Jenny's 52 - Part 2 - Week 52 - The End

[blakester]

I second what Dade said Jenny, outstanding images yet again. I prefer the first butterfly photograph, the sheen from its 'furry bits' really brings the butterfly out from my screen. It has a 3D feel to it. The colours in your autumn leaf image are lovely, again another image which has a lovely feel to it. Iain

 

[Tracer]

You may feel you are struggling but it is yet another good set. The colours and detail on the leaf are fantastic. I also love the first butterfly shot - the composition, colours and texture that you have captured are beautiful.

 

[clud17]

I really like red is for danger Jean im not sure what you wern't happy with it looks fine to me. Love the fungi shots again, you have got me out looking now and im amazed at the amount i have seen out and about when im looking.

 

[philthejuggler]

Hi Jenny. I like the colours in the leaf shot, and I agree with the central composition of the robin. The first butterfly is definitely my favourite despite it being almost a duplicate of a previous shot!

Phil

 

[daddy day care]

I think we can all be our own worse critics but you have nothing at all to be critical about Jenny. As usual these photos are stunning

I particularly love the red admiral with the sky in shot. The compostion, contrasting colours, incredible sharpnees of the butterfly and OOF flowers all add up to a stunning image.

You should be proud of what you are achieving. I know I would be.

I hope you are having a photobook made up at the end of this. It will be fantastic.

Andy

 

[absolute]

Just found this thread. You're very talented, keep it coming. You say winter is going to be difficult, and in terms of less light I know the feeling. Think of all those moody shots you'll get, and possibly snow/sleet!

Personally I'd love to see a shot that gives a feeling of the snow coming down, almost as difficult as shooting rain and making it look atmospheric.

I look forward to see what you come up with.

 

[SarahLee]

Quality work that, and you make it look effortless week after week

That sums it up perfectly for me Jenny - I always look forward to coming in here to see what you've managed to get each week.

A little bit of a catch up for me :

Week 41
The Boletes and the Autumn sunshine stand out for me this week - That one random water drop on the RHS of the Boletes shot is a superb little detail

The conker is another good one, although I would have preferred it framed in such a way that you lost that dark line from across the top.

The White Saddle I'm not too sure about. It looks just a little soft to me, although I think that might be down to its actual texture rather than anything photographic. And compared to your others, it's just not the prettiest fungus to look at :shrug:

Week 42
The red admiral is beautiful and I don't think there's anything wrong in showing a similar shot to the one from a few weeks back. You're really lucky to still have butterflies around!
The alternate is good too, but as you said it just doesn't have quite the same sparkle.

The Robin? Another beautiful bird shot - and I thought you said you found these difficult!
Beautiful - and I think you were absolutely right with the central framing.

And I like the Autumn leaf a lot too. Good colour, good detail and the backlighting really brings out a glow to it.

 

[jennyb]

Another three lovely shots Jenny, but that Red Admiral shot leaps out for me... Lovely blue sky behind it and that contrasts nicely with it. I prefer the blue sky background to the new one, but the new one works very well too.

Sorry to take so long to respond. Not a minute to spare over the last couple of weeks.

Thanks for your comments, John. I agree that the Red Admiral with the sky behind is better, that is why I posted it first. I just thought that maybe it was too similar to the one posted a couple of weeks previously.

Jenny dont mean to sound patronising but shots are outstanding, they really are! and you say you're struggling???!?!?! Quality work that, and you make it look effortless week after week

Dade, I feel really heartened by your comments Thanks very much. Sometimes I feel my shots are "same old, same old". But I guess that's my style. There are some great photographers in this forum and when I look at some of their fantastic photos I feel I am miles behind. However, I do think I have improved during this year, which was the whole idea of setting myself a challenge.

I second what Dade said Jenny, outstanding images yet again. I prefer the first butterfly photograph, the sheen from its 'furry bits' really brings the butterfly out from my screen. It has a 3D feel to it. The colours in your autumn leaf image are lovely, again another image which has a lovely feel to it. Iain

Many thanks, Iain. Yeah, "furry bits" - I am not an expert on butterfly anatomy!

You may feel you are struggling but it is yet another good set. The colours and detail on the leaf are fantastic. I also love the first butterfly shot - the composition, colours and texture that you have captured are beautiful.

Thanks, Tracer. I really liked the amount of detail on that leaf and the colour is completely natural - gorgeous.

