First Landscape Test 5dsr 28 Dec 2015

Time to try my new 5Dsr on some landscapes today , we are on our way to Snowdonia for the day.  it will give me a chance to have a few practise images with big & little stoppers and the various settings on the camera.
First we will take the Terrible Twosome up to Cym Idwal before heading to Penmon Point lighthouse for the high tide just after mid day.

 Firstly the standard "Devils Kitchen" view over Llyn Idwal   The light is dull and lifeless unfortunately.  Its blowing a gale up here , my new small Gitzo 0 series Mountaineer tripod is getting a good trial today in these conditions!           
I am using live view today, i never used it on my old 5d mk2 but its very easy to use on this new body , and it shows a "predicted exposure" when using long exposures  which is very helpful :)


                                25 seconds  f14 with Lee Little Stopper   ( 6 stop nd filter)

                                        Chester being windblown   haha    iso 800  f10   

A Shot with little stopper , the mirror is locked up in live view so i don't need to use that function but i am using 2 sec delay on my RC-6 remote.   looking at these first images i think i can definitely go for smaller appertures than i have been shooting at today.  reports i had read mostly said Dont shoot below f10 for sharpest image quality.  

                                                              20 seconds f13  iso 100

                                 Must get going now, don't want to miss the tide at Penmon!

Arriving at Penmon in time but find it is really windy, not what i need to shoot long exposures with the Lee Big and Little stoppers , But this is going to really test the new tripod for stability!
    Now , as i walk down to the point near the rocks, i notice 2 other photographers Sitting on the pebbles quite away from the rocks , i say hello as i pass and they ignore me , just speaking welsh to each other!!!       Normally photogs are always friendly!
I walk past them and set up on the edge of the Rocks , Then as i am looking through the viewfinder , they Both walk infront of me and block my view!!!!!!!!!   Ignorant, selfish  Twats!!!!!!!!!!!!
I Have no idea what is up with these 2 , they were not photographing anything when i got here and now they prevent me from shooting on this composition!!!!!!!!!       I move over to the left and shoot with them just out of view , i have hung my camera bag from the tripod hook to help stability as its really blowing.       

                                 just 2.5 seconds f7.1   gives nice wave movement

                                                           Crop from above image.
                                   No problem with stability on this Gitzo tripod then :)

The other 2 have now walked out onto the rocks in the above image so i am forced to move around to the right to keep them out of view! WTF!!!!!!
  I wont say anything as i would more likely to tell them to F-off!   lol  
      Live view is working well , the detail in the rocks is superb!   I am very surprised considering the wind,  and loads of on line reports that its hard to get sharp images with this camera!

 At last They have gone!!!!!    I can get out onto the rocks now to get the composition i had in mind.  this is a 3 frame hdr processed in lightroom 6.   5 seconds at F10       The depth of field is same as my old camera being full frame but i have read that images get softer after about f10 . i will have to do some tests on that one , but presume in normal shooting it wont be an issue.

Conclusions so far - both viewfinder and live view are very good , image quality is without question.  But i have only shot about 180 frames so far today and i have just noticed my battery is down to 16 %
What the hell is that all about!   new battery on only 2 charge cycles , live view draining power?  
will have to keep an eye on that with more re charge cycles on it.
 We are off towards Newborough beach for sunset.

                                    Its now £4 to park at Newborough warren car park!!!!!!  
Walking across the dunes towards the beach in anticipation for the sunset , my hopes are dashed as i crest the dunes, a thick band of cloud has appeared and ruined it!!!!!   Arghhhhhhhh
The beasts are going to get a good run anyhow :)

The sun is setting and at least there are reflections on the wet sand as the tide is going out.  and the kite surfers are great fun to watch.    all these images are hand held with 100-400 L   ISO 200 & 400 F13

The end of an interesting day , frustrating with the weather but at least i have a few images to inspect.  the battery life is a concern, 211 shots and i have 5% left ,  not good but hopefully that will improve as the re charge cycle increases.   the long exposure image quality is looking good , but not done any really long ones today due to the wind.  the colours of the images are very accurate from what i have noticed and the exposure seems better than my older camera with greater dynamic range. producing a lot less blown highlights on the histograms .    Looking foreword to another test in the mountains soon , but that will have to wait until i am back from a few days in Berlin.

