• Members 1236 posts
    May 20, 2023, 9:35 a.m.

    Some amazing and fab scenes. Gentian is my fave flower. Excellent.

  • Members 1236 posts
    May 20, 2023, 9:38 a.m.

    As the saying goes, early bird gets a worm. Did you harvest anything? Did the fish bite? Enough for dinner?

  • Members 866 posts
    May 20, 2023, 10:15 a.m.

    Whoa! What's this guy up to?

  • Members 866 posts
    May 20, 2023, 10:16 a.m.

    .
    Intriguing little spot.

  • Members 866 posts
    May 20, 2023, 10:18 a.m.

    Yes, a couple of 20lb carp. But not to eat, strictly catch and release.

  • Members 304 posts
    May 20, 2023, 10:45 a.m.

    It's All Gone Green

    It's been quite a while since I've visited Great Knowley Woods, a local and relatively flat patch of woodland that I discovered a couple of years ago during lockdown. As I've been feeling a bit low on energy this week, the moors felt like way too much effort, even Brinscall Woods was a bit of a stretch, so instead I managed to force myself out of the house one pleasant evening and take a wander back into the seldom visited depths of this location to see how it was faring compared to my last visit a couple of years ago.

    All images taken with the Nikon Z7 + 24-70 f/2.8S and mostly involve the use of a CPL. Processed from single raw files with Capture One Pro 22/23 (I updated mid way through editing this set). The dark woodland shots are taken on a tripod, the rest were shot handheld and accompanied by me grumbling to myself about carrying the sodding tripod, particularly towards the end of the evening when it was starting to get a bit heavy in my hand.

    1. Backlit Tree

    The initial part of the walk took me along a tree lined track, where I was quite taken with the shape and lighting on a number of trees. This one in particular stood out to me. As I only had the 24-70 and limited ability to move back, I couldn't get the entire tree into the frame, but I quite like how the crop works around the top end and the soft light on the grass in the foreground.

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    2. Side Lit Tree

    This is the same tree as seen from further along the path. The lean of the trunk is more pronounced from this angle, as it was leaning towards me in the previous shot. While the last shot was enhanced by the backlight on the canopy, in this one I particularly liked the texture of the soft lighting falling on the side of the canopy and the way it picks out details of the trunk and branches. I still had the same limitation in terms of how far back I could stand, but in this case it's because other trees would get in the way and I'd lose the angle of view. Unfortunately here, the next tree on the right intrudes into the frame and slightly overlaps, I'd have preferred that not to be the case, but it was impossible to avoid. I could have framed it similarly to the previous shot, but I wanted to include the deep blue sky and light on the top of the canopy, so that wasn't really an option here.

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    3. The Fallen Tree

    I found this fallen tree on my first visit to Great Knowley Woods several years ago and it's been a firm favourite to return to on a number of occasions. I haven't seen it for a number of years, so I'm glad to see it's still here and seemingly intact. However, on this occasion the light is poor, there's just diffuse light reflected from the surroundings, making it all quite flat. In this instance I've spiced it up a bit in C1P with localised adjustments to give a bit more depth to the image, but I think early to mid morning is probably a better time to be photographing this subject.

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    4. The Creepy Tangle

    As I wandered away from the main path and followed a barely visible and often blocked trail deeper into the woods, the surroundings became increasingly creepy and eerie. Woodland always seems to have a mood about it and in this instance I felt quite unwelcome and a little on edge as I wandered deeper into the thick undergrowth.

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    5. Gateway of Light

    The barely visible path continued between these two twisted and tangled trees. I quite like the way the one on the left sweeps up and across the frame and how, between them, they form a gateway out of the dark and eerie woodland behind me.

    DSC_4251.jpg

    6. Emerging Into The Sunset

    I was quite relieved to leave the woods, it hadn't felt friendly at all, so it was refreshing to emerge into this buttercup meadow, just as the sun was beginning to set, lighting it in stark contrast to the dark and cold place I'd left behind.

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    7. Horses

    Having trudged my way through an epic mudbath to reach the woods, my boots needed a thorough rinse before they were getting anywhere near my car, so I took a short detour past Temple Fields to splash about for a bit in the ford of a nearby river. The path ran alongside the field where these horses were quietly minding their own business demolishing the buttercups. For anyone who's followed my posts for a while now (on DPReview) and is interested in putting these places into context, you may recognise The Nab, which is the hill that can be seen rising up on the back right of the picture. White Coppice and the general moorland are behind it relative to this location.

    DSC_4330 1.jpg

    DSC_4330 1.jpg

    JPG, 1.2 MB, uploaded by SteveMonks on May 20, 2023.

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    JPG, 1.5 MB, uploaded by SteveMonks on May 20, 2023.

    DSC_4251.jpg

    JPG, 2.2 MB, uploaded by SteveMonks on May 20, 2023.

    DSC_4249.jpg

    JPG, 1.7 MB, uploaded by SteveMonks on May 20, 2023.

    DSC_4227.jpg

    JPG, 1.5 MB, uploaded by SteveMonks on May 20, 2023.