I really like red is for danger Jean im not sure what you wern't happy with it looks fine to me. Love the fungi shots again, you have got me out looking now and im amazed at the amount i have seen out and about when im looking.

Thanks, Chris. Fungi hunting is a bit addictive, isn't it? They are quite hard to spot among the fallen leaves but when you get your eye in, you can find them much more easily.

Hi Jenny. I like the colours in the leaf shot, and I agree with the central composition of the robin. The first butterfly is definitely my favourite despite it being almost a duplicate of a previous shot!

Phil

Thanks, Phil. The colours this autumn have been incredible. Probabaly something to do with the wet August.

I think we can all be our own worse critics but you have nothing at all to be critical about Jenny. As usual these photos are stunning

I particularly love the red admiral with the sky in shot. The compostion, contrasting colours, incredible sharpnees of the butterfly and OOF flowers all add up to a stunning image.

You should be proud of what you are achieving. I know I would be.

I hope you are having a photobook made up at the end of this. It will be fantastic.

Andy

Your comments are much appreciated, Andy. Yes, I am making a photobook. It will be an interesting record of a whole year.

Just found this thread. You're very talented, keep it coming. You say winter is going to be difficult, and in terms of less light I know the feeling. Think of all those moody shots you'll get, and possibly snow/sleet!

Personally I'd love to see a shot that gives a feeling of the snow coming down, almost as difficult as shooting rain and making it look atmospheric.

I look forward to see what you come up with.

Thanks for dropping in, Simon. Glad you like the photos. I think lack of light is going to be a real challenge as the days close in. There is very little time to get out with the camera except for weekends.

I don't know whether we will get snow before Christmas, but I am hoping to manage some frost shots.

That sums it up perfectly for me Jenny - I always look forward to coming in here to see what you've managed to get each week.

A little bit of a catch up for me :

Week 41
The Boletes and the Autumn sunshine stand out for me this week - That one random water drop on the RHS of the Boletes shot is a superb little detail

The conker is another good one, although I would have preferred it framed in such a way that you lost that dark line from across the top.

The White Saddle I'm not too sure about. It looks just a little soft to me, although I think that might be down to its actual texture rather than anything photographic. And compared to your others, it's just not the prettiest fungus to look at :shrug:

Week 42
The red admiral is beautiful and I don't think there's anything wrong in showing a similar shot to the one from a few weeks back. You're really lucky to still have butterflies around!
The alternate is good too, but as you said it just doesn't have quite the same sparkle.

The Robin? Another beautiful bird shot - and I thought you said you found these difficult!
Beautiful - and I think you were absolutely right with the central framing.

And I like the Autumn leaf a lot too. Good colour, good detail and the backlighting really brings out a glow to it.

Thanks, Sarah. Good to see you back.

The White Saddle photo is not actually soft but I think it is the texture. My aim with the fungi shots is to show the incredible diversity of colours, shapes and textures. White Saddle is a really weird-looking jelly-like fungus that I just had to include.

The robin - yes, I can manage when they are stationary, even for just a few seconds. What I cannot do is birds in flight

Jenny

 

[jennyb]

Oh dear - very late this week. In fact these are last week's images.

My youngest son got married last weekend and I have not had a moment to spare in the last 2 weeks. We continued the wedding celebrations back at my house with all our side of the family and I have hardly managed to pick up the camera.

So.... these are very rushed. It was a pity not to be able to take advantage of the wonderful weather and glorious colours. This autumn is turning out to be really spectacular and I have found it difficult to portray it adequately in the photographs.

The first is a fern and maybe the background is a bit too busy, but I could not reduce the DOF any further and keep the fern in focus. Not particularly happy with this one.

I tried various ways to show the gorgeous colours in the leaves. When the sun shines, the leaves really glow and the colours vary between yellow and deep red with all shades of orange in between. This shot does not do it justice.

Finally, I wanted to try to capture just how far ranging the autumn colours are. Everywhere you look there is a blaze of colour. This shot is taken over the garden fence looking into the valley, but it would have been better if I could have used a wider angle.

C & C very welcome, but please bear in mind my lack of time. I hope to find more time this weekend for this week's photos. I will also try to catch up with everyone else's threads.

Jenny

 

[Gai]

Hi Jenny. I've just spent a good while looking through your thread. Stunning! All of your photographs are just beautiful. If I could take just one as good as these I would be a very happy bunny!

