2018 Project 52 by Geoff F - 3rd Quarter

[FootLoose]

Interesting set, Geoff, particularly the third one. Everyone focusing on the centre - that's a study in attention.

[skitterbug]

Hi Geoff - I am especially amused by your first photo and the comment you applied to it! Bet these two can fill in forms just fine!

How often does the group go searching for insects? Weekly, monthly? The dedication for this task is definitely displayed in your photos!

[Geoff F]

This was the annual plant survey, Sandy. It means listing every plant found within a 2 x 2 meter grid; which includes all plants not in flower and grasses, so it requires a few real experts to identify more than 20 species at each square. Insects found within those areas are an additional item.

Other surveys count the number of wild orchids and Heath Lobelia plants once a year. Both of those are generally uncommon but grow like weeds at that site so a full count takes a bit of time.

[skitterbug]

Hi Geoff - I can imagine it would take a good day's worth of time, setting up the areas of interest and then identifying all the plant species within them. Then eventually the data would have to be reviewed to see what is different from year to year and if rain/lack of rain, temperature changes, etc. impact the area. Well done to have people volunteer to do this!
Thanks for the explanation!

[Geoff F]

Week 31 - Some harbour scenes. There have been one or two older boats visiting the harbour recently so I tried to record them being here. Two were shot with my Fuji X20 'pocket camera' which isn't good with distant backgrounds and tends to overdo greens at the expense of reds and blues. The other was with my old 7D Mk I and canon 24-105 lens. Rather harsh bright light. So after looking at the colour versions I decided to convert to black and white to give a feeling more in line with the older boats.



1/500 F8 Iso 200



1/600 F8 Iso 200



1/320 F11 Iso 200

[Cantab]

Geoff, the B&W works well with all three photos.

My favourite is probably the first one -- a nice large old yacht.

With the second one, my personal thought is that it would benefit with more space on the left side. I originally thought this because I felt the large yacht needed more space to sail into. While typing, I've realized that the yacht is in fact tied up to a mooring buoy! It's not under sail or under power, but coincidentally is facing exactly the same direction as most of the boats under sail. Presumably this is because of the direction of the tide (since the wind appears to be coming from astern for all but one of the boats in the photo)?

I like the small ferry(?) boat in the last photo. Is it powered by a diesel or and inboard gasoline engine?

[Geoff F]

With the second image, Bruce, as you can imagine, there were items on the left side which had to be excluded from that scene. Some large plastic high power craft (I can't call them boats) which totally spoilt the whole atmosphere of the scene.

The ferry in the third image takes passengers to a village and beaches on the other side of the harbour. The alternative is a 15 mile road journey along some of the narrow lanes which occur here.

It was originally a rowing ferry but sometime around the 1920's a couple of boats were fitted with a twin cylinder petrol Kelvin engine. They didn't bother with a reverse gear gearbox, which cost extra, so it was direct drive. When approaching a small landing slipway the boatman stopped the engine and held on with a boathook. After the new passengers had embarked he would push out using his boathook then start the engine.

I can remember that still happening in the 1960's. Now they have new boats fitted with small diesel engines - and a gearbox.

[joebranko]

Week 31 - Some harbour scenes. There have been one or two older boats visiting the harbour recently so I tried to record them being here. Two were shot with my Fuji X20 'pocket camera' which isn't good with distant backgrounds and tends to overdo greens at the expense of reds and blues. The other was with my old 7D Mk I and canon 24-105 lens. Rather harsh bright light. So after looking at the colour versions I decided to convert to black and white to give a feeling more in line with the older boats.



1/500 F8 Iso 200



1/600 F8 Iso 200



1/320 F11 Iso 200

All shots are sharp except the one with the dinghy which seems soft to me.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[Cantab]

With the second image, Bruce, as you can imagine, there were items on the left side which had to be excluded from that scene. Some large plastic high power craft (I can't call them boats) which totally spoilt the whole atmosphere of the scene.

