Photo notes
photos, trips, tips and techniques.
November 2015
Achilleion Palace - Gastouri Corfu
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20mm lens at 1/40 sec , f7.1 , hand held
Square crop from the top area of the image Edit - jpeg - Just a curve adjustment and sharpening Camera set to daylight white balance and portrait mode |
Moon - whole image
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Moon - crop from image on left
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Moon - taken with 135mm lens on a tripod with "front curtain", mirror lock up and exposure delay. 1/200 sec at f2.8
August 2015
Sissinghurst Castle Garden - Nikon 24mm PC/E - Same file RAW and jpeg, on the left a raw edit through photoshop on the right a jpeg straight out of the camera. Only global changes/edits - white balance, lens corrections, brightness, contrast, clarity.
Sissinghurst Castle Garden - Nikon 24mm PC/E - RAW edit
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Sissinghurst Castle Garden - Nikon 24mm PC/E - No edit jpeg
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June 2015
Dormouse - Abbotsbury - June 2015
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Dormouse at Abbotsbury in June
100 macro lens 1/800 sec at f5 iso 500 Climbing through an Alder tree Only seen one once before from a distance, this little guy seemed to be very casual about my presence as long as I moved very slowly. Hand held shot Only edit was a slight curve adjustment |
May 2015
The Devonshire Dome Buxton
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The Devonshire Dome - Buxton - May 2015
Difficult to get a view point that removed all clutter and gave good directional lighting. Time 8am 28mm Nikon AIS lens 1/125 sec f5.6 Edit notes - RAW Lens correction White balance Shadow lightened + 3/4 Contrast + Clarity + Format to 8x10 |
April 2015
Hidcote - Pleached hedge - April 2015
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Hidecote - Pleached hedge
35mm lens Edit notes - RAW desaturated Sky darkened Hedge lightened Contrast increased Box hedge burnt in Sepia tone |
March 2015
Stourhead library - Nikon 24mm pc/e lens
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Stourhead library
Nikon 24mm PC/E lens with rise iso 100 f5 1/125 sec Weather/time of day - Mid-day, part sun and thin cloud Edit notes - A RAW was necessary for this shot. Adjustments - white balance, lens correction, global lightening then extra on the fireplace and stained glass window. Slight reduction on windows. Slight curve adjustment to bump up contrast. |
February 2015
Passing storm - Patagonia
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This photo was taken from the back seat of a moving bus with the lens pressed up against the window. Its often the case when travelling abroad that you pass through somewhere once probably never to return so I think its always worth trying to get some sort of record. This was one of many shots I took on the 5 hour journey most of which were discarded.
105mm lens at f4.5 - 1/8000 sec - iso 1100 Edit notes - The horizon was way off level and the white balance needed adjusting and finally about 1/2 a stop darkening of the sky. |
January 2015
Weymouth seafront from Greenhill
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A challenging shot for any lens this was taken on a Nikon 50 mm f1.8 standard lens at f10. No flaring or CA and pin sharp from edge to edge it was just down to me to make a decent job at the edit stage.
Without going too far I wanted detail in the sky and in the foreground - much as I saw on the day. The raw edit included - curves, masking the foreground, grad to the sky then a fine tune on the sliders. I left a small area of the sea as the brightest highlight. |
December 2014
The Pier and Volcán Osorno - Frutillar Chile
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View of Lake Llanquihue and Volcano Osorno from Frutillar - A hand held snap taken well after sunset on the way to a resturant. It was pure chance I had my camera with me as it was dark and late and we had spent the day going up the volcano across the lake.
35mm lens at f2 - 1/80 sec. iso 900. This image required moderate raw adjustments, including white balance, masking, lens correction and all the normal sliders tweaked. At 100% there is quite a lot of visible noise. |
November 2014
Paddle Steamer Waverley passing the Needles at sunset
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Waverley returning direct to Swanage after calling at Ryde and missing out Bournemouth because she was running late. The good news was a closer look at the needles, the bad news getting back to Bournemouth 2 hours late.