I'm a complete beginner and I've just started my own 52 - I realised I should comment on others if I want helpful criticism back but really, I can't say much more about these. There are all so lovely and I couldn't possibly pick a favourite. Oh dear, that sounds a bit gushing but really, your photo's are inspiration! Thankyou for sharing them.

 

[jennyb]

Hi Jenny. I've just spent a good while looking through your thread. Stunning! All of your photographs are just beautiful. If I could take just one as good as these I would be a very happy bunny!

I'm a complete beginner and I've just started my own 52 - I realised I should comment on others if I want helpful criticism back but really, I can't say much more about these. There are all so lovely and I couldn't possibly pick a favourite. Oh dear, that sounds a bit gushing but really, your photo's are inspiration! Thankyou for sharing them.

Hi Gai, thanks for dropping into my thread. Glad you like my photos. Your comments are much appreciated. I must have missed your thread so far but I will pop over and take a look.

I don't have a huge amount of experience but I have found this challenge has really helped focus my mind on photography and gets me out in all weathers, when I would not otherwise have bothered. I think I have improved during the year.

Jenny

 

[jennyb]

This week my shots are probably starting to become monotonous. I just have to make the most of the gorgeous autumn colours. The weather forecast is very bad for this coming week so most of the leaves will probably have fallen by next weekend.

The first shot is not strictly my garden or taken from my garden, but is actually the lane where we live. I thought it was close enough to still be valid. This shot was taken just a few metres down the hill from our gate.

Next, we have a beautiful beech tree which is huge. For this shot I pointed the camera upwards standing underneath the tree. Not completely sure whether or not it works (I am much more confident with close-ups than I am with things like this).

For my final autumn colour shot, I was trying to portray the long shadows cast by the sun at this time of year. It was taken around 3pm, just before the sun went down behind the trees (I hate winter ).

If anyone can tell me how to improve my landscape shots, I would be very grateful. I really don't have much of a clue about how to take them.

Finally, just to add something different for this week, here is another bird shot. The light was very bad. I had just got the camera set up when the sun went behind a cloud and I had to put the ISO up to 1600. I thought I would include it anyway.

Constructive criticism is always welcome.

Jenny

 

[blakester]

You have certainly captured the Autumn colours in your down the lane photograph Jenny, it draws the viewers eye into the image and along the lane. You have handled the light well and kept the detail in the shady area under the trees.
Your second image from under the beech tree is the one i am most drawn to, again you have captured the lovely autumn tones. This will sound a wee bit random but this image reminds me of those charts that test for colour blindness, you know the ones where there is a number within the coloured dots? Random, I know but I was looking for a number in the tree foliage .
I like your third image too but am not too sure about the sun flare on the rhs, I find my eye being drawn to this bright side of the image.
Your last image has lovely colour tones in it too, the bird really pops out from the image due to the lovely bokeh. Iain

 

[philthejuggler]

I like all three landscapes, but I agree with Iain that the third is not necessarily enhanced with the flare. Having said that, I like the perspective and sense of depth with the long shadows.

The bird shot is great in such poor lighting. It is a winner that could only improve if the sun had bathed it in golden light.

Phil

 

[justlooking]

I like all the landscapes too. Great colours.

 

[SarahLee]

Jenny, there's absolutely nothing I can add to improve your landscape shots. It's really not a genre that I do much of, but IMHO you seem to be doing a great job with them.
I love this time of year, and really should take the chance to try to get some Autumn leaf shots myself.

The 3 from this week, plus "over the garden fence" from the week before are all beautiful. You've really captured the colours well and I love the fact that you've made the most of the light in all of these - whether it's shining through the canopy of the tree or casting long, striking shadows.

The Great Tit is a stunner too. I can't believe that this was taken under poor conditions - I'd be over the moon with this if I'd managed it with good light.

p.s. Hope the wedding went well. I'm amazed that you found any time for photography at all.

