View allAll Photos Tagged microfournerds
On Tuesday we headed for Trebarwith Strand with our weekly club photo-walk and it was another glorious sunset on the north Cornish coast. I'd spotted these rocks during my last visit but the tide was too low last time, luckily the tide was just high enough to capture them with the water this time!
We visited my cousin in Calstock last night so I had to pop down to the river for a quick shot... no glorious sunset by the viaduct but I did find a nice boat resting by the Tamar.
Star Trails is something I’ve wanted to try for a long time but recent shots by Warren Wise have prompted me to get out and actually do some! As I’ve never tried this before and wanted a trial run I chose somewhere close to home and knew that the local church would make a nice subject for astro… this is about an hour’s worth of movement, now I feel confident that I can capture and process star trails I need to try something a bit further afield.
After a lovely Sunday wandering around St Ives we grabbed some fish n’ chips and watched the sun go down at Godrevy lighthouse. Always a fantastic spot for sunset, and after a dull and dreary morning my hopes for the evening were rising as the clouds seemed to be parting on the horizon. Unfortunately it didn’t quite evolve into full-blown colour, but I did find a nice little spot which framed the lighthouse between a gap in the rocks.
My first visit to Wheal Coates last weekend where we met up with Pete and Bina from Bina Fellowes Photography. It was another of those evenings where the sunset was looking really promising but was snuffed out at the last moment by some low cloud lingering on the horizon. Not the most original shot I know, but the heather is looking nice and I was using the small rock path as lead-in line to carry your eye towards the engine house.
I don’t use my telephoto for landscapes that often but it can sometimes be just the right tool for the job, and who doesn’t love some trees in the mist!
Another shot from Porth Nanven, in the beautiful Cot Valley from the weekend. I’ve converted this to black and white as it brings out the shapes and definition of the rocks as the waves come in. Only got splashed by one wave this time!
On Saturday morning I managed to get out for sunrise on Portwrinkle beach, I use the term “sunrise” in its broadest possible meaning as it was a bit of a non-event but it’s still a nice way to start the day! These rocks can only be seen at low-tide but it’s a nice set that you can isolate from the rest of the beach quite easily.
Back to Godrevy tonight, and another shot after the sun had dipped below the horizon. I’d already packed up to go home at this point, but as the after-glow kept going there was time for one more shot, focussing on the flowers found on the cliff edge.
There were several ponies who’d set up camp at the top of Rough Tor, and I loved how the low sun was catching their manes in the light. This one decided to keep a bit of an eye on me while the other continued with their dinner!
The first rays of the upcoming sun backlite a flock of Vulturine Guinea Fowl who have just come down from their night roost to forage on the early morning grasses.
Olympus EM-1ii, 300mm F4, 1/1000 ISO 2500
#birdphotography #vulturineguineafowl #birdsofinstagram #Acrylliumvulturinum #Guineafowl
#rememberigGuineaFowl
#LaikipiaWilderness
#Laikipia #Kenya #Africa #Safari #magicalkenya #lovelaikipia
#wanderlustmagazine #travelphotography #naturephotography #africanimals #safariphotography #adventure #sunrise #greatlight
#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem
I’m beginning to feel like I must have angered the sunrise god somewhere along my travels, I ventured out this morning and again have been greeted with wall-to-wall greyness along the coast of South-East Cornwall! Again I headed back to Portwrinkle this morning, and as the tide is now higher in the morning it gave me chance to revisit one of my other favourite rocks but this time I’ve been experimenting with some new software, Topaz Gigapixel AI.
This is an enlarging application and I’ve upscaled this image two times, taking it from 20mp to 80mp (remembering that it’s double the height and double the width) and the AI is apparently designed to look at the textures that are present and generate the extra details from that rather than just extrapolating the data from the existing data. I have to say that I’ve been quite impressed with the results and I’m looking forward to getting some large prints done to see what difference this makes to the final product; hopefully this will keep the GAS in check for a few more months!
We were lucky enough to have this Goshawk put on a bit of a display for us by flying back and forth between several low bushes while we took the shots.
