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

Sunday 17 November 2013

IT’S A GOOD JOB. (17/11/13)

It’s a good job I met Keith and Trevor last week because I’ve got precious few images since.

Yesterday I was playing with film, I also used the the DSLR as a sort of modern version of the Polaroid back. I was trying to get a girl as a perfect silhouette against the sky on the Bronica then shoot the same frame again with some dense autumnal leaves. Yes it’s been done a hundred times before but not by me. There is more to this double exposure, arty farty malarkey than I thought. I do have an incident light meter and it seems to help.

Unfortunately the model got fed up after an hour. I told her she would never make the next Kate Moss. She came back, far too quickly, saying she wasn’t working with a David Bailey or Lord Snowden. She wasn’t in the first flush of youth but did look lovely as a silhouette. I used a strobe and soft box to the left of her at bugger all. Just to break the black bits… You know soften them a bit through her hair. It worked fine but She had a nose like Concorde and it took a while to stop it casting shadows. Kate Moss hardly has a nose.

Here are a few more from last Wednesday. The last I promise you.GPPAN Golden Plover. This is a stitched image and still I couldn’t fit them all in.

_MG_2218

_MG_2244 Mute Swans…..My sort of bird….Plenty to focus on. They like the lagoon at Freiston as they can stand up if they want.

_MG_2298  Little Egrets, there were at least eleven but I couldn’t fit them all in. I see the odd one on my travels but never even two. Eleven in the same area was a memorable sight. They were a bit spread out so I couldn’t get them all in the same frame. Sorry about that. I should have kept a zoom lens. No I shouldn’t I like prime lenses even if it means missing six Egrets; they are all much the same. All said and done.

_MG_2245  Wigeon. A handsome duck. Hundreds of them here. There were similar numbers of Shell Duck but I must have been lighting up or disciplining the dogs when they flew past. More likely the former. The dogs are quite happy to accommodate a daft old man and a camera or daft old men and cameras.

Today is warmish misty and dampish. My head is exploding. For the past week I’ve been heavily into the Christmas e-card. There are a lot of letters in Merry Christmas. A fortnights worth. In Blender 3D or Photoshop you can’t shatter text without converting it to wire frame. Wire frame gives far too many uncontrollable bits. I trace round the letter using a cube and extruding it. I delete vertices near edges but not the ones on the edge , then just click about selecting random bits away from edges then select random. I’m just working on the ‘M’. Selecting a collapsing ‘M’ means manually key framing 212 shards. I decided to write a couple of lines of script to do it for me. I’m almost there but my head is ready to burst. If any Python users know how. Please post the script. I select one shard  then select all shards, I can do that bit. What I need is the script to apply key frames to them all and then un-apply them at a key frame of my choosing. I can,t  do that bit. It’s the script I can’t write.

I suspect I may have got far too ambitious for both myself and the laptop. I have found that I can add blur to backgrounds and curve the ground plane or world bit. That saves hours of render time…… I’ve always held ambitions way beyond my ability.

I couldn’t even finish the cryptic cross word.

One clue missing. A lots of letters word too. It’s usually a four or five letter word I fail to get

12 Across ‘In a trauma I will skip the country’. 10 letters.

I have _a_r_f_n_a.

Have a great week.

36 comments:

  1. Ha! If man's reach does not exceed his grasp, then what's a heaven for?

    I know nothing about Python. I've been thinking I should try to learn it. I need to finish learning Blender first but the Preacher (my piano tuner) says I need to learn to use the pedal first. Sight and sound. Humans are blessed.

    I don't care that you are not David Bailey or Lord Snowden. I don't read their blogs.

    The pictures are wonderful. The swan and the Wigeons particularly.

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    1. David, I found that blender has a script compiler built in. I thought I could use it to speed things up but no. It delayed everything a couple of days.
      The snow is coming this week. I like snow but the camera doesn't. I hope it is proper snow. So often all we get is wet slush.

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    2. Oh, of course. I have been stupid. Those addons are python scripts, not executables.

      BTW, you should have offered the lady an apple. It worked for the serpent. I have had disappointing results with apple bribery but perhaps I've been doing something wrong.

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    3. Yes David. In theory they just macro a series of actions.....I think. I suspect a bottle of wine would have worked better than an apple.

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  2. HI Adrian I love the photos of your birds especially the Swan.

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  3. You really know how to impress a girl Adrian, ask her to model for you and then only want to shoot her in silhouette, and then to cap it all you start to criticise her good looks!.... it's no wonder she got fed up!

    It's good to see some more images from our day out, next time we'll get those Little Egrets to stand closer together.

