Project 52 Challenge by Geoff F - Third Quarter

[Geoff F]

This is the best of my closer shots of the angler using my 180 macro lens.



I did try to open up the dark shadows but those areas just turned into a muddy brown mush so I decided to leave them dark and produce a rather high contrast scene.

[Geoff F]

I returned to the same general area yesterday for more insect recording but this time on the other side of the headland.

Week 34 - Prawle Point and still a rather tricky light angle. I tried several slightly different angles and zoom lengths but decided this was the best I could manage.



7D with Canon 24-105 lens. Merge of two bracketed exposures. 1/200 F11 Iso 400

The Coast Path is a bit tricky in places along this stretch.



1/400 F11 Iso 400. Merge of two bracketed exposures plus a few other tweaks.

Gammon Head and a better light angle



1/500 F11 Iso 400. Merge of two bracketed exposures

And where I was recording insects today. Looking down the valley towards Salcombe Harbour. A rather hazy light but I did what I could.



1/320 F11 Iso 400. Merge of two bracketed exposures.

[Cantab]

Geoff, I thought all the photos worked well photographically.

I was intrigued by the second photograph, with what appears to be solid rock on the left side of the narrow opening and a man-made dry stone wall on the right side. Is there a story behind what appears to be deliberately creating a narrow pathway or opening there?

[joebranko]

This is the best of my closer shots of the angler using my 180 macro lens.



I did try to open up the dark shadows but those areas just turned into a muddy brown mush so I decided to leave them dark and produce a rather high contrast scene.

I see what you mean.

[Geoff F]

There are quite a few of those large boulders around that area, Bruce, and they often get incorporated into man made stone walling. Probably it was originally only intended to be wide enough for a sheep to pass through. I tend to think that it may be designed to exclude overweight people who would cause excessive wear on the paths.

There are a few other places along that path where narrow gully's and rough steps have been cut from the rock beside a drop to the sea. No handrails or anything like that so you need to be very careful when walking there. I sometimes use my tripod as a stabilising/balancing pole and avoid any windy weather.

[Geoff F]

Week 35 - South Huish Marsh. Where I was recording insects today.



7D with Canon 24-105 lens. 1/320 F11 Iso 400

A pair of Brown Heath Robberflies.



The large and rather stunning Hornet Robberflies have been messing me about this year. Never common although I have spotted a few this year. I have carefully checked all the patches of cow dung in likely areas but these flies have kept flying away as soon as I got within 6 feet of them. This isn't a good image but it is the best I have managed so far this year and will be sufficient for identification.

[Geoff F]

Week 36 - South Sands Ferry. While returning from some insect recording I was passing a headland near the harbour entrance so I decided to divert for a seascape shot. After a fresh wind the previous night and with an ebb tide I was hoping for a bit more surf. However, since I was there anyway, I decided to have a go at this passing ferry which takes passengers from the town to a sheltered sandy cove.



7D with Canon 70-200 lens 1/500 F11 Iso 200.

Passengers are landed onto this self propelled landing stage which then drives them to the actual beach.



1/400 F11 Iso 200

[Cantab]

A very colourful and unique two-part ferry system!

[Geoff F]

Week 37. A glimpse of sunshine tempted me outside for a walk to a headland within the harbour but clouds soon developed, with some showers. However, I continued to do my best despite the conditions.



7D with Canon 24-105 lens. 1/500 F11 Iso 400. Merge of two bracketed exposures.

Shadycombe Creek



1/250 F9 Iso 400. Merge of two bracketed exposures. Originally I shot wider to show the end of that walkway and some more boats in the bottom left corner but I eventually decided that scene was too cluttered and cropped closer.

Fish Quay



Canon 70-200 lens. 1/250 F11 Iso 400. Merge of two bracketed exposures.

[Cantab]

The last two images have bright colour in them. On my first glimpse at the first image (admittedly on an iPad), I almost wondered if it was black and white. There's an interesting contrast between the headland with lots of houses on it and the more distant headland that appears to be covered entirely by vegetation except for one structure.

I was intrigued by the green and red channel markers, trying to figure out where the channel was actually located; it appears to be narrow and weaving through a large number of mooring buoys?

[Geoff F]

Those green posts don't actually mean very much, Bruce. The outer ones are for mooring the trash collection skips and the other two are for an extra mooring pontoon in the summer. The rather narrow channel is actually on the town side of them, while that other pontoon is on the town side of the channel.

