ABOUT ME

I live in a camper van with a West Highland Terrier for company.
My passion is creating images but it is a work in progress.
I am always willing to share what knowledge I have and can be contacted through the comments on this post or e-mail ADRIAN
ALL IMAGES WILL ENLARGE WITH A LEFT CLICK

Saturday, 12 March 2011

FIFTY FIFTY (12/03/11)

Today has been another day of intermittent rain. It’s not been as heavy as of late and the forecast snow failed to materialize………….Now that was a surprise! I’m not going to go into a diatribe about the shortcomings of the Met. Office. That would make for an epistle the length of War and Peace, however if I type my location into a box on the Met. site I tend to assume that I will get a projection of the weather in Keswick and not that expected for Cardiff. Not that I have a clue what climatic conditions Cardiff experienced, I have doubts they do…….even after the event! I’ve mentioned this before UGrib gives wind and precipitation and for a worldwide service, computer generated, is generally accurate. You have to decide whether the weather will be snowy, sleety, haily or rainy. We obviously have to do that anyway.

I couldn’t, for some reason, get the the rugby on I Player nor could I finish the crossword. You can tell it’s been another slow news day. A very slow news day, the highlight was feeding a Swan, a Mute Swan. Cheeky devil was tapping at the van step for more food and when I relented and opened the door to deliver a scoop of seed he hissed at me. Ungrateful Grumpy Bird!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAHere he is………I’m assuming he as it is bigger than the other one.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA     They are a beautiful bird. These are almost tame and will take food from your hand. They are a bit naughty and have serrations inside their bills so if they get rough push towards them till they let go, if you pull away they can cause lacerations to ones digit…………. not nice!

I treated the last one to a storm cloud textured backdrop…………………

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA       Next time I will add a drop shadow…………be perfect then. Well it would be if the original were sharper. The more I look the worse this is, I could have desaturated the background as well. It looks a touch surreal with green where the sky should be……….I don’t do surreal…………..well a few times a week maybe!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA      Harris shutter effect…………………..I like doing these, they are a fair bit of work. Mount the camera on a sturdy tripod. Everything to manual and take three shots over the time it takes to make a cup of coffee. Then separate the three into seperate RGB channels, blend back together using lighten mode. It can be done in PS Elements as by necessity these are but if one has colour channels its easier. No faster. It works better with water and clouds than it does with the geese I posted the other day………….they didn’t look right!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA       The view up Derwentwater at half past four. It’s near dusk and dusk is ninety minutes early. It’s not just weather forecasters who are going to pot, the Royal Astronomical Society have decided to get in on the act.

Whilst looking for the rugby. I got distracted HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU. It was the highlight of the day after the swan.

Have fun tomorrow is purported to be hot and sunny here.

 

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12 comments:

  1. Bob Bushell12 March 2011 at 19:29

    The first Swan picture was a beauty, and the colours all mixed with up, I like it. But, oh, what a sensational view of Derwentwater.

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  2. Midmarsh John12 March 2011 at 20:17

    Great swan portraits there Adrian, worth a bit of bad tempered hissing.

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  3. Pauline12 March 2011 at 20:59

    That's what happens when people feed the wild creatures, make sure no-one leaves a baby outside!
    Don't think it would be possible to improve on that first swan shot, well worth a bit of hissing.
    Love the view up the Derwentwater.

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  4. holdingmoments13 March 2011 at 05:39

    First swan a beauty of a shot Adrian.

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  5. Rezervesana13 March 2011 at 06:36

    Nice post with excellent pictures. The pictures alone would make me want to go there, because they show how much character the place has!

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  6. ADRIAN13 March 2011 at 06:48

    Bob, I can chat to Swans for ages. Not that they say much back being Mute.

    John, I don't know why they bother. they don't even frighten the dogs........who ignore them.

    Pauline, swans don't eat babies. Tigers do, I'll stop feeding them! The first shot could have been improved by my lying down......it's just too wet and cold.

    Keith, thanks, it's tame or almost. Makes life easier.

    Reservesana, thank you and thank you for your earlier kind comments.
    You seem genuine despite your being a commercial site so as long as you don't start pushing for business your comments can remain. Do you have a private blog of your own? Be good to see some of your country.

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  7. Glo13 March 2011 at 08:48

    Such a peacefully beautiful dusky ending to your photo set.
    BTW I found a cryptic crossword from the UK Telegraph online which I have been playing with and posted the start of it on my blog. Thanks for 'rekindling my interest' in them! Now I am getting no sleep...LOL

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  8. ADRIAN13 March 2011 at 09:36

    Glo, the dusky end to the day was in reality drizzle and cool. I also noticed that the image could do with a straighten.
    Crosswords do waste an inordinate amount of time. there are some amusing clues, some very clever ones and as a bonus interesting words turn up.

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  9. J_on_tour14 March 2011 at 21:58

    I too like the first Swan shot very much and the framing, subject material and lighting of the last one is outstanding. Funny, after I was out at the weekend, I came in and also watched HIGNFY on iplayer !!

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  10. GB15 March 2011 at 10:44

    I'm with the majority on the first swan shot!

    I really miss HIGNFV. Wonderful programme.

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  11. Hilary15 March 2011 at 13:03

    That first shot with its extended neck is just lovely. And that view at the end... sigh! You have some wonderful photography and you sure seem to have fun playing. :)

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  12. ADRIAN18 March 2011 at 11:47

    Jay, ta....it was not a particularly thrilling day but one half descent image is not too bad.

    Graham, can't you get I Player in NZ? The swan is a bad tempered bird who could do with a slap. Sensitive souls are imprisoned in their vans by it. They phone the warden to be rescued......That is funny.

    Hilary, I love digital........it's twice the fun photography used to be.

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