    As to the Christmas card it seems to be getting a bit involved so, if it's proving to be a problem, I'll be quite happy to settle for one of the good old fashioned snail mail variety!...[;o)

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    1. She said she was cold and fed up. Moan, moan, moan. I got fed up too.
      I've bitten off more than I can chew with this Christmas card. I'll have to re-think the job. I'll have another go tomorrow.

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  4. The pano works for me. Since I have a beach nearby I have natural models that just do their thing.

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    1. Maria, the doing your own thing models won't work for this job. I need the doing as I say standing still ones. An old statue would do the job perfectly.

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  5. I think I have just finally taken a life decision: no more cryptic crosswords and no more worrying about my lack of knowledge of all this image manipulation. Gosh I feel better already.

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    1. Graham, I have to have something to do on these damp dark days.

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  6. With the egrets, you have to get them to pose for you!Talk to them quietly and tell them what to do and when to smile. Become an egret whisperer. None of this excuse staff after this!
    Great bird pictures today. Not many people show flocks and you did.

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    1. Red, I show flocks as there is bound to be a crisp, sharp bird in there somewhere.
      This was about half the flock, I've never seen so many Plover.

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  7. Looking forward to the erotic silhouette pictures of Kate Moss with her Concorde snorkel. As for the crossword clue - can't help you mate. I think you may have got at least one of the letters wrong.

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    1. YP, I h know what I'm doing with the double exposure nonsense now so next time i get a model I'll have another go.
      The answer to the crossword clue is MAURITANIA. I 'd put in SET OFF not SET OUT. It was an anagram. Silly Me!

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  8. Hi Adrian, I've gone and done an Adrian. I've purchased a new Canon camera, it's a Canon T3. It's not as good as the Canon you have but it is in line with my price range "free". It came with a nice little lens. I got it with airmiles points. Now I have to figure out all the features. Love the photos in this blog post.

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    1. Horst, you have fun with it. I'll have to look up the T3 as we don't have the same model numbers that you do.

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  9. Always suspected you were a softie under that gruff exterior. For someone who doesn't like Christmas, you sure go to a lot of trouble! :) Love the ducks.

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    1. Pauline, I sketch out a story line of what I dream about. I'm about to erase two thirds of the sketch. It got too complicated. There is hours of work in the simplest of animations.

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  10. If your letters are correct and it is only one word od 10 letters the second last letter can only be an E or I.

    Not a python expert but look around for a tutorial or help forum ~ someone out there will have done what you want ~ or it will be next Cristmas before you finish your e-card.

    You crack me up Adrian :)

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    1. Carol, I'll get it done soon, I am worried that even if I manage to get all the elements of it together then render time could well run into days. I have two lap tops so it is possible but I have nowhere to use the spare one.
      Yes I found a couple of good Python tutorials. It looks possible. I also found the script all done for me. It usually is. I've not tried running it yet but it looks okay.

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  11. Great to see all the water birds across the pond :) Love the swan! I saw lots of white egrets in California earlier in the year ~ one ate a snake!

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    1. Glo, there wasn't a shortage of birds. I should have fetched them something to eat to tempt them closer.

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  12. Hi Adrian.. You always sound befuddled when you get on one of your projects, but I think you love a good challenge!! : )
    Lovely shot's from Wednesdays outing!!

    Grace

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    1. Grace, befuddled just about sums things up. It has been a permenant state these past weeks.

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  13. I'll never volunteer as a model for you in case you feel tempted to comment on my nose. On the other hand, thanks for pointing out the embarrassing typo on my blog. At the idea of a handrail on a bust - the mind boggles!

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    1. Lucy, the post title certainly caught my attention. You should have left it as it was.
      It wasn't really the weather for standing about while I messed about. I did lend her my duvet jacket. It was only her face I wanted. I haven't taken pictures of many people. One or two bands but they are used to posing. Most folk take an hour to settle down.

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  14. Cant offer any suggestions on the crossword - cryptics are a mystery to me.

    I always like the metal whistle squeak that wigeon make.

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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    1. Stewart, they are a mystery to me as well. I got it sorted after a pre dinner drink. A bit of grey cell lubrication was all that was required.
      Wigeon are a wonderful little duck.
      I have to do the cryptic as I can't spell. the clue gives me a clue as to what order the letters should be in.

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  15. I was hoping to see this nubile model as I scrolled through the post. Never mind, the other birds were good. Certainly a lot of Golden Plover about that day.

    I'd be inclined to ditch the 'Merry Christmas' thing. Just do, 'be happy'. Probably easier, and less stressful all round.

    Keep warm Adrian, snow on its way.

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    1. Keith, I was only taking a picture of her head in silhouette.

      Yes I've simplified the job. I'll probably end up sending an e-mail.

      I like snow but it isn't looking good from what I can see so far. It looks more like sleet.

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