Working a Sunset

Spring and autumn are sunsets time

My Mrs took me out last night to where she has her riding lessons. That side of the hill was in shadow, so I drove around to Eglwysilan where people from the Universal Colliery disaster are buried.

Round on that side of the hill I found a really hazy sunset looking out over the Taf Valley so I found a quiet corner to sit and enjoy it

The spot I really wanted was spoiled with a farmer working and kicking up a big dust cloud that I found too hard to work with so I headed further North.

At first the skies were quite light and there were some interesting variations and the sun was still fairly high so it wasn't in the pictiures

As the sun went further down it needed to come into the picture and the colours got more intense which made it harder to get any subtlety into the pictures, but the colours were really enjoyable

And finishing with some really intense reds

I have not adjusted the colours in these pictures, just increased the contrast with a very minor adjustment.

The trick to get the intensity of colours was to shoot into the light and let the camera decide to darken the sky.

These are all taken with the 50-200 handheld, but with the aid of a fencepost for stability

Pictures Need Frames

It's nice when the location kindly provides you with one



This is St Teilio's church in the National Museum of Wales

The building was originally situated outside Pontarddulais, near Swansea, and built in stages, from around 1100 to 1520. and was moved to the Museum over abour 20 years. During the deconstruction process the museum staff found the church had medevial  wall painings beneath the puritan whitewash finish we see in so many churches these days

Rust in Peace

Not much pure camera time recently, but in amongst the work that I'm doing I do find the odd picture opportunity

Here are our 2 rust buckets on the drive

The plan is that within the next year both of these will get a rebuild

This was taken on my E-500 with the built in flash lighting the Foreground and the Mini lit by a cloudy welsh sky.

I use my E-500 for inhospitable places these days as it's my older camera and it's theoretically less valuable

However as you can see with the kit 14-42 and a built in flash it still gives pretty good results

Life at Full Gallop

A while ago I did a commercial style shoot for some friends who have a trekking school in the Brecon Beacons and in doing it I gained a new found respect for the people who photograph horse racing because keeping them in frame when they are moving at full speed is incredibly hard

The lessons I learned on that day were: -

1. Use a long lens so you can stand well back 
2. Give your self plenty of time to prepare and get ready for it

For these pictures I ignored both of these pieces of advice as I had literally seconds to take this picture, I was too close and unprepared. I had lined myself up for a picture of some seagulls and was aware of them becoming unsettled and then I realised the sound in my left ear was getting closer VERY fast



I simply did not react fast enough to get the "riding into the picture shot" so mid picture was as good as I got.

 More true to rules of thirds, is the "riding out of picture" shot.

My opinion on just how fast these things move has not changed in this experience

Land Rover Katy

I can't resist a plug here for my new on-line presence http://landroverkaty.blogspot.com/

I think this one if going to be a long and expensive journey back to pristine condition and probably quite a few picture opportunities along the way

In a Happy Place

Feeling in a completely different mood to my recent post on Being in a Dark Place  I can relate on how spent a happy afternoon in Axbridge recently. Not actually a happy occasion as reported in Paint it Black, but with people who shared interests and backgrounds, especially the aspect of liking our dear departed friend Chas Weathered

I had a wonderful afternoon and evening the one thing I can easily say is that the only Boring thing was the old museum building and that only in terms of the woodwork so my first picture is entitled ...

A Boring Landscape

After the ceremony we were entertained by some of Chas's old friends... non looking older than the Morris Men

Love me... Love my Hat 

Who despite many a grey hair between them could still manage a sprightly dance.. please note close proximity to the nearest available watering hole...

A flock of handkerchiefs

As I understand it's a legal requirement for Morris men to drink real Ale.. So how could I do otherwise

I'm sure Chas would have been happy I made it this far in my pint

Getting there

Regards
Andy

In a Dark Place

I've found some images to show my mood tonight

All of this may seem over dramatic and I'm sure it is, but just sometimes when the day has been too much I like to hide myself away and try and find a positive spin on what has got me to this point. So here's my day in three pictures

In a dark place ... spinning around

So the Question I ask myself is...

