Watching In Awe

Watching In Awe
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

This was one of many shots I got from yesterday evening at the Legoland Fireworkds display.

The others can be seen here. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/album.php?id=542234067&aid=260216

To get decent shots of fireworks you need to use a tripod and use "bulb" mode, and ideally a remote release. I only had a small tripod which is really for a compact camera vs a big bulky 40D but it worked OK.

Mount your camera on the tripod. Turn image stabilisation and auto focus off. Using IS on a tripod is not necessary and can even create negative results as the camera tries to remove shake that isn't there. You need to use manual focus as the light levels are so low auto won;t work and your lens will "hunt" trying to lock focus. Manually focus on a distant object and check againt hat your lens is set to manual focus.

Set the camera to manual (or bulb if you have that setting) and dial up the shutter speed to 30sec ... the next click after this should be BULB. This means that the shutter will remain open for as long as you keep the shutter release pressed down... this could be 1 second or 1 minute.

Set the aperture to a noimal value of f/8 and ISO to 100. If you press the shutter release now you'll get pretty much a black frame as light levels are so low but a firework will have anough light to give a good exposure.

Set the widest angle you can (ulktrawide zooms would give a great creative effect but the max I have in my lens is 17mm) and create a composition for where you think the fireworks will go off. Connect your shutter/cable release if you have one.

When the fireworks start to go off use the cable release to start and end the exposure. the longer you leave the shutter open the more light trails you'll get. Experiment with differnt times until you get an effect you are pleased with.

Egham From the Rooftops

Egham From the Rooftops
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

This photo opportunity was enabled by the scaffolding currently around the rear of our house This allowed me to climb onto our new flat dormer roof (part of our loft conversion) and set up a tripod to capture the sunset. I took three bracketed exposures (-2,0, +2 EV) and then merged them in Photomatix to create an HDR image.... with which I'm very pleased.

I don't do HDR very much and some of the examples I've seen give HDR a bad reputation as very over processed, I especially don't like the halo effects around high contrast edges. With a little bit of effort these downsides are avoidable.

Geronimo....

Geronimo....
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

Geronimo....

At the start of the week he wouldn't even let go of us in the shallow end but after a few days he was happily jumping into the deep end on his own with a cry of "Geronimo"

Technical bit. The shots were taken in manual mode to ensure even exposaure between frames. I had prefocussed and switched to manual focus to avoid any hunting between shots. I was in high speed burst mode which on my 40D means 6 frames per second.

The composite was ll put together in Lightroom's print module and exported to jpeg instead of printing.

Rule Of Thirds

Rule Of Thirds
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

The rule of thirds is a classic photography technique. Using an ND110 filter (that you can't see through) really makes you think about the whole photographic process, framing, composition focus, exposure etc before you attach the filter, switch to maual and bulb mode and open the shutter for several minutes.

Just Chillin

Just Chillin
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

More fun with a borrowed wide angle lens. It's a Tamron 10-24mm. I attached a circular polariser witht eh deliberate intent of getting a close up portrait to distort the legs, making them look even longer and having a super satureated blue sky and grass (courtesy of the polariser) I used some fill flash to lighten the harsh shadows from the direct sun.

Surreal Santa wishes You a Happy Fractalius Friday ... Ho Ho Ho

Surreal Santa wishes You a Happy Fractalius Friday ... Ho Ho Ho
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

I've recently been playing with a new Photoshop plug in called Fractalius. It has many different effects to pull out the natural "fractal" nature of many things. This is a shot of Father Christmas that I reworked with the plug in.

Sycamore Bud

Sycamore Bud
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

This was a very bland, flat and boring shot so I gave it some textrue treatment in photoshop and heh presto... something far more interesting and visually appealing.

Thanks to skeletalmess for the following textures (bokah2, ageing effects5 and painted canvas) I applied a layer mask to delete the bokah2 texture from over the bud itself.

Happy Easter.

