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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2012 22:42:22 GMT
Okay Mike here's a starter of ten pics from my vast collection...................... Alan EDIT......................SUGAR!!! better upload them to Photobucket first.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2012 22:49:28 GMT
First one's for Dave just to show you what your young Goldfinch will look like if you feed it well. ;D
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2012 22:52:38 GMT
One for Chong.....................he likes vivid colour in his pics. Almond paste in a window in Rouen.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2012 22:54:51 GMT
Here's lookin at yah all. Mr Starling in his winter coat.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2012 22:56:18 GMT
Flowers in the garden............but not this year.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2012 22:57:36 GMT
I call this one curves.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2012 22:58:59 GMT
Horses at the High Flatts
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2012 23:01:02 GMT
Don't mess with me..................a great wee dog when we had him, sadly gone.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2012 23:03:34 GMT
Mallard duck taken in Rosslyn Glen directly beneath Rosslyn Chapel.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2012 23:05:08 GMT
Mallard Drake taken just up the hill from here about a mile.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2012 23:07:29 GMT
Still Life an indoor shot.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2012 23:09:38 GMT
And your bonus shot.........................well I reckon I'm due a pint for all that effort.
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mrarroyo
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Post by mrarroyo on Jul 3, 2012 10:09:04 GMT
Very nice pics, except for old bugger at the end.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2012 19:49:43 GMT
Sorry Mr arroyo if the old bugger at the end ain't up to your standards. Not sure if you'r....young...old or just a middling in-between but I'd have thought twice about using..........."Arroyo" for my moniker. Of course the older you get the more it fits. Non the less I do appreciate your post. Regards, Alan
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2012 19:57:22 GMT
Alan, they are stunning shots. The manipulation you've done is superb. What programme are you using?
I actually like the portrait at the end .... it's full of character. Great stuff!!! The poppies almost look like cibrachrome.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2012 20:00:59 GMT
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Will
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Post by Will on Jul 3, 2012 20:02:42 GMT
Cracking pictures Alan, really good.
That first photo, of the goldfinch - is it a reflection or two goldfinches facing off?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2012 21:21:15 GMT
Hi Ian, I do a bit of fiddling in PS it has everything a photographer requires to bring out the best in his shots and more. All ten photos were taken with my Nikon D70 and Sigma 70-300 APO lens. The flowers are Flax I'd to go and look on Thompson & Morgon's site as I'd forgotten just what the variety was. Linum grandiflorum 'Rubrum' Flax, Flowering Flax Hardy Annual Very easy to grow and great in bloom. I've very marginally intensified the colour saturation by way of the levels button in PS. The National Trust For Scotland used it in one of their brochures, needless to say for free.
To recap on the pics the Goldfinches having a spat were taken through the window (double glazed) and if you discount conversion from Raw format to Tif then minor adjustments to contrast and levels finally a little sharpening..........less is always better..........that photo is as taken. The Marzipan fruits just jumped out at me they were so colourful and required very little out of camera work. Mr Starling...........................I have a shed in the garden from which I have taken some great bird shots. I took a pane of glass out of the window set up the camera and sat in there for hours. Starlings have the most beautiful colours in their feathers when in their winter coats. Most British birds are at their colourful best going into winter. Just outside the window I've a feeding spot and some posing points where birds alight cos they know Alan's gonna take their pics. The camera's focus is set on the posing spot and securely clamped that lets you just press the shutter button with out looking through the viewfinder. With the Swan that's more down to cropping out the major part of the pic, the pic as a whole was mediocre but cropping in to show just the curved neck and head accentuated the colour of the water and reflections. To crop in tight to a small part requires a good lens great light and a very steady hand. You can get great results from duff shots (composition wise) if the actual quality of photo is good. The Schnauzer shot was taken a good few years ago that time with a Cannon T90 sadly both dog and camera are gone. We were walking in Rosslyn Glen almost right under the Chapel the light coming in through the trees allowed me to get the shot of the Mallard duck, one of my favourites. The Mallard Drake is pin sharp and can be printed to A3 and beyond without any degradation. A testament to the Sigma lens. I'll trawl a few more out and post 'em. Alan
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2012 21:29:45 GMT
Thanks Will, just two birds facing off at each other, the Goldfinches and much smaller Siskins are quite willing to have a go at each other. Alan
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2012 6:37:32 GMT
Nice work - thanks for posting - must get back into taking some photographs myself. :-)
Derek
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XTRProf
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Post by XTRProf on Jul 4, 2012 12:04:34 GMT
Great! All very nicely taken photos, Alan. With insightful thoughts in them too for some. Btw, you took that shot using a tripod?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2012 14:22:22 GMT
HI Derek, hope you do get that camera out and post a few, I've not taken any shots recently, photography has taken a back seat over the last few years so almost all of my pics will be from times past.
Chong, no tripod we were in Rouen a few years back I was allowed my camera, lenses and flashgun on the trip but no room for a tripod. Very few of my shots are with tripod. We were passing a Patisserie the display caught my eye and voilà!
Just realised, the "old bugger" .............by tripod, Mr Starling not tripod but clamped down to the bench.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2012 21:29:10 GMT
Hi Drym, Just looked at your pics - some beauties amongst them but I particularly like the scrappin' Goldfinches - my visitors don't seem to fall out at all, quite patiently waiting their turn to have a go at the niger seed. I suspect they may just be a single family, which may explain it. My feeding station attracts maggies, Wood Pigeons, Ring Doves, Starlings. Blue, Great, Long Tailed and Coal Tits, Blackbirds Thrushes, Wrens and Dunnocks, Goldcrests and the very ocassional Firecrest family - oh, and the odd House Sparrow . Plus Ive had a Sparrow Hawk on the garden fence ripping a Blue Tit to bits and a Heron on the garage roof trying to work out if it could get at the Koi pond and take off again (small garden and high fence ). I've probably missed a few as well. It's probably a bit too near the windows so the visitors are very wary and difficult to snap. Cheers, Dave.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2012 23:08:37 GMT
Hi Dave, we get most of the birds you have in your garden.......I should say used to get as I stopped feeding about two or three years ago when I realised that a Sparrow hawk was getting to be a too regular visitor. Very nice when you get a pic at first but not at the expense of your garden Robin. The bugger just flipped over the hedge and took the Robin right at my feet. Here's a bird you don't mention, the Siskin if you feed niger seed and they are in the area they are quite partial to it, feisty wee buggers as well they'll fight with anything. Goldcrest and Firecrest not seen them yet And here's the bloody Sparrow Hawk, perched in the Ash tree in my neighbours garden next door.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2012 9:46:37 GMT
Drym, Regarding Goldcrest and Firecrest, you're probably a bit far north maybe? Not seen any Siskins that I can recall but the Niger seed certainly attracts the Goldcrests. I share your fears about the Sparrowhawk but AFAIK he's only ever put in that one appearance. He can have all the Ring Doves he wants as far as I'm concerned, they're a bloody nuisance with their constant calling and we seem to have more than our share .
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