OSWALD (31/05/10)

Years ago I used to have a cat called Oswald. He was, in most respects a well adjusted, normal example of a domestic feline. His one idiosyncrasy was to go to the back door to be let out and should he find it wet scoot back through ones legs and go to the front door. He obviously thought the different exits led to different worlds.

Today I knew just how he felt. Although the heavy rain and gales of yesterday have gone we are left with a dank, cold misty day, I just wish I had another world to exit into.

   Looking west………………………………

  Looking south……………………………….

  Looking north, almost, a little poetic licence has crept in. No respite from the weather. The view to the west I have omitted as it shows caravans but I assure you there is no difference.

A walk is never wasted and I found these, something I have previously only seen on dead trees.

    This is Dryads Saddle growing on a living Sycamore tree. These taken with a quick blast of fill flash. They are beautiful but not edible, though I doubt they would cause much harm, the odd seizure excepted!

    These are a younger version of the same thing, I hope, living next door anyway.

               To brighten up a dull morning here is some Hawthorne blossom that, somehow, survived yesterdays wind and rain.

There’s still no sign of the sun so today's project is to try and sharpen some HDR images this project instigated by looking at some rather fine HDR images. You can find them on GAZ’S BLOG. I think I may be getting somewhere here are two images before and after.

  Whitby Fish Dock compressed and resampled using Bicubic Sharper.

This sharpened using a mask derived from the High Pass filter and a bit of jiggling around. These files are 30MB so will print very large. Hard to tell here but in the editor prior to compression the second image is much better though I have increased noise under the dock. I forgot to paint that bit in the mask, hardly surprising, Muppet being my middle name!

All good clean fun, the only sort available to me………Sadly!!

 

BANK HOLIDAY (30/05/10)

Wishing you all a very good day tomorrow, I hope the sun shines where you are………..Though I hate to say it, we do need some rain!!

OH DEAR!!…….OH DEER!! (29/05/10)

I will apologise in advance for the awful quality of the second and third images. I put it down to total shock and amazement. These had a detrimental effect upon my ability to control a simple camera.

I was out taking the dogs for an early constitutional, movement by the whale bones caught my eye.

The whale bones on West Cliff in Whitby. These whilst not in the centre of town are miles from open country.

By the time I had got the dogs under control and the camera sorted it had hopped over the wall…………A male Roe Deer…….Had to get a picture or spend the rest of the day questioning my sanity………..Always a some what futile exercise!!………..We circled round to get upwind of him for a final series of shots and then as he was close to the cliff edge we retreated before he emulated a Lemming.

   Both these images were taken within a few minutes of six thirty on Tuesday morning…………………Unbelievable but true.

I e-mailed the pictures and some copy to The Whitby Gazette. Unfortunately some unfortunate chap got himself murdered so that was my front page gone. A haddock falling from a fish box and the mind blowingly interesting agenda of the local Women’s Institute kept my story out of the paper. I was sure I had the scoop of the century!! By Tuesday evening I was mentally spending the filthy lucre generated by world wide syndication….. Oh well next time!

     A pair of Herring Gulls one contemplating the coming weekend and a plethora of abandoned fish and chip wrappers, the other dreaming of her new family.

Eventually we made it to the beach where Molly gave her cousin a run for, his very hairy, money……………………….

Cousin Alfie at full speed, Unfortunately it was destined to be one of those days………I failed to get them both in shot face on. They play well together but the snapping and snarling has to be heard to be believed……..Frightens the tourists! Not a good idea in a town dependant on them!

The White House Whitby…………My brother and his business partner took over this rather wonderful hotel on Tuesday. They both have far too much work on but as I repeatedly say, from a recumbent position in front of the television….’Hard work never did anyone any harm’.

Good luck to you both.

The views from the hotel are stunning………….I’ll leave you with a couple of them.

I swear it never rains in Whitby………………Except on wet days!!!!!!

Call in for a pint, I can vouch for the quality. I’m the unofficial beer taster. I have as much experience as most and a lot more than some.

Get booking, the food is grand, the rooms are great and if you mention this blog you will be charged double. Or, if they are in a good mood, treble!!!

See you in blogland next week. I’m at Ugthorpe where I must admit the weather could be better but it is ten miles from Whitby and it’s only a little damp!

 

STILL HERE (29/05/10)

We are still in Whitby and look as if we will be till the end of next week. It’s been a busy few days with not much chance of getting out for pictures. Not that I can walk far, though the leg is gradually improving. If it doesn’t hurry up then I will have to acquire one of those electric buggies and get my own back by rushing around town knocking old age pensioners over.

  Whitby harbour entrance………..Whitby entrance is north facing so is the only place on the east coast of the UK where one can witness the sun both rise and set over the sea.