 

[jennyb]

You have certainly captured the Autumn colours in your down the lane photograph Jenny, it draws the viewers eye into the image and along the lane. You have handled the light well and kept the detail in the shady area under the trees.
Your second image from under the beech tree is the one i am most drawn to, again you have captured the lovely autumn tones. This will sound a wee bit random but this image reminds me of those charts that test for colour blindness, you know the ones where there is a number within the coloured dots? Random, I know but I was looking for a number in the tree foliage .
I like your third image too but am not too sure about the sun flare on the rhs, I find my eye being drawn to this bright side of the image.
Your last image has lovely colour tones in it too, the bird really pops out from the image due to the lovely bokeh. Iain

Thanks, Iain. You are dead right about the colour blindness test, but I have not included any numbers!

I have a few images with and without the sun flare. I was aware of it when I was taking the photos and deliberately moved so that the sun was behind a tree, but those images were not nearly so good. I have another with a smaller flare which may be better.

I like all three landscapes, but I agree with Iain that the third is not necessarily enhanced with the flare. Having said that, I like the perspective and sense of depth with the long shadows.

The bird shot is great in such poor lighting. It is a winner that could only improve if the sun had bathed it in golden light.

Phil

Thanks, Phil. It was the long shadows that I was trying to achieve and I think I did so to some extent.

It was a pity about the bird - the sun was shining when I set up the camera

I like all the landscapes too. Great colours.

Thanks, JL. The colours are really spectacular this year. They were also good last year but not quite as good as this. They really glow in the sun.

Jenny, there's absolutely nothing I can add to improve your landscape shots. It's really not a genre that I do much of, but IMHO you seem to be doing a great job with them.
I love this time of year, and really should take the chance to try to get some Autumn leaf shots myself.

The 3 from this week, plus "over the garden fence" from the week before are all beautiful. You've really captured the colours well and I love the fact that you've made the most of the light in all of these - whether it's shining through the canopy of the tree or casting long, striking shadows.

The Great Tit is a stunner too. I can't believe that this was taken under poor conditions - I'd be over the moon with this if I'd managed it with good light.

p.s. Hope the wedding went well. I'm amazed that you found any time for photography at all.

Thanks, Sarah. The wedding went really well. We have not had a family wedding for more than 20 years, so it was a bit special for us.

Yes, I was a bit annoyed that the sun went in for the Great Tit shot. I noticed your thread about photographing birds in the Nature forum so I am looking forward to seeing how you progress.

If you are interested, my way of cheating for more natural looking bird shots - I found a very photogenic piece of wood and laid it across my bird table. I dragged the bird table right in front of my kitchen window and filled the holes with bird seed. My windows don't open very far and the noise puts the birds off, so the robin and the great tit shots were taken through the window. They are a bit soft because of this, but at least I don't freeze to death. I clone out the bird seed during PP. I may have to find another piece of wood to vary the shots a bit!

The only problem with this method is that in winter, the area in front of the kitchen window only gets sun for half an hour at around 3pm. I think I may have to find another window to use that has more sun. My shots are very noisy at 1600 ISO.

Jenny

 

[Tracer]

Sorry - I have got behind again with your thread and there are too many to comment on individually, but I love the beautiful autumn colours you have captured in your well though-out images. Autumn afternoon with its long shadows works really well for me - personally I like a bit of flare in a shot like this!

 

[dade_f]

WOW, you cease to amaze! your ferns shot is SUPER and your Autumn Afternoon great work too. These will be great in your book

 

[jgs001]

Sorry Jenny, I missed some.. Lovely set of autumn colours all round. Very well captured. As for that fern shot, yeah the background looks busy, but it's so far oof it's not a problem, and I agree with Dade, it's excellent.

 

[jennyb]

Sorry - I have got behind again with your thread and there are too many to comment on individually, but I love the beautiful autumn colours you have captured in your well though-out images. Autumn afternoon with its long shadows works really well for me - personally I like a bit of flare in a shot like this!

Thanks, Tracer. I really like the long shadows, too, and they needed to be coming towards me to make them more dramatic. Hence looking into the sun and the lens flare.

WOW, you cease to amaze! your ferns shot is SUPER and your Autumn Afternoon great work too. These will be great in your book

Thanks, Dade. I was not sure about the fern. Glad you like it. The problem with the book is that my photos tend not to look so good in print. I have mastered getting them looking good on screen, but in print the colours are often quite different.

Sorry Jenny, I missed some.. Lovely set of autumn colours all round. Very well captured. As for that fern shot, yeah the background looks busy, but it's so far oof it's not a problem, and I agree with Dade, it's excellent.

Thanks, John. Glad you like the fern, too. This autumn has been really spectacular.

