Chris called round last night complete with a bottle of falling down water and divorce papers. My sort of girl, I don’t know why we are getting divorced…..she brought the wrong papers….So we aren’t…..that’s a school teacher for you!
The water pump man has been and performed a miracle…..I can now have a shower and wash pots up. Six weeks it will be since I’ve had a shower in the van. Come to think of it it’s six weeks since I had a wash or washed pots. Just tried the shower and now I have to unblock the shower drain. Amazing how much extra weight I was carrying.
It is like mid summer here. T-Shirt weather. It was gloomy till lunch time but now the sun is beating down. Wonderful but not winter.
Big Bertha fits in the rucksack as sweet as a nut. The tripod goes where it always goes. It’s a wee bit top heavy with this head on…. It’s manageable.
Ready to go……since I got a bit of Molly in I decided to show you them both. They are always ready to go………….
They are having a hair cut next week so will be able to see where they are going.
We walked for about a mile, found a seat to sit on in Chatsworth Park.
We passed a Sheep or three…………I apologise for the blow out……………………….
The Cricket Ground……swapped lenses and took a picture of the house…………..
This is from Big Bertha wide open. She does vignette but I suspect if I load the lens profile plug in into PS it will solve the problem. I have exaggerated the vignette here. I quite liked the effect. I also sepiad it. A centre filter would cure the problem. It would cost another £2K to have one made! I’ll live with it. I’d lose a couple of stops with a centre filter so good have gone longer and lighter for the same or similar outlay.
This is the vignetting not exaggerated. It’s fine stopped down but not what I paid for. I can only think that Canon lens reviewers take Canon’s word for things. It does give a pleasing DOF. I’m going to love this lens………….. I’m going to have to.
There was nothing about but a few Mallard. Two flew away but I missed them by a yard or two and five minutes.
These were a couple of hundred yards away. This shot is with the tele-converter on, too soft for me on this lens. So I threw a bit of sandwich in the river.
That fetched him over. I used to know Olympus so well that I could set up to bracket these naughty light shots. I’m a slow learner…backward going forward….possibly Special Needs or as I prefer to call it a bit thick.
It was not a successful day but I’ll learn to work it. Tomorrow I’ll go deer hunting and try Bertha on a monopod. Then it’s Sunday lunch with friends and my, yet to be, ex wife. I may not be fit to post tomorrow.
Monday we are back to Darlington for one night and Tuesday we will trek north to Scotland.
Have a good week.
It is lovely to learn and play with "Big Bertha", I would like one those.
ReplyDeleteBob, it's hard work learning a new camera system. I need a Canon man to show me. The lens is good. What is the native ISO for Canon I use 160 two up from minimum. I don't want to sell it yet. It does focus very quickly on the 5D II. I suspect it was not designed for full frame.
DeleteThe ISO is set my camera is 400, at this time of year, any more it is grainy and lower than 400 you get a lot of white.
DeleteThanks Bob, I'll crank mine up a stop and try it later.
DeleteThat vignetting is a bit naughty Adrian, not what you'd expect at that price!...I'm sure, given time, you'll find a way of managing it.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're able to get a shower at last the smell was starting to get a little overpowering!...even down here int' South!!
So, you'll soon be a free man and the master of your own destiny..will you be able to cope with all that new found freedom?? Or will you not notice the change? Enjoy the last supper...er...Sunday lunch!!...[;o)
Trevor, I was horrified. All posh lenses tend to do it wide open. The whole reason behind my thinking was that I'd use it in low to middling daylight. I was thinking out of my behind. Post processing can sort it no bother. With or without a RAW lens profile.
DeleteThe shower is spot on, I'm sparkling bright and so are my pots and pans. Bet a pound to a penny they are dazzling you. No smell now stick your nose out and sniff.
I've always been a free man.....she says that was the problem. She will keep popping round. She says it's difficult to resist or hate a lunatic...she should know she teaches Special People.
It is sharp edge to edge. It is an optical mechanism. Zeiss or Schnieder would be little better and for an f/2 lens cost the same as a posh Porche.
DeleteLove the picture of the dogs, and particularly the one in sepia, very atmospheric. As for the divorce, maybe she forgot the correct papers on purpose, and has plans to join you in your van travel eh? Glad to see Big Bertha is fun to play with.