Olympus OM-1, 40-150 F2.8 @ 142mm F5.6, 1/2000 ISO 160
#palechantinggoshawk #birdsinflight #birdsofafrica #birdsofinstagram #birdphotography
#LaikipiaWilderness
#Laikipia #Kenya #Africa #Safari #magicalkenya #lovelaikipia
#wanderlustmagazine #travelphotography #naturephotography #africanimals #safariphotography #adventure
#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem
From the genus Burhinus. The Burhinus are commonly called thick-knee, stone-curlew or dikkop. They are medium-sized, terrestrial waders, though they are generally found in semi-arid to arid, open areas. Only some species of Burhinus are associated with water. Burhinus are characterised by their long legs, long wings and cryptic plumage. Most species have a short, thick, strong bill. Stone-curlews are found all over the world except Antarctica. They are mainly tropical, with the greatest diversity in the Old World.
This particular one had a young chick with it. I failed to get a decent photograph of the pair of them, foliage and a far too long lens were to blame.
Olympus EM-1ii, 300mm F5.6, 1/1250 ISO 800
#Burhinus #thickknee #stonecurlew #birdsofinstagram #bird_brilliance #feather_perfection
#LaikipiaWilderness
#Laikipia #Kenya #Africa #Safari
#wanderlustmagazine #travelphotography #naturephotography #africanimals #safariphotography #adventure #Iloveyou
#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem
Last night we had a clear evening so I met up with Richard and Andy from the club and we headed up to Colliford Lake for some Milky Way shots, I’ve seen several night shots of these trees so we knew it was a good spot. It’s amazing how different the place feels at night, even when it’s somewhere you’ve been many times during the day!
Sometimes you have to take opportunities when you can. On Sunday evening we took our daughter to see a late night showing of Captain Marvel as we’re working our way through the Marvel films before End Game, and as we got home around 1am I noticed how clear the skies were, and a quick check of the weather app showed there was a 2 hour gap until the moon was going to rise around 3am.
Shooting at Brentor Church was something I attempted last year, but not planning the visit very well found that the Milky Way was in completely the wrong place for the traditional composition of the church.
During the 30 drive there, the sky remained clear but as I arrived on location there was mist completely enveloping the church! I could see nothing apart from the sky directly upwards, as you can imagine I was slightly disheartened… still, after sticking with my plan the fog eventually started to clear, and just before moonrise at 3am I finally got the shot I wanted, in fact you can see the moon lighting up the clouds on the left of the shot.
A bit of ICM (Intentional Camera Movement) tonight, taken at the tail end of a glorious sunset at Cambrils. I do love how this technique can concentrate the colours and remove distractions from the scene, leaving you with just a feeling about the actual location.
I don’t tend to post too many shots taken during the day, but I couldn’t resist the colour of the water in St. Ives, it was stunning! A bit of sun brings back the childhood memories of taking holidays here.
Last night we headed out on the weekly walk with the camera club and headed up to Sheepstor, which towers over Burrator Reservoir. A first time visit for me and as we headed up we could see a bank of cloud which was looking a bit ominous, luckily there was a break further west and we ended up with a fantastic band of red on the horizon. A tighter crop than I normally shoot, but I wanted to show the colour in the distance along with some of the rain that was falling further afield.
This morning I managed to get out to Golitha Falls as I’ve still not managed to get an Autumn shot from there that I’m happy with. The pre-dawn trek from the car park is quite tricky in the dark as there’s lots of roots and stones to trip over, especially as I decided to start further down the falls and head back taking pictures as that gives more shooting time before heading to work. Although there’s a lot of nice leaves on the floor, the trees are not quite in their full autumnal splendour so I think I’ll head back in a couple of weeks time.
Start Point Lighthouse is one of those places I’ve been meaning to visit for some time, and this time of year the sun rises in-line with the headland so despite the slightly iffy weather forecast I made a diversion on the way to work to have a look. Unfortunately the weather forecast was correct and there was a large band of low cloud over the water which did ruin any chance of a nice sunrise, it also meant there was dark cloud on the horizon with bright clear sky above so to rescue something from the morning I’ve performed a complete “cloudectomy” and replaced the clouds on the horizon with ones that were behind me… not something I normally resort to but I hope they look quite natural!
That bull elephant in musth again. This guy was following a herd of matriarchs and their herd. Keeping an eye on a young bull family member and making sure he kept back from the rest of the herd. At some point the herd slowed down and the bull decided to get a little amorous with this termite mound where he snuggled it with his trunk, dry humped it and then scratched his butt on it. Samburu, March 2024
Olympus OM-1, 40-150 F2.8 @ 120mm F8.0, 1/400 ISO 400
#Elephant #Elephants #Family #endangeredspecies #worthmorealive #rememberingelephants #love #termitemound #scratching
#ElephantBedroom
#Samburu #Kenya #Africa #Safari #eastafrica
#wanderlustmagazine #travelphotography #naturephotography #africanimals #safariphotography #adventure
#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem
Not sure what was going on with this little fella. He was sitting on a low bush and calling, maybe looking for a mate..
