2024 Project 52 - Weekly photos by Geoff F

[Geoff F]

The rain finally stopped and a little bit of sunshine tempted me outside with my camera. So maybe I can keep the weekly photos idea going for one more year.

Salcombe from the coast path



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/400 F11 Iso 320. Merge of two bracketed exposures.

The Man on the Hill is a local name for this scene. Can you see a sleeping giant on the skyline?



1/250 F14 Iso 320. Merge of two bracketed exposures.

The Woodland Gate. A wooded part of the coast path. I tried many attempts with this scene, making slight changes to my limited position and exposure tweaks. I wanted to create a sense of mystery about the path and gate.



1/200 F9 Iso 320. Merge of two bracketed exposures.

[Cantab]

In the second photo, I think I see the sleeping giant.

In the third photo, you definitely succeeded in creating a sense of mystery. When I initially looked at the photo, I wasn't sure where the path continued on the other side of the interestingly designed gate but then saw that it appears to be winding upwards. Another mystery is what function does the gate serve? Presumably it's not an area that cattle frequent so perhaps it's to prevent adventuresome sheep from wandering too far?

More technically, the original scene in the third photo looks like it had a high dynamic range but you've managed to deal with that well.

[Geoff F]

The National Trust land and coast path are grazed by Highland Cattle, Dartmoor Ponies and sheep during the summer and the land is fenced into various compartments to ensure even grazing levels.

Here is another fence and gate. With a decision required about which path to take.

Week 2 - Coast path at Starehole Valley



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/250 F11 Iso 320. Merge of two bracketed exposures

The narrow and uneven path rises to go around Sharp Tor



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

And a closer view of the path



1/200 F14 Iso 3220. Merge of two bracketed exposures

Many of my landscape shots are from bracketed exposures to expand the light range which often includes areas from pure white to almost black.

[Cantab]

The National Trust land and coast path are grazed by Highland Cattle, Dartmoor Ponies and sheep during the summer and the land is fenced into various compartments to ensure even grazing levels.

...

My curiosity about the gates is satisfied!

For me, the composition in the second photo works really well: the massive foreground cliff is very much in one's face but then contrasts with the more distant parts of the image.

[Geoff F]

One of those 'This isn't going to work but I am here so I might as well have a try anyway' situations.

Week 03 - Dull day sheep. I was putting up bird boxes in a local wildlife site when I saw some sheep in the adjoining field. It was a dull day and I only had my little Fuji X20 camera. Although it was cloudy I still ended up with over exposure on their backs. So I made two conversions from the Raw file and darkened the highlights on one. Also warmed the colour a little, added a fraction of grain and increased the Texture setting. Then merged the two images.

Definitely not a prize winner but I had a go.



1/300 F5 Iso 320

Then the other sheep saw me at the gate and thought I must have some sheep treats, so they all came over to me.



1/180 F6.4 Iso 320

[Cantab]

It seems you definitely brightened their day! You gave them something of interest to investigate even if you didn't have any sheep treats (if there is such a thing).

What bird species are the bird boxes for?

Despite its being a wintry day, low light, distant mist, etc., the images work well.

[Geoff F]

Thanks for your comment.

The main birds using nest boxes at that site are Blue Tits and Great Tits plus the occasional Nuthatch but I have also been experimenting with making a different design to attract Tree Creepers. They aren't common there but I have seen a few running up tree trunks. They feed, or reach nests, by running up trees and when they get too far up they fly away to the bottom of the next tree.

My box design is a wedge shaped box with an entrance hole close to the tree. Blue Tits and possibly Dormice should also be able to use these boxes.

So far this winter, I have also made and erected 5 conventional design boxes as well as repairing some which were damaged.

[Geoff F]

Week 04 - Wildlife reserve near Aveton Gifford. Spent a couple of hours at the bird hide but only a few common birds which kept their distance so I concentrated on other subjects

Aveton Gifford Bridge



7D with Canon 24-105 lens. 1/400 F10 Iso 400. Merge of three bracketed exposures

The far end of the tidal road



Sigma 150-600 lens. 1/400 F8 Iso 400. Merge of two conversions from a single Raw image

Using the tidal road shortcut saves a couple of miles but it is a narrow road and you have to check the tide times, although some people manage to force their way through.



Sigma 150-600 lens 1/1000 F7.1 Iso 500. Personally, I tend to prefer the easier longer route but I suppose if it isn't your vehicle you don't worry about driving through salt water.

Although the birds were scarce I saw a couple of Roe Deer crossing the marshy area.



