Anglesey Jan 11th 2022

 Today I want to experiment with some long exposure photography with a  Freewell nd1000 filter on my New Mavic 3 drone which  is supposed to be so stable that 8 second exposures are possible! 

This should be very interesting experimenting with different exposure times  ,  I have Ozzy with me and will head to Trearddur bay first on the island of Anglesey.   Parking next to a small bay I have clambered out onto the rocks and flown the drone just out over the semi submerged rocks out in the bay. the wind is a bit gusty but should be a perfect test with the nd filter.   The 10 stop nd filter works exactly the same as on the dslr big camera, blocking light to increase the exposure time to hopefully show wave movement in the image.  Although there is not much of a swell as the sea is very calm but there are sufficient waves swirling around the rocks for this experiment.

Here are two images, these show good movement that I wanted,  amazingly about 3/4 of the images I shot were sharp!   

 8 seconds f2.8  iso 100

                                                                 3.2 seconds f2.8 iso100 

Now heading to South Stack lighthouse to have a look around that area.   Since Ozzy is with me a walk up and over Holyhead mountain seems a good idea.

                                          He has found water already!   lol

Up and over the top of Holyhead Mountain we eventually get a view of the Holyhead Breakwater in the distance.

A bit closer now , and will carry on walking close enough to safely fly the drone out to try the long exposure technique on the sea, which may not actually make much difference as the sea is so calm anyhow. 

The drone is up flying with the nd filter on, experimenting with different iso and apperture values the histogram is not really showing the differences and when i check the images in the app after the flight, they all look overexposed, even though there were no highlight warnings on the histogram,  very odd!

This is three frames merged into a Vertorama . I don't think the long exposure time made much difference in reality, but its a good test.  Using higher iso values seems to be trial and error, needing to check each image in the app to see how the exposure is.

                                                    6 seconds  f5  iso 200.

Now time to head back to the car and drive down to Newborough for sunset at Llandwyn island.   It is about an hour until sunset, and the walk along the beach takes about 20 minutes.  This will be good for Ozzy anyhow. 

Sitting down on the rocks near the island I have taken a couple images with the low setting sun illuminating the dunes , Ozzy is fetching the ball constantly as i throw it down the beach.

                     Always love the long shadows in the last 3/4 hour before sunset.

Looking back from the island , the sun is getting quite low now so will not be long before any colour may develop. But it appears most of the cloud has left the area now ,  so i just hope to get some of the last good light illuminating the rocks and lighthouse.

                                                             Happy Spanner!

           It is now time to go out and see if any light will be on the lighthouse. There is a glimmer of colour on the horizon above the Snowdonia mountains.

                                             Multi frame panorama 

                  This is what i wanted, the last of the light illuminating the lighthouse.

This is the best of the colour that developed, 5 frames manually shot and merged in photoshop using layer masks.

                       Time for the long walk back along the beach to the car now

                       That's the last ball throw Ozzy , off to the chippy now . 

The end of a great day on Anglesey ...................

Port Wen brickworks and Porcelane works 14 th September 2020

 

Today I have travelled to the North coast of Anglesey , to walk along the coastal path, firstly Port Wen brickworks  and then further along to the old Porcelain works. 

First flight from the headland overlooking the brickworks , its a beautiful early morning, warm and sunny with no wind.  Ozzy is sitting next to me.

                                                                   6 frame Vertorama 

                                Out from the headland looking back  9 frames merged 

                                          Topdown from 398 ft   alomost the maximum allowed (400ft)

                                                 Second flight , further around the corner.

I have now walked around the headland , the early morning light is quite nice,  here is a topdown image , combined of loads of frames 

                  Out to the right is Llanlleiana head , which I will walk to after this flight.

                                     9 frame panorama showing the entire headland 

the brickworks is on the left side next to the beach ,  the China works are behind the headland on the right. 

I have now walked along the coastal path towards Llanlleiana head ,  unfortunately I left my last drone battery in the car, and its too far to go back for it  Ooops    it is hot now also, so Ozzy needs to go for a swim to cool off.

     The heather is still in flower up here , a week or so ago it would have looked amazing in full flower.

                              The old China porcelain works are in view now , and a beach for Ozzy .

                                                             Almost there now Ozzy 

                                                                     A floating puppy !

 

                      Happy pup , and I have spotted a couple of seals out in the bay watching him.  

                                                 After a good swim he still wants more   haha 

                      Looking further down the coastline , if only I had another drone battery  Doh!

                                   One last image, this north coast of Anglesey is really beautiful. 

It is still only mid morning , and its been  great to be out early for a change.

Trearddur Bay weekend. August 4 th

   Another  weekend away in the van, Saturday evening straight after work and we are heading to Trearddur bay in Anglesey , the weather forecast isn't very good for Sunday morning though.
 The van is loaded and the Terrible Twosome are in harnesses and off we go,  after an easy drive we arrive in Trearddur .  Driving past Porth Diana the sea is flat mirror calm and the bay is full of boats, I must get back here as soon as I can to get the drone up for some images.
 The camp site is only about 10 minutes walk away so as soon as the van is parked up I have rushed back and walked out onto the rocks next to the bay.   Sunset is about half hour away but there is too much cloud to colour up unfortunately.

Time to get the Phantom 4 pro drone up, the light is really nice at the moment and the colourful boats should look great from above.

                                                              A 5 frame Vertorama

                                                                    Topdown over the bay.

                                             A full view of Porth Diana ,   5 frames merged

8 frames topdown , shot in a grid pattern at 280 ft, makes it look as if shot from much higher altitude, even at the maximum permitted 400 ft I couldn't get all of this area in view.

             A little glimpse of colour, but that is all that came through , but lovely light on the sea .
I found out later that there was a regatta on from the Trearddur bay sailing club, that is why so many boats were there.  The coarse marking buoys are visible in the images out in the bay.

            Its starting to get dark now, so one last image  showing Trearddur bay in the background.

Sunday morning and its raining, non stop!    Chester is happy sitting in the van, the forecast is for a dry afternoon so hopefully we will be able to take the dogs out for a walk.

It has stopped raining so now time to go for a walk, I haven't brought the drone with me as not sure how long it will stay dry!   We are walking around the coastal path past Ravens Point .But around the back way and the path is slightly overgrown !

This coastline looks fabulous,   wish I had brought the drone now as there is blue sky approaching.

This would have made a great location to get some topdown drone shots, never mind can always come again sometime.

Back at the van and look at the blue sky!      but half hour later it was pouring down again.

That was a good weekend,  got some great images yesterday and a good walk today.