Jenny

 

[jennyb]

It has been a week of very mixed weather - very high winds and rain with some sun in between. I have one more autumn colour shot to show. This is likely to be the last because the high winds are bringing down many of the leaves.

I am again not sure about the shot. I did not get what I was trying to achieve but I will post it anyway because I find it quite fascinating. Before I moved here, I had no idea that deciduous conifers existed. Our garden borders onto woodland and a plantation of larch trees - deciduous conifers. In autumn they turn a beautiful orange colour before all the needles drop off.

I was trying to get a photo looking up to portray the height of the larches. I used my widest angle, but it would probably be a much better photo using a fish-eye (which I don't have).

Next, is an "almost fantastic" opportunity. It had the potential to be really good, but was completely spoiled by the light conditions at the time. The sun was shining, but not on the bird. Everything behind the bird was lit up with the sun. If the bird had had a bit of sunlight on him, I would have been really pleased with the shot.

I spotted this fellow having breakfast on the Pyracantha berries. At first I thought it was a thrush but on closer inspection, I have a feeling it may be a young blackbird. It is a bit late for a young blackbird. Does anyone have any ideas about the ID?

Next, is another nuthatch with the sun low and behind him. It would have probably been better with the bird facing into the sun.

Finally, my favourite of the week. A bit soft, maybe, but that is because of the light conditions and the 1600 ISO. I really like this one. This little cutie is either a marsh tit or a willow tit. They look very similar and can usually only be distinguished by their call. Since my hearing is very bad, there is no way that I am ever going to be able to distinguish them. If anyone can tell me which one it is, I would be very grateful.

What I really like about this photo is the orangey background which forms a sort of halo around the bird. This was a complete fluke. The orange is the sun shining on some orange leaves at the other side of the lawn. It is nicely OOF and just provides a glow.

C & C is very welcome.

Jenny

 

[dade_f]

Im sure someone nice on these forums could explain how to help get your wonderful images looking as good in print as they do on screen - ANYONE???

As for the week - I really like the Nuthatch image, the angles and lines, the nice blur in the background means no distractions, I might be tempted just to enhance the catchlight a tad

ps I think youre right about the tree shot, fisheye would exaggerate them perfectly, the colour contrast though is great against the blue sky.

 

[blakester]

Another good week for you Jenny IMHO.
#1 autumn larch has a lovely glow about it, the colours in the tree against that bright blue sky really makes the image pop.
I can't help with the identification of the bird in #2 but it is a great capture of the little fella having its breakfast.
#3 & #4, I love the colour tone in both of these, the lovely blurry background works well with the birds. That seems to be a really popular perch for a wide range of birds, do you have them waiting their turn to be photographed?
As Dade said, there must be someone to point you in the direction of getting the best from your images in print. Iain

 

[jennyb]

Im sure someone nice on these forums could explain how to help get your wonderful images looking as good in print as they do on screen - ANYONE???

As for the week - I really like the Nuthatch image, the angles and lines, the nice blur in the background means no distractions, I might be tempted just to enhance the catchlight a tad

ps I think youre right about the tree shot, fisheye would exaggerate them perfectly, the colour contrast though is great against the blue sky.

Thanks for your comments , Dade. Some colours print very well but the ones with lots of greens and yellows come out looking very muddy. I have tried printing with Photobox, Snapfish and more recently with DCSL and have a similar problem with all of them, so it is my photos rather than the process.
I have tried experimenting and have found that I have to reprocess the green/yellow shots, change the WB and tweak various other things.

I really should calibrate my screen, but that is another thing I have not yet got my head around.

Also, my shots are never really "pin" sharp. I almost always use a tripod or beanbag and a remote, but because I more often than not use natural light (have not really got the hang of flash yet), I can rarely achieve high shutter speeds. Resizing images and sharpening for the screen, means the softness is not particularly noticeable on screen.

Another good week for you Jenny IMHO.
#1 autumn larch has a lovely glow about it, the colours in the tree against that bright blue sky really makes the image pop.
I can't help with the identification of the bird in #2 but it is a great capture of the little fella having its breakfast.
#3 & #4, I love the colour tone in both of these, the lovely blurry background works well with the birds. That seems to be a really popular perch for a wide range of birds, do you have them waiting their turn to be photographed?
As Dade said, there must be someone to point you in the direction of getting the best from your images in print. Iain

Thanks, Iain. LOL, a bit of seed sprinkled on a branch really does have them queuing up to have their photograph taken! It is easy to clone out the seed afterwards.