And the answer is ...

And I'm one of them... Work has been manic I've been spinning all day and it's not stopped when I got home with emails and phone calls demanding more of  me than I feel I can give.

The final thought however is that there has been someone at the door of my den who cares for me and loves me despite my mood and my rants ... maybe I should just lighten up for her !

Trip to the Red Light District

Sorting out some of the files on my laptop I came across this again. A few years ago I booked onto an Art Photography course at the local university. I think that I need to do much more portrait work to get comfortable, but the most important feature is to find good models, which is one of the reasons I went on the course. 

Actually the teaching on the course wasn't up to much, but this young lady was a superb model and I wish I'd had more time to work with her.

After the portrait work I took an interest in the light itself and got comfortable as I really got into my element ;-).  



These were both taken with my Olympus e-510 camera using the 40-150mk II kit lens on ISO 1600 handheld as there was a lot of movement in the studio with more than one model. I used -1ev to keep the blacks dark and have increased contrast in post processing to get the clean final look I wanted

Going Undergrond for the Winter or coming out After a Hot Summer Ready for Love

It's late night ( well early morning ) and I've been working on a presentation for the 2011 BCRA Cave Science symposium which we're hosting in Cardiff University in March.

In doing that I have had a need to look through quite a few of my caving pictures and I came across these old friends 

In late August we went underground in a local cave to look at some old archaeological digs that were done by the Cardiff Naturalists Society in the 1800's Whilst there we were treated to the sight of a couple of local inhabitants that had taken up residence.

Before you get ideas of bearded hermits here are a couple of pictures of the creatures in question. 

The first is the Tissue moth (Triphosa dubitata) who overwinter in caves in order to undergo a period of diapause (suspended development).  This is apparently necessary for the successful production of viable eggs in the following year

The second is the golden caddis fly Stenophylax permistus  who stay in caves in the summer to undergo a similar period of rest or diapause.

 

Both of these pictures were taken in early August 2010 when the weather was still nice and autumn hadn't really set in so I guess they were both just enjoying a cool dark place for a rest like we were. They were both taken with the E-30 and 14-54mm  lens which is great for getting up close to insects if they are nice and dormant like these two were.

The pictures are both lit with a single FL-36 flash on a CB-05 extension cord to be able to put a shadow across the insect otherwise pictures like this look misty and flat because of the levels of moisture in caves. 

Another moth that does the overwintering is the Herald Moth featured in an earlier post

Learning a new Lens

Back in November I was pleased to take delivery of an Olympus 7-14mm super wide angle lens


I had been able to test one at one of the Olympus e-group meetings in South Wales a few years ago, but had not been able to afford one until recently so I was really pleased to get this in perfect condition from a member of the e-group who was downsizing at a significant reduction to the list price


It's a beast of a lens with a domed front element and a real case of "mind your feet" if you point it downwards, especially in portrait mode


With poor weather and work commitments I've not had the time to play lens properly until this weekend when we went to Southerndown on the River Severn to look at the Jurassic Lias cliffs (geology note!)


I've still got some practising to do to get the hang of what levels of distortion are going to be acceptable in a picture (some is inevitable with close items and this lens) but I an happy with these as a first real use


I would have liked to be further back from the cliff for this one, but the tide was too far in

 The pebbles on the right are a little too distorted for my liking, but it's fun to be able to get down and close to the ground

Of these three this is my favourite one, in the corner where the gryphaea can be found and looking back towards the main area of cliffs

Geological Note

These cliffs are Jurassic in age. that's about 190 Million years old in this case. They are known as Lias from the German for layers and are layered limestone's and shale's which contain marine fossils telling us they were laid down under the sea Gryphaea mentioned above is a type of fossil oyster that grows in a very curved manner and is often referred to as "Devils Toe Nails" because they look like the toes of gargoyles