ROCKS (30/06/11)

We are in an old quarry just outside Leyburn in Yorkshire. I’ve been playing with focus stack again as it’s a wee bit damp this morning.

Please bear with me here.

This is the rock, more a small stone I suppose.

This is the small stone focussed stacked from five images in Helicon viewer. I have to adjust focus manually, if you have CanNikon cameras the software can do it for you……..a big advantage as I missed a bit about a third from the right and a bit more far left.

CLEVER ROCK

Not only does the rock spin so did my mind getting this far.

These kilns are opposite the camper and were used for burning lime to manufacture mortar. There is a date on them which is badly eroded but I suspect it reads 1864. The roses are a later addition……..this would have been a hell hole.

      The flooded quarry from which the raw material was extracted……….I’ve had a good look and can say that without serious equipment the lagoon is, unfortunately, inaccessible.

We are away out again and I’ll see what I can find, you have a good day.

A BIT THICK (29/06/11)

My head is spinning……..I’ve had another go at at Focus Stacking. Now Helicon is not free and Combine ZP is. The latter is not user friendly the former is. John at MIDMARSH JOTTINGS knows all about this business. It is putting a severe strain on my little grey cells.

    This is seven images stacked in Helicon…………it accepts RAW files and is simple to use.

    This is Combine……..now I can see the problem but I’ll be blowed if I can sort it. These are both processed from the same seven images converted to JPEGs. The first has an odd shadow, in the top left hand third. I’ll try and try again but if anyone can help it would be appreciated.

Makes Photoshop CS look as if it might be worth it’s price.

I’ll try for some more macros this evening……………if the wind drops. If it doesn’t then I’ll drag some poor unsuspecting bug back to the truck and give that a seeing to.

All the best.

MIXED FORTUNES (28/06/11)

Yesterday did not start out as auspiciously as it might have. The dogs and I were out at six looking to find the Curlews………..The dogs found a rabbit and from that moment things went from bad to worse. They pulled me down a bank and in the effort to save the camera I slipped, banging my shoulder and head on a boulder. As could be predicted, there is no lasting damage…….the fall knocked in and didn’t knock out.

           I’m not quite as pretty as usual but it could have been worse.

We have moved to a town at the bottom of Wensleydale, Leyburn………….This trough is not much use to the cattle now but does look grand as a home for the Water Lilly.

     I hope this is a young Goldfinch.

       Swallows…………See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil………….there are four the one on the roof is Do no evil.

Have a good day, we are out again shortly so will see what can be found.

ORVILLE (26/06/11)

I wish I could fly right up to the sky……………but I can’t* and neither can I have this. I’m thirty years too old and am not a millionaire. What do you think I’ve fallen head over heels in love with…………….Here it is ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..!

Not the thirty thousand pound Super Bike replica……..just a beautifully customised Ducati. I tell you I was all of a dither and twitch with lust and desire.

We were out this morning at six in thick cloud…………the Met office had warned me to beware of heat exhaustion, sun stroke and bubonic plague so I'd covered my head, applied factor fifty sunscreen and wrapped a hanky across my nose and mouth. The epitome of sartorial elegance! I forgot my waterproof over trousers so came back two hours later a touch damp. It’s Sunday so cooked breakfast day, no sooner had I started the sausage than out came the sun. C’est la vie. That’s French for Bugger!

Out again after a good fry up and what did we find?

   A Chicken a few weeks old chicken. Bear with me here it gets better……….not a lot but better!

  

 A Golden Plover…………..there are plenty about this year but they are wary birds.

        What is this? I know it’s a Veined White but could it possibly be a Black Veined White………..Go on. Give me the benefit of the doubt. I doubt it, as they have been extinct in the UK for ages. It still doesn’t look like the Green veined I’ve seen before.

Back to motor bikes……………..I had endless choice today for summer has arrived. I’ll stick with Harley Davidson a somewhat pedestrian and agricultural means of transport but they do sound wonderful.

     A much modified early hard tail.

    Similar but converted to have rear suspension……………………WHY?

     The Military issue model a new one for me.

      Lastly a new one…….I love eccentrics and the owners of these tick all the boxes.

That’s it for today…………..I’m off out to frighten the natives with a spot of sunbathing. Dogs are tired so no problem there.

   Molly doing what she does best………Alfie is flat on his back as well.

*Orville was a famous green duck…well a ventriloquist’s doll owned by a bloke called Keith Harris. ………………Google it yourself!…. I know it’s about to rain so I have to go.

Have a grand week.

MUCH THE SAME (25/06/11)

A nasty drizzly day………….the sort of precipitation that is almost invisible but soaks one in minutes.

GB at EAGLETON NOTES has posted on a recent visit he made to the Butt of Lewis. The photographs are wonderful but he mentioned the Shipping Forecast. It reminded me of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ywku0lQYNc

Yesterday I found this little fellow, a juvenile Pied Wagtail.

       Shouting at all and sundry to be fed…………..

Unless the weather chirps up then that is all for today. have a good weekend.

IT’S STILL DOING IT (23/06/11)

I’m not going to mention the ‘R’ word………..four letter words are out………rude ones anyway.

I’ve been out with tripod, camera, macro lens…………I think there is a slight improvement.

Water……………………….

Water Drops.

Dog Rose…………….forget the Cats bit.

And another.

Foxglove…………I’m doing fine so far.

Thistle. There are many varieties………….I’ll stick with Thistle.

Thistle…………….the same variety as the one before.

       This is that thin straggly plant that is sticky and clings to the dogs…………..can’t find it in my book……Help!