Happy Easter.
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

From our Easter Egg hunt at Robin and Liz's today. 3 familes (4 if you count the dogs... mother, father daughter) and 10 kids so it was a bit manic but great fun. The kids loved hte Easter Egg hunt and despite the dad's thinking they were being devious it only took the little blighters about 10 mins to find them all.

I learned a new trick in lightroom today. You can add a title and caption to the metadata and when you upload it to Flickr or facebook it's there automatically in the right fields. This will save me a lot of time in the future.

April Fool..... unfortunately.

April Fool..... unfortunately.
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

So I got well and truly April fooled today. I usually visit Flickr in the morning to check out the Explore section (it's a great way of seeing some great photos and getting inspiration for my own shots) Every single shot on the first 5 pages was either rainbows or pandas !! What the .... ??

I thought nothing of it but when I checked back a few hours later it was still all pandas and rainbows. I left a few comments to that effect (there were still some great shots) and then based on another comment above mine I twigged !! It's an April fool. Flickr uses an algorythm (affectionaltely called the "magic donkey" to define interestingness and choose 500 photos it rates as the best (most interesting) to put on explore. Getting on Explore is a real honour as there are only 500 each day and flickr has something like 5000 uploads a second !!

The second part of the April fool was from "Big Huge Labs" and their flickrscout application. This is a tool whereby you can search for your own photos and find if they have been or are currently in "explore". Scout had been set up to show all of your photos... making it look like all of your stream had made it into explore.

I couldn't resist making a Poster of this. If only it were true though !!

In reality only 2 of my shots have made it into explore.. although obviously I thinkl I deserve more.

Mexican Jumping Bean.... Hatched

Mexican Jumping Bean.... Hatched
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

The Mexican jumping bean I've had on my desk for the last 5 months (bought as a souvenir when I was re-routed home from Cincinnati via Dallas, Texas) finally hatched... the little moth flew off when I opened the lid, circled a light bulb and then got zapped by the insecticutor !! 5 months in a bean 30 seconds flying and then a milisecond of a million volts !!

I love the perfect little hole that he dug out of the bean.

When I brought htis back home my kids (and wife didn't believe me that there was anything in side., but there again I am known for practical jokes) I had to show them this Wikipedia article for them to believe me... nad now with it hatching out it proves the point !!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_bean

Smiths Lawn to the Obolisk

Smiths Lawn to the Obolisk
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

First attempt at HDR. I wanted to make it as subtle as possible vs some of the extrem "in your face" HDR's that seem to be in vogue.

This was taken during a photowalk around Windsor Great Park (Saville Garden/Bolisk/Cow Pond area. Check out the rest of hte shots from this walk on my flickr stream. Each shot contains a geotag/map link for where it was taken.

www.flickr.com/photos/marklandon/sets/72157622956964952

Full Spectrum

Full Spectrum
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

Another attempt at water drops on a DVD and I'm much happier with the results this time. This was done in day light with a much more definitive light source... the window is fairly obvious in the reflection.

Processed in Lightroom with a large amount of clarity and increse ont he blacks slider to make the colours really pop and the dark grey DVD surface go black.

This reminds me of my favourite Pink Floyd Album " Dark Side of the Moon"

I love how the streak of colour coming in from the left goes from red/orange through to yellow/green.

Taken with a 100mm macro lens with a 250D screw in filter attached for extra magnification. Each water drop was probablt < clear="all">

Jumping For Joy

One of my favourite shots from our recent holiday. B had a great time jumping down the sand dunes. I say sand dunes but really they were man made mounds that were being dumped by huge trucks to try and repair some of the beach erosion from previous years. You can see the trucks in the second shot

Water Drops.

I've been trying to take macro photos of water drops a few times now with some pretty good results.... but it "aint nothin" compared to some of these. See video ont he Strobist.com blogspot. There is some amazing footage.

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-photograph-water-drops-with-one.html