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

Tuesday 5 August 2014

ROUGH AND SMOOTH. (05/08/14)

I think I may be turning into an Owl or a Badger, I seem to be wide awake for most of the night and falling asleep around lunchtime.

Yesterday was windy and wet, horrible it was and not a day for enjoying the great outdoors. I have ordered a couple of wet cleaning swabs so the camera sensors should be sparkling bright before the end of the week.

The internal microphone on the 5D MkII is better but it must have got water in it or maybe sand has blown in the little holes. I have been in touch with JOHN for advice on an external recording system. He pointed out that a £40.00p Dictaphone MP3 machine was unlikely to do the job. Thanks again John. After a couple of hours research I have ordered a Zoom H1 along with an accessory kit. I also ordered a pair of Kaavie rubber bushed dual nuts so I can try mounting the sound recorder on the camera hotshoe. I am hoping that I will soon have superb sound on my videos and all for £100.00p. I’ll really try to improve the quality of my commentary……I may even go for electrocution lessons. I have noticed that I sound a bit like William Hague which is not a good idea unless I want to put folk to sleep.

I have also found out how to adjust or delete audio on MOV. files. It is the first job in  the work flow as if you convert the video clips to Smart Objects it is too late. If anyone would like to know about this in CS6 then just e-mail me at adrianwrd@gmail.com . It’s different in Lightworks and After Effects as the video and audio are split automatically by the software.

The sun is just about to rise on what looks as if it’s going to be a wonderful day. I think I’ll go out macroing later.

Here are a few pictures of Sunday’s storm.

_V0G2073

_V0G2078       Rough.

_V0G2062      Smooth.

That’s all for today, sorry for yet another nerdy post.

37 comments:

  1. So the job's complete now then Adrian?......you've turned into a nocturnal nerd with a pair of rubber bushed dual nuts and a high pitched voice!!

    Sorry to say this but, they haven't found a cure for William Vague so I guess there's little hope on the horizon for any type of fix soon. So all that you can do is carry on doing what you do best....keep us entertained with your daily ramblings/meanderings and those unique images....good luck!...[;o)

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    1. Trevor, I think I will have to get a bottle of falling down water and see if I can get back to a sensible sleeping pattern. I think the Kaavie nuts may not provide enough insulation as they are under £4.00p. Cheap enough to risk it.
      William Hague should be out in Gaza. No-one would want to fight anyone but him, he could take Gove with him. In fact the whole of the Commons could go out there.
      I have been looking at a WAV/MP3 recorder for a while but kept seeing silly numbers when I got to the price bit.

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  2. Yes it was a bit stormy up here for July/August. It's looking good over the mainland from here so you may well get most of the day before the next low hits this evening. Have a dry day. Mind you if you are asleep you won't care much.

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    1. Graham, yes it was a bit blowy for an hour or so. I expect it in Shetland but not down here. Tomorrow looks a write off but Thursday looks good.

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  3. The only bits of this I understood were the owl andn badger bit (isn't that fine, if you're happy with it?), adn the sun being out today (good). But the man on the rock was very helpful as I had no idea those rocks were so big.

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    1. Frances, I ought to have mentioned the cat and the pea green boat. I wrote a brilliant poem all about them but found out that another chap had already written it. You have heard of me but Have you heard of Edward Lear?
      The rock the chap is standing on is about the middle of the size range and there are a couple of dozen of them. I bet they look good in a serious winter gale.

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  4. It looks rough but nice for a brisk walk.

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    1. Bas, it is warm enough but the problem is cleaning the camera and lens.

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  5. If I was you and was turning into a badger I would be worried after all the things you've said about Ditherys you'll be at the top of DEFRA cull list:-) I heard a tropical storm was heading this way, but it was in the Daily Star so not sure how true that is.... I like the second image.

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    1. Douglas, if you see him tell him I was just kidding. I must be one of the few folk prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. I don't think he's a Tory Twat but he just comes across that way. He was born like it. Special Needs I believe the PC term is.
      Is there writing in the Daily Star? Tropical storms can't happen for a week or two yet. They start with a pressure ripple over the Sahara. That gives a wave front over the North Atlantic which if it is more than thirteen degrees north can start rotating about itself. They suck energy from the sea, they should always curve north and trash Florida. We just get the tail end of them when they head back as autumn gales. I think that's the gist of it. The Daily Star is a paper I've never read. I thought you would be a Bird Gazette or Autosport man. This recorder is cheap, if it works then you could get birds tweeting, whistling, cawing and hooting on your blog. I'll try and catch one whistling with it so you can hear.

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    2. The Daily Star is the quality of what's on offer at truck stops/layby burger vans when I stop for coffee, apparently it has passed over Lisburn already and has been called Bertha (kid you not) but it was on page eight I can't find anything in other sources so it could be just a page filler

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    3. Douglas it could be correct. They name them alphabetically boy/girl till the end of the season. I'll look on t'internet to see what the first was called. Presume you mean Lisburn Ireland and not Lisbon Portugal.

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    4. Douglas, the buggers have started early. It must be all the hot air Dithery blows.
      The Star are talking shite though. As of an our ago it had been downgraded to a storm and is passing between Bermuda and the East coast of the USA.
      BERTHA
      It's a couple of thousand miles from us.

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    5. Shit. My HTML code went belly up. If you look on Hurricane tracker it will show you where they are. The next one is called Christobel which I think is two girls names in a row. The first was Arthur. They may have gone PC since my day and included gay names. Maybe it's a transvestite Christopher.

