weekly Don's 52 for 2022 - Catchup

Week 36 - Scape.

This photo was taken from Caeser's Camp, near Aldershot. London is about 30 miles away.

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Don153 said:
The geese were very funny. They went absolutely ballistic for a few seconds. I was expecting a scuffle when the heron landed, but total calm descended immediately.

I must admit that I thought that black swans were incredibly rare. It looks like they are not quite as rare as I thought.

Hope you are recovering well.
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Thank you. I’m making headway.

I think black swans are not common. I think they mate for life so something must have happened to one of our pair. Perhaps our swans are the same one? :)
 
Week 37 - Looking up

Oh dear! Late again.

We went to the Rural Life Museum the weekwnd before last. This is a caravan that a worker would have lived in.

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Somebody posted a great photo of the full Moon, so took inspiration and had a go.
I'm sure that there is a decent photo to be had here, but a parked car meant that I couldn't get underneath the centre of the sign.

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This one is a wee bit of a shoehorn, but I am very pleased with it. I am absolutely useless at landscapes, or composition in general. I've never been able to see the "clutter" when I am taking the photo.
This is my chosen shot:-
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All on theme. I like the caravan shot. I feel like an ant looking up. Where is the museum?

Magnificent tree in the landscape shot.
 
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I think that you chose the right one Donal, especially when I noticed the two people on the road, who might have been looking up...
 
Bebop said:
All on theme. I like the caravan shot. I feel like an ant looking up. Where is the museum?

Magnificent tree in the landscape shot.
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The museum is near Tilford, Surrey.
Plenty to see - all nicely presented - and a little steam train ride to add interest. Plenty of free parking too!

Darkslinger said:
I think that you chose the right one Donal, especially when I noticed the two people on the road, who might have been looking up...
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Thanks Bill. I was worried that the two people would not be noticeable after the image was reduced for posting here.
 
Week 38 - Electrical

Still catching up!!!!

1) Some bits and pieces.
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2) A generational thing:-
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3) Pylon with pigeons (I am guessing that these are some special homing/racing pigeons)P9285459-1k.jpg

4) Piling on the puns
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5) more racing pigeons against the 11Kv wires
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I think that I like the last two best - but I am going with No. 4!

The alarm clock is set for 5am tomorrow. If I manage to get up, then I hope to get some good photos and get myself back up to date!
 
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I agree with you Donal, I think that last one is the best, but the "electrical" part of the image is more prominent in the one you chose.
 
Well, the alarm went off at 5am on Saturday! Dear God, I am not an early morning person.
However, at 6:40, it was absolutely lovely sipping a cup of coffee in the middle of nowhere, waiting for the Sun to come up. This isn't song related, I just thought it worth showing.

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What song to pick? I suppose that when you are 64, it has to be something by the Beatles.
1) "Here Comes The Sun"

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2) "Hey, Hey, Hey"

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3) "Free as a bird"

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4) And finally a Sunset.
So....
"That'll be the Day"

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I like 4) the best. Pity, because it was taken on Sunday evening - so I didnt need to set the alarm so early!!!!
 
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Well that made me chuckle. Whenever I think I might get up early to photograph things I nearly always end up sleeping in... and then I wake up really early when I don't need to :rolleyes:
A lovely sunset shot. It could also be Free Bird as well as That'll be the Day. Here Comes the Sun is one of my favourite songs.
 
SimonH said:
Lovely set Donal - love the grebe shot!
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Thank you. It was a bit of a shoehorn, but I really liked it. For some reason, the grebes fascinate me. They look so cute and innocent, and yet they despatch crayfish and pike with ease.

Bebop said:
Well that made me chuckle. Whenever I think I might get up early to photograph things I nearly always end up sleeping in... and then I wake up really early when I don't need to :rolleyes:
A lovely sunset shot. It could also be Free Bird as well as That'll be the Day. Here Comes the Sun is one of my favourite songs.
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Thanks.

Free Bird is a very special song for my current wife and I. We first heard it at Reading Rock Festival in 1977 when John Peel played it after the main concerts had finished. We danced in mud that was six inches deep along with 20,000 other happy people.
 
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Some well thought through shots. Your chosen image does depict that quiet end to the day.
 
Late again!! Sod it. I really thought that I was going to manage to keep up.

1) A red kite
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2) A poorly framed shot taken before I had time to adjust the settings - so the ISO was too high. Still, it makes me smile. This crow showed great interest in the bag of sweets, with his mate looking bemused.

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3) "Down, down, deeper and down". I'm getting



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4) This week's choice:-
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Great series of shots Donal. The ducks made me chuckle but I like your chosen one the best.
 
Lovely set. I like your chosen shot. Looking down and singing to you.