I managed to take 6 shots refocusing and fine tuning the composition before the moment passed. With the ships movement and the wind blowing getting a sharp result was a priority. 50mm lens at f7.1 - 1/100 sec with -1 EV. iso 720 Paddle Steamer Waverley page |
October 2014
Maiden Castle Dorset - October 2014
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Maiden Castle Dorset just after sunset.
50mm f1.8 lens at f7. 1/100 sec at iso 1800. Converted to black and white in ACR then a selenium tone added in photoshop. The main adjustment in ACR was to increase contrast and clarity in the foreground to lift the dead grasses and pathway. This was done as a mask. The sky was darkened very slightly using a grad filter. Edit time 5 minutes. |
September 2014
Chesil Beach Dorset from the Portland end on an unusually calm day
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Chesil Beach early September in exceptionally calm weather. I was out field testing the Fujifilm X-E2 on this glorious day making photos with a Nikon DSLR at the same time to compare results. This shot was taken with the Nikon and 35mm lens just as the gulls were passing through. 1\640 sec at f5.6. The iso was 100 a higher iso would have given me more depth of focus and a higher shutter speed to freeze the birds but it was a fleeting moment, one chance one shot!
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August 2014
Roque de los Muchachos Observatory - La Palma Canary Islands
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This photo was taken at mid-day at an altitude of around 2400 m on the island of La Palma in the Canary islands. I took a similar shot on both film and digital about 10 years ago (same time of day) with predictably disappointing results.
Hand held shot 1/200 sec at f7.1 on a zeiss 35mm f2 lens with a polarising filter. This file was just a normal sized jpeg. I took 4 shots of this scene this was the 4th. For editing just a small curve adjustment was required. As a rule I tend to only shoot raws in difficult lighting or for shots with great potential mainly to minimise file storage space and the work load. This is one of those shots where the results turned out to be better than expected! |
July 2014
Cotswolds at dawn
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Up at the golden hour, 5 am on the 21st of June in the Cotswolds. Hand held shot taken with a 35mm lens at 1/80 sec at f9 iso 800. Just a few global editing adjustments required, no dodging burning or masking. I took about 8 shots of this subject from slightly different angles partly for composition but mainly to ensure I would get a sharp result.
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June 2014
Irish pub - Killarney
Early evening in the main street of Killarney in Ireland. This town is a tourist hotspot with people from all over passing through. This was a quick grab shot from across the main street when there was a gap in the crowds. Taken on an 85mm lens at 1/200 sec at f5.6 iso 2200 the RAW file was converted to black and white by moving the saturation slider. Finished off by a curve adjustment to increase contrast. Very quick and easy.
May 2014
Savill Building Savill Garden
If you google "Savill Building" you get hundreds of excellent photos of this very impressive structure. Opened in 2006 its a fantastic entrance to an equally fabulous garden. The undulating roof shaped like a leaf blends with the landscape and compliments the garden. I tried capturing the essence of the building from several angles but none were as successful as some of the images on google (which by the way I've only just looked at). This shot was a snap taken as I was leaving at the end of the day, hand held with a very old 28mm Nikon f2.8 lens. I almost never shoot with the sun in the frame as the results are normally a disaster but on this occasion the lens performed beautifully with very little editing required. It doesn't show the roof in all its glory but nevertheless an interesting shot that I was happy with.
April 2014
Anemone Bordeux Dublin Botanic garden
Taken in the Alpine house at Dublin Botanic garden in overcast weather. 1/50 sec at f5.6 105mm macro lens. Raw conversion with slight darkening and increasing contrast.
March 2014
Side street off Quarry Wharf Valletta Malta
Valletta is a maze of narrow streets and tall old buildings, very picturesque. This shot was one of a series taken on a days shoot round the capitol, roughly in between the two Barrakka Gardens. Hand held 1/320 sec at f7.1 iso 100 with a 20 year old super sharp 105 mm macro lens. At 100% you can see a dozen or so people amongst the buildings.
Only a minimal amount of editing was needed dodging and burning the highlights and shadows to raise the contrast a little.
Only a minimal amount of editing was needed dodging and burning the highlights and shadows to raise the contrast a little.
