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

Monday 18 February 2013

FIZZ. (18/02/13)

Today I awoke to find that Today was cancelled. Today is a Radio 4 programme that I enjoy listening to. It makes my blood boil. It is a service I have come to rely on….it helps convince me that I am still corpus christi . I meant compos mentis. These foreign tongues get harder as one gets older…..I sympathise with the Pope. I appreciate his intentions to retire to pastures green.

One bit of news I picked up that shocked and horrified me is that Daft Dithery is considering taxing Fizz. I am a poor pensioner I like a couple of bottles of Moet a day…… Not to worry Campanology is not fizzy. Now don’t panic you Fizz drinkers….like every other policy he has come up with, it isn’t going to happen. He will, at the worst, waste a million or two on a judicial enquiry.

This morning I took the train to Millom. Now for those not familiar with the Western Lakes Millom used to have a massive iron foundry…..It shut long ago…..so long ago that the rail fare is only £1.65p to get there….It's £3.80p to come home!

It is a cooler version of the Brazilian Ghettos. Shootings are rare but not unheard of. They even have their own prison…..The prison service don’t want these folk out into the wider prison community. I took the camera and the monopod, the latter was to beat off the muggers.

_V0G5124_edited-1  Millom Station…..it is a cracker. The bridge is a real beauty.

_V0G5127_edited-1I always enjoy Victorian iron work well executed. (Print this one Mark)

_V0G5121_edited-1I’m not sure what this building was built for……..The statue is celebrating a Hematite or iron ore miner. Even in ghettos there is wonder to be found.

I purchased a box to pack the defunct camera in…..I went to Tesco, got some shopping…..I went to the bank and got some cash. They seemed a little surprised… I proffered a card and not a sawn off shotgun!

Yesterday we went for a late afternoon wander and got distracted by the steam trains.

_V0G5063_edited-1 Northern Rock on La’al Ratty. The lump next to the smoke box is not a vacuum pump but a compressor. The train brakes work on 50psi. Each brake has an accumulator pumped up to that pressure. The accumulator has a valve that is held shut by the locomotive air supply. The driver bleeds air from the valve to apply the brakes. This is just  to correct my erroneous and earlier assertion that it is a vacuum system……Bet you are really grateful for my diligence!

I have found the Tree Creeper. It is far from perfect but I have the camera and lenses. It is a nice Tree Creeper it lets me sidle up closer. It is up to me now.

_V0G5094_edited-1

_V0G5080_edited-1

_V0G5157_edited-1                  The last one is a Chaffinch…..enjoying the last of the days sunshine. I shot these through an old prime 138mm with a 2xTeleconverter. I may yet make a birder!!!!….Having been out with Keith and Trevor I really must learn to set the camera to motor drive……Single shot mode does not produce the best shots. I keep thinking that digital isn’t free if one counts the shutter actuation cost. A downside of being born in Yorkshire! These images are cropped to square and will enlarge with a click. The original files will print with no bother at a foot square. Big Bertha is set up again…..waiting on the Tree Creeper.

So many jobs and so little time!

Have fun.

26 comments:

  1. Hmm, not sure I could print the bridge (that detail looks very fine), probably a good subject for brass etching though. On the other hand that iron ore wagon looks like a good candidate for a 3D print -- did you take any closer photos? You could e-mail me any other photos you took of that and I'll have a bash at it.

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    1. P.S.: Those tree creeper shots are fantastic!

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    2. Mark, I'm here for ages so will shoot the tub from all angles. I'll use a 100mm so no distortion. It is only a big model though. When I get to Scotland I'll go to Leadhills they have real ones there.
      The Bridge would be best made from strip brass soldered. It is a perfect structure. Would grace any station layout.
      Not as sharp as they could be are the Tree Creeper. I am determined to get every last bit of down on it's chest pin sharp.

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    3. Sounds like a good plan (both this statue and Leadhills). If you have a ruler hand a quick measure of one random detail for a bit of scale help would be great too!

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    4. Mark I have a long metal ruler on the truck. I have a two foot vernier somewhere at home. At least I hope I do. Scaling is hard to do. Things end up too fat or too thin. I'll draw stuff if you let me know what stuff. Tubs are easy but it would be a waste measuring a bronze statue. I'll get some photos and dimensions of a real one. It could be a while....Colliery tubs are two a penny in your neck of the woods. Hermatite and Gallena tubs will be smaller. They were all pulled by boys or ponies.
      I have always been amazed by model engineers. I used to go to an exhibition in London....stunning to see an eighth scale Merlin engine that would run.
      They are now printing bits in metal. Finish looks great on the jet car bits. Finish is a problem to me on your prints....can the machine be set to fine? It will come, grain is almost a thing of the past in photography.

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    5. Yes the finish is a bit of a pain; essentially you get what you pay for. The wagons I've been printing recently have been in the cheapest material, hence not a great surface finish. The more expensive resin works much better, but is exponentially more expensive so is really suited to small items like the TPWS grids or Fence Posts I printed.

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  2. Creepers are described as very confiding little birds. In other words they do not flush readily and will sit there as they think the camouflage will do the trick. so you have been fortunate and have captured an excellent photo. You probably found it in the same tree as yesterday.

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    1. Red, ours are quick little blighters. This one flits from tree to tree. Pecks here and there, mostly on my blind side. I will get it sharper and closer.

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  3. Hi Adrian,

    I absolutely love these photos.

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  4. Linda...they are but middling....Glad you like them, I need all the encouragement I can get.

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  5. wat een heerlijke serie wat een bijzondere mooie brug en dan die stoomlokomotief wat is die mooi.

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    1. Dank je wel het is een delicate structuur die heeft de tand van de tijd en thusands van de voeten.

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  6. The station is wumpy dumpy woo, great. What more than that.........

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    1. Bob, the station is in mugger land but non the less beautiful.

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  7. I really love that station footbridge Adrian....

    -Trevor

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  8. A great shot of the statue Adrian. I'd like to see that a bit closer. It looks a fine piece.
    The second Treecreeper shot looks a beauty. I'd be happy with that.

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    1. Keith, it is an obliging bird but it doesn't respond to sit and stay....it must have had a chat with the dogs.

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  9. Great footbridge at this forgotten place. Reminds me a bit of similar architecture on the Highland railway ... happy days ! It's been a while since I was at Ravenglass .. thanks for the memory, a wet weather option day whilst covering the western Wainwrights. Finally, sorry to lower the tone of my comment, I remember travelling on "Northern Rock" also ... at the Gateshead Garden Festival !! haha

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    1. Jay, Millom really is a dump but it has some good.

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  10. Yes they knew how to build things years ago, thats a great 2nd pic of the Tree Creeper.




    peter

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    1. Peter, I'll keep popping away at it. It comes by every other day.

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  11. I like the iron ore wagon but the treecreeper is, of course, my favourite. I've spent the last forty years chasing them from trunk to trunk and not got a shot like that. Of course, I'm not really jealous, this shade of emerald is my natural colouring.

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    1. John, I am getting four rubbish shots for every recognisable one. It is a relaxed bird.

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    2. A ratio of 4:1 sounds brilliant to me. 99:1 is more my standard! It is a wonderful photo though. So is the station and..... Come to think of it it's a pretty good bunch all in all.

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    3. Graham, when i remember I'm going to set the camera to burst shoot. I will then be in the 99:1 group.

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