On the east side of the river Esk the old town is a veritable rabbit warren of these narrow streets.

The old Anchor……….

……..The plaque explaining it’s providence…………

……The Old Lifeboat Pier where it resides.

    A Yorkshire Cobble a fishing boat unique to this coast and an endangered craft these days. Originally they sailed down wind and were rowed upwind. This one is diesel powered and is off out gill netting for, I assume, Salmon. They anchor the Cobble then row the net out across the tide………..Hard work!

      Here she is on her way back into port……………For their sakes, if not for the fishes, I hope they had a successful day.

These pictures were taken over the past month, I have enough for at least another post and hope to get out a little more often next week.

I hope the sun shines on your holiday weekend.

 

THE WORK OF ART (23/05/10)

No, not one of my image adulterations. I’ll spare you that today. Depending on your point of view the following is either awful or a manifestation of beauty. That’s art for you.

  She surely needs no caption nor introduction. She introduced herself yesterday with a popping rumble heavy enough to make the ground shake as she parked alongside us. It set my heart a flutter…………Boys will be boys!!

I spent some time avoiding getting myself reflected in the shots, forgot all about Molly who features prominently in the air box. I also had to go back for a polarising filter and although they only work with the sun at ninety degrees to the camera and I still have a few blown highlights  generally I’m happy.

   I find it hard to believe this bike is ten years old. The owner and his wife must spend hours cleaning it.

For those that don’t know what she is.

I would have mentioned that for concourse condition the screw head slots should be aligned………..I thought better of it, once a Hells Angel always a Hells Angel. He was a particularly impressive example of the genre, his wife only slightly less so!!

Prior to my dribbling and drooling over the Harley I gave the van a good clean. No sooner had I finished than I turned round and saw this pair of Crane flies doing the unmentionable on my cupboard door…. My freshly polished cupboard door!

Dirty wee devils but also gorgeous. I stuck a 2x teleconverter on the macro lens and got in closer.

The shadows are a little harsh but I used fill flash and hadn’t got an empty milk carton handy…………..Threw them in the trash half an hour before……………Muppet should be my middle name.

Whilst the lens was on I took this………………………………………..

  A Dandelion seed head again with fill flash. I must have dozens of these filed away but I always end up taking more.

That’s all for today, lets hope this weather holds for the Bank Holiday next weekend.

PENTECOST (22/05/10)

Though I could not be considered a Christian, I suppose I could, I was baptised. I even went to confirmation classes but having passed the final exam, (not too taxing), decided that it wasn’t for me. So that was the end of my choir boy days and my split with the deviant curate who taught us to sing. Poor devil subsequently gassed himself. His faith was perhaps an inspiration. Try your very best to do unto others etc.

Still, I’m never one to pass up the chance to party so have made you all a secular card to celebrate the appearance of the Holy Ghost to the Disciples. Additionally my leg is killing me so A bit of Photoshop, as opposed to tramping the countryside for new images, helps.

                                 This technique is not new to me but the frame is stolen from a template in ‘Digital Photo’ magazine. One, if not the best of comics. If you want to get the best out of your hard earned images it’s worth a look. Of course some if not all of you have seen this image before.

It looks different here so have a great weekend or what’s left of it.

BECAUSE I’M HERE (21/05/10)

More shots of Whitby. I’m here for another week so things may get a little repetitive. I’ll do my best to throw in the odd bit of interest.

               A quick pen and colour washed sketch…………………..Not really….. All Photoshop.

     Gill netters out at first light this morning…………It’s the early fisherman catches the Salmon.

    The Photographistess………………again early this morning………..I fell in love…….With her camera…. Five thousand pounds worth of Nikon…….My sort of girl!

When in Whitby have an ice cream but not one of these. It is GM free, nut free, gluten free in fact there appears to be very little in it at all.

Clara’s a proper ice cream is sold here and scooped by an angel. Try saying ninety-nine whilst admiring the best legs in the ice cream trade.

I’m back up at Ugthorpe for the weekend, the weather is perfect. I wish you all a very nice time.

  

WHITBY (20/05/10)

All today's pictures were shot on a foray Tuesday and all are HDR.

This is the one I like least so I’ll get it out of the way and get on.

   Reflections everywhere in the steam bus.

                          This old wooden stocked anchor has pride of place on the old lifeboat pier………………It is responsible for this and many more like it.

Whitby East Pier.

     Many of you will have seen this before but not in HDR. The old lifeboat pier.

                       A Whitby Alley.

       Pan tiled roofs.

       The harbour.

                           A view through the tunnel on West Cliff.

All these images are shot –2EV to +2EV and tone mapped in Photomatix. the panoramas are stitched in Photoshop.

Summer has arrived this week no wind , no rain and sunshine……….Magic!!