Autumn Colour

Thought I’d add some rich colours to this blog and as it’s Autumn there’s plenty of gorgeous rich tones around.  The following shots are of the same leaf  taken at the Tropical Gardens in Abbotsbury in Dorset.  They flood light part of the gardens for a month, so I thought I’d try some night photography – luckily it wasn’t windy!

Late Afternoon

The above shot was taken whilst it was still light.  The next two shots are of the same leaf but from different angles taken after the sun went down.  The lighting purely comes for the flood lights.

Evening Time

I haven’t spent so long isnsuch an uncomfortable position for a long time – it’s first time I’ve used my tripod in ages!!

Late Evening

Overall it was a fun evening experimenting and swearing endless at my camera and my stupid settings!!

More Infrared London Shots

I thought I’d upload some more infrared shots from London.  The two shots below of the London Eye were taken with a Infrared converted Nikon D70 on a walkabout with Robert Carr (www.flickr.com/photos/14603170@N00)  who was also kind enough to pass some of his photoshop secrets on – thank you!!

London Eye

The skies were quite threatening but the light was really good when we got to the Eye!  I’m just really glad we didn’t get rained on the entire morning!!   These Infrared cameras still amaze me with their ability to pick up tones, contrasts and textures especially in the skies & clouds.

London Eye

The shot of Big Ben below was taken with a Sony DSC-F717 (with a Hoya R72 & ND8 filters).  It was completely different to process as the lighting was all wrong (in that the skies were bright and the trees etc were dark), but in the end I’m quite pleased with the result!!

Big Ben

I’ve still gots loads more to work on!!!  You’ll be bored of infrareds by the time I’ve finished!!

London Trip

Life has been a bit flat out recently so many apologises for lack of uploads!!  I spent a few days in London last month and went for a walk with my two trusted Infrared Cameras!!  The clouds were incredible and really moody, kind of like Harry Potter clouds!!

From the Bridge

This shot was taken with a converted Nikon D70 and then converted to Black & White in CS4.  And the shot of the London Eye below was taken with a Sony DSC-F717 (with Hoya R72 & ND8 filters) and processed in the same way as the shot above!

Through the Trees

Got to say a big thank you to Rob for being my walking buddy!!!  And incredibly we weren’t stopped by any police to check our camera equipment etc!!!

Now that things have calmed down a bit I will be doing more processing and therefore updating this blog!!

Stormy Summer Infrareds

Its great to start processing shots again.  The three shots below were taken in the same hour with a Sony DSC-F717 (with a Hoya R72 & ND8 filters on) to give the infrared effect.  They were taken on a stormy early August morning in Dorset.  The processing in Photoshop only took a few minutes.  I just love the F717 as the shots are so easy to process and they have such a ethereal feel and look to them!!

Although I love sunny weather, I also love going out in these kind of conditions with the infrared camera to capture the atmosphere & moodiness!!

The shot below is the same tree as above (taken from further away), but the lighting had changed to give the shot a more dark feel!!

I’ll work on some uplifting puffy cloud ones next to upload!!

Birds of Prey

I thought I’d upload some Bird of Prey shots today.  Time has got away from me lately and I haven’t processed any new shots for a while, but am getting excited to pull my finger out again very soon!!

Little Owl

This Little Owl was so adorable, I couldn’t get over how small they are!!

Red Kite

An incredibly alert Red Kite.  These guys are stunning and have the most amazing eyes.

Bald Eagle

A very impressive male Bald Eagle – they do make the most pathetic sound for their size!!

Thanks for having a look – I will be back to uploading regulary again!!

Summer Infrareds

After the last two flower uploads, I thought it was time for some more Infrareds!!  All three shots were taken when out walking my two gorgeous dogs, with a Sony DSC-F717 (with Hoya R72 & ND8 filters).  I couldn’t resist going for the blue look for the shot below as the clouds were brilliant.

