John's Photo 52 - Week 27 Added (10th July) - Highlight

At first I thought this was a really tough theme. Then it occurred to me. Flight always and watching things flying always gives me a sense of freedom. In fact the most memorable moment of freedom I've seen on screen was in Harry Potter when he was riding Buckbeak across the Hogwarts lake in Prisoner of Azkaban...

Ah sorry... was up in the clouds for a moment... Anyway, I'd wanted to get a shot of a gull or something similar gliding in the breeze... a bit like these (which are old ones... I nearly recycled the Tern shot for this week).

tern

or

gull

For months there have been dozens of gulls flying overheard... but this week, not a one...

I did try to get a pigeon, but I'm not happy with the shot, but if you want to see it..

Pigeon in Flight

I did hear a light aircraft, and spotted it circling reasonably low and nearby and got a few shots of that... This has ended up being my 52 shot for this week.

IMG_6298.jpg


I've not had an opportunity to get a reshoot shot, but I may yet.

Only the one lesson really, shooting birds in flight is really rather hard, it's even harder when there aren't any flying around, and to get them to fly you have to scare them off. Scaring birds, and holding a camera steady on the bird as it's moving, with only one hand, is nigh on impossible.
 
Good shot John, little bit of prop blur too.

I love the tern pic, thats a cracker.
 
I love the blue background in contrast the the plane in this, it makes for a very striking shot!!

well done! :clap::clap:
 
Hyster said:
Good shot John, little bit of prop blur too.

I love the tern pic, thats a cracker.
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Thanks Hyster. Just wish I could of gotten something like that for this theme.

adrury said:
I love the blue background in contrast the the plane in this, it makes for a very striking shot!!

well done! :clap::clap:
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Thanks very much Andrea. I was lucky with the sky.

SarahLee said:
I'm too new to this to offer any technical insight, but all I can say is ":thumbs: I like !"

I'd be really proud of myself if I could produce something like that.
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Thank you very much :thumbs:
 
I love this shot :clap::clap::clap::clap:

Well captured and an amazing blue sky for the UK!

My first thought was to capture a fluffy cloud as floating like a cloud feels like freedom to me but clouds are like hens' teeth around here :D
 
Lovely blue sky, well composed with the plane having plenty of room to fly into.. good work, I like it!
 
Bruja said:
I love this shot :clap::clap::clap::clap:

Well captured and an amazing blue sky for the UK!

My first thought was to capture a fluffy cloud as floating like a cloud feels like freedom to me but clouds are like hens' teeth around here :D
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Thanks very much Jill. We do get that sort of sky occasionally. If you like we can send some of our clouds over your way :D...

maddog.mark said:
Lovely blue sky, well composed with the plane having plenty of room to fly into.. good work, I like it!
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Cheers Mark
 
development is a great shot lovely detail and colours

freedom, that sky is fantastic and the composition is spot on :thumbs:
 
Thanks very much Ruth
 
:D... Nice ID... I thought it was a Cessna of some sort.

Cheers Kenny :thumbs:
 
Does it for me! :thumbs:
 
Catch up time...:(

Your Development shot is brilliant and a great capture...:clap::clap::clap:

Freedom is pretty good also, it's not easy getting these sort of moving shots so I take my hat off to you Sir...:clap::clap::clap:
 
Thanks very much :thumbs:
 
Sorry I'm so late replying have been working.

Really like your idea, AND the shot you managed with the pigeons, very good :clap:

But that plane shot :clap: :thumbs: that is awesome against that pure blue sky
 
Thanks very much Shorty :thumbs:
 
Not an easy subject this week, given how little night we actually get this time of year. However, not to be deterred, I tried a couple of things anyway.

First up an image that I'd intended for the shot for this week, Pond at Night, not an easy prospect to expose correctly..

IMG_6391.jpg


Second, a chance shot I spotted, and the scene looked so amazing, I tried to capture it. There was no way that the camera could capture the dynamic range in a single shot, so I tried a three shot bracket, but that didn't work either. In the end I manually shot a 6 shot varied exposure and merged them into an HDR. It's not quite come out how I'd hoped, but I quite like the effect none the tess

Lunar Corona
6shotmoon.jpg


Lessons

1) Getting the exposure right at night with widely varying light sources is really rather hard
2) Processing these is harder than normal
 
Another late one :) Sorry John :)

Development: Thats a cool picture, love the colours and excellent shot for a grab - I hope things worked out for the lovely couple :D

Freedom: Simple, clear, colourful and spot on theme :)

Night: Another two shotter like me :) I like the pond shot but I love that mood shot - you're processing has really done it justice!

Good set as ever :)
 
I really like the shot of the moon, you have got some great detail in there. I would have cropped the dark corner in the bottom right hand side as it detracts a little, but this is a shot I would be proud to call my own!!!:D :clap: :clap:
 
kennysarmy said:
Great exposure on the pond shot...
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Thank you :thumbs:

Dark Star said:
Another late one Sorry John

Development: Thats a cool picture, love the colours and excellent shot for a grab - I hope things worked out for the lovely couple :D

Freedom: Simple, clear, colourful and spot on theme :)

Night: Another two shotter like me :) I like the pond shot but I love that mood shot - you're processing has really done it justice!