Jenny

 

[SarahLee]

If you are interested, my way of cheating for more natural looking bird shots - I found a very photogenic piece of wood and laid it across my bird table. I dragged the bird table right in front of my kitchen window and filled the holes with bird seed.

Thank you !!!!!
That is an absolutely brilliant idea, and one I would never have thought of. I'll go hunting for a nice piece of wood at the weekend.

Those Autumn larch trees are just beautiful. As I scrolled down my first thought was that it was a colour IR shot, I can see that it isn't but it almost has that sort of quality to it.
I was introduced to the joys of larch trees when I started my current job. The staff carpark is surrounded by them and beautiful as they are, at this time of year those damn needles get everywhere !!!!

I really like all 3 of your bird shots too. I'll be happy if I get something half as good as these. Difficult to choose a favourite, but I think that orange halo around the Marsh / Willow tit nudges it into the lead for me.

I just wish that I could offer you something useful in terms of positive id's or helping you with printing. I very rarely print any of my images.

 

[philthejuggler]

If I'm honest I usually much prefer your flora / fauna shots to your landscapes, Jenny. The first shot this week is really good though, the contrasting colours making for a strong and appealing picture.

The bird shots are just great - 'nuff said!

Phil

 

[jgs001]

All very good Jenny, but that Nuthatch is amazing.. The pose and the foot in shot looking poised ready to jump.. a great feel of impending motion.

 

[Tracer]

Sorry, Jenny - I've been getting behind again. The bird shots are really good - attractive poses and beautiful soft backgrounds. What focal length are you using for these? The first one is a female blackbird, and I love the way you have caught her with the berry in he beak.

I like the larches too although the sky looks too blue to be true! But maybe it is like that in your part of the country. I remember being very puzzled as a child by their being deciduous.

 

[ladysue]

I love this thread Jenny and wondered how you would find pictures now most of the flowers have gone. The blackbird with the berry is great, with the berries providing lots of colour.

 

[jeangenie]

H Jenny, Sorry I haven't commented on your thread for ages. I've popped in a couple of times but with a whole series of computer problems haven't been able to post.

I've just had a quick browse through - and I'm awestruck at the quality of your shots, week in, week out. They just get better and better (from an already good base!) It's a bit late to comment individually at the moment - but I'll have a proper catch up very soon.

Jean

 

[jennyb]

I have been away on holiday for 2 weeks and am now way behind. I took a few shots before I went so I will process and post those asap. I will then try to catch up on everyone else's threads.

I guess we were rather lucky this week. We arrived back at Gatwick late on Monday night when the first flakes of snow started to fall. Good timing, otherwise we might not be back yet!

Thank you !!!!!
That is an absolutely brilliant idea, and one I would never have thought of. I'll go hunting for a nice piece of wood at the weekend.

Those Autumn larch trees are just beautiful. As I scrolled down my first thought was that it was a colour IR shot, I can see that it isn't but it almost has that sort of quality to it.
I was introduced to the joys of larch trees when I started my current job. The staff carpark is surrounded by them and beautiful as they are, at this time of year those damn needles get everywhere !!!!

I really like all 3 of your bird shots too. I'll be happy if I get something half as good as these. Difficult to choose a favourite, but I think that orange halo around the Marsh / Willow tit nudges it into the lead for me.

I just wish that I could offer you something useful in terms of positive id's or helping you with printing. I very rarely print any of my images.

Thanks for your comments, Sarah. Hope you found a nice piece of wood. Yes, the larch shot does have a quite strange effect. I don't know why, but it is not IR.

If I'm honest I usually much prefer your flora / fauna shots to your landscapes, Jenny. The first shot this week is really good though, the contrasting colours making for a strong and appealing picture.

The bird shots are just great - 'nuff said!

Phil

Thanks, Phil. I have to agree that I have not mastered landscape shots yet. I am working on it but there are limited possibilities in or from my garden.

All very good Jenny, but that Nuthatch is amazing.. The pose and the foot in shot looking poised ready to jump.. a great feel of impending motion.

Thanks, John. Yes, impending motion is right - they are never still for more than a second or two!

