Perch Rock Sunset Aug 16 th 2016

Having a hunch that there was going to be good sunset coinciding with an almost high tide at Perch Rock i drove down for an evening shoot.  What i suspected  was correct, a good looking sky already turning colour!  

The water was already up to the base of the rocks to the right of the breakwater so i headed straight to the rocks .   the tide is coming in fast which is usual here so i need to be quick setting up.

 Its very calm , not a breath of wind tonight!     with a long exposure to smooth out the water even more it looks like this ...........


                                    15 seconds with Lee little stopper     a 6 stop nd filter

         Wonderful afterglow tonight now the sun has set ,   this is 30 seconds at the peak colour.  

                                   A comparison image without the long exposure   1/8 th second

                                   Another 30 second exposure as the colour starts to fade .
   and then i and a couple of other photogs had to wade back to shore as the tide cut us off on the rocks   Ooops

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.

Stormy Seas at Perch Rock nov 29th 2015

Its Sunday morning , and another storm, named Clodagh is here  along with a big High tide at Perch Rock lighthouse, New Brighton on the Wirral peninsula . with 60mph + winds .
                                    Which equals one thing,  Huge waves :D

Time to get some photos as well as walking the Terrible Twosome.
Arriving in the car park the tide was crashing in already , waves just starting to going over the promenade further along past Morrison's.

                         A quick run on the beach for the beasts before the tide comes right up!
                                    Yes i was being very careful not to throw the ball too far :)

                                                                  They are having fun :)

 I have put the dogs in the car and now  join all the other photographers that have all come down to photograph the waves .......    the tide is now up to the big rocks on the left side of the small beach ,  crouching down behind these rocks is giving a bit of protection from the wind .  Jan has gone to Morrisons shopping and left me to it :)


 I have put the 100-400 lens on, and using the tripod at its lowest position for stability.i have tried a few shots but nothing to my liking , so time for the Lee Big Stopper , a 10 stop nd filter !  Madness in this wind on a long lens i know, but will never know unless i try.
After a half dozen attempts,but with way too long exposures to keep the camera still enough in this wind and all resulting images are blurred  , but opening lens wide open to shorten the exposure time has worked and........... i have just shot this ...

               100mm ,  f5 , 3.2 seconds.    Yay    this is one of my favourite images all year :D

           A wave has just gone right over my feet, much to the amusement of the other photogs !!!!!!  
                                                                              Bummer!


          Moving across to near the fort wall, i have shot this handheld with a faster shutter speed :)
I am standing on a sand island with waves swirling around both sides , one of the other photogs, who i know, is standing in his wellies to my right in the waves, but he didn't notice a really big one coming in!    its gone past his knees :D   that will teach him for laughing at me earlier!   lol

                          The light is changing all the time , getting really dark over out to sea .

                                       Another contender for my favorite image of the year!

   
     Noticing huge waves crashing over the prom, i am going to move from here and will have to run   across the wall between the marine lake and the sea as the waves are going right across!

                            I made a run for it and...........Didn't make it!   Oops  wet again :(

                                                           Look at these waves !  Wow"

                                 This one got me!!!!!!     worth it though for this image :)

The wall between the lake and sea is now too dangerous to walk over ,so i have to walk all the way around the road to get back to the car park,Jan has phoned and is heading back to the car along the road  lol  . When i get there ,the car park is now filling up with sea water!! , the waves are going right over the prom now. Jan has already moved the car while i have just enough time for a couple quick pics before time to leave.

                                                                        Stormy Seas !

    Time to leave , the police are closing the promenade as we drive back towards the motorway!!!!!!!!

                        its been a great morning, with two of my favourite images of the year :)

Perch Rock sunsets july/August 2015

A Couple of nice evenings i have been down to Perch Rock lighthouse at New Brighton to photograph the sunsets :)

first up the evening of july 29

                               Amazing colour behind the windfarm  shot with 100-400 mm lens

 The colour has not developed unfortunately but a long exposure has given a lovely image of the water around the breakwater :)

                                          170 seconds at f14 using Big stopper .

                         The next evening but one  i was back again  , hopefully another good sunset :)

                                                                 Not much good tonight :(

A few day later i was back , i got there a bit late but ................

 I have missed the sun setting but half managed this image , i think i could have done much better job of this one.   As i was shooting this i noticed the sky colour/cloud  intensifying,  i ran to the back of the lighthouse and got one of my best Perch Rock Sunset images :)

                                                 

Long Exposure Images on Wirral coastline Jan 12 2015

A quick afternoon trip down to New Brighton as the tide was coming in and i wanted to have a go with my long exposure 10 stop nd filter :)

First image of the groynes as the sea comes in around them.

                                                         45 seconds exposure  f14

I have now moved down to New Brighton Perch Rock lighthouse ,  the sea came in very quick and i have only managed the one image i am happy with.

                                                                    50 seconds  f18

 I got home and was looking at the images i had just taken when i looked out of the window and noticed that the sky was colouring up ,   so i have dashed down to Caldy shore , just as the tide was receding.  Managing to perch on the rocks to take these couple of images with the 10 stop  Lee Big stopper nd filter and a 0.6 nd grad to balance the sky brightness.
   
                                                                    60 seconds f14

                                                                      91 seconds f14

                                                                   111 seconds f14

                                                          A great end to the day :D

Where is Doc Martin? a visit to Port Isaac july 2014

Today we are going to visit tvs" Doc Martin" s village , the fictional  Port Wen  which is in fact  "Port Isaac".  its a beautiful warm sunny day here in Cornwall :)   there is a main car park at the top of the hill above the village (a long walk) But i noticed on the map a smaller car park around the headland towards Port Gavern which is only a short walk around the coastal path.  Having managed to get one of the last spaces Phew!   we are walking around this stunning coastline and getting very warm .

                            The outer breakwater is in view now as we come around to the bay

  We get our first view of the village ,  i can see Doc Martins house and Bert Large's cafe from here :)

Walking down the steep main road towards the quay side, the school house from the tv series is on the right , its a very small village and all the locations used for filming are quite close together and not where they appear in the program.

A great view from here , the Doctors house/surgery is the brown building up to the right hand side up the steep hill and Larges cafe is the lower white building just right of centre.  watching the tv series you have no idea the layout of the actual village!

          Walking into the centre of town it is very busy, everyone is talking about Doc Martin :)
                        this is the Pharmacy/chemist  , which is a gift shop in actual fact  lol

                                           Now heading towards the hill across the bay .

    This is the hill going up to Larges cafe which is on the right ( all boarded up so not in use)  and the Doctors house on the left hand side.

                                                            Doc Martins house :D

                       it all looks so different than i imagined , a panorama of the village

             heading up the hill side to give the dogs a walk  , it really is a beautiful location 

                                                       Superb views from up here

                                                   Back to the narrow streets now

                                      Sorry Mol   no dogs allowed on this beach !  off lead

                                              A good view of  Bert Large's cafe lower left

                                                                         Posing time :)

                              A last view before we make our way up and find a chippy :D

                  We are now going to head towards Port Gavern to give the dogs a swim :)

                                    Just a few minutes walk to the very small Port Gavern

                  All the above images are take on my phone, all camera images have been lost !



                                                       Straight in  "The Bodnin Beasts"

                                     Doggy fun in the sea shot mainly with 100 -400 lens

           On our way back to the car , the red flowers of crocosmia brighten up the coastline :)

 
                                                                  Posing again Mollster :)

                                            The end of another great day in Cornwall

                                    still cant find the camera images from port isaac :(