Geoff, it definitely sounds like you made the right framing/cropping decision!

[skitterbug]

Being converted to B/W does give them an "old time" look that seems perfect for the scenes you've chosen.

Curiosity though - why are these craft moored out in the center of the river? How do the owners return to them?

[royent]

With the 3rd one it's a pity you cut the mast on the top boat, by losing some of the foreground you could have got it all in
Just my opinion
Roy

[Geoff F]

Roy. Same answer as given to Bruce about image #2. I had to remove some out of place craft from the top right corner with this particular crop. I did wonder about totally cloning out that yacht in the top left corner but eventually thought it does give a bit of balance to the scene.

Sandy. At low tide there is just a narrow deep water channel in the middle of the harbour while all the sides and creeks turn to mud. So larger vessels are moored in the deep water and owners have to get to them using small tenders.

The first two images were shot with my Fuji X20 'pocket sized camera' and the last one with my old Canon Mk I 7D with 24-105 lens.

[skitterbug]

Sandy. At low tide there is just a narrow deep water channel in the middle of the harbour while all the sides and creeks turn to mud. So larger vessels are moored in the deep water and owners have to get to them using small tenders.

Hi Geoff - Thank you for the explanation! I have another question - do you happen to have a picture of the harbour's condition you described? I'd be very interested in seeing it, if you do!

[Geoff F]

Maybe I will have to think about some low water angles, Sandy. In the meantime here is one from two years ago.

[skitterbug]

Hi Geoff - Yes. This is interesting to see the difference tides can make! Thank you for the visual! It is a well done photo!

[Geoff F]

Week 32 - Farming Scenes but in each case I was suffering from technical problems and had to act quickly without any thinking time.

Feeding the Sheep



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/250 F11 Iso 400. A quick change from my macro lens and shot, but the light spread is more than could be achieved from a single shot so I have done what I can in the way of merging three Raw conversions from that one shot. The shadows are still giving awkward harsh merges with the highlights.

Harvesting



7D with Sigma 180 macro lens 1/400 F11 Iso 400. Too far away and the only suitable lens was my 180 macro. Merge of two edits from one Raw image.

[Cantab]

Geoff, I really enjoyed the first photo.

A large group of sheep are clearly focussed on one thing: FOOD. But two of the sheep were more interested in whatever you were up to!

[skitterbug]

Hi Geoff - I appreciate your farm photos. In spite of whatever your technical issues were, the results you post look good on my computer screen!

As Bruce points out, two of the sheep seem far more interested in you than they do in their food.
Do you know what sort of hay is being fed to them? We have alfalfa, clover, timothy mix used in many situations. I guess what generated my question is that the hay in your picture is not very green? So my curiosity is alerted. <lol>

The combine working downward in the field made a good pic too. Did the farmer drive around the end of the hedge to unload his grain in the wagon in the foreground?

Nice glimpse of farm work in your area!

[billtils]

Some sunny weather so I have been spending time photographing and recording local insect life.

Geoff

My apologies - I did not see this set until now (much too late!).

Very nice images indeed and thanks for the descriptions and the link.

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments.

The sheep are being fed on dried grass which was cut in the spring, but intended for use later in the year, so winter feed may be in short supply this year. Some of those sheep are quite tame and will take sheep food pellets from the farmer's hand, which is why they were interested to see if I had anything tastier than dry grass in my camera bag.

In a normal year, there would be plenty of fresh grass growing by now but this long dry spell is restricting growth. There is some fresh grass in the adjoining damper field but no shade for the sheep there, so the farmer is waiting for some cloudy and cooler weather before moving his sheep. Their current field has plenty of tree cover to provide shade in the hottest part of the day.

With the harvester photo, yes they would drive around to the trailer to unload grain once the harvester was full.

My initial problem with the sheep shot is that I did a quick change from my macro set up but forgot to turn off the flash unit so my camera settings were limited and weren't exactly correct for that scene. I wonder if it would convert to black and white?