Cal2

Jeffrey Hill, Longridge Fell, Lancashire

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 22:12 +0000

An old image revisited, dating back to February 2007. One I've returned for many times and never been fortunate enough to see since.
I remember being busy shooting with my back to this, turning and seeing it shifting and disappearing from view as I watched, managed a quick composition, exposure and a single handheld capture and it had been swallowed in the fog.
Gone back to the RAW file and reprocessed.

Expelliarmus!

Thu, 27 May 2010 21:13 +0000

On a trip to feed the ducks at Pickmere Lake, Cheshire. I'd like to think that Ellie was using her 'wand' to disarm me to drop my camera, but to be honest it was most likely to be more "Look Daddy, a stick!!"

Fishing Hut Finale?

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 07:09 +0000

It's been a while since I've posted, not to say I've not been out with my camera, just that each time I have I've stood, walked around, looked, waited and not taken a single shot. So forced myself out again with the hope that there would be some light and there was, only 5 minutes of it but it was enough to capture this.

I'd been stood in the water for a good while waiting for it to be still, not making a ripple, even while chatting to some visiting anglers and the wind dropped as the sun shone and it all came together for just those 5 minutes, but that's what it's all about I guess. Waiting for 'that' moment to come along, sometimes it does, all too often it doesn't and you go home with something you know you shouldn't have shot and will never use... or you show selective restraint and control and go home with nothing but cold feet. Either way, this is how we practice our art and despite the frustration, I'm quite please that I've been out recently and recognised that something wasn't worth shooting and went home empty handed, a small personal check point that I'm getting selective while out with camera poised rather than snapping and being disappointed later sat in front of the PC.

Location as any regular visitors will know is the local fishing lakes and hut yet again, it's a fantastic spot in a beautiful setting but I think it's time to leave it for a while. I'm very pleased with this image, a step away from wide angle and towards focus on detail a little more, however I'm suffering 'Fishing Hut Fatigue' and need to start the hunt for more local locations.

Sunrise, Kelly Hall Tarn, Cumbria

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:36 +0000

Ellie at the park #1

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 22:02 +0000

It's been quite some time since I last posted an image of Ellie, to be precise it's 5 days short of 14 months when we had a 6 day old newborn and we suddenly have a toddler!

A day at the park on an overcast day provided ideal flat light, a swing created some simple framing and mummy, as always, gave a reason to smile.

Dunstanburgh from Embleton, Northumberland

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:05 +0000

The classic shot... One from Summer 2009, a couple of very early summer sunrises disappointed with the light, but even if nothing else the great sensation of being the only person stood on the huge sweep of Embleton Bay during the first moments of the day was worth getting up for.

Despite the cloud blocking any light, the cloud helped create a small, colourful light show of its own. The rising mist from the sea lent an extra dimension of mystery to the early morning scene.

Cliffs, Old Hunstanton, Norfolk

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:36 +0000

The spectacular layered cliffs at Old Hunstanton. Taken a little before sunset, but as you can probably tell the tide brought shooting to an end sooner than anticipated, with the sign I'd walked past warning of 'Stranding Danger' still ringing in my mind.

Although not the tidiest view due to the eroded and crumbling cliffs, I liked the way all the debris reflects the colours of the little parts of the cliffs that are strewn around.

In camera, I'd assumed these would be just too bright, however on the big screen these really came to life. The saturation of the cliffs in the straight RAW was bordering on the ridiculous with the warm evening light, so some subtle desaturation has been done. The Sigma 10-20mm performed brilliantly yet again, even with an attempt to capture some water movement it got down to f/29(!!) but still kept a good sharp image.

Would be interested in what you think?

Sunset on Wasdale Head, Wastwater

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:20 +0000

A rather great trip to the Lake District on Sunday with Russell. Others to follow but this is likely the first of several.

This view of Wastwater at the end of the day was spectacular, at one point there were 4 'tog's lined up with tripods along the rocky shore! The light on Sunday was so clear it just made the pics shine. Processing on this was sympathetic to say the least, subtle 'Auto' settings taken within ACR and Photoshop with a little sharpening and masking left the image looking very true to how it appeared on the day, I put it down entirely to the quality of light on the day.

To avoid the shadows of the light behind us, Russ and I created a rather comical scene, involving timed shutter releases and running backwards and ducking to keep clear, must have been great to have been an observer :o)

'6', Burnham Market

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:43 +0000

No idea what this was, random item on a wall of a rather old house down a tiny street in this small Norfolk town but somebody obviously cared enough to keep it painted.