February 2014
Sydney harbour at night
Last night in Australia and I had to get some shots of the harbour area. It was early evening not long after sunset and the weather was on the change. This photo was taken just before it started to rain and there were flashes of lightening behind the clouds. It was the only shot of about 20 that captured the lightening. Using a 24mm lens at f8 for 5 seconds.
January 2014
Dove Lake and Cradle Mountain Tasmania
The walk around Dove Lake is in the top 10 things to do in Tasmania. This photo is not far from the car park at the beginning of the walk which takes about half a day. I waited on this spot hoping for better light, perhaps more sun on the mountain but it just wasn't going to happen. This was mid morning and the sun seemed to be at an angle that put any cloud between it and the mountain. So I just took a few shots and moved on. The results were better than predicted with plenty of good tones and shadow detail. The light that day was in fact wonderful. This is 2 photos blended in photoshop, a single shot wouldn't give me the composition I wanted. 35mm lens at 1/100 sec at f10.
December 2013
The Great Divide Tasmania
This was a quick hand held shot taken with a 28mm lens at 1/125 sec at f8. This photo has had the full photoshop treatment going through RAW greyscale and then a further toning process with fine adjustments to the colours of the tones. So many variables that it would be difficult to repeat from scratch. Interesting to note that the last 5 photos on this page were hand held shots even though 95% of my photos are taken with a tripod.
November 2013
Black Tiger Snake Tasmania
Taken using a 28mm lens and the camera dangling down on the strap and set to self timer. It was a very cold day around 15 degrees C and thats cold for reptiles. It was even raining a little so these guys were sitting tight.
October 2013
The Cloisters at Lacock Abbey
Lacock Abbey's most famous resident was the man who made a major contribution to the very invention of photography, William Henry Fox Talbot. The cloisters are perhaps the most photographed feature at Lacock and its not hard to see why.
The weather was deadly dull with light rain and required the iso to be wound up to 3200 to give a respectable hand held speed of 1/30 sec at f8 on a 28mm lens. It was a quick shot (3actually) between groups of visitors going through.
The photo of the cloisters was converted to black and white and given a toned effect of sepia and selenium. The 3 shots were stitched then edited in photoshop.
The weather was deadly dull with light rain and required the iso to be wound up to 3200 to give a respectable hand held speed of 1/30 sec at f8 on a 28mm lens. It was a quick shot (3actually) between groups of visitors going through.
The photo of the cloisters was converted to black and white and given a toned effect of sepia and selenium. The 3 shots were stitched then edited in photoshop.
September 2013
King Vulture
Portrait of a king vulture taken on a 300mm lens hand held and through the wire mesh of the enclosure. Not one of natures beauties but nevertheless very eye catching. Camera set to iso 3200 1/640 sec at f5.
August 2013
The Balcony of Europe at sunset
The Balcony of Europe is a popular place to hang out at sunset just people relaxing and seeing whose around. This photo was taken with a 28mm lens 1/125 sec at f8 ISO 200. This is the sort of shot that needs to be taken on a RAW to allow for all the necessary adjustments. White balance, brightness, contrast, colour saturation, colour fringing and curves all needed tweaking.
July 2013
Chameleon on the move
This photo illustrates how well chameleons are adapted to an arboreal life. With its prehensile tail anchoring it to the branch its able to reach full stretch to nearby bushes grab a leaf and pull it closer so it can then get a secure grip on twigs and cross over. Taken in available light at 1/60 sec to capture a little blur and emphasise movement.
June 2013
Jellyfish Monterey Bay Aquarium
The Monterey Bay Aquarium is one of the finest displays of marine life in the world. Strange and beautiful creatures to admire and study. 24mm lens at f2.8 for 1/15 sec hand held iso 800.
May 2013
Copper Beech trees in early morning light
Taken this morning the 11th of May with the leaves just out and the grass wet from overnight rain. The weather was mixed and it was raining again by the time I got back to the car. I used a 35mm lens at f11 1/50 sec and stitched 2 shots together. I thought this was the strongest final image of the set as some of the single shots made the fallen log too prominent. Editing was quick and easy just a little lightening of the foreground and holding back the brightest area.
