A frosty start

[paulmurphy]

We had our first real frosty start of the winter this morning, so I headed off to a flooded field near us, its been flooded for years now, hence the dead trees in the lake.



The lake was well frozen near the edges (the dogs were walking about on it, trying to get in the shot)



This was across the road from the trees (5 image pano)



Best wishes

Murph

[KevinBarrett]

How beautiful! Of course I love the dramatic and well-executed panoramic image, but the others are nice too. Do post more! We won't see anything like this in Texas but every other January!

[David Kilpatrick]

You have some great light there. I was up early to be ready for the Canon 5D MkII delivery, and sure enough, CityLink turned up at 8.45am, did NOT ring either of the bells but just started to write out a card which would have had me calling them and arranging redelivery on Monday (at the best) - all unaware I was watching this from the window. The delivery moron seemed quite taken off guard when I opened the door; I didn't even need to say 'didn't you ring the bell?' because he knew perfectly well he had never intended to make the delivery, just to leave a card and get away as fast as possible.

But - town under heavy fog (cloud) all day. Black ice. Locals reporting that on the hills around it was sunny, looking on to a sea of white cloud over the river, but after slipping around enough in town I decided against driving to find out - the cobbled streets and other roads were deadly, and freezing persisted.

I'm off out in a few minutes with the 5D MkII to shoot the Christmas lights switch on, done after dark with no light in the sky.


URL: http://www.pbase.com/davidkilpatrick/image/106484399

Here's one shot at 3.45pm in the afternoon as the fairground operator was setting up some small rides in front of the town hall (not illuminated, rather annoyingly!) using the 24-105mm L at ISO 3200, 1/125 f8, 24mm. The Canon's menu system is still not improved - example, you can change your file quality and size (raw etc) but it is not actually changed unless you then press OK... so I shot everything as L fine quality JPEG, no raws, atfer thinking I had selected Raw. During first phase of use several other annoying things came to light. On-off switch; how many times do you put your camera down on a table/worktop, then think, better switch it off? Easy with Sony, easy with Nikon - almost impossible with the Canon as the On-Off switch is at the very base of the camera, you have to pick it up again to just turn it off or on. I am so used to switching my camera on or off when they are next to on a cafe table, ready to lift to the eye for a shot, or whatever.

Image quality - you judge for yourself, have a look at 3200 JPEG default. I'll make no detailed comment at this stage except to say that in theory, a 21 megapixel JPEG is usable for Alamy, directly. This ain't. I think it would fail quality control, it doesn't pass my own QC criteria. I may try it, see if it passes. I have no doubt that some adjustments to settings will sort matters out.

DK

[Dr. Harout]

Excellent shots, Murph. Very very beautiful. Don't stop.

[David Kilpatrick]

I actually believe the Christmas lights committee would use that version. Automated - what filter/s?

Try it on one of Murph's shots and you will be lynched

I am just hoping Paul's weather conditions (70 miles further south) get here tomorrow morning - all the trees are frosted and if the sun arrives with a hard frost there may be great conditions, as we had for a day last year.

David

[paulmurphy]

Thanks to all for the comments, I hope the weather get to you intact David, its frosty here now also - clear skies so it may be nice in the morning, although I will be stuck at the local ice rink from 8am with my youngest as she is practicing for the christmas show. If its still frosty after that I think a trip to the wood with the macro lens is called for.

Here's a couple more from this mornings shoot.

This is the road that runs by the flooded field/lake - behind the trees to the left is the water, over the hedge to the right is the fields I shot for the panorama



It was pretty much light as I left, so this is one of the last shots



Cheers

Murph

[Javelin]

ooops .. sensor dust.. other than that it culd make a good movie poster

[Javelin]

ooops .. sensor dust.. other than that it culd make a good movie poster

[paulmurphy]

I agree about the movie poster look, I must admit I hadn't noticed the sensor dust, better get the blower out.

Cheers

Murph

[Greg Beetham]

That first one is a class act Murph, anyone who is out that early in that cold deserves a medal, but it was worth the pain. (I also spotted the bird in the tree and wondered what it was). Also the frosty country road shot is a great shot.
Greg

[Greg Beetham]

I think it must be endemic that UPS or their agents do the (failed delivery) notice thing, they also do it here, they just beep their horn out in the street and if no one shows up (automatically knowing the sound of "their" horn) they just leave the notice, that necessitates a trip out to the airport too collect the item (after 5pm) grrrr. And it's not as if they live up to their name either "Air-Express" is the UPS agent here, UPS can get a parcel from B&H in New York into Mascot Sydney in less than two days...now that's impressive, then it takes Air-Express about three days to get it from Sydney to Townsville....that does not compute as far as I'm concerned, and then to finish off with they just leave a "failed delivery" notice....delivery moron..hmmm I must admit it has a certain appeal.
Greg