    DSC_4221.jpg

    JPG, 1.8 MB, uploaded by SteveMonks on May 20, 2023.

    DSC_4209.jpg

    JPG, 1.8 MB, uploaded by SteveMonks on May 20, 2023.

  • Members 304 posts
    May 20, 2023, 10:50 a.m.

    That's very nice, I love the colour and misty falloff. I really do need to start getting up earlier to enjoy views like this.

  • Members 304 posts
    May 20, 2023, 11 a.m.

    What a stunning location and great conditions too. These two are my picks, partly for the view, but I also like the way you've framed the first with the two trees at the top and the inclusion of the bush bottom left on the second makes the image. If I was being nit picky, I'd say the first one might benefit from being taken from a slightly lower viewpoint so that the tree on the top left doesn't cover the peak of the snow capped mountain in the background, but they're great images regardless.

  • Members 1074 posts
    May 20, 2023, 1:26 p.m.

    The angry duckling

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    JPG, 1.9 MB, uploaded by Bryan on May 20, 2023.

  • Members 1579 posts
    May 20, 2023, 1:29 p.m.

    He has got those angry yellow eyes like my cat, who is a softie.

  • Members 843 posts
    May 20, 2023, 2:04 p.m.
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    JPG, 2.6 MB, uploaded by Daneland on May 20, 2023.

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    JPG, 2.7 MB, uploaded by Daneland on May 20, 2023.

  • Members 37 posts
    May 20, 2023, 3:30 p.m.

    Petra

    Petra is a poster child for over-tourism, but I am still glad I went. By this part of the trip, I had hooked up with my 87 year old mom, and I was a lot more concerned about making sure she stayed safe than taking photos. Mom was an absolute trooper throughout the trip.

    The Treasury. Even with the crowds, it was pretty amazing.
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    Detail of the Treasury.
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    The Obligatory Camel Photo
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    The crowds. Oh, the crowds. It was truly a circus.
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    More camels ... and crowds. There was no shortage of camels and crowds
    20230419_0310s_petra_Petra__Petra.jpg

    Mom rightly insisted on taking an (expensive) golf cart from the site entrance to the Treasury. So, all of my pictures of the slot canyon were from the back of the golf cart. There wasn't much opportunity for careful composition.
    20230419_0354o_petra_Petra__Petra.jpg

    20230419_0368o_petra_Petra__Petra.jpg

    Little Petra

    Afterwards, we went to Little Petra, which had relatively few people. It was more crowded that some of the sites I visited in Turkey, but nothing compared to the zoo that was Petra. I enjoyed Little Petra as much as big Petra.

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    Mom didn't do these stairs at Little Petra, but I did.
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    20230419_0486s_littlepetra_Little_Petra__Petra.jpg

    JPG, 3.0 MB, uploaded by kaphinga on May 20, 2023.

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    JPG, 3.1 MB, uploaded by kaphinga on May 20, 2023.

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    JPG, 2.5 MB, uploaded by kaphinga on May 20, 2023.

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    JPG, 2.3 MB, uploaded by kaphinga on May 20, 2023.

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    JPG, 3.1 MB, uploaded by kaphinga on May 20, 2023.

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    JPG, 2.9 MB, uploaded by kaphinga on May 20, 2023.

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    JPG, 3.2 MB, uploaded by kaphinga on May 20, 2023.

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    JPG, 1.8 MB, uploaded by kaphinga on May 20, 2023.

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    JPG, 2.3 MB, uploaded by kaphinga on May 20, 2023.

    20230419_0296s_petra_Crowds_at_Petra__Petra.jpg

    JPG, 1.8 MB, uploaded by kaphinga on May 20, 2023.

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    JPG, 2.8 MB, uploaded by kaphinga on May 20, 2023.

  • Members 37 posts
    May 20, 2023, 3:44 p.m.

    [quote="@Fireplace33"]
    Majestic views from a Schneiderberg hike
    This is my second trip up to the summit of the Schneiderberg mountain by Grünau, Austria. We didn't make it to the top this time, but on the way up there are some majestic views. It was quite warm and one of the guys took three small bottles of beer for the three of us. Cheers!

    DSC_7196 smaller.JPG

    Great set, but that first shot is a real stunner.

  • Members 355 posts
    May 20, 2023, 3:51 p.m.

    3 Swans and photographer

    Some people shoot sunrise, I'm too lazy for this (sun rised 4:40 AM today...) so I shoot sunset, but even for this I'm too late, this photo is made 5 minutes after sunset:
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    P5100420_DxO.jpg

    JPG, 210.6 KB, uploaded by Vahur on May 20, 2023.

  • Members 1579 posts
    May 20, 2023, 3:52 p.m.

    Always enjoy your travel shots. Even with the crowds, it looks like an amazing place. I think I would of enjoyed little Petra more, without the hussle and bustle of the inevitable crowds.

  • Members 355 posts
    May 20, 2023, 3:54 p.m.

    Great shot, nice colours, mirror lake, nice location, well worth of early rising.b

  • Members 355 posts
    May 20, 2023, 3:57 p.m.

    Like this treeline.