In the forest again

You will be aware by now that Ashridge Forest is a real favourite for me. By today I needed to get out and blow some cobwebs away and so I visited again with my camera and a selection of my current favourite lenses. In my mind I also had the topics of the club competitions for our next season, yes, I know, way ahead of myself but as I will need 12 in each category I decided to start to think early and get a few possibles saved and in the bank.

This is the first attempt, I think this could fit into either the 'Differential Focus' or the 'Worms Eye View' competition, but I think its more likely to end up in differential focus, if any at all, as its probably not near enough to the ground for a true Worms Eye View, I think I can do better than this.

Whether it ends up in either competition or not, I rather like it, and that at the end of the day is all that matters.

Moving along I came across this fellow photographer honing his skills.

A good plan, get them young.










I then got back in the car and travelled down the road to the monument, where I found the start of a classic car rally, all good fun. http://www.spiritofdacorum.com/

They had an old fire engine on display which was a firm favourite with the youngsters.


I call this pic 'Too small to be a fireman'
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Finally I went for a walk amongst the trees with my IR camera, again looking for something new. I noticed that the sun was very bright and shining through the leaves of the trees. Knowing that IR seems to work well in bright light I wondered about the effect I could get if I focused on the leaves
 

Again images I rather like, perhaps a subject to be explored further.

The annual bluebell shoot!!

Yesterday I took my annual trip to Ashridge Forset to look at, and photograph, the bluebells. It is such a well known spot which has been photographed so many times that it is difficult to get something which has my 'stamp' on it. I think I really need to give it another week, when it will be a blaze of colour. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-ashridge

At my camera club I am known for my 'quirky pics' so here is one which might fit into that category.

                                  







This was taken with my fish eye lens and processed to give a painterly, hazy effect.













This one, called a Worm's Eye View, involved me getting on the floor and making myself look rather foolish, not the first time I hear those who know me shout!!! Anyway I think it was worth it, so far this is my favourite.

Infra Red 2

This morning I had another look at my pics from the last few days and edited these two.

The first taken at Wardown Park and the second at Whipsnade Tree Cathedral.

IR seems to suit the bright midday sun, often a no no for many photographers. The bright sunlight, giving an almost skeletal look to the leaf, was the reason I was attracted to this image. I used curves to increase the contrast, darkening the background and giving the leaf a bit of a 'zing' - note the technical photographic word there!

IN THE ROUND

I enjoy exploring the possibilities of Photoshop and creating an image from a photograph. I always try and start with a technically good photograph. I think it is a mistake to think that using a Photoshop filter can rescue a poor image.

Today I have been using the polar coordinates filter under distort. In all of these images I added a Fractilius effect and used layers to create the image I had in my head.

This image started off as a picture of three trees which are in a straight line,  I have used them several times in different photographs, they are a 5 minute walk from my house.

This picture is a combination of two images, the tree was positioned below the horizon on which the people and the dogs were so that the trunk disappears into the centre of the circle.

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Finally an image created in the same way, but then cut in half to create a different image. Also you will notice that the people and the tree are inside the circle, rather than on the outside. This is dependant on the image you start with, you simply flip the image vertically to create the different effect, and no they are not the same people as in image two!

I hope you enjoyed looking at these and that you are inspired to try some for yourself. One tip if you are going to try this, look at the edges of your image before you add the filter. When the image is bent to create the circle the edges come together, if they are not similar you will get an odd joined effect in the middle.

MISTY TREES

I took this back in November, during a weekend away in Leicestershire. I have been keen to catch some misty/foggy pictures for sometime but have never been in the right place at the right time, or should I say I couldn't be bothered to get up early enough!!! Anyway this was the first of the snowy weather and when I looked out of the window I knew this was an opportunity I could not miss and quickly dashed outside, once I had dressed of course!

Apart from cropping to create a vertical letterbox shape, I am sure there is a proper name for this format but I don't know what it is, and a small amount of sharpening this is as taken. I must admit I am pleased with it as a first misty pic attempt but think it might need a bit more impact, perhaps one of my landscape expert followers might be able to give me some tips for improvement.

This one was taken a few minutes later and obviously has been given a very different treatment. I have never been successful with mono landscape pictures but I do think this one works, maybe because it was almost mono in the first place and the high contrast treatment seems to suit it. I am not convinced I have done the conversion as well as I could have and the compression for jpeg has not done it any favours, however it may well be one one I will return to and possibly even print for the club mono landscape competition later in the year.