I have some crows in my garden. When I put food out for them, they carry it off and hide it. I've seen them tearing up grass to bury it.
 
Darkslinger said:
Great series of shots Donal. The ducks made me chuckle but I like your chosen one the best.
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Thanks Bill.

Bebop said:
Lovely set. I like your chosen shot. Looking down and singing to you.

I have some crows in my garden. When I put food out for them, they carry it off and hide it. I've seen them tearing up grass to bury it.
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Thank you!

I haven't seen crows behaving like this before, so it seemed quite novel. There is always at least one crow at that spot - so I might go back with a bag of M&Ms to tempt them.


Peter123 said:
That robin is giving you some grief Donal
Great shot.
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He sang is little heart out for maybe a minute or more. I took some video as well. Unfortunately, the camera was set for 120fps, so no sound!!!!! DOH!
 
Tuesday night .. I'm early!!!!

I had another early start (7am) on Saturday morning. I was convinced thatI would have no trouble posting my entries on Saturday evening. The truth is that I haven't even looked at them all properly yet. I really must learn to take fewer photos!

1)
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2)

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3)
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4) My first ever Sparrowawk Kestrel.
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5)
More red kites. I spotted these as I was driving home. - Sadly the light was awful, and it started to rain while I was taking these. This was only 10 minutes after the sparrowhawk photo!!

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6) Some deer
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I think that I'll take the deer. They have some good strong shadows, so I'll kill two birds with one stone!
 
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Yep the Deer shot fore sure. Lovely light!
 
The light and shade in the deer shot is really good. Only one seems to have spotted you, the others are distracted by something to your left, when deer are on alert they are quite different.
 
Great light and a well taken shot of these wild animals.
 
Definitely right choice with great lighting. Your sparrowhawk is actually a kestrel although still a nice photo.
 
-Oy- said:
Yep the Deer shot fore sure. Lovely light!
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SimonH said:
Cracking shot of the deer with the sunlight/shadow contrast.
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seaodyssey said:
All good shots Donal, but the deers edge it for me.

Pete
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AlanDorset said:
The light and shade in the deer shot is really good. Only one seems to have spotted you, the others are distracted by something to your left, when deer are on alert they are quite different.
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Peter123 said:
Great light and a well taken shot of these wild animals.
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ncf15 said:
Definitely right choice with great lighting. Your sparrowhawk is actually a kestrel although still a nice photo.
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Thank you all. I was very lucky that the deer didn't dissappear as soon as I saw them. They stayed there for a minute or two - long enough to take about 50 shots. At the time, I thought that the light was far too harsh, and there was also quite a bit of mist.

The kestrel was darting about like mad when I photographed it. Someone told me that it was a sparrowhawk, and they sounded very confident!
 
A great set Donal. I love the macro of the leaves with the water drops but I think that you've definitely chosen the best shot for your submission.
 
Hmmm... I haven't found much that represents the theme this week.

I spotted an Ordanance Survey Trig Mark on Saturday morning. These marks are scattered all over the country, and used by the OS to mark a precise Lat, Long and Height above sea level.

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2)

An Optical Time Domain Reflectometer.
This is a remarkably precise instrument that measures light reflections in fibre optic cable. It can produce precise pulses of light down to 5 nano seconds and by measuring any reflections, detect losses or breaks in the cable, along with a precise distance to any breaks.

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I don't think that either photo is great, but 2) is probably more interesting looking, so I will choose the OTDR.
 
I agree Donal, #2 is more interesting, especially when combined with your commentary.
 
The landscape photographer in me leans towards the first shot. You've made a fairly bland object look good from the low perspective.
 
2 good choices Donal.
I think the second one has more impact and meets the theme well.
 
Thanks for all the comments. I don't seem to be able to quote messages at the moment.
I am much happier with this week's photos, and actually had good fun taking them.
I was out for a walk yesterday, and hoped to see some tractors and other agricultural machinery. As it happens, I only saw one tractor and it was behind a gate, and surrounded by trees, bushes and run down buildings.
Today, I took a model Aston Martin outside to see if I could do anything with it. The first photo was taken inside a garden waste green bin. It's a fun photo, and won't win any prizes, but I like the way it turned out.
1)
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2)
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3)

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4)

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5)
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I've no idea which to choose. 1, 2 and 4 are my favourites.
I'll go with 2.
 
(Nice car BTW)

I think I actually prefer number 3.

I love the reflection of the model in the paint (although I have to say, I'd have been a bit funny about letting something rest on my paintwork - I used to be obsessed with detailing).

And I like the fact that you've clearly used a much bigger model than I did, so it looks more a 'real' car. Therefore I like that the rose in the background serves as a sort of Easter egg to its real size.
 
3 and 5 for me.
Well executed and nice to see an Aston image.
 
Nice toy car - nice real car!
 
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