2018 Project 52 by Geoff F - 2nd Quarter

[Cantab]

Geoff, the caterpiller photos turned out well -- and I enjoyed your caption comments. I don't know the cause of the mostly yellow light in the Marlborough photo but, for me, the yellow colours are probably part of the reason that the image conveys a warm feeling.

[Shadowman]

Week 22 moon shot, nice effort.

[skitterbug]

Hi Geoff - I like the work on the caterpillars with the third being the best because of the detail of the "fuzzy hair" on its body and its coloration.

The second pic is also well done - catching the caterpillar rising up from a leaf and having it as sharp as you do, is tricky to accomplish IME.

Maybe it is my eyes this morning, but the first pic doesn't look as crystal clear as the other two.

Fun series and I enjoyed the dialog!

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments.

The 'city lights' are sodium street lighting. I had played around with the WB but any more towards the blue side looked wrong. That rather strange 'rectangle of light around the moon is genuine as the moonlight is lighting up those hazy clouds. I did move the moon a little to the left in order to do a tighter crop on the right but selected an area well clear of that effect and it was well feathered.

I started with attempting a 'blue hour' shot but the clouds and moonlight produced a strange looking black disc coming from the missing part of the moon.

[FootLoose]

That rectangle is a really strange effect. It looks as though you included the edge of the frame when moved the moon. There also appears to be a brighter glow in the top right corner, behind it.

[Manfred M]

The 'city lights' are sodium street lighting. I had played around with the WB but any more towards the blue side looked wrong.

Thanks for the update, Geoff.

Both high pressure and low pressure sodium lights do have a distinctive yellow spike in the spectrum and I have not found any way of downplaying that without introducing too much blue into the scene, which does not work all that well either.

[Geoff F]

Week 23 - Hay Bales at South Milton. Coming from a nearby insect shoot site I noticed this farming scene. No vehicles behind me so I was able to stop and reverse into a gate entrance for a couple of quick shots.



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens 1/400 F11 Iso 200. No chance to pick and choose camera angles, just quickly find a possible scene, wait until the tractor was about the right position and click shutter.



Tried a B&W edit on this scene. I think it would have worked better with the old rectangular bales.

[Cantab]

Enjoyable photos with interesting machinery.

When my eye initially glimpsed the first photo, I thought it was badly tilted but in the next nano second realized that the church tower was vertical!

The B&W edit works well in several respects but, for me, the colour version has more energy in it.

[Geoff F]

Week 24 - Coast Path at Soar Mill Cove. Desperately attempting to catch up but struggling to find subjects. Plenty of insect photos and a few flowers but I am not seeing much else at the moment.



7D with Tamron 24-70. 1/640 F11 Iso 400. Not the best of angles to the light. Merge of two Raw edits but why didn't I do bracketed exposure shots to retain more of the sky detail.



1/400 F11 Iso 400

[skitterbug]

Hi Geoff - You may not be seeing much of interest but your photos are always interesting to see. I enjoy the farming ones and what I would consider difficult conditions to deal with for harvesting crops. The slope of the land would be scary to me to drive tractor upon. I like the flat lands we have around our area - for farming.

It is a bit hazy in the first shot of the cove so not much sky could be seen. In both photos, the water texture is what draws me in. I like seeing it. In the second shot, is that a buoy at the top of the pic or maybe a vessel? If it is a buoy, what does it mark?

One other thing I've finally realized is that having people in a picture does help with the scope of the layout. I understand why you include them now.

Thanks for showing these to us.

[Geoff F]

Looking at the general scene for that last photo I could see potential but realised it needed something extra, then I spotted these two walkers coming down the slope on the far side of the cove. So I took a quick break and had a little rest for 10 minutes until they were in the right place for a photo.

But the trouble with that sort of situation is you only have one chance to get it right!

There is a sailing boat have hidden in the haze just to the right of that rock, which is called Hamstone. It has wrecked a few ships over the years including one of the last square rigged clippers carrying wheat from Australia in 1936 (approx).

[Cantab]

Geoff, I particularly like the first photo in post #49. Especially when viewed in the litebox, it is atmospheric (in every sense of the word). Your angle of view almost suggests you were in a helicopter but I assume you were standing on terra firma!

[Geoff F]

Yes, Bruce, standing on one of those rocky outcrops. Not much in the way of camera angle options available to show the whole path and the cove without getting nearby foliage in the foreground.

[Rufus]

I agree with you Geoff and Sandy, that the people are an essential element in the second image at Soar Mill Cove.

In the first image I like seeing the coastal path wend its way right down to the cove and then up the other side almost to the horizon on the upper left. Speaking of the horizon, it is often indistinct between sea and sky so we have to live with that sometimes. But it looks like you were shooting into the sun as the land/sky horizon is also a bit of an issue on the left.

Maybe this revision retrieves a little of the horizon and removes some of the haziness (?):



I don't know whether your version of PS does this but I duplicated the layer, used the blend mode "multiply" and then reduced the opacity to taste.

David

[Geoff F]

When I get time I will have another go with just the sky on a masked layer.

Sometimes I use the Multiply Blend mode but the problem is that if used globally it also over darkens the greens and makes the closer parts of the sea appear rather harsh. Possibly this calls for a touch more of the new Dehaze option on a masked layer? I did add a little bit of it plus some darkened blacks to a second conversion from the original Raw image and did a merge of the two. But I suspect I can get away with being a fraction more aggressive with that approach.

Originally there was a lot of haze in the top left corner.

[Cantab]

My personal preference is for Geoff's original (only) version of the photo. One of the things that attracted me was the atmospheric/misty/hazy appearance not just out at sea but also along the coastline (caused by the sea air).

[Geoff F]

Week 25. Some scenes from around the harbour. Today included going for a trip in a small boat so I left my 'real camera' behind and just took my pocket sized Fuji X20. But I ended up regretting that decision when I encountered some challenging scenes which were a bit too much for a small camera. However, these are the best of the day.

Frogmore Creek



Fuji X20 1/750 F8 Iso 200

Victoria Quay Pontoon



1/800 F8 Iso 200

And on my way home I passed this group walking into the town.



1/220 F8 Iso 100

[Geoff F]

In week 22, I showed a nightime scene of the next village. So, to finish this quarter here, is the same angle but a wider view shot at 10 pm last night.

Week 26. Malborough Sunset



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens 1/15 F11 Iso 400.

I took several shots with different settings where I opened up the lens a bit more but finally decided I liked this shot the best.

[skitterbug]

Red sky at night, is a sailor's delight! This is well done. I can even pick out the church steeple! At least I think it is the church.

[Geoff F]

Yes that is correct, Sandy, I tried to include some recognisable landmarks.

Rather dull and partly clouded sunset tonight.