Olympus EM-1ii, 300mm F5.6, 1/1600 ISO 640
#Redandyellowbarbet #barbet #birdsofinstagram #best_bird_shots #king_birds #birds_adored #allmightybirds
#ElephantBedroom
#Samburu #Kenya #Africa #Safari #eastafrica #elephantbedroom
#wanderlustmagazine #travelphotography #naturephotography #africanimals #safariphotography #adventure
#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem
Another image taken on foot, tucked away behind a bush, watching elephants come down to drink and play at one of the dams at Laikipia Wilderness Camp.
Olympus EM-1ii, 300mm F5.6, 1/400 ISO 1000
#Elephant #Elephants #Family #endangeredspecies #worthmorealive #rememberingelephants
#LaikipiaWilderness
#Laikipia #Kenya #Africa #Safari
#wanderlustmagazine #travelphotography #naturephotography #africanimals #safariphotography #adventure
#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem
An attempt to frame the old lifeboat station at The Lizard in a slightly different way, I was going for a graphic style by looking down at the station straight on and keeping the angled walls pointing towards the bottom corners of the frame. It doesn’t really look like it, but this was another tricky shot as I was being buffeted by extremely strong winds again making it difficult to keep the composition straight!
Back to more usual compositions tonight, this being from Porth Nanven (also known as “Dinosaur Egg Beach”) in the Cot Valley. We had a family trip down to St. Just and I managed a few minutes at the beach before sunset, and I of course use “sunset” in its broadest possible meaning here as it was one of those evenings where the light just faded to nothing!
A shot from Spring at Lanhydrock House, for this shot I used a thin depth-of-field to try and isolate one tree from the rest of the woods.
Saturday evening we took a trip down to Calstock, not realising that the bike festival was in full swing… certainly a bit busier than normal there! We still had a nice sunset looking down the river towards the viaduct.
A bit of minimalism from Tuesday evening at the Liskeard Camera Club photowalk in Looe. Unfortunately I’d not planned this evening very well as it was low-tide right around sunset which did mean that reflection shots in the river were harder than usual, but I did like the colours out to sea at the end of the evening.
A jackal lazing in the sun, spotted on an early morning game drive..
Olympus EM-1ii, 300mm F5.6, 1/800 ISO 640
#Jackal #blackbackedjackal #silverbackedjackal #MorningLight
#ElephantBedroom
#Samburu #Kenya #Africa #Safari #eastafrica
#wanderlustmagazine #travelphotography #naturephotography #africanimals #safariphotography #adventure #Iloveyou
#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem
After spending a couple of days in Legoland we though we'd show the kids a little culture and take them to Windsor Castle before heading home. The Queen was in residence, and the room directly opposite is apparently her sitting room, so she may be peeping out of one of the windows if you look closely enough! :)
A slight change to the normal programming as I've just had a couple of days in London where Shaun and I went to see the legend that is Roger Waters at Hyde Park... needless to say he was awesome! We did manage to find some time to get around London with our cameras and one stop was the The Cecil Brewer Staircase found in Heal's. I have to say thanks to Rich Walker for pointing me in the right direction for this!
Another shots from last week's trip to Rame Head, this time with a little light painting to light up the inside of the chapel.
It’s been a long time but with the promise of a nice sunrise via SkippySky this morning I made the Herculean effort of getting out of bed and managed to drag my sorry sack of bones to Saint Michael De Rupe, otherwise know as Brentor Church.
As anyone who’s followed my page will know, this is a favourite of mine for obvious reasons… it stands proud by itself with uninterrupted views for miles. It seemed like a good choice this morning as high-tide is around sunrise so I didn’t think I’d get many compositional choices at the coast… still nice to be out for sunrise again!
Well, the miracle finally happened, I stopped thinking about it and actually got outside and took some Milky Way photos!
It was a really long day yesterday, as I’d got up early to go to the office, stopped at 3 tors on the way home (more of those to come later) and then at midnight decided to not get into the nice and inviting bed, but instead drive to Rame Head. As I’m new to astro-photography I decided to start with somewhere relatively close, and I’ve seen several shots from here so I knew it was possible and the sky was looking promising.