Old Hunstanton Beach Huts

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:18 +0000

We've just returned from a family trip to Norfolk, where the 4 days consisted of 2 full of rain and 2 rather clear days.

I managed to get a trip out to recce this area during the rainy season (Saturday) and using the rather impressive Focalware app on my iPhone figured it worth a visit when the sun was out. Monday brought about a clear day so I had a frantic session running between a couple of locations and ending up here.

The area is unusual that it faces west while on the east coast and brings some spectacular sunsets, just peering around the edge are the cliffs at Old Hunstanton with their equally spectacular layers.

Untitled #2

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:11 +0000

A rushed visit to try out some new gear, so back to the predicatable spot....Just before the 'new gear' explanation, some justification about this location, it's 10 minutes from home and despite this being the 10th(!!) posted shot from here I still feel like it's not fully exploited... and I've not even touched the lower lake, all from the upper one so far and every month and season changes it so much.So... the new gear! A birthday brought me a new tripod head, a Giottos MH1300-652 ballhead (now firmly attached to last years birthday present, a set of carbon fibre Velbon Sherpa Pro CF645 legs) and a present to myself - my first L glass. After much deliberation of the classic 24-70mm vs. 24-105mm conundrum, my heart said the 24-70mm, my head the 24-105mm... in the end the head won out and the 24-105mm arrived, mainly due to the additional length and IS, although I wished really hard for Canon to launch a new, fully weather sealed, 24-105mm L f2.8 IS in the nick of time unfortunately it didn't happen. That said, opinion always seems split and as much as I still wish it was the 24-70mm, with all the IQ that comes with it, I'm really pleased with the 24-105mm.The image isn't the greatest, light was useless, but it was oh so still, the partially frozen lake provided the lead in and foreground and framed the tree's reflection perfectly, while the clouds lined themselves up. Beacon Fell to the left, a snow patched Parlick to the right 2 co-operative Moor Hens in the centre... Not much more to say!Some trips lined up over the next few weeks should hopefully bring some new material.

Winter Bites

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 23:46 +0000

Back to the regular haunt!Taken shortly before the previous image, I was drawn to this spot due to the fox tracks across the frozen lake, who'd clearly made the most of the freeze to explore the suddenly accessible island! Taken from a spot a few tentative steps out onto the ice.Another shot to follow from the same location again(!) a few weeks later...Some new territory needed I think.

Winter Warmth

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:49 +0000

An evening trip with Russ, back to the often visited fishing hut to find the lake frozen over and covered with snow, rather a striking location that I'm sure will soon appear on Russell's blog and may follow here. This was a last shot of the day, as the sun was dropping below the horizon and the final warm glow deepened and intensified (despite it being -9 C!)Hopefully the start of some more regular updates here. I know, I know, I'm only letting myself down... ;o)

Freshly Mown

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:40 +0000

A trip down to the regular haunt of the fishing hut was unfortunately shared tonight with a hot air balloon taking off in the field just behind, I've taken some that include the balloon but the jury's still out on whether they'll ever see the light of day!
This however is the field I park next to, and one of those scenes that's almost too easy to miss. At this time of year from this location the sun sets right behind the peak of Parlick so sunset never really reaches the hut, but 100 metres either side and things change drastically.
This scene just stood out for me, so I set up and hope the cloud would let the light through before it disappeared behind the hills for the day, a short while later, still stood half in the road, I was rewarded with a brief glimpse of the potential. Nature's show was spectacular, however I'm not entirely happy with my end result. Luckily it's 10 minutes from home, so I may be back over the next few days to try again.

Whitby #1

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 21:44 +0000

My first trip to Whitby this weekend as part of a surprise weekend away for a friend's 40th. We stayed in a fantastic place in Kirkbymoorside for two nights and spent a day in Whitby. Unfortunately, sunrise and sunset at 4:40am and 9:45pm were a little too early and late when combined with some birthday celebrations, but optimistically took my camera anyway.
I can see why it's the subject of so many amazing images and have every intention of getting back there, as you can see from the optimistically added '#1' appended to the title!

The weather was not kind on Saturday and there was precious little light but the sun did break out for a while as hinted by the flash of blue sky here, but by then, the dampness had extended beyond the clothes to the spirit and the brilliant fish and chips had started to settle. Despite the lack of light I liked this, took a little tweaking in post processing but less than I expected.
Let me know what you think.