ReplyDeleteGary, It is sharp.
ReplyDeleteI doubt she did. She despite a fault or too does not suffer from selective memory deficiencies. She can remember my every misdemeanour going back twenty five years!
Sweet sweet shots! Life is wonderful. And you are free:) Both being single or relationship are wonderful things. The shots of your puppies is incredible. Love the camera.....and the landscape stuff is great as well. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteCheers Chris. The dogs are a pain but do lie down when I'm playing with the camera.
DeleteLove the sepia shot.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy Sunday lunch, and the deer.
My zoom lens took me a while to get used to it Adrian. I never felt it was that sharp at times. Perseverance.
Keith, I'll get there. It is a pain learning a whole new system. I'll give it a whirl on auto tomorrow.
DeleteI wasn't thinking of eating the Dear for Sunday lunch. Far too much at one sitting.
Im liking that sheep / reflection shot. Ive found that the D7000 takes sharper images at ISO 200 than the minimum ISO100. but does start to diffract at around f/22. I guess i'll live with it though.
ReplyDeleteHope you have a great weekend.
Shaun, i was told ages ago that sensors work better at a native iso number or multipliers of 2 of it. Can't see the logic of it myself.
DeleteI rarely use small apertures. f16 now and again for landscape and macro.
My, you lead a busy life. I am glad you’ve had a shower, did you need to keep up-wind from people? Could that be something to do with the divorce? You seem to be on excellent terms with the not yet ex. well done, the two of you.
ReplyDeleteAnd where were you when you had t-shirt weather? I can wear t-shirts too, but only under thick thermals.
Friko, Chatsworth...a balmy spring day here.
DeleteWe are fine for going out...living under the same roof is hell.
Have fun with your new toy. The dogs look like they've been sepiad too ;) (but yes I read the part about the shower!)
ReplyDeleteMonica, everywhere is so wet that despite hosing them off I can't keep them clean.
DeleteIf I didn't know better Adrian I'd say you were getting a bit obsessive over your equipment (and your camera) but I'd be a bit upset about paying that and having to stop down to avoid the vignetting. I suppose the real reason for lenses like that is the centre shot as a rule though. Anyway I have now had my pre-breakfast injection of your wit and wisdom and can scurry off and enjoy the rest of my day. Sleep well.
ReplyDeleteGraham I'm definitely very anal at the moment.
DeleteIt will be fine when I can remember where everything is and what it does. It does have three positions on the top dial for custom settings so once I have decided what settings I like I'll load those up and pop Magic Lantern on the memory card.
What are you doing up at this hour of the morning. It's 1540 here and I'm awake but that's understandable - just.
DeleteI never seem to sleep all night. I'll go back to bed soon.
DeleteI knew you'd been up all night, like me. Roll on the light mornings...
DeleteI have got used to sleep in short bursts.
DeleteYou have a lot of interesting stuff to keep you occupied...big Bertha, soon to be ex-wife, dogs, showers drains.
ReplyDeleteLike history....my life is just one damn thing after another.
DeleteHi Adrian, from what I can see of the soft photo is that it is movement not softness that gave you the blurry image. You will have to make sure that the lens is completely still and shoot with a cable release. You may also need to use the mirror up function of your camera.
ReplyDeleteHorst you are correct. I did try it on Live View but then it would only manual focus. Something else to work out. The manual is almost worn out.
DeleteHI Adrian...Loved that divorce paper story, but what happened to the falling down water ; )??
ReplyDeleteYou sure do have a lot happening, never a dull moment with you!!
I like that Sheep reflection shot!!
Grace
Cheers Grace....the falling down water disappeared...bet thedogs pinched it.
DeleteLovely shots and comments, Mr.A ... Thanks for sharing. Love, cat.
ReplyDeleteCat, many thanks. your backlit portrait is much better than any of these.
DeleteI hope the wee beasties aren't going to be shorn too much. They look delightful as they are.
ReplyDeleteJohn, they drag so much sludge into the van when their hair gets this long.
DeleteSorry to hear of your problems, I suppose it's how we deal with it that counts. Great study of the hairy dogs and it's nice to see most of the Chatsworth brickwork now. That duck looks mean and determined coming for you like that, I hope it went away with the right piece of bread !!
ReplyDelete