April 2013
Teide National Park Tenerife
The Roques de Garcia featuring Roque Chinchado on the left and mount Teide in the background is one of the most visited natural wonders in Europe. Rows of coaches pull up here so tourists by the hundred can take in this view everyday. This photo was taken about half an hour after sunrise and well before the crowds start to arrive. The temperature was 5 degrees centigrade.
Taken with a 45mm lens it's 2 images stitched together, the greatest challenge with this shot was ensuring that everything was sharp front to back which means focusing is absolutely critical. I often take several shots when I'm happy with the composition, manually refocusing each time just to be sure I've got it right, f11 was enough to give me the required depth of field.
Taken with a 45mm lens it's 2 images stitched together, the greatest challenge with this shot was ensuring that everything was sharp front to back which means focusing is absolutely critical. I often take several shots when I'm happy with the composition, manually refocusing each time just to be sure I've got it right, f11 was enough to give me the required depth of field.
March 2013
Tokay Gecko. Gekko gecko. S E Asia.
The Tokay gecko is the second largest gecko the largest is a species from New Caledonia. This adult female is about a foot long and very good tempered. Tokay geckos have a reputation for being aggressive but I think thats mainly down to stress and if they are happy and well fed calm down quite a lot though they still need careful handling. This photo was taken with a mix of available light and some fill just to give a lift. 1/13 sec at f13 iso 100 using a 60mm lens.
February 2013
Girls on the steps to the temple of Wat Phra That Doi Suthep
The Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep temple is on the top of a hill in the Doi Suthep National Park, only a short drive from the city of Chiang Mai in Thailand. Over 300 steps have to be climbed to get to the temple. This photo was taken on the steps at midday amongst the masses making the climb. Just a quick grab shot as I passed by, taken with a 85mm lens at 1/200 sec at f5 iso 250. No raw for this shot only a jpeg with the camera set on auto white balance and standard. The only edit was a little lightening round the faces.
January 2013
Portland from the top of Lime Kiln hill Abbotsbury in Dorset
Mid winter is a great time for landscape photography, soft light, mist, the sun low in the sky etc. I've been down this hill many hundreds of times and can count on one hand how often its been worth stopping for a shot. It would have been better if I'd got there a little earlier to set up because within 5 minutes it was all over. This is a hand held shot, (2 actually photoshopped together) taken at 1/80 second at f4.5 on a 85mm lens at ISO 100. I had a tripod with me but not the time to use it. I took about 10 shots at different apertures and speeds but most were either not sharp enough or lacked depth of focus. This photo is edited from 2 basic jpegs through photoshop, when I have the time I will have a go at the RAWS but my old computer won't like it.
December 2012
Stinsford Church in winter
I came upon this scene almost by accident. It was a frosty foggy morning and I was out on the hunt for interesting subjects. I managed to get a few trees in the mist and ice on frozen flood water but nothing exceptional. I took this by the car just before heading home. In any other light this composition would have been very difficult to record, highlights and shadows would have been lost. No dodging or burning required I just lightened it a third of a stop in the Raw edit and the job was done. Taken an hour after sunrise 1/25 sec at f10 iso100 on a 24mm lens.
November 2012
The Church of St Nektarios near Archpoli, Rhodes
On the east side of the island of Rhodes past the seven springs and just before the village of Archipoli is the beautiful church of St Nektarios. In an attempt to show the splendour of the interior I took three wide angle shots and stitched them together in photoshop. Each exposure was 4 seconds at f7, the light levels were very low. The only editing the images needed was extra brightening to reveal the extraordinary detail in this fine building.
October 2012
Paddle Steamer Waverley at Swanage pier
Waverley arrived at Swanage pier nearly half an hour after sunset so the light levels were seriously low. The aperture was wide open at f2.8 and the iso set to 3200 giving a shutter speed of 1/5 of a second. I anticipated a blurred, noisy and decidedly soft result. I could't have been more wrong, the lens performed beautifully the shutter speed was enough to freeze the ship and the noise levels well within tolerance. Editing involved adjusting the white balance, raising the exposure by a quarter of a stop and a slight noise reduction. I also cropped the image by about 10%. Waverley is the last steam ship of her kind and is run by a team of dedicated enthusiasts. She was built for the Clyde and spends her time sailing the south coast, the Thames, the Bristol Channel and of course the Clyde, followed by a well earned rest in the winter.