Terrible Twosome at Penmon Point and Llandudno north shore 2nd Feb 2014

A day out to Penmon point on the island of Anglesey off the north wales coast ,  a long exposure image first to blur the sea , the sun was immediately behind me so was very difficult to prevent either my shadow or tripod in the foreground of the shot.

                    The dogs were playing on the beach and i used long lens to shoot Chester :)

                                                                          Having a rest  lol

 

Lying in wait!

 

                                           something has caught Mollsters attention :)

We are now going to drive over to the North shore at Llandudno , the sun is getting low in the sky and giving lovely colour on the sand.   only a small part of the beach is dog friendly  and it is quite a busy sunny early February day.

Using 400mm lens and a1 servo on camera to focus track the running dogs , i have managed a series of shots , these are the best of about 100 odd i shot.

                                           Terrible Twosome having fun with the ball

                                                                      Mad Spaniel :D

                                                                  Running full speed!

After an enjoyable time on the beach, its now time for Sunset shots from the top of the Great Orme.
unfortunately its not going to be a good one

 
                 Really like this Atmospheric image of light shining through the low misty cloud :)

                                                                The end of a great day

Penmon Point Anglesey/ Point of Aire 26/29 th Dec 2013

Having just got a new 10 stop neutral density filter for x mas today seemed a good opportunity to try it out , Penmon Point Lighthouse on Anglesey North wales was a location i have always wanted to visit and it is a special place for Jan to visit.    we drove through torrential rain on the coast road but after crossing the Brittania bridge onto Anglesey it was clear blue sky above us :)   but looking back over to Snowdonia it looked pretty bad still.  

driving through to Penmon , having to negotiate boulder/pebble strewn roads around the coast where the recent storms had broken the sea walls and water was still flowing back into the sea from out of the fields.   after paying the toll to drive down to the point, this is my first view of the lighthouse.

I have quickly set up my tripod and fitted the 10 stop nd filter , after pre focusing and setting exposure . as when fitted you cannot see anything through the black glass!   here is my first attempt at long exposures with it                    20 secs  f16

The tide is coming in fast, i need to clamber down across the wet slippery seaweed strewn rocks to get a few shots before all the rocks are covered.

 Think i got lucky with the light in this image :)

25 secs  f18

 having taken loads of shots, most of which just didnt work , i have moved around onto the shingle to play with the dogs for a bit    (phone pic)  can you see Chester?   blends in well  lol

                                   a long exposure to smooth out the water    25 sec f18

30 secs  f16

 

most of the rocks are submerged now so this is the last shot, its been an enjoyable few hours, most of the images didn't work, need to practise more .

A couple days later we have driven to the Point of Aire lighthouse at Talacre on the North Wales coast to give the dogs a good run ,  the tide is well out but the Terrible twosome have found the nearest pool already!    Lol

          the lighthouse has taken a battering in the recent storms, needs a good coat of paint now 

                      cant believe how warm it is today , the last day of december and full sun
Chester has just plunged into this pool which is very deep and he had to swim   lol

after i threw the ball into the big deep pool on the other side of the lighthouse and they both got very wet its time to run them dry on the sand

                                              somehow i dont think they will get dry today !

walking back through the sand dunes that a couple of weeks ago where covered by the sea in the storms , large sections where washed away alowing the sea to swamp the low lying parts of this nature reserve.  hope it doesnt cause to much long term damage to the wildlife.

                   the last blog of 2013  , we are off to Budapest next week. cant wait :)