1/320 F7.1 Iso 500. Merge of two conversions from a single Raw image. In shadow and I was looking towards the available light. But I had a go anyway.

[billtils]

A super set in Week 4 Geoff; varied subjects with a bit of water "glue" to bind them together, nicely done.

[Cantab]

As Bill said, this is a great set of photos -- and I even managed to see six birds!

The photos provide contrasting images of crossing water. The first one is peaceful. The image of the truck is an unusual and attention grabbing action shot: an idiot(?) driving a truck through ocean water and with the headlights on (to help prevent running over any sea ducks?)

Where were you when you took the truck photo? The impression is that you were in a boat offshore from the truck but presumably that was not the case.

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments. If you zoom in on the truck or deer image locations you will see that there is a bird hide on the edge of a patch of land which was created from the river about 300 years ago. It is now a nature reserve.

See if this link works

https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=...0.3082/-3.8311

Although I didn't get many bird photos here is a Greenshank.



And a Swan doing a bit of intensive wing maintenance

[Geoff F]

Week 05 - Kingsbridge. At the head of the estuary and the town where I grew up, many years ago. A couple of days ago it was a frosty calm and sunny day. I had to get some items from a nearby builders merchant which meant driving alongside the estuary when I spotted a roadside parking space and I had my camera with me. So . . .

The end of the creek



7D with Canon 24-105 lens. 1/500 F11 Iso 250. All images are a merge of two bracketed exposures

A little further downstream



1/640 F11 Iso 250

And around a corner



1/400 F11 Iso 400

Then I wanted to try something slightly different



1/250 F11 Iso 250

[Geoff F]

Week 06 - West Charleton Marsh. I had a look at the bird hide here but most of the birds kept their distance and those which came closer were at a difficult light angle



7D with Canon 24-105 lens. 1/320 F10 Iso 250. Merge of two bracketed exposures.

A nearby farm



1/250 F10 Iso 250. Merge of two bracketed exposures

[Geoff F]

The best I could manage from the few willing birds.

Little Egret



Sigma 150-600 Sport lens 1/640 F11 Iso 400

Wigeon



1/800 F9 Iso 400

[Cantab]

Two successful bird photos.

When I saw the little egret photo my immediate reaction is it looks like a heron. (Great blue herons are relatively common in my part of the world, saw one earlier this morning). So I checked in Wikipedia and see that egrets and herons are in fact part of the same group.

[Geoff F]

Week 07 - Salcombe Harbour. A day of sunshine with plenty of clouds tempted me outside, after a dismal week of clouds and rain, but the light was constantly changing. So I had a quick easy walk along a small road beside the harbour.

At this time of the year most boats have either been brought ashore or are moored in a more sheltered part of the harbour.



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/250 F11 Iso 250. All images are a merge of two bracketed exposures. Maybe try a slight crop from the right side and top?

Millbay Beach. Looking across the harbour but from the same shooting position.



Along the road, a small bridge connects one of the houses to a harbourside garden. Another of those impossible scenes with a wide variation between deep shadows and overly bright sunshine; but I had a go anyway.



I also tried a black & white version

[Geoff F]

Week 08 - Paddleboarder at North Sands - Salcombe. A nice sunny winter day so I went out to photograph birds but there wasn't anything interesting so I changed to a local beach location in the hope of finding some boats, particularly the fishing boats. However, this also proved disappointing; so I had a few attempts at something else. What do you call Street Photography when it is a coastal location?



7D with Canon 70-200 lens. 1/400 F9 Iso 400. Rather poor light angle

Enjoying some winter sunshine. I liked the mixture of textures in this scene.



1/640 F10 Iso 250

[billtils]

Two enjoyable images - thanks for persisting Geoff.

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comment, Bill.

Batson Creek, Salcombe. A day of sunshine with cloudy spells.



7D with Canon 70-200 lens. 1/400 F9 Iso 400. Merge of two bracketed exposures

[Geoff F]

Week 09 - Birds in my garden. Yesterday's weather was looking uncertain so I delayed doing anything in the morning then when some sunny spells developed in the afternoon I had a go at the common birds in my garden.

Dunnock



7D with Sigma 150-600 Sport lens. 1/250 F9 Iso 400

Great Tit



House Sparrow



And of course, there was a Robin



1/640 F11 Iso 400. Bright sunshine this time

I did experiment with adding a 1.4x extender but, as I had previously found, autofocus was uncertain and the birds didn't stay still long enough for me to manually focus. The best of those shots were noticeably softer than shots without it