Supermoon rising...

Upon checking the weather forecast earlier in the day things looked encouraging, but by mid-morning the on-line weather sites - choose any one you like; they are all the same - had changed their initial predictions and things looked less encouraging.

I am talking about the chances of photographing the "supermoon" occurring this month, when our natural satellite makes a closer-than-usual pass to Earth. I have the idea of shooting it as it rises out of the sea against a local landmark - The Needles rocks on the western tip of the Isle of Wight - and plot my position carefully using TPA*.

But it wasn't to be. Although the skies began to clear during early evening - the forecasters got that right, bless them - it was about an hour too late by my reckoning, as there was still a bank of cloud on the horizon, obscuring the event. Although the intended effect was lost I waited around long enough to get some images of the moon rising over the cloud and into the night sky. The next opportunity will be August, next year.


300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor with TC-14EII converter. 1/100 second at f/5.6. - 1 stop EV compensation. ISO 640. Tripod and remote release.



*The Photographers Ephemeris - free software that allows you to plot sun/moon rise and setting directions (as well as times), for anywhere on the planet.



© 2013

AFC Bournemouth's last stand...

Far be it for me to push football during the summer months - some say there is more than enough of it during the ever lengthening season - but occasionally I intend to post the progress of the development of the local team's ground.

AFC Bournemouth, to be precise. As a one-time supporter (long, long ago), I was pleased to hear the recent news that for last year's efforts they had gained a promotion to the Football League Championship - level 2 in the English league system. If memory serves me correct, the last time this happened for them was in 1990 (then League Division 2), and they were able to continue in their existing ground since the capacity was deemed adequate for the larger gates they undoubtedly received at the time. Fast-forward to the 2013-14 season and things are a bit different.

They had a new stadium built in 2001 - still on the same site as the old ground, which has been there since 1910 - but with a capacity of just 9,600 fans. For reasons unknown to me (but probably financial), the re-build contained only three stands, which was fine for the level they were playing at in that period, but now something needs to be done. From what I understand, a new, temporary stand is to be built along the South Eastern edge to accommodate the expected greater influx of patrons during the forthcoming season, and it is this that I intend to document with my camera.

Let's hope The Cherries have some much-needed success - and continued input from their Russian benefactor - and can remain in its new echelon for years to come. Maybe even get something more permanent?  Mmm...that's nice, Max.



12-24mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor
Top: 1/400 second at f/11. + 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 250
Right: 1/320 second at f/11. + 0.67 EV compensation. ISO 250



© 2013

Looking back (#1)...

An article that I came across on Facebook last week started me thinking about photo editing. The feature demonstrated a photographer's output over a number of years, and using the same image made direct comparisons, with not just the progress of the shooter, but of the very process that produces the final image.

Editing software is always changing; always increasing in power; to provide the photographer with greater versatility, and increased options as to how easy the finished article is achieved. Usually, I process the RAW file and then leave it as it is - after all, does the Mona Lisa really need any more lipstick? There has to come a point when the photo is left alone for posterity, but working on the idea that a work of art is never finished; merely abandoned, I dig deep(ish) into my files for two images to give a re-spray job to.

 The image above, shot for a post in 2009, was processed only in Adobe CS4 - without first opening and working on the file in Camera RAW - and it consequently lacks colour and detail as I didn't, at that time, take advantage of the converter. The image to the right is the same file, but worked on in Adobe Lightroom 4, and this time I was able to reveal more foreground detail and sky colour, and create a more accurate rendition of what was actually there in front of me on that summer morning.

The two monochrome images of Hengistbury Head on the Dorset coast, are another example of better processing techniques - although, to be honest, the time factor may also come into play, here, as I probably spent more of it with today's image (right) than the original above. Having said that, the Lightroom software allows far greater control over various aspects of the composition and I am able to produce a better image tonally. The crop is slightly different, but that is neither here nor there.




All this is just a thought. Going back and reworking old files will invariably produce a different result to the original - as no doubt it will in the future as software developers strive to us greater control - and photographers seek to drain the last drop of detail that lurks within the digital file. As we used to say in commercial printing: if it's on the plate, we can print it.


© 2013

About (bloody) time...

It has been far too long since I have picked up my camera and gone out to shoot, but at last I have done something about it. For the past five weeks I have been otherwise engaged, mostly with the musical side of my interests, and visiting my friend Nic in Kent, but today I am back to the Dorset Stour and familiar ground, wielding a long lens. Best to get there now, I feel, before the fishermen are let loose once again this coming Saturday when the coarse fishing close season ends.

I have missed out on the majority of the usual early summer opportunities: trees coming into full foliage, and the young of the numerous local waterfowl, so I need to search for something more general for pictorial effect. The lay-off has caused me to loose my photographic 'eye'; something that needs constant practice to maintain, so I confess to being a bit rusty, but the more I shoot and the longer I look, the quicker it returns.

I am out during mid afternoon, and at this time of year - with clear blue skies - the light is just too brutal to be of any use, but by using reflections of bank-side trees in the water I am able to tone-down the harshness of the summer sun and produce something pleasing.



300mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor with TC 14-EII converter. 1/1250 second at f/7.1.  - 0.67 EV compensation. ISO 400. Monopod.



© 2013