     This is Cuckoo Spit……………………Eventually the nymphs inside this froth will become Froghopper Bugs.

     Stinging Nettle. A bit of one anyway.

    I have done a bit of colouring in to improve the look of this stuff.

I have enjoyed being close to the van set up in the hedgerow ready to beat a hasty retreat should the heavens open…………..No insects about but it’s fun waiting for them.

All images will enlarge with a click.

 

SUMMER IS HERE (22/06/11)

So is the sun or it was, it appears to have turned a little damp again. Not proper rain as we are accustomed to. This is normal rain, it hits the ground and stays there. Rain over the past few days has hit the ground and ricocheted back from whence it came.

This morning we were out for six, back for seven, a quick bowl of muesli…….bird food to the uninitiated….then away for a circular walk of a few miles through Deepdale Wood just west of Barnard Castle. I really enjoy this wander but though I’ve done it several times it has never yielded a photograph. It didn’t disappoint in this respect today so back to a little filling in.

Last night I was dreaming of my early days……….the days when I was a tenth of my current age……..I recalled an old gardener who worked on some school grounds a few hundred yards from our house…….he seemed old. All of thirty years, I suspect. He was designing a rockery with a  pond  in the middle. His calculations for area seemed so inordinately complex to a six year old that I regarded him as a paragon of intellect. He was! Pegging out is a serious skill. I am for ever grateful, I love simple, neat mathematics and it doesn’t get much neater than this. I also love spherical trigonometry but although all it’s problems can be solved empirically……………it’s hardly riveting reading for the maths shy.

For those that want exact quantities of material for garden makeovers this method is quick and easy.

Picks Formula…………….Theorem,todays mathematicians prefer to call it. Georg Alexander Pick proved it in 1899. He may have had trouble spelling George but he new his maths……..sorry Knew.

                                                                       There it is ……..easy. If you want weight of chippings to purchase then one only has to times by the depth………four inches is about standard and a cubic metre or yard is around a ton. If you want a pond in the middle then life gets more complicated. Just e-mail. Peg out your area with string and stick………make sure the corners are square……..again simple, again, e-mail. If you want curves then guess………..it will be an educated guess! If you want to know what to plant then ask a Plantist………All I know is green side up.

Bet you’d hoped I’d finished for today………….HORST…….does this better than most……….certainly better than me.

SEE…………………

         Not very good…………cryptic………….begins with ‘C’.. four letters. An anagram of carp

This is better………………..

Hardly Turner……….but interesting………..but not very!

Have fun.

 

I DON'T BELIEVE IT

Today started wet and windy. Revolting weather to celebrate the summer solstice. You wouldn’t have caught me running about covered in woad, it would have washed off in all the rain so a waste of time applying it.
The weather guessers are promising thunder storms later so should they materialise I’ll try for some lightening shots should their guesses turn out right.

Wet Grass One

Wet Grass Too,
Now I start to get a wee bit silly……………………….This is a joiner image………several shots joined up. In this case one shot chopped up and re-joined so perhaps better described as a Rejoinder Image.

Attempt number one……………A Riley Gamecock.

Attempt Two A Farm.

 A Tempt(ress) Three…………the lass next door with her serious head on. I accept responsibility and as always can’t leave a good thing alone. I buy photo magazines from time to time and in this case it is Digital Photo that must take a small share of the blame.
I look forward to your rejoinders.
Have fun.
There is yet another issue with Blogger……I can’t post from Live Writer so now have to run around and use Google composer and share pictures…………..Brilliant!!!
An hour to compose and three hours to work round the problems. I know why you sold it Blogger but thanks and no thanks!
Google sort out your problems with Microsoft over a table not over the Web. You are behaving like the wee Kids you are.
Blogger Composer doesn't even come close to Live Writer.

THE BEST LAID PLANS (20/06/11)

After our early excursion yesterday morning I went out again insect hunting. We got back just in time to avoid a downpour of biblical proportions.

Now I was undecided whether to walk the couple of miles down the road to Croft Circuit to watch the British Touring Cars…………I decided to go to the local pub and watch them on TV. A wonderful decision, in theory, I would save the twenty pound plus admission charge, get a sandwich, stay dry and save a walk. I saved two pounds. ITV 4 broadcasts the whole meeting…….It was a tired and emotional blogger that returned for supper at six in the afternoon.

   This is from just now and I don’t know what it is…….there’s a surprise! A pretty fly and better still that it prefers pollen to dung.

   I think this is a Flesh Fly………..It’s having a quick wash and brush up. These are both from today………….Alfie has been to the vets for his post operation check up and has been pronounced physically fit. He is still mad as a sack of spiders but I suspect there is little to be done about that.

Back to yesterday…………………………………

    I am almost sure this is a German Wasp……..I can only tell from a head on view and though I have ten shots non show either the three black dots of the German Wasp or the upside down black T of the Common Wasp.

   I hope this is a female Sooty Copper…………..It is a first for me whatever it is.

Is this an Orange tailed Bumble Bee? I’ll have to go out with someone who can show me, the Collins cheapo nature guides are good value but don’t show enough different views.….I actually am very pleased with the background in these pictures The unopened flower heads are lovely.

All images today are shot with a monopod and a 500mm telephoto and extension tube……..It’s too windy for a macro lens. With the latter by the time I’ve set up the insect is long gone anyway……….so little point bothering.

I apologise for my lack of ID ability but I find insects fascinating………….all help with identification will be gratefully received.

Have a good week.