Sorry, Jenny - I've been getting behind again. The bird shots are really good - attractive poses and beautiful soft backgrounds. What focal length are you using for these? The first one is a female blackbird, and I love the way you have caught her with the berry in he beak.

I like the larches too although the sky looks too blue to be true! But maybe it is like that in your part of the country. I remember being very puzzled as a child by their being deciduous.

Thanks, Tracer. Firstly, I should say that the blue of the sky above the larches is real. I checked back to see what processing I did on it and I had just tweaked the levels a tiny bit.

Thanks for confirming the blackbird. The problem I have with most of my bird shots is that I have the branch set up outside the kitchen window near the bird feeders. At this time of year, it is in heavy shade, so most of these shots have been taken at 1600 ISO and were rather noisy. I would love to get more DOF but because of the light conditions, I was using f7.1. The backgrounds are very soft because there is nothing between the branch and the trees at the far side of the garden, quite some distance away. It is good because it means that the eye is not distracted from the birds.

I must try to move the bird table and branch to a brighter position so that I can try to get some shots with a greater DOF and higher shutters speeds.

I love this thread Jenny and wondered how you would find pictures now most of the flowers have gone. The blackbird with the berry is great, with the berries providing lots of colour.

Thanks, Sue. No problem finding shots (even if I have to resort to lichen), but the weather and short days make it more difficult.

I really liked the blackbird shot even though the lighting isn't right.

H Jenny, Sorry I haven't commented on your thread for ages. I've popped in a couple of times but with a whole series of computer problems haven't been able to post.

I've just had a quick browse through - and I'm awestruck at the quality of your shots, week in, week out. They just get better and better (from an already good base!) It's a bit late to comment individually at the moment - but I'll have a proper catch up very soon.

Jean

Hi Jean, it is great to see you back. We have missed you. I hope all is now well with the computer. Many thanks for your comments, they are much appreciated and really give me some impetus to go out and get more. However, I think they are likely to go downhill from now on with the weather conditions and lack of light.

I will get over to your thread as soon as I can to see what you have been up to.

Jenny

 

[jennyb]

Okay - first catch up week. These were taken just before I went on holiday.

One thing that intrigues me about fungi are the seemingly infinite number of textures, shapes, sizes and colours. The first 2 photos were a bit experimental. Because they were so tiny (both about a centimeter across), I tried out both an extension tube and the Raynox, so I was really struggling with DOF.

The photos are not brilliant but I was trying to capture the "weirdness". Both of these tiny fungi were growing on an alder branch. If you look closely you can see they have actually burst through the bark.

First is the pipe club fungus which has jellylike texture and is a bit squishy. I did think about a square crop for this one to remove the dark bit down the side, but decided against because I think it puts it more in context on the twig.

Next is the Hazel Spring Cup which is definitely badly named because it was found on alder, not Hazel and in November, not spring!

Thank you to Leif Goodwin (www.leifgoodwin.co.uk) for the IDs.

Finally, a more "ordinary" fungus. The thing that attracted me to this was the colour and the slimyness (spelling?). Sadly, the light was not good, so it ended up being a bit of a "record" shot. I was not sure whether or not to post it. Also not sure of the ID, but I think it is a Lilac Fibrecap.

As usual C & C is very welcome.

Jenny

 

[jennyb]

When I went on holiday I left the stealthcam out in the garden in the hope of catching something interesting. Sadly, when the weather is cold the batteries go a bit flat and it takes a while for the flash to charge up after the motion detector is triggered. So, all I got was a very surprised hare with a bad case of red eye, a roe deer's bottom, a couple of badgers disappearing into the distance and a muntjac in a hurry. No point in posting any of them.

So, here are my offerings for week 47 - not taken in the garden. Unsurprisingly, we usually go on some sort of wildlife holiday - safari or whatever. We prefer to avoid the tourist spots and get out into the bush. OH does not mind as long as we have a few days by the beach for diving. This year with a general tightening of belts we opted for Cape Verde - something a bit different for us. We did however try very hard to avoid the tourist spots and found 2 island gems, Sao Vincente and Santa Anteo. The latter was especially nice. Not having an airport meant that tourists are fairly few and far between and tend to be day trippers.

We have travelled a lot over the years (I used to work for an airline) but I think we can safely say that Santa Anteo is the most spectacular place we have ever been to. Lots of hiking trails with amazing views. My photography skills sadly do not do the place justice. This was the view from our hotel.