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    6. Got it from, off Nova Scotia typical tabloid trash lol

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  6. I find that PS is all that I need to do videos at my level. That could possibly change, but I doubt it. You can pretty well do what you do with a photo with filters and whatnot. It's actually pretty easy to do basic stuff if you already know PS.

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    1. AC, I managed with PS Elements for years but when Adobe anounced CC I decided to get CS6 Extended. I still use Blender3D for 3D, Photomatix for HDR and Zerene for stacking. I usually end up popping the file in Photoshop for a final polish.
      You can get the misty effect in PS but it is better, if one is lucky, to get it on a long exposure in camera. This one isn't good but the earlier sepia looking ones are fine for me. I used the Canon for these and shot the same exposures on Fuji Velvia 100 on the Bronica. I hope they are better as it has taken me half a day to clean the camera.

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    2. Your Videos are better than mine. I used to hate video and working two monitors, I'm thinking either bigger monitors or more might be a help. I get so many tracks that it can easily fill a screen. Bet you didn't guess from the end result.

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  7. I have no idea what all the technical stuff means regarding camera equipment -- it's just fol-de-rol to me -- but many a lad could benefit from electrocution lessons.

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    1. Bob, it is fol-de-rol to my son. It is developing so fast now because computers develop it. I can't write or speak well elocution wise; don't you know. I just love the freedom to produce studio quality. Like all freedoms this one has to be disciplined. I know sod all about it but I do know lots of folk that know bits about it. I e-mail for what I don't know.
      Life is fun and the new toy will be fun.
      I take blogging seriously......I am hoping to play "No More Tears." on the flute and sing it better than Marianne Faithful.....You may have to wait a while. I'll try and be quick as you are ten years older than I am.
      Just as a matter of interest; what do Americans know about elocution? I see you know all about electrocution. A regular thing with you lot but a bit heathen.

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    2. PS. I forgot your wonderful organ. Play the backing to "No More Tears." Put twiddly bits in to give me time to draw breath..,the more the merrier, if you fancy a five minute solo it wouldn't go amiss as a fag break. E-mail it to me as a WAV or MP3 file and I will sing like a lark over your music.

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    3. When I was 8, Mrs. Jo Boteler gave me elocution lessons and I was able to recite all the verses to Longfellow's "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" that Christmas -- with feeling -- at the local Methodist Church. Then in high school, Mr. R. L. Anderson taught "Speech and Drama" with gusto, and I still remember "Richard Cory"...

      Thank you for the compliment about my organ (*blushes). I'll see what I can do, but don't hold your breath.

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    4. Adrian,
      I have the Zoom (H4N), the model they use in a sound lab on campus here. Hope you are happy with yours - the quality of sound is excellent.
      Thank you again for your posts. I look to your blog for my daily "fix" of the sea, and oh! for the feel and the smell of the sea air on the wind! McGregor

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    5. McGregor, I have never used one. I did think in for a penny in for a pound but as I'm just starting out thought I'd try the cheapo version. If I can master it I'll up grade but all my video goes through YouTube which tends to mash everything up anyway. At least with this I will be able to pop several audio and video tracks on. It just looks too good for the money. I even get a wee tripod and a dead cat in with the extras. You can pay horrendous money for WAV recorders and this does both. I hope it does.

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    6. Bob, I'm not feeling top notch so don't hang about. "Streets of London." or "Eve of Destruction." would do cos I know the words. Pick anything. I'll learn the words. just get someone to record you playing with your organ. Longfellow is American, elocution is different to dictation or whatever the word is.

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  8. Your nothing like Will iam Hague, christ, i could not look foward to reading / looking at that blokes blog !!!!!


    peter

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    1. Peter, his blog must be better than listening to him.

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  9. Si que estaba el mar bravo. Espero que hoy tuvieras mejor día.
    Gracias Adrian, voy nmejor pero despacio. lo bueno es que voy restando días malos y cada vez me quedan menos.
    Que tengas buena noche
    Un abrazo.

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    1. Laura, es bueno escuchar que se está recuperando. Debe haber sido un accidente de coche grande.

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  10. Hope the Zoom works out OK. I have a different version I bought quite a few years ago but it is bulkier and uses a strap on attachment for mounting it which gets in the way. The H1 looks more compact and more easily usable.
    For the external mic I use on the 70D I bought an angled bracket which puts the mic above and to one side of the camera. That was enough to get it away from any sounds from the auto focus motors. Looks a bit weird but does the job. Search for "BK V shape Triple Mount Hot Shoe Flash Bracket" on eBay to see the thing. As the hot shoe connector is plastic it masks out any use of flash while it is in situ.

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    1. John, I was fancying a Rode stereo microphone but they are a lot of money. I'll see how this goes. It seems to have reasonable reviews.
      I have an ancient Vivitar flash bracket which I can mount it on. I used to dislike video but enjoy it these days. I'll just have to take lots more until I master the technique. I will also have to start using Lightworks as CS6 does not support low res rendering so I have to wait for the clips to cache or whatever they do.

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  11. Ho w much I live this place watching your pics

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    1. Laura it is busy at the moment but it will soon be quiet again. I love it here. I will stay another week or so.

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  12. Wow, pleased you captured the human life to give some realistic scale to the scene.

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  13. Jay, I usually wait till people are out of shot but it does work this time.

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