First Gold Of The Olympics!

I should have posted this much earlier - but frankly, I have been a bit dazed!

Back in July, I won a Gold medal for an image I created.  I started entering Salons last November (for the uninitiated, these are International Competitions, run by different countries around the world ) Great fun - but a little costly!  There are up to 5000 competitors entering each Salon - so competition is tough, and just getting an acceptance is cause for great excitement!

I really hadn't expected to get any acceptances, let alone an AWARD!

Anyway - this was the winning image!

The Banjo Busker

The picture is a composite: that is - two images put together.  The graffiti was in a tunnel in southern Ireland and I had to press myself hard against the opposite tunnel wall and use my widest angle lens to capture it.  Even then I had to "patch" in some detail along the lower edge to finish it off - and then flipped it left to right.

The busker was in the street playing his banjo - but was very shy, and wouldn't look up.  As it turned out, I think that was for the best.  I had to cut the busker out, and then place him in the scene, with the graffiti-man apparently having been woken up by the "noise"!

I loved the end result - and fortunately, so did the judges in Slovakia!

Textured Overlays

On 23rd September, I did a lecture at the Royal Photographic Society's Western Region Digital Imaging Group.
Texture layers over images is a technique I had long promised myself I would learn.  Call it laziness? Call it taking on too much? Call it what you will - but the end result was that I had not got around to doing anything about learning this new skill!
So - what did muggins do?  Stuck my hand up last March and volunteered to "teach" about three dozen doyens of the RPS how do do this!!
No fool like an old fool - and how right they are!  But I can certainly recommend "volunteering" to do things like this as a wonderful way to hone your skills and learn new things!
Everyone was kind enough on the day to say they enjoyed it all - and even learned something!  True to say, there were some at the meeting who knew more than I did and were very generous with their hints and suggestions!

Here are a few of my favourite images from that day!

A Rose by Any Name

Apple Blossom

Magnolia Bloom

One Green Bottle

The eyes Have "It"

Venice Carnival Figure

The Writing Is On The Petals

Feeling Trapped!

It's now eight weeks since he broke his leg - and the lad is feeling more than a little trapped!  The plaster came off last Tuesday - and he now sports a big Cyber Boot!  Very sexy!  This has to be worn for another four weeks - and it's fair to say, he is feeling VERY TRAPPED!!!

Must try harder!

Just spent a very hard working week in Yorkshire on a workshop with Guy Edwardes, Sheila and Gareth.  The weather was fairly kind to us - with only one morning when it rained, and then we "played" with out computers.  More images from the week will follow when I have time to process them.

In the meantime, I realised I don't use my camera enough.  The controls aren't instinctive.  So - to try to address this problem, I hope to go out every day and take photos, if only to reinforce what we learned this last week.

To start with - here are some bluebell shots I took yesterday, and processed today.  

The first in this series.  Taken at about 8.00pm on the last night of the workshop.  The exercise was to maximise depth of field.  The idea is to have everything sharp, from front to back.  Now to try to do this myself, without help!!

The above two pictures were taken at the same location on the same evening.  No help to get the depth of field right!
The bottom image was taken at about 9.00pm - which explains the darker tones.

Taken back in Devon on Sunday.  Not a world-shattering image - but trying the hyperfocal technique I learned, and putting it into practice before I forgot how to do it!!

Something different!  Tried my hand at focus stacking.  Using my macro lens, I hunted around for a good bluebell flower, then proceeded to focus on different parts of the flower heads.  Back at home, I then processed seven images, gradually building a final image with front-to-back sharp focus on all the flowers.

Assuming you're sick and tired of bluebell snaps - here's something different!  Thanks to Gareth, on the workshop, who inspired us to have a go at this!  Wide angle lens, and looking up at the trees in the bluebell woods!  We had great fun for quite some time!!

Thursday

A late finish to last evening (midnight) then up again at 3.00am - quick bit of breakfast, then we were on the road by 3.30am.  Reason?  Weather forecast for this part of the world was not good at all - but over in the Lakes, bright sun was predicted - so Guy felt there was a good chance of some misty sunrise shots.

Arrived in the Lakes at 5.00am - and had to dash down to the lake and do some very fast shutter work to catch the rising sun - and mist!

Ashness Bridge - photographed to death = but you have to do it when you're there!!

Then it was off for reflection-type shots.  Finally - we stopped for a "proper" breakfast in Ambleside, at a lovely Restaurant called The Glassworks.  Replenished, we then started to slowly wend our way back towards the Yorkshire Dales.  Stopped enroute once again to snap some lovely back-lit trees in a field of sheep, then we "did" the classic boathouse shot on Ullswater. 

'That' boathouse on Ullswater!

This gave Guy a chance to have a half hour catnap (he is doing all the driving location finding - and Grouse spotting!)

Finally, arrived back near our base and had another go at Grouse shooting (with the cameras, of course!)  Some of the birds were very shy - but others were more tolerant.

Thought you'd like to see a Lapwing instead of yet another grouse!

Guy stalking a golden plover.

Tea and crumpets at 7.00pm.  Totally exhausted - but what a good day!

Wednesday

Up at 4.00am.  Quick breakfast, then we were on the road by 4.30am.  Ultimately, headed over to Ingleborough for the limestone pavements.  Enroute, we detoured to photograph attractive barns, anything in good light!

The long, long walk up to the trees on the limestone pavements.  The red circle shows you where!

The hike up onto the limestone pavement was something else!  A really workout!  Unfortunately, I managed to clout my Canon 5D against a bit of the limestone, and the end result was a cracked back screen!  The pix were worth it - and the camera is still working - so all is not lost!

Finally, we chased some Red Grouse about the moors, trying to get some more images of them.

The very tolerant grouse "posing" for us!



Tuesday

Another really early start!  I'm amazed I'm doing this!!  Rewarded with some nice moody light.  Managed to get some quite nice shots - although slightly better light would have been good!  Still - not complaining!

All the above were taken enroute to a couple of waterfalls - always best taken in fairly subdued lighting as the highlights don't "blow".

Aysgarth Falls

Detail of above falls

Wainwath Falls

To finish today's upload - a couple of "wildlife" shots!!  Both "wild and free" - but one more so than the other!  See if you can spot the difference?

The "Famous Red Grouse" - but not doing the little dance!!