Unfiled 2009
Doctor Gloucester went to Foster, in an hour of shame. He stepped in a piddle, right up to his muddle, and nether went bare again.
Ironic sign placement in Old Orleans, Cardiff.
Cormorant, Cardiff Bay.
Follow the leader. Taff.
Juvenile moorhen. Taff.
Sale! Bodies 70% off, clothes 100% off.
Glamorgan Canal nature reserve forest.
Glamorgan Canal nature reserve forest.
Since this is the first time I have had a camera capable of doing so, I tried taking some pictures of stars. Starting with the easiest and brightest; Venus (yes, a planet, not a star, but whatever, it looks like one). Even with the metering set to use only the planet itself to judge the amount of light to let in, it still blinds the shot, and produces a significant lens flare that looks like a miniature aurora. The planet is normally so featureless even when viewed through a powerful telescope, that this blinding white is not actually far from the truth. 300mm, 1/5 sec, F 5.7, ISO 800, EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM.
After several attempts, I managed to get this shot of Orion's Belt and Sword (and a tree that was almost invisible to my eyes). The EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens does not have any accurate readout of what represents "infinity" focus, and can be rotated beyond infinity. It is virtually impossible to manually focus in these conditions. Instead, I made the camera auto-focus on a bright star (Capella cluster), then switched to manual focus to prevent the camera from searching for focus points with each picture. Even the slightest camera shake caused visible jittering, so a solid tripod, calm weather, and either a remote trigger or self-timer were needed. The shutter movement itself introduces a large amount of shake over such long distances and long exposures, so mirror lockup was also needed. 115mm, 5.19 sec, F 4.6, ISO 1000, EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM.
The Capella cluster. Even the slight haze was enough to hide duller stars, and the city light pollution made that worse, especially near the horizon. Local streetlights were seriously problematic, requiring shielding and a good lens hood to block them and their lens flares out. The moon, likewise, created far too much ambiant light noise, as did the faint glow from the sun. This picture was taken after the glow had disappeared. What I had not anticipated was the significance of the effect of the Earth's rotation on the long exposure. For constallations near the clelestial equator (like Orion), even 5 seconds was enough for the Earth's rotation to visibly elongate the stars. For constallations near the North Star (Polaris), 30 seconds showed a similar effect - this would be increasingly affected at lower latitudes by changing perspective. 115mm, 5.19 sec, F 4.6, ISO 1000, EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM.
Paragliders above Merthyr Common.
One for those who like mislabelled items; Homebase can't seem to work out what are flowers and what are vegetables. Hint; they're doing it wrong.
Fire on the Twyn Carncanddo ridge above Llanelly Hill. Apologies for the picture quality - I only had the phone camera with me.
Self portrait.
BMX half pipe trick, known as a flair (I think).- View animation.
Skateboard FAIL.
Ropes on the Challenge Wales around-the-World yacht.
Livingroom and kitchen - the largest open space on board (the woman facing the camera is one of the sailing team, if you care).
Hallway.
Controls - that's a Windows 2000 computer, it would appear.
Bunks.
Storage.
Engine. For cheating.
Challenge Wales deck.
Buzzard over Sarnau.
Seagulls at New Quay.
Sub-adult herring gull, showing a third eyelid.
Cormorants.
Atlantic Grey Seal near Cwmtydu.
Waterfall at Trwyn Crou.
Ironic sign placement in Old Orleans, Cardiff.
Cormorant, Cardiff Bay.
Follow the leader. Taff.
Juvenile moorhen. Taff.
Sale! Bodies 70% off, clothes 100% off.
Glamorgan Canal nature reserve forest.
Glamorgan Canal nature reserve forest.
Since this is the first time I have had a camera capable of doing so, I tried taking some pictures of stars. Starting with the easiest and brightest; Venus (yes, a planet, not a star, but whatever, it looks like one). Even with the metering set to use only the planet itself to judge the amount of light to let in, it still blinds the shot, and produces a significant lens flare that looks like a miniature aurora. The planet is normally so featureless even when viewed through a powerful telescope, that this blinding white is not actually far from the truth. 300mm, 1/5 sec, F 5.7, ISO 800, EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM.
After several attempts, I managed to get this shot of Orion's Belt and Sword (and a tree that was almost invisible to my eyes). The EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens does not have any accurate readout of what represents "infinity" focus, and can be rotated beyond infinity. It is virtually impossible to manually focus in these conditions. Instead, I made the camera auto-focus on a bright star (Capella cluster), then switched to manual focus to prevent the camera from searching for focus points with each picture. Even the slightest camera shake caused visible jittering, so a solid tripod, calm weather, and either a remote trigger or self-timer were needed. The shutter movement itself introduces a large amount of shake over such long distances and long exposures, so mirror lockup was also needed. 115mm, 5.19 sec, F 4.6, ISO 1000, EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM.
The Capella cluster. Even the slight haze was enough to hide duller stars, and the city light pollution made that worse, especially near the horizon. Local streetlights were seriously problematic, requiring shielding and a good lens hood to block them and their lens flares out. The moon, likewise, created far too much ambiant light noise, as did the faint glow from the sun. This picture was taken after the glow had disappeared. What I had not anticipated was the significance of the effect of the Earth's rotation on the long exposure. For constallations near the clelestial equator (like Orion), even 5 seconds was enough for the Earth's rotation to visibly elongate the stars. For constallations near the North Star (Polaris), 30 seconds showed a similar effect - this would be increasingly affected at lower latitudes by changing perspective. 115mm, 5.19 sec, F 4.6, ISO 1000, EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM.
Paragliders above Merthyr Common.
One for those who like mislabelled items; Homebase can't seem to work out what are flowers and what are vegetables. Hint; they're doing it wrong.
Fire on the Twyn Carncanddo ridge above Llanelly Hill. Apologies for the picture quality - I only had the phone camera with me.
Self portrait.
BMX half pipe trick, known as a flair (I think).
Skateboard FAIL.
Ropes on the Challenge Wales around-the-World yacht.
Livingroom and kitchen - the largest open space on board (the woman facing the camera is one of the sailing team, if you care).
Hallway.
Controls - that's a Windows 2000 computer, it would appear.
Bunks.
Storage.
Engine. For cheating.
Challenge Wales deck.
Buzzard over Sarnau.
Seagulls at New Quay.
Sub-adult herring gull, showing a third eyelid.
Cormorants.
Atlantic Grey Seal near Cwmtydu.
Waterfall at Trwyn Crou.