[Birma]

Lovely shots Murph. Usual great light and awesome crispness. Your cold and early start was worth it for us

(Just grey and damp further South in the Midlands )

[David Kilpatrick]

The sunshine did arrive this morning - and it didn't melt the frostuntil mid-day, even then not completely, so the EOS 5D MkII got an hour's walk at ISO 100, f8, Av, relying on the stabilised lens to fix occasional 1/20th or 1/8th exposures. It worked well. Most impressive aspect - absence of noise in the blue sky at ISO 100. The Alpha 900 produces a really noisy, gritty sky even at 100 - the Canon has no perceptible noise at all. Least impressive aspect - need to correct very strong, sharply defined CA on the 24-105mm (not always easy to spot because the primaries are very desaturated compared to Sony), followed by generally dull colour and an odd feeling that the images are not quite as sharp as they should be. Also, a very misleading rear screen brightness which had me using minus over-ride on many shots which would have been much better left alone though apparently overexposed when chimped.

Here's a couple:


http://www.pbase.com/davidkilpatrick/image/106512468
Kelso Abbey with Minolta 77mm polariser on the Canon at 24mm, cropped off at the bottom (and a waste bin and floodlight cloned out in the bottom right corner). The strange effect on the windows is caused by ice adhering to the anti-pigeon mesh, it resembled sheets of veined marble with a soft edge.


http://www.pbase.com/davidkilpatrick/image/106512504
Crosses for the town's fallen, still in place from November 11th (I also got some great shots of the main poppy wreaths for the Royal British Legion and the King's Own Scottish Borderers, frosted, with the respective crests in the centre, and fallen oak leaves on the KOSB wreath). Here the resrtricted minumum focus of the 24-105 Canon at 24mm made this shot the closest composition I could get. I would have liked to have moved the wide-angle in even closer. The pic is cropped at the top where there was some messy background.

The 5D MkII is much slower to use than the A900 because so many controls don't show in the viewfinder and have no efficient single-button actions or shortcuts. Exposure compensation is effortless on the A900 but just needs a bit more attention on the Canon because the button doubles up for changing ISO and the top LCD panel uses really tiny pictograms which I can not see at all without taking off my distance viewing specs. Reviewers have slated the comparatively crude big symbols on the A900 LCD but I can tell you, they cause me no problem and can be seen at a glance even if not 'eye focused'. The Canon LCD almost needs reading glasses and time to study it. So, I ended up using the rear screen which has a Quick Navi like new interface. You press the 'nipple' controller to bring up the screen, and from there it works like the Sony but with some functions missing. However, Canon decided to prevent this press action from working unless you have made first pressure on the shutter release in the last X seconds (I think it's 20 seconds). So you press it, and nothing happens, then you have to press the shutter lightly to restore 'the camera knows I am here' operation, then press the controller again to get the screen, then turn your wheel for compensation (it does remember the last control used, so will return to the compensation pane if that's what you are generally using).

After last night's night shooting (many more pix taken after dark with flash and combined time etc) and today's walk, and viewing-processing the files using CS4/ACR5.2, I am more aware of the difference between 21MP and 24MP - 24 offers me better scope for square and panoramic crops without dropping below Alamy (17MP) size. First conclusion - I would like the Canon image quality, especially in both low and high ISO noise levels - but with the A900 body, A900 detail sharpness and A900 colours. Oh, and the Canon lens hood with its lovely flock lining now looks like a time-worn secondhand item after being shoved into my pocket with coins and keys during pol filter use. I did the same with the 28-105mm Minolta lens hood last week and there's not a mark on it. Different sort of plastic?

David

[braeside]

Freezing fog here all day - never lifted. Hopefully tomorrow we might get some blue skies, if so it will be terrific as there is a ton of white frost on everything.

[David Kilpatrick]

If the weather is moving north you will - we look like having freezing fog again tonight, hopefully sun in the morning. I took the Alpha 900 + 28-105mm out this afternoon at 3 o clock after seeing the pink tinge on distant trees, then discovered that the sun actually had set as far as anything at ground level was concerned in Kelso! But I got this (forgot to use SSS, but it was fine):


http://www.pbase.com/davidkilpatrick/image/106525320

I don't think ACR 5.2 is handling the noise any differently to ACR 4.6, but this ISO 400 one pretty sharp and clean. The 1930s bungalow is called Crown Point, and sits in a uniquely positioned large garden running down to the Tweed - one of the most desirable properties in the town, even though this type of architecture isn't fashionable right now.
David