Farm View

And for those cloudy days – I kept this one to Black & white with a little Sepia tone to add to the atmosphere & mood!!

Cloudy Walk

And for all white winter look!!  This was taken on a bight cloudy day.

Whiteness

These Infrareds are such fun to do and certainly brings out the creative juices!!

British Wild Orchids

As promised this upload is full of British Orchids that were taken in Dorset and Somerset over the last two years – mainly in Spring and Summer.  I love the wild flowers of Spring and Summer, and after a winter of it raining sideways – I can’t wait for the Snowdrops, Crocuses, Orchids & Bluebells!!

Frog Orchid

Green-veined Orchid

Green-veined Orchid

Green-veined Orchid

Southern Marsh Orchid

Heath Spotted Orchid Pair

Common Spotted Orchid

Early Purple Orchid

Green-veined Orchid Trio

Heath Spotted Orchid

Greater Butterfly Orchid

Green-veined Orchid

The Early Purple Orchids are the first to appear in Spring, followed by the Green-veined Orchids (which come in white, pink & purple).  All the rest follow on!!  There are so many more species which I wish to take as they are so stunning!!

Coming from a background of Thai Orchids I was quite surprised to see Orchids in the UK – and they really are beautiful especially the small individual petals.   I’ve also taken some Bee Orchids and Pyramidal Orchids (but can’t find the photos yet – computer gremlins)!!

Flowers!

Given that the weather is so miserable this morning and that I’ve been up all night looking after my sick Spaniel – I thought I’d uplift the mood by uploading some flower shots that I’ve taken over the years!!  The flower below is a Celandine – a tiny flower that grows along Buttercups, Daisies & Dandelions in the grass.  It only opens its petals in the sun!!

Celandine

The photo below is of a white Bluebell surrounded by blue Bluebells!!  It was taken in Hooke Woods in Dorset, which comes alive with Bluebells for a few weeks in Spring.  It really is sight to be seen!

White Bluebell

And finally the shot below is of a Crocus – another gorgeous flower which appears in Spring and they can cover a huge area in purple, pink, white and sometimes yellow, making Spring such a beautiful time of year!!

Crocus

Whilst looking through my collection I’ve seen so many wild Orchid shots which I will upload next time!

Some Colour Infrareds

I finally processed some colour infrareds today!!  This one was taken last month with a Sony DSC-F717 and Hoya R72 filter.  I did a colour swap in Photoshop to bring the blue sky out.  I loved all the different clouds and the light.

Cloudy Ash

The shot below was also taken in June whilst walking the dogs, with a IR converted Nikon D70.  I “colour swapped” the colours in photoshop again to bring out the blue sky.  I wish I had gotten out before they put the plastic on the bales – next time!!!

Bale Time

I love colour infrareds for the magicalness of them.  I’ve processed plenty over the last two years and they are great fun to do but sometimes really frustrating!!  My biggest problem are shots with sunny and shady parts – they can be a real pain to process!

Streaky Skies

Although this isn’t a new shot I thought I’d upload it as it is my favourite!!  I took it last year – it’s an HDR shot from 3 exposures.  I used an IR converted Canon EOS400D.   The clouds were incredible that day – I’ve never seen anything like it before or since!!!  And it’s the same tree as the one in the first shot (obviously from a different angle)!!

Summer Infrared Fog

I’ve been doing some more processing of some infrared shots that I took last month – in some really foggy conditions.  Within about an hour of taking these shots the fog lifted completely!!  In both of these shots the fog has completely covered the hill in the background!

Summer Fog

Luckily it was quite bright as the sun was trying to pound through!!  It was quite erie in the silence!!  And within a few hours the sun was shinning brightly!

June Fog

I love the “winterness” of them!!  Both shots were taken with a Sony DSC-F717, with a Hoya R72 and ND8 filters. Very little post-processing was involved – levels & converted to B&W in Photoshop, which was great as they were done in a matter of minutes!!