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, 13 February 2016

I WONDER. (13/02/16)

Yesterday morning I went out with a long lens as I wanted a snap of a Red Squirrel. Plenty of evidence in the form of chewed pine cones but as for the little beasts themselves there was not a sign.
I did bump into Marion on our walk and she was thrilled that the Duke of Cambridge had resurfaced. He was at Henry Worseley’s funeral, his first Royal duty in a couple of months. I did say he has a full time job flying an air ambulance but apparently even that isn’t a proper job as he is a co-pilot. I hadn’t given the matter any thought but when I did I realised that on the few occasions I’ve seen an Air Ambulance it only had one pilot. Poor lad must be knackered, it’s a bit late for that, he ought to have been done at birth.
It was a good walk, I found the largest example of hair Ice so far, it measured about 2000mm and was a good 75mm tall.
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Impressive stuff.
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There are lots of Deer around,  this is as close as I can get. I have managed to persuade the dogs not to chase them. After years they have realised that they have no chance of catching one and I suspect would have little idea what to do with one if they did.
I am still playing in Blender and finding new challenges. I really can’t think what use it all is but I am enjoying it. I have been concentrating on modelling and applying textures. It’s much harder than it looks and adjusting UV Maps is both time consuming and repetative.
casks
This is the result of yesterdays labour. The upper middle hoop on the barrels is a bit thin and I never noticed at the time. The staves have mapped well, the floor needs a displacement map or the mesh deforming, the walls are just a quick job as is the sky. The window bars took me ages to work out how to do and could do with being much thicker. Not to worry I’ll keep working on this scene, make it look a bit more realistic. I now have to tackle the mysteries of the compositor to add grime and other stuff to try and make the scene look used. If I get little further then I have still learnt a fair bit and had hours of entertainment.
Have a good weekend.





20 comments:

  1. Love the photos, especially the deer. Your barrel scene is great, so realistic. You are making great progress.

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    1. It still needs hours of work to be realistic but I'm quite happy.

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  2. I like your blender barrels. Well done.

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  3. I still love the look of hair ice it's amazing. I think you did well to catch the deer in the open especially with your dogs in tow

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    1. Douglas, these deer we see regularly they have learnt the dogs can't catch them and so have the dogs.

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  4. I enjoyed the hair ice---- especially since it's there, and not here. I've had enough cold. Like the blender picture very much.

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    1. Bill, it is cold again today but the hair ice is hard to spot in the snow.

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  5. I wonder if I'll ever see hair ice for myself, Adrian. For the time being I'll just have to content myself with your super images.

    I'm looking forward to sampling the virtual whisky that you'll put in those barrels! Presumably it'll be a blended whisky, rather than a single malt!

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    1. Richard, it is quite common in Scotland but I have never seen it in England. The barrels are full of cask strength Talisker...I hope.

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  6. You're getting a dab hand at finding that hair ice Adrian?
    I hope that's a bonded barrel store you've got there and not a stash of illegal hooch?...[;o{

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    1. Trevor yes I found some more this morning.
      The barrels are full to the brim of the finest malt whiskey.....Should last me a week.

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  7. hair ice is beautiful ! lucky you are to see deers !
    there are so many hunters in our forests !
    happy day Adrian

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    1. Marty, the deer are getting quite tame. The hair ice is always good to see.

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  8. Ice hair is beautiful. Think, I've never seen though I live in the snow country :)
    Lovely photos.
    Have a happy day.

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  9. Orvokki, I only see it on very calm days when the temperature is between -2°C and -5°C. It seems to grow on dead Beech branches up to 50mm in diameter. It is difficult to see in snow.

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  10. I really would like to see hair ice but I suspect it would take a great deal of time and effort and staying somewhere where it occurs.

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    1. Graham, it has to be totally still and temperature appears to have to be -2°C to -4°C. Beach trees are also required with dead branches.

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