Arriving at about 1am I found 3 other people already there taking images, it’s always slightly worrying when you approach strangers in the pitch black but it was nice to share the experience too. I can see why some people get bitten by the astro-bug!
A more gentle image from Friday morning, as I was waiting for the sun to rise I turned my attention to the boats moored on the Tamar. As there was little colour in the sky at this point I decided to go with an high-key style of processing which I think is suitable for the subject.
A more classic view from Kynance Cove today, as it was so windy I had no chance of getting a long exposure so I opted for quick exposures and waited for the waves to form a lead-in line, taking you to the famous cove beyond.
I'm returning to one of my Milky Way shots tonight as I'm putting together some shots for an upcoming club competition, hence why it's processed in the same style as my last effort.
This shot was taking in the harbour at Portwrinkle, lining up the Milky Way within the harbour walls.
It feels like ages since I’ve been out with the camera so as I had a few hours to spare on Saturday morning I decided to take a trip up to Sheeps Tor. After a really grey and lifeless start to the day it turned into great weather for Dartmoor, lots of moody clouds with dashes of sunlight that danced their way over the hills.
I've not been out much recently so I've been having a play with composites, the poppies were taken at Pentire Head during the day (and lit with a flash as it was very overcast) and the sky was taken from a shoot at Rame Head... I think the two work together quite nicely!
Another shot from my “Battling Giants” series. The Male giraffes compete in a ballet of dominance.
Laikipia, Kenya March 2024
Olympus EM-1ii, 300mm F4, 1/1250 ISO 800
#Giraffe #ReticulatedGiraffe #Dominance #Reticulated #TwoHeads
#LaikipiaWilderness #lovelaikipia
#Laikipia #Kenya #Africa #Safari
#wanderlustmagazine #travelphotography #naturephotography #africanimals
#safariphotography #photosafaris #bbcearth #africanamazing #africasafariconservation #EndangeredSpecies
#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem
Another trip out and despite the promising forecast by SkippySky (which was predicting mainly high clouds) it was another grey and dreary morning on Saturday when I headed to Millendreath, hence why I’ve ended up with a moody monochrome image. I love this rock and its triangular shape which more than makes up for the lack of colour.
A lovely sight of a Somali Ostrich couple and their charge. Ostriches tend to lay their eggs and leave them with a caretaker couple who hatch the whole brood and look after them as one large family.
Here we have the female being followed by the chicks, they shortly deviated from the path and started to follow the male.
Olympus OM-1, 40-150 F2.8 @ 40mm F5.6, 1/1000 ISO 100
#SomaliOstrich #Ostrich #Chicks #babies
#ElephantBedroom
#Samburu #Kenya #Africa #Safari #eastafrica
#wanderlustmagazine #travelphotography #naturephotography #africanimals #safariphotography #adventure
#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem
One of my favourite finds of the holiday; I’d gone out looking for a nice view from the mountains outside Massarosa where we were staying and on a hairpin bend I found an abandoned farmhouse with some olive trees which appear to have been cut down. I can only assume that the trees had become diseased or damaged in some way as there were some healthy looking groves further down the slopes. I was hoping for a better sunset but given the subject, the moody clouds are probably a better match anyway.
Samburu is a lovely place to watch elephants. We watched this pair meet and greet each other as they crossed the dried riverbed. The larger one chased the smaller one and then they tussled a little before eventually settling into this embrace.
Olympus OM-1, 40-150 F2.8 @ 135mm F5.6, 1/800 ISO 500
#Elephant #Elephants #Family #endangeredspecies #worthmorealive #rememberingelephants
#ElephantBedroom
#Samburu #Kenya #Africa #Safari #eastafrica
#wanderlustmagazine #travelphotography #naturephotography #africanimals #safariphotography #adventure
#microfourthirds #microfournerds #omsystem
Looking at the forecast yesterday it was predicting a clear sky all night so I decided to head up to Bodmin Moor and try some astro shots of Goldiggens Quarry and The Cheesewring. As there was no moon out last night it was pitch black and it’s amazing how much further it feels walking out there when you can’t see where you’re going… it’s also a good job there are paths that lead you from the car park to both destinations, though at least the Caradon Hill transmitter is there to guide you home in a worst-case scenario!