About 15 minutes into the regular walk route – large red (spiky!) berries, birch and willow trees spreading their branches, and two collapsing fence-posts – a pleasantly futile gesture of keeping nature at bay.
Tag Archives: closeup
Around a Graveyard
A small set of photos made in Kinnoull Graveyard, Perth.
A friend from the photo-society had posted a handful of photos of this graveyard on facebook a few days previously, so I had a few ideas for scenes to shoot when we went there last November.
In particular, the obvious manipulated moody photo is an example of bokeh-panorama aka Brenzer technique – using a comparatively long focal length lens at wide aperture to narrow the depth of field and stitching a panorama to restore the field of view angle. In this case, it was a Zeiss 50mm f/2.8 lens, but the resultant shot would require a lens of 13mm f/0.85 to achieve in a single exposure.
Up Kinnoull Hill: Wistful
A simple scene – I spotted this bramble silhouetted against the glowing low sun just as I was heading back down the hill to the carpark.
It’s been a while…
It’s been a few months now since I called time on the fixation with black&white closeup as a style. So it’s time to remember how to do it… Herewith, mostly as a lens-test, cyclamen and cactus plants from the kitchen windowsill.
Since I last looked, RawTherapee has changed a lot – I’ve learned that the `Contrast by Details’ control was responsible for some undesirable noisy artefacts in previous profiles, it’s gained better control over black and white conversion and even support for X-Trans sensors (now there’s something to lust after).
A Walk in the Woods
Details from a walk in the Black Woods of Rannoch, one of the Caledonian Forest reserves, in September.
Light, Land and Heather… and ferns
I was quite pleased to notice that one of my favourite afternoon quick-escape locations is technically just north of the Highland Boundary Fault.
As I drove off the road, a flock of over 20 grouse shot out from the undergrowth and sprinted for dear life in front of me up to the carpark. Walking through the trees, I disturbed a deer grazing on the heather. Sometimes, you just can’t beat a few hours in golden sunlight, staring at mountains, for relaxation.
Berries
More seasonal colours – red hawthorn berries seen on a walk in local woods.
Seasonal Delight
Detail of a fly agaric mushroom – just one of many tens of fungi found on a walk in the Black Woods of Rannoch, one of a few Caledonian Forest reserves.
Cauldron Falls, West Burton
One of my favoured parts of North Yorkshire’s scenery is the well-known waterfall at West Burton. Always good for a bit of classical landscape photography, exploring both context and closeup (“intimate landscape”); it’s also quite fun to compare with other people’s views of the same location, although I envy anyone who manages to get good light in such a location.
Seasonal (2): blackberries
The beginnings of yummy juiciness – red and some ripe black blackberries.
Seasonal (1): Teasel
I can never remember whether these are thistles or teasels. Either way, it’s quite an impressive ball of spikes.
Go on, say it: you don’t want to be sitting on that…
Decrepitude (0): Lock
Detail of a rusted padlock on a cast iron gate, basking in the late evening sunlight.
Squaring the Spheres
A few weeks ago I ordered a pair of extension tubes for the Sony NEX-7; today I got around to experimenting with them for the first time. It’s quite scary seeing so much dust on the live-view LCD panel and realising it’s actually on the front of the lens.
Two tangerines and an apple.
Three Balls – two tangerines and an apple
Change to Fair
Fisherman’s Barometer, St Andrews
The fisherman’s barometer, corner of North Castle and North Streets, St Andrews.
A little experimentation in The Gimp, to create a synthetic “scratches” texture layer – using plasma clouds, old-photo simulation, distortions and other trickery.
Nocturnal Visitor
A hedgehog living in the parents’ garden – a delightful honour to see the wee thing strolling around of an evening, chomping on the crunchy food left out.
Yay hedgie!!