2019 Project 52 by Geoff F - 4th Quarter

Week 44 - The local History Society Winter Meeting. I had to get some images to show a record of the event but I always find this sort of thing to be a serious challenge. Too close to the subjects and restricted camera angles. Real life action shots with nothing posed so finding suitable camera angles means moving and thinking more quickly than my tired old brain can manage.

Flash used but set to avoid over exposure of white areas which caused problems with the shadows. Direct flash shots. There were heavy ceiling beams which prevented bounced flash and I am not particularly keen on that method for wider 'crowd' scenes, where the bounced angle often falls incorrectly. It can work for single subjects where you have time to experiment and work out the best angle but for quick shots I prefer to use a direct approach in much the same way as I would use for wildlife.

The Speaker

https://pbase.com/crustacean/image/1...5/original.jpg

7D with Tamron 24-70 lens 1/200 F8 Iso 400. Out of focus heads at the bottom of the image needed to be removed. On reflection, maybe a slight crop from the top and right side? All images are a merge of two conversions from a single Raw file.

Watching the show.

https://pbase.com/crustacean/image/1...6/original.jpg

Discussions after the show.

https://pbase.com/crustacean/image/1...7/original.jpg

Picking the raffle winners

https://pbase.com/crustacean/image/1...8/original.jpg

One of the raffle prizes

https://pbase.com/crustacean/image/1...9/original.jpg

Nice series, I think the closeups of small groups present the meeting very well.

Geoff, a good set. Despite the challenges with direct flash, I thought the first one works particularly well. And the third one is a good action shot; it captures the animation of the moment.

Excellent series....

Thanks Nandakumar.

Week 45 - South Efford Bird Hide. I spent a couple of hours at this hide but although there were various species of birds around they mostly kept themselves out of camera range.

View from the hide

https://pbase.com/crustacean/image/1...1/original.jpg

7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. Merge of 3 bracketed exposures. Middle exposure 1/200 F11 Iso 400

Pied Wagtail

https://pbase.com/crustacean/image/1...2/original.jpg

Sigma 150-600 lens 1/320 F8 Iso 800

Wren

https://pbase.com/crustacean/image/1...3/original.jpg

1/500 F8 Iso 800

Lovely birds; well captured!!!

Thanks.

Week 46 - Salcombe Fish Quay. I was photographing more gravestones for the local history society today and I passed the quaysides on my way back. A bit of a dull light but in some ways that has helped to mute down the whites.

https://pbase.com/crustacean/image/1...5/original.jpg

7D with Tamron 24-70 lens 1/250 F8 Iso 400. Merge of two conversions from a single Raw file.

This is a great shot. At first (and second) glance, it looks like a double ended tractor/trailer is on the dock!

At a more technical level, the composition works well for me and you've dealt with the bright reflections on the water and the dark trees.

Thanks. It was that 'pushme-pullyou' lorry which first caught my eye and made me think there might be a worthwhile photo here.

Week 45, nice series.

Week 46, nice effort.

Thanks John.

Week 47 - Woodland Stream. I was deep in the woods today, changing bird boxes and looking for any photographic scenes. But I found little of interest in the hazy overcast conditions; so I finally had a go at this little woodland stream. Another of those 'I don't think this will work but I may as well have a go anyway' situations.

https://pbase.com/crustacean/image/1...1/original.jpg

7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/40 F8 Iso 800. Merge of two shots. I really ought to have used a tripod and I did have my small light weight one with me but it would have been difficult to get the required angle while I was standing in the muddy stream, so I went with handheld shots.

Trametes versicolor. A common fungus. I did use a tripod and shot three focus points for a merge but on reflection I didn't get the closest shot quite right so I would have been better taking an extra shot to give more focus depth.

https://pbase.com/crustacean/image/1...2/original.jpg

1/30 F8 Iso 800

Week 47, nice efforts, that stream scene is quite overgrown and resulted in a very business composition, the foliage covered fallen tree should be enhanced if possible to give some separation of the scene.

Geoff, I like the first photo. To my mind, you succeeded in giving the viewer a sense that he/she is actually there. Compositionally, the ladder of mini-pools in the stream as it comes downhill works well.

I googled the Trametes versicolor and discovered that it also occurs in my part of the world. Things are very damp here so I should keep my eyes open for fungi.

Nice additions..

Thanks. I did try a crop without that fallen tree at the top but decided that the tree, as long as it is somewhat muted in brightness, seems to bring both sides of the stream bank together.

Week 48 - Sheep overlooking the estuary. I found myself surrounded by sheep, until I picked up my camera and they quickly trotted off into another field. :rolleyes:

So I did what I could but they are always difficult models and never listen to my instructions. A couple of shots looked promising until I saw them on my computer and realised I had the common mistake of one animal looking as though it had its nose up the rear end of another one. The light wasn't good either, so my attempts at including some interesting background had limited success.

https://pbase.com/crustacean/image/1...6/original.jpg

7D with Canon 70-200 lens. 1/400 F11 Iso 200

https://pbase.com/crustacean/image/1...7/original.jpg

1/500 F11 Iso 200

Just about caught up now.

Week 49 - Christmas Lights. The main street around 7 pm last night. I took my tripod but decided to travel light so just had my camera with me when I realised the cable release was still in the camera bag at home. After a few experiments I went with the timer to reduce camera shake.

https://pbase.com/crustacean/image/1...1/original.jpg

7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/3 F6.3 Iso 800. All images are a merge of two conversions from a single Raw image.

https://pbase.com/crustacean/image/1...2/original.jpg

1/20 F6.3 Iso 800

https://pbase.com/crustacean/image/1...4/original.jpg

1/0.3 F6.3 Iso 800

https://pbase.com/crustacean/image/1...5/original.jpg

1/5 F8 Iso 800

I seem to have missed a number of your recent postings, Geoff. Well done on keeping the flow of images coming throughout the year.

I have a friend who lives near Dartmouth so I recognise the setting for a number of your images.

Week 48 and 49, nicely seen and captured; especially the lowlight scenes.

Thanks for the comments. My mother came from Dartmouth, David, so way back then when I was a young lad and she was visiting her relations I would just wander off on my own to explore the town; but I don't get there very often now.

Week 50 - Rainbow at Hope Cove. I rather messed up on this scene. When I arrived here I noticed the rainbow so I quickly picked up my camera backpack from the car and rushed to the sea wall for a quick shot. I had to quickly change lenses. Although I placed my backpack behind the wall it soon blew over and my hat also blew off so I had to chase it up the road. Holding the camera steady in such a brisk wind was also a challenge. All of which resulted in a 'click now - think later' situation and by the time I realised the iso was 800 with a fast shutter speed the rainbow had disappeared. :rolleyes:

https://pbase.com/crustacean/image/1...4/original.jpg

7D with Tamron 34-70 lens 1/2500 F11 Iso 800. Merge of two conversions from a single Raw file and I have done what I can to reduce excessive noise particularly in the sky.