September 2012
Maiden Castle is an iron age hill fort near Dorchester in Dorset
The forecast was clear and sunny so I had planned an early morning shoot on the coast. Thick fog meant a change of plan and I decided to have a go at Maiden Castle a subject I'd attempted in the past but not with great success. What I was hoping for was the fog to hang in the ditches of the fort with the sun on the horizon, but of course this didn't happen and as the sun got higher and stronger the fog just burnt gradually away. This was the best shot I got. These are just 2 jpegs unedited stitched together. 1/80th sec at f14 iso100.
August 2012
Sorrento in August
Sorrento in August is hot and busy and with its limited beaches a spot by the sea is in demand. This was taken at mid day with Naples and Vesuvius almost lost in the heat haze on the other side of the bay. A hand held shot which required very little editing.
July 2012
Madagascar Day Gecko Phelsuma madagascariensis grandis
60mm lens taken at 1/5 sec at f11. This photo was taken using natural light on an overcast day. The background was a large piece of black card. The plant a sub tropical fern. The gecko is captive bred and around a month old measuring a couple of inches. They are particularly beautiful at this age and slightly more calm. As they get older they become faster and far more flighty until adulthood. The problem with these geckos is you can't handle them as they are so delicate and if they make a run for it you've got to move like lightening. This guy behaved beautifully sitting relaxed on this leaf for 20 minutes or more, I think the fact that he had a large breakfast helped. The only editing for this shot was to correct the white balance.
June 2012
The Devil's Cauldron at Lydford Gorge
Exposure for this photo was around 1/2 a second at f14 on a 18mm lens. No filter. The exposure was governed by the highlights in the water. In the RAW editing stage the image was lightened as much as possible whilst trying to avoid clipping in the highlights. In photoshop the highlights in the rocks were given a lift.
May 2012
Grass snake
Grass snake just under a metre in length. Taken in fine weather with available light at iso 500. Using a 105 macro lens 1/15 sec at f13. The snake posed very nicely for this shot before going on its way.
April 2012
Dorset in April. Rainbow over rapeseed
Taken in Mid April a few years ago, a lucky shot by the roadside. I had about 30 seconds to get out the car, grab the camera, cross the road and shoot 1 shot and it was gone. If I had been 1 minute earlier the rainbow would have been even better in fact I thought at the time that I had nothing worthwhile. So I can't grumble and it sells well. 1/160 sec at f11. 24mm lens.
March 2012
Tree ferns at Edinburgh Botanic Garden
Fern House. The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. 14mm lens 1/50 sec at f.11. A wide angle lens was essential in this confined area. The relatively soft light was enough to keep detail in the highlights as well as the shadows. The exposure was reduced by 1/4 stop in raw conversion and the mid tones lifted a little in levels.
February 2012
Ficus tree Tenerife Botanical Garden
This is the result of 3 RAWS merged in photoshop. All 3 shots were at 1/20 sec at f 18 using a 24mm lens. As an experiment I also stitched the 3 jpegs taken at the same time and compared the 2 finished photos side by side. This one is slightly better, in terms of colour balance and detail but theres not much in it.
I posted the jpeg image on botanical garden photography.
I posted the jpeg image on botanical garden photography.
January 2012
Montacute House
Montacute House, late afternoon in January. An extra half stop exposure was given for the important shadow detail on the house and for maximum depth of field an aperture of f14 was selected which gave a shutter speed of 1/25 sec. Processing/editing involved pushing the white balance up a little from the daylight setting to warm things up and then removing countless spots from the sky (sensor needs a clean). Lens focal length in 35mm film was 36mm.
Autumn 2011
Abbotsbury Sub Tropical Gardens middle pond in Autumn
This photo was taken in late November at Abbotsbury Gardens. A 24mm lens was used and its the result of 2 raws merged in photoshop then cropped a little. Very little post editing just a slight darkening at the top to recover clipping. White balance was changed from auto to daylight and the colour raised a fraction.
1/8 sec at f14 iso200.
1/8 sec at f14 iso200.