Next was Sao Vincente, slightly more touristy but still unspoilt. One of the interesting things there were the huge grasshoppers - hundreds of them flying around like birds. Did not get any decent photos of them unfortunately.

This is one of my rare attempts at a sunset.

Comments are very much appreciated, especially suggestions to help improve my landscape skills.

Back to normal subject matter for week 48.

Jenny

 

[Tracer]

Lovely fungus shots, Jenny. I particularly like the first one and the way you have shown how it bursts out of the bark. I think you are right to leave in the dark background on the left as it gives a bit more context and also makes for a better composition IMO. The second one is even weirder. The slimy pink of the third one is distinctly unappetising, though .

The Cap Verde landscapes are beautiful, with excellent composition and lighting. The sunset is just stunning - maybe you should do some more!

 

[jennyb]

After hardly touching the camera all week since we got back from holiday, I finally managed to have a wander round the garden today to see what is happening. It started off very grey and misty but the sun finally broke through.

While were were away, all the holly bushes were stripped of berries. Unsurprising considering the weather. However, there are still plenty of Pyracantha berries - they must not be as tasty as the holly.

Most of the trees have lost their leaves except for the oaks, beech and larch which are still hanging on to some of theirs. This leads me to my first picture for this week, some beech leaves.

In spite of the cold, there are a couple of things still flowering, the winter heathers and the winter jasmine. Not too sure about this shot of winter jasmine. The first shots I tried were with the wall behind which did not really give a lot of contrast. I think I prefer the dark background, but it does make the flowers seem a bit too bright.

I have to admit that we have been rather lucky this week. Not only did we get back from holiday just before Gatwick closed, but we have had very little snow here - less than an inch. Sadly, I did not have time for photos until the snow was almost gone.

Anyway, it is almost Christmas and this 52 would not be complete without the next shot - a Christmas Robin complete with snow. I love the bit of snow on his beak! I was also going to try to clone more snow onto the branch but knew that it would not look authentic so left it as it was. I know the highlights are blown on the snow. I couldn't fix that.

I am now up to date and the weather forecast looks bright but cold for the coming week so hopefully I will not fall behind again.

As usual your comments are most welcome. I will now endeavour to catch up commenting on everyone else's threads.

Jenny

 

[ladysue]

Your two holiday pics are very beautiful- the sunset one is stunning. The close up of the jasmine is good. I have some in my garden but have never taken a close up.Robins are my favourite bird and I can never see too many photos of them.I love his snowy beak.

 

[jgs001]

more excellent shots Jenny.. The fungi are great, but the sunset shot stands out for me.

 

[jennyb]

I am still not happy with that previous Jasmine shot. Looking through the others I took, I think I prefer this one, probably because the shadows are less harsh.

I did not want to replace the original since people have already commented so I will show both.

Jenny

 

[jennyb]

Lovely fungus shots, Jenny. I particularly like the first one and the way you have shown how it bursts out of the bark. I think you are right to leave in the dark background on the left as it gives a bit more context and also makes for a better composition IMO. The second one is even weirder. The slimy pink of the third one is distinctly unappetising, though .

The Cap Verde landscapes are beautiful, with excellent composition and lighting. The sunset is just stunning - maybe you should do some more!

Thanks, Tracer. I find those tiny fungi really interesting. It is hard to see them clearly with the naked eye (although it would help if I wore my reading glasses!).

This is the first time I have attempted a sunset with my DSLR. I usually just use my point and shoot. I really did not have clue what settings to use but it seemed to work.

Your two holiday pics are very beautiful- the sunset one is stunning. The close up of the jasmine is good. I have some in my garden but have never taken a close up.Robins are my favourite bird and I can never see too many photos of them.I love his snowy beak.

Thanks, Sue. Yes, there is something very appealing about robins, especially when they fluff up their feathers in the cold weather. Their cuteness belies the that fact that they are very territorial and aggressive.

more excellent shots Jenny.. The fungi are great, but the sunset shot stands out for me.

Thanks, John. I am glad you like them, especially the sunset. I must check what settings I used for future reference. I just know that someone is going to come along and say the horizon is crooked. It is just very slightly (a fraction of a degree) and I don't think I can straighten it with that accuracy. There is a bit of an optical illusion with the curving cliffs on the right.

Jenny