The dredged channel then continues up the creek as far as the fish quay.

The tree covered distant headland was purchased by the National Trust many years ago and they have prevented any building there, apart from a few Victorian/Edwardian houses which are hidden by trees closer to the town. Unfortunately, the area which is out of sight hasn't had any similar restrictions and has been developed in ways which are out of keeping with the scenic landscape.

The visible part of the town has been kept partially restricted but further to the right, I'm afraid the 'planners' have allowed far too much out of character development.

[DanK]

interesting. In the US, channel markers are red and green, and the colors have a meaning. The saying is "red on right on return". Red is on your right when you are entering a channel from open water, on your left as you head into open water. On lakes, one location is marked on charts as the home point, and red and green are determined by whether you are headed toward or away from that point.

[Geoff F]

Week 38 - Sowing Barley. I was recording insects today at a site which adjoins farming land. A tractor, sowing barley, passed from my left side but I didn't have time to switch from macro mode before it passed. So I got myself ready and waited for it to go around that humped field and return while I faced that way.

Then I heard a noise behind me and realised it was coming from the other direction, so with a bit of panic, I had to quickly turn around and try the different angle.



7D with Canon 24-105 lens. 1/250 F10 Iso 200. Merge of two conversions from a single Raw file.



They sow at a rather fast speed nowadays and kick up quite a bit of dust.

[Cantab]

This will presumably be a crop of winter barley? In the context of vegetable gardening, I've heard of sowing winter rye and then digging it in in the spring but I suppose there's no reason not also to sow barley.

When you wrote that you suddenly heard a noise behind you I thought you were going to say that you turned around and saw that the tractor was coming straight for you!

[Geoff F]

Yes, Bruce, autumn sown winter barley for cropping next summer.

I do use autumn sown green manure in my vegetable garden. A mix of clover or mustard plus rye sown in September or October then dug in sometime in January.

I was on the other side of a barbed wire fence for that photo. But that was another problem. I had broken off some bits of dead grass and other stems which would have obscured my view, however there was some tougher stuff mixed with the grass stems which caused me to scrape my wrist against the barbed wire. So I was dripping blood as I was shooting.

Nothing serious, just another little scratch.

[Geoff F]

Week 39. Continuing the theme of farming scenes while I was recording insects. This was today when I was at a narrow overgrown lane between farmland. Another quick lens change and without any real thinking time. Of course, the sun went behind some clouds and the scene was backlit by a brighter sky so I added on a little bit of exposure compensation over exposure then recovered the sky by merging two conversions from the Raw files.



7D with Canon 24-105 lens. 1/400 F9 Iso 400

[Geoff F]

Week 40 - Foggy Morning. A dull cloudy start but when some better light appeared I nipped off to a path overlooking the estuary. Difficult to find some good angles with an imperfect light angle and the fog was thinning.



7D with Canon 24-105 lens. 1/160 F9 Iso 250. Merge of two bracketed exposures plus a few additional tweaks.



1/400 F9 Iso 320. Merge of two bracketed exposures.

And a few sheep



1/320 F9 Iso 250. Merge of two bracketed exposures.

[Geoff F]

Week 41 - A day of sunshine and clouds. Another foggy start to the day so I returned to the same area as Week 40 hoping to find some different angles but it was a poor light and not very good fog either. But I persevered and when some sunny spells arrived I tried some different scenes.



7D with Canon 24-105 lens. 1/320 F10 Iso 200. Merge of two bracketed exposures.



1/1250 F8 Iso 400. Merge of two bracketed exposures. Not ideal settings but I had been trying various better options and this scene just happens to have been snapped like this. I preferred the composition to those with more suitable settings. On reflection, maybe a slightly tighter crop of the foreground grass?

A sailing race was occurring but they were really too far away with a poor light angle. However, I had a go anyway.



Canon 70-200 lens 1/640 F10 Iso 200

[Cantab]

Week 40, I particularly liked the second and third photos. Speaking from past experience, trying to capture a good foggy scene is not as simple as it sounds.

[Cantab]

Week 41: In the sheep portrait, I'm undecided whether a tighter crop at the bottom would be beneficial. I suppose it might increase the focus on the sheep but they're clearly the only subject in the image anyway. In addition, a tighter crop would remove some of the environmental context of the relaxed sheep having a lie down on what looks like good grass.