some of the skies but at certain angles where I was shooting towards the grey light there wasn't much detail to be found and I had to concentrate mostly on the main subject.

However, here is one where I have messed about to bring out a bit more sky detail. Any more tweaking and it starts to look unnatural and noisy. I may have pushed this version a bit too far.

[bnnrcn]

All images of week 34 work for me

[Geoff F]

Week 35 - View from Wembury Beach It was a meeting of the Devon Fly Group along the coast path, as clouds were rapidly developing; but an almost totally flat sea. On arrival, before getting into bug photography mood, I tried some landscapes of the area. Not really a lot of top quality subjects though. So I had a go with what was available.



7D with Canon 24-105 lens. 1/640 F11 Iso 400. A merge of two different Raw conversions.



1/400 F11 Iso 400 and another merge of two conversions. On reflection, I think I will try the last image again with a square crop.

The cloud soon darkened and the light faded with it so after another hour of searching for bug shots I quickly returned to my vehicle just as heavy rain was starting to fall.

A fresh edit of the last scene as a square crop.

[Shadowman]

Week 29, nice variety of images.

[Cantab]

When I initially saw the second image and then your comment that you were going to try a square crop, I thought I would prefer the portrait version. But then I looked at the second image in lytebox and moved from it to the square image. As I watched the image expand on either side, my immediate reaction was that I most definitely preferred the square version. I think this is at least partly because more of the rock exposed by the low tide is visible. (When I was growing up I was only about a five minute bike ride from a rocky coastline that often had tidal pools – so I probably have a predilection for this type of shoreline.)

The first image also works well, particularly in lytebox. The broad horizontal orientation gives a good sense of a lengthy panoramic view.

[Wavelength]

Very nice additions, Geoff

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments.

[Urbanflyer]

I've enjoyed seeing your part of the world through your images this year. Thanks!

[skitterbug]

Hi Geoff ~ You have such lovely views to enjoy and capture. And these are well done as always. I like the way you chose to crop the first pic and then the edit to a square crop of the second. I agree with your intuition about the square crop! Perfect!
Also thank you very much for always posting your settings! I've said it before but it is worth repeating, these are very helpful for me.

[Geoff F]

Thanks Judith and Sandy. This year's challenge of looking for alternative size ratios is certainly making me think differently about my compositions.

WEEK 36. Soar Mill Cove Valley I went here specifically to check out the Ivy Bees around their burrows.



7D with Sigma 180 macro lens on a tripod and with flash. Standing on a 6 inch wide ledge 6 ft above the ground.

Then as I was walking home along a marshy area of this valley there were some cattle grazing so I thought maybe there is a photo to be taken here. This is the result.



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/640 F11 Iso 400. I also took some shots with Iso 200 but preferred this scene. The cattle kept moving around and getting in the wrong positions.

[skitterbug]

You had an adventure trying to capture the Ivy Bees but the results are worth the risk! Sharp!

The landscape is intriguing because it shows the type of land used for pasture for the cattle. A nice balance of fall colors. I may have preferred a different crop - wider perhaps? But then again, I don't know what was on either side of the field the cattle are grazing in - it may not have been interesting and therefore not worth including in your photo!

[Geoff F]

The cattle were concentrated together at this angle, Sandy, and going wider just added more of the same grass which is at the edges here. A wider scene seemed to lack the apparent depth of this image. There is an option to crop square and lose some of the foreground which concentrates more on the cattle but I was thinking about using them as an addition to the autumn colours instead of being the main subject.

I took several images with different amounts of foreground but finally settled on this one.

[skitterbug]

Hi Geoff ~ I enjoy your photo work! And I figured you had your reasons for the way you captured your pic as well as the crop you chose! My curiosity is satisfied! <chuckle> You do live in a beautiful country!

The cattle were concentrated together at this angle, Sandy, and going wider just added more of the same grass which is at the edges here. A wider scene seemed to lack the apparent depth of this image. There is an option to crop square and lose some of the foreground which concentrates more on the cattle but I was thinking about using them as an addition to the autumn colours instead of being the main subject.

I took several images with different amounts of foreground but finally settled on this one.

[Geoff F]

And one other reason for shooting at 4 x 5 ratio, Sandy, is because I am still thinking ahead regarding images for the next local history society calendar which requires landscape scenes in 4 x 5 and I am attempting to get some scenes which are inland settings without any sea views to make a more balanced eventual calendar image choice.

[Geoff F]

Here is a square crop from a slightly different angle. I think the first image does have more apparent depth to it.