2019 Project 52 by Geoff F - 4th 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 3rd Quarter is here

2019 Project 52 by Geoff F - 3rd Quarter

Week 40 - Dartmouth. A sudden change to bright clear weather and light wind so I had a look at the Dartmouth Castle area then on to a headland for shots of boats entering or leaving the harbour.

Looking towards the town from Castle Road and with the Naval College in the background.



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. Merge of 3 bracketed exposures with the middle one at 1/400 F11 Iso 200

A different angle



Another merge of 3 exposures with the middle one at 1/800 F11 Iso 400. I could have reduced the Iso but I had been trying different settings and preferred this scene

Ferry from the castle to the town.



1/200 F11 Iso 400. Only one chance with this scene. The foreground was in deep shadow with the background half in bright sunshine and subject movement prevented the use of bracketed exposures. Looking back, I probably should have used a little more positive exposure compensation and risked the bright areas becoming over exposed because most of them were cropped out anyway. This is a merge of 3 conversions from a single Raw file plus a few other tweaks.

An old Thames Sailing Barge named Snark entering the harbour.



1/250 F11 Iso 100. Merge of 3 bracketed exposures but because of subject movement I could only use the shadow and highlight shots on the sky and shoreline.

[Geoff F]

Some more boats from the headland, mostly with my Sigma 150-600 lens are here.

https://pbase.com/crustacean/dartmouth_boats_151019

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[Cantab]

A good set of shots. Have you ever done architectural shots of the Naval College? It looks like quite a structure.

For me, the composition in the last one works well. I have a vague idea that you've previously posted photos of the Snark? I tried googling it but came up with only this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snark_sailboat !

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments. Snark, comes from the nonsense poem 'The Hunting of the Snark' by Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland etc). I don't know if it was the original name of that boat. It appears to be one of the Thames Barges which were once a common sight between London and the mouth of the River Thames with some vessels becoming involved with coastal trade along the south coast. There is a brief history of these vessels here

https://totallythames.org/news/artic...-thames-barges

Here is another view. I was doubtful about attempting this shot but gave it a try and after some editing I think it does work OK



1/1000 F11 Iso 100 Merge of 3 exposures.

And another difficult scene where I had a go with 3 exposures plus a bit more editing work.



Dartmouth and Kingswear Castles. The main bit of the castle was in deep shadow while the sky and other bits which faced south had a very bright light, which I was facing towards.

[Geoff F]

Week 41 - Demolition of the Tides Reach Hotel. Another tricky scene which required a 3 exposure merge.



7D with Canon 70-200 lens. Middle exposure 1/250 F11 Iso 400

Rough Sea on Salcombe Bar.



1/500 F11 Iso 400 merge of 3 bracketed exposures.

If you stand on the seat you get a better view!



1/640 F11 Iso 400

I wonder why that buoy is there?



1/500 F11 Iso 400

[Geoff F]

Week 41 - Path in Shadycombe Cemetery. Winter weather now so I will be continuing with my local history society project of photographing every gravestone in the town. Hopefully this will be completed before next summer.

The past week has been wet and windy so no good for landscape or wildlife photography and I have had a dose of the 'lurgy'. Nothing serious but it has kept me indoors feeling weak and lethargic for a few days; however, it has allowed me to slowly get on with another history society job which meant scanning and editing 400 negatives from the 1960's and 1970's.



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. Merge of 3 hand held exposures with the middle one at 1/100 F11 Iso 800.

[Cantab]

An intriguing image of lines and shapes. Are we looking at the backside of the gravestones or simply at weathered/eroded grave markets?

[DanK]

Not a photographic point, but you asked about the red buoy. On this side of the pond, paired red and green buoys are used to mark navigation channels: you go between them. Nautical charts have a point of return, and when headed toward that, you keep the red to your right. The mnemonic is "red to the right on return." This allows you to find the channel if you can only see one of them. I have no idea whether that is true in other places.

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments. Yes, Bruce, that view shows the well weathered rear face of the gravestones. I tried a few other options including a tighter crop and a 4 x 5 ratio with the tree tops visible but finally settled on this version. It was the variation in textures with the path passing through a 'hole' in the trees which caught my attention.

With the buoy. It should be passed on the port side when heading north. There was a rocky headland just out of sight from the bottom edge of that picture, where I was standing (see the second image) and the actual Bass Rock is directly underneath the boat where they probably had around one foot of clearance. The rock is visible at low water on spring tides.

[Cantab]

...
With the buoy. It should be passed on the port side when heading north. There was a rocky headland just out of sight from the bottom edge of that picture, where I was standing (see the second image) and the actual Bass Rock is directly underneath the boat where they probably had around one foot of clearance. The rock is visible at low water on spring tides.

Yikes!

[Geoff F]

Spent another hour photographing gravestones today and a Robin came to see what I was doing.

[xpatUSA]

A nice moment well captured. Grass behind the bird is just right, IMHO.

[Cantab]

A nice moment well captured. Grass behind the bird is just right, IMHO.

I agree.

[Shadowman]

Nice set.

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments. I did slightly tone down that bright area of grass which was in a shaft of sunlight. I prefer lightly overcast light for this sort of project instead of harsh contrast conditions but shortly after arriving the sun appeared so I did what I could for a while but avoided some areas where cross shadows were a problem.

That appears to be a rather choosy bird which preferred to perch on a general's tomb instead of an 'ordinary' persons gravestone. I don't know anything about that General Abams but it appears that a number of higher ranking officers chose this area for their retirement in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century period. As late as the 1970's I knew several retired Colonels who lived here.

[Geoff F]

Week 43 - Garden Birds. Although I am now clear of that little virus which laid me low for a week I still have a persistent cough which is made worse by cool wet weather; so I haven't been out photographing anything for the past month. However, I did have a quick go at some garden birds

Blue Tit



7D with Sigma 150-600 Sport lens 1/800 F8 Iso 400

Coal Tit



1/125 F8 Iso 800 This feeder was in shade

Great Tit



1/100 F8 Iso 800 Merge of two shots

Greenfinch



1/1250 F8 Iso 400. A bit too far away and against the light so this one isn't perfectly sharp.

[Cantab]

Geoff, I enjoyed the series of tit photos. When I've seen similar photos in the past, I've always thought the birds look like chickadees. I've now discovered that they are all part of the same paridae family: http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/page-family-paridae.html .

Chestnut backed chickadees are daily visitors on our feeders. Interestingly black capped chickadees (similar to your Coal Tit) are common on the lower mainland (Vancouver, etc) but do not occur a few miles away over here on Vancouver Island except for the very rare vagrant.

Turning to photographic matters: the bird feeder photos all appear to be very sharp. Does this mean you had no need to crop?

[Shadowman]

Week 43, nice series.

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments. For the tit photos I was quite close; about 30 ft so I only had to crop a little to tidy up the scenes. The Greenfinch was at the top of a nearby Sycamore tree so that image is a substantial crop.

When working in the garden most birds tend to ignore me; but as soon as I pick up a camera . . .