2019 Project 52 by Geoff F - 3rd Quarter

[Geoff F]

This year I am not following any specific pattern although I am spending a bit more time on merges of bracketed exposures or merging two or more conversions from a single Raw image.

The previous 2nd Quarter is here

2019 Project 52 by Geoff F - 2nd Quarter

Week 26 - Farming Scenes. One of the areas where I record insect life. The farmer was moving one of his sheep feeding troughs. I had to do a quick lens change which didn't give me much thinking time and as he appeared in a suitable position the sun disappeared behind clouds; so all I could do was to click the shutter and hope.



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/160 F11 Iso 400. The shutter speed was a bit slow, but a couple of seconds earlier it was bright sunshine.



A merge of three conversions from a single Raw image.

I wandered around looking for an angle which would show the sheep feeding and the steep landscape. This was the best I could find by standing on top of a steep slope and looking downwards.



1/250 F10 Iso 160 for the middle shot of three bracketed exposures hand merged with masks.

[Rufus]

What strikes me about the series overall is the variation in the greens between the three images; this is just an observation.

In the third image you have been very successful in conveying the feeling of the height, depth and steepness of the landscape which is reinforced by the section of visible sky and horizon.

I like the curved lead-in line in the second image.

In the frst and second images, the tractor appears to be in very realistic colours, but would a little extra intensity in the reds/oranges of the cab and counteweight be a possibility and maybe some darkening of the tyres? This could emphasize it as the subject of interest, not that this is in doubt.

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments. The trouble with the tractor images is that the sun disappeared behind clouds for those shots which created some rather muted colours. I have already done the things suggested, although maybe this could be pushed a little further; but care is needed to prevent a loss of 'naturalness'. With so many weeks without any serious rain the grass is looking very yellow and I had to tone down the foreground grass a little when boosting the global brightness/saturation

[Geoff F]

Week 27 - Poppies at Southdown Farm. Another day of insect recording when I saw this potential scene, but I wandered around looking in all directions without finding exactly what I wanted. Many camera angles tried, with various settings; then different edits. Eventually I am left with this result, which is a merge of 2 focus points. And, somehow during shooting I dropped my glasses! Nothing special, just a cheap pair from the supermarket which were well scratched anyway; but that eventually put pay to the day's shooting.



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/320 F11 Iso 200

[Urbanflyer]

Nice to see you keeping on with the 52 week game. Consider how much of the top of your poppy photo you can crop and still have a good composition featuring the flowers.

[Wavelength]

Beautiful scenery

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments. My idea with these scenes was to have the poppies leading in to the gate, with part of Dartmoor and some sky in the far distance.

I have had several attempts at slight alterations to the composition of the first scene. Maybe I could reduce the amount of sky by around half and take a similar balancing amount from the right side?

[Shadowman]

Looks like too much movement in both shots.

[Geoff F]

Week 28 - Andrews Wood Plant Survey. Saturday was the annual plant survey at a site where I regularly record wildlife. Not the best of photographic results. There had been cloud and a little drizzle in the morning so I didn't want to drag around my decent kit in case some heavy rain returned. As an alternative I put my little Fuji X20 pocket sized camera into a plastic bag inside my backpack. That camera is OK for basic use under good conditions but it was struggling for what I wanted. Ideally, I would have also included an external flash unit to overcome lighting issues which produced too much noise in the shadow areas such as faces under wide hats etc.

Anyway, this is the best I could manage after a bit of editing work.



Fuji X20 1/480 F6.4 Iso 400



1/320 F6.4 Iso 400



1/340 F8 Iso 200

[Cantab]

Geoff, these are an interesting set of documentary photos. Presumably the annual inspection is to record changes over the years and to have a database of these changes?

[Rufus]

This is a nice series to record the event.

How many one square metre plots were surveyed?

[Geoff F]

We did 10 squares, each 2 x 2 meters. I identified as much insect life as I could by visual inspection and the botanists did the plant stuff. Not yet sure of the final species count. Slightly different areas are surveyed each year with the intention of going back over the same spots every 5 years or so. The site ranges from dry grass fields to damp muddy ground.

On further reflection, perhaps I should have tried using the camera pop up flash to add a little fill light and overcome the darker rather noisy areas in that poor light situation. I haven't done any flash work with that little camera so I don't know how effective it would be. Perhaps that is something which requires more experimentation.

[Geoff F]

Week 29 - Straw Bales. Cloudy morning but a brief spell of localised sunshine encouraged me to grab a camera and see if I could find any angles on some nearby fields. I wanted to take the minimum of equipment so I picked up my old 7D Mk I which had a Canon 24-105 lens attached. Big mistake I soon realised. I didn't want to bother with taking two lenses but I have never liked that lens and once again it proved to be inadequate and lacking in fine detail.



1/500 F8 Iso 200



1/500 F11 Iso 400



1/640 F11 Iso 400

[Shadowman]

Nice series, you've captured some good detail in the background but the bales in the foreground are not really standing out, although the first image has good sense of depth. Perhaps shooting from lower angle for some of the foreground bale shots would add to the atmosphere.

Your feelings about the lens is similar to mine on my Nikon 55-200mm, lens is very soft across the focal length range and at all apertures. I found that I get the best performance when it is paired with a flash.

[Wavelength]

Excellent images....

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments. I didn't want the bales to over dominate these scenes at the expense of the wider scenery; so I did step back from them and tried to use them more as a lead in towards other things.

[Rufus]

You have some rich colour in the bales and stubble.

I like the first image best although there is a tendency for the eye to be taken towards the top right due to the lead in from the bales and the hedgerow.

I also like the second one as the bales and colours take the eye away from the farm buildings and across the hedgerow and back.

The farm buildings seem to be the subject of the third image. They are interesting because they are situated in a cut out /quarried out area of the landcscape but the pale distant fields of stubble and the X line of the hedges all compete for attention.

I am very interested in your view if the 24-105mm lens as I have one as a walkabout lens. One day I may compare it set at 35mm and 50mm and compare it to my primes of those lengths to see if my untutored eye can detect a difference in the same scene. I don't know whether that would be a fair comparison but it might be an interesting exercise.

[skitterbug]

Hi Geoff - I think this farmer will be glad to have his wheat(?) straw baled by the looks of the cloud formation overhead! Rain seems to be on its way. All three tell a story of the layout of the farm, conditions and the beauty of the area. Well done!

[Geoff F]

I know that farmer, Sandy, and he told me that he needs to get the moisture content of his grain below 15% before harvest. The previous morning he did a check and it was 20% but then a dry wind appeared and by midday it was down to 13% so they worked on well into the night to do as much as possible before the weather deteriorated. Since then we haven't had a single day without some moisture in the air.

He did remove those bales the next day so this was my only chance to have a go at these potential scenes.

[Geoff F]

Week 30 - Hungry Insects. Various insects feeding on flowers yesterday during a few hours of sunshine.

Brimstone Butterfly on Knapweed



7D with Sigma 180 macro lens. 1/200 F14 Iso 400. Flash used. Merge of two conversions from one Raw file.

Dasysyrphus albostriatus hoverfly on Fleabane



Green-veined White on Heath Lobelia; which is a rare plant, although there is a lot of it at this one site.



Volucella zonaria hoverfly on Knapweed