Month: March 2013

On a farm in Cambridgeshire

I chanced upon this piece of farming equipment on a farm in Cambridgeshire last week while on a walk. The paint has peeled away and the equipment is rusty, but I’m sure this is still in use today. If I were to hazard a guess, this is probably used on a tractor to turn the soil, but not being a farmer, this is at best just a guess.

Farm6 Farm5 Farm4 Farm3 Farm2 Farm1

And what about the farm, a panoramic shot with the iPhone below.

Farm7

All pictures from the iPhone 4S. Processed in NIK snapseed software on the phone. Click on any picture for a larger version.

Spring – Snowdrop

“Nor will I then thy modest grace forget,
Chaste Snow-drop, venturous harbinger of Spring,
And pensive monitor of fleeting years!”

William Wordsworth (To a Snow-drop)

DSC_0032

Snowdrops traditionally herald the beginning of the end of winter. Delicate white flowers peeking out from a modest plant that is often overlooked when the other plants wake up from their winter slumber.

Related articles

Spring – Daffodils!!

This looks likely to be the most christmas-like Easter here in England this year. Snowfall this week and more expected over the Easter weekend make it hard to believe that spring is actually here. These daffodils from my garden are proof that, whilst we may not think of spring, the plants have certainly made up their minds.

_DSC2232
External SB600 flash from left of picture. 1/250 f/3.3 ISO200
_DSC2240
External flash from underneath. 1/250, f/14, ISO200
_DSC2239-Edit
Closer still. External SB600 flash under-lit. 1/160, f/14, ISO200. Sharpened with NIK Software.

All these pictures taken outside at dusk. The black background in the photographs are a result of using an external flash combined with a high aperture setting. Final black corrections in Adobe LightRoom applied to create a fully dark background.

 

Cambridge in HDR – Punting 2

I don’t intend to flood my blog and bore you with HDRs of punting pictures from Cambridge, but I had to share this with you. The following two pictures were taken immediately after my last post and so they are slightly different in composition. However, they’ve been processed using two different software (NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 and Photomatix).

_DSC1999_HDR
HDR Processed using NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 (Deep 1)
_DSC1999_2000_2001_tonemapped
HDR processed with Photomatix (Evaluation License)

I liked the output from Photomatix as it was more intuitive to use and seem to allow a greater range of adjustments without making the images look grungy.

The three original images that went into making these HDRs are below (bracketed at -1, 0 and +1), and merged in either HDR Efex Pro or Photomatix.

_DSC1999
Image 1 of 3 – At normal exposure
_DSC2000
Image 2 of 3 – At -1 eV
_DSC2001
Image 3 of 3 – At +1 eV

All images taken in Nikon RAW mode – Nikon D7000, Tamron 18-250mm Lens at 23mm f/4.0 1/640, 1/1250, 1/320 exposures.

Related articles

Cambridge: Corpus Christi College

Founded in 1352, one of the constituent colleges of Cambridge University with a chequered and colourful history. The alumnus includes the famous playwright Christopher Marlowe.

_DSC2139-Edit
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

 This picture has had to be extensively post-processed due to low-light winter conditions (4:50 according to the college clock). Processed in Adobe LightRoom and NIK Software Dfine and Color Efex Pro.

Related articles

Cambridge in HDR – Mathematical Bridge

The mathematical bridge is an 18th century wooden footbridge that connects Queens’ College across the Cam river. Although it seems to be an arch, it is composed entirely of straight timbers built to a sophisticated engineering design, hence the name. Can you see that the arch is made up of only straight timbers?

_DSC2145-Edit
The “Mathematical Bridge”, Queens’ College, Cambridge

Local myths talk about how the original bridge had no nuts of bolts, and how no one could put it back together once it was taken apart. However, these stories are almost totally untrue. The beauty of the design of this bridge lies in how the arch has been created to create the effect of a standard bridge.

Cambridge in HDR – The Round Church

The Round Church in Cambridge is probably one of the oldest surviving buildings in the city.

_DSC1994_HDR
Cambridge Round Church (12th century AD)

Dating from 1130AD, this is (according to the website) one of only 4 circular churches in England. It is now maintained by Christian Heritage. Not the easiest building to take a picture of, sitting as this is on a busy crossroad in the city. A lovely little church, well worth the visit for sheer character and history. Please click-through on the picture for a larger version.

Related articles