Good set as ever :)
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Cheers John, no worries :thumbs:... Mother and child I think for Development John, rather than a couple :D

SarahLee said:
I think the pond one's my favourite . . . probably because I've got a soft spot for ponds / fish.
But both are really effective. The couple of moon shots that I've tried have been utterly disastrous
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Thanks Sarah. Getting a decent image of the moon is surprisingly tough, I've been working on it since I got into Astronomy about 18 months ago, so I've had plenty of practice ;)

adrury said:
I really like the shot of the moon, you have got some great detail in there. I would have cropped the dark corner in the bottom right hand side as it detracts a little, but this is a shot I would be proud to call my own!!!
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Thanks very much Angela, you're right about the bottom corner.. :bang: I should've spotted that myself :nuts:
 
I too have found night time exposure very difficult (and as you can see from my shot, in more ways than one :lol:)

The pond shot is well exposed but my favourite is the lunar corona :clap::clap::clap:

It might not have turned out the way you wanted it but it´s a very atmospheric shot (no pun intended ;)) so well done for persevering :thumbs:
 
I prefer the pond shot if only because it's a bit different. Both pictures work well though. Good work

Mark:thumbs:
 
Two shots for the price of one - and both excellent - what a bargain!

I'm jealous of the pond shot - lighting is great and your pond looks well cared-for and up together. :thumbs:

I'm jealous of your moon shot because I wouldn't know where to start. It's way too technical for me, but I luuuuurve it. :love:

Jean the Jealous :)
 
Bruja said:
I too have found night time exposure very difficult (and as you can see from my shot, in more ways than one :lol:)

The pond shot is well exposed but my favourite is the lunar corona :clap:

It might not have turned out the way you wanted it but it´s a very atmospheric shot (no pun intended ;)) so well done for persevering :thumbs:
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Thanks very much Jill... Your shot is superb (Sure I said that elsewere ;))..

maddog.mark said:
I prefer the pond shot if only because it's a bit different. Both pictures work well though. Good work

Mark:thumbs:
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Thanks Mark

jeangenie said:
Two shots for the price of one - and both excellent - what a bargain!

I'm jealous of the pond shot - lighting is great and your pond looks well cared-for and up together. :thumbs:

I'm jealous of your moon shot because I wouldn't know where to start. It's way too technical for me, but I luuuuurve it. :love:

Jean the Jealous :)
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Thanks very much Jean. I'm not sure about the well cared for bit... good job this wasn't during the day and looking into it :D... but there's been quite a bit of time spent trying to sort it out to look nice at least... and the bugs seem to like it. As for the lunar corona, it's an amazing sight to see and yet so hard to capture.
 
I like them both, I think you pulled off a couple of great shots for this weeks theme...:thumbs:
 
Thanks very much Marcus
 
You did really well with the exposure of the pond, your not wrong about now difficult it is.

Good to see a moon shot as well, although from you i was expecting a stary sky :D
 
Thanks Ruth. The time of year means that there's only a 2 or 3 hours per night that are useable for that... and I need more sleep than a starscape would allow.
 
I spent quit some time, early in the week, struggling with this. Then like a bolt out of the blue, it whacked my around the head. So laying out some black cloth near the patio doors, and placing the shiny head of my flute on it. I set to it and here's the result.

IMG_7443.jpg


Lessons learned:

1) Not so much from this shot per se, but using the correct material, and position in the first place, makes adjusting the shot in processing after so much easier.

2) I oddly enjoyed this one, perhaps it was the opportunity to get my flute out, if only for a short time... Maybe I'll be able to find the time to start playing it again.
 
Lovely and made me realise why I try not to look at other peoples shots before I do mine!! I was trying to think of something I could use to get a similar effect, so I may have to change my idea now!
 
Thanks David... That's the reason I don't look to... However, it was still your idea, so is still valid..
 
Both shots are great, but I think second one for me :love: :clap:

Sorry I'm late catching up again

Just seen your entry for this week too, I like that and certainly on theme. Very well executed :thumbs:
 
Your highlight pic is very good, simple but very well done.
 
Highlight, a great interpretation of the theme and really well executed to. This was just natural light then? If so well controlled sir!
 
Shorty said:
Both shots are great, but I think second one for me :love: :clap:

Sorry I'm late catching up again

Just seen your entry for this week too, I like that and certainly on theme. Very well executed :thumbs:
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Thanks very much Shorty

Hyster said:
Your highlight pic is very good, simple but very well done.
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Thanks Hyster

maddog.mark said:
Highlight, a great interpretation of the theme and really well executed to. This was just natural light then? If so well controlled sir!
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Thanks very much Mark. Yep, just natural light, thank you again. I'm far more comfortable with natural light, than trying to create my own.
 
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