bioneural.net » Photography

Castles in the sand

Bruce — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:55:02 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net doi:tSglPpAB7a8nfM :

Taken at Sugar Beach, Flic en Flac, Republic of Mauritius. Click thumbnail to enlarge imageCastles in the sand

A Mini adventure

Bruce — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 19:05:21 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net doi:tSglPpAB7a8nfM :

Apparently the diminutive Mini is 50 years old this year. Worthing played host to a Mini rally today and—although not fans—we took the opportunity to have a look at what it takes to be an enthusiast. Herewith a few shots taken with my iPhone's equally diminutive 2MP camera. A political statement on the UK automotive industry: This one might have had a small part in the Transformers movie if it wasn't pink: Initial attempts at cross-breeding with Smarts were semi-successful, resulting in the Mini 0.5 Edition: Retrofitting a Space Shuttle main engine to a Mini... the power of dreams: Yep, that essential engine component really is made from a Red Bull can: Restoration on a budget using a repurposed jam jar with coat hanger mounting: This Mini toots like a truck:

A Nikon lens with double vision

Bruce — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:24:30 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net doi:tSglPpAB7a8nfM :

I was most disappointed with the images I obtained during our recent trip to Florida. Many telephoto shots appeared out-of-focus despite the well-regarded image stablilization (vibration reduction) built into the Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR DX attached to my new Nikon D90 body on it's debut outing. As was my habit, to protect my investment the lens was fitted with a screw-on skylight filter. I couldn't believe how poor my shots were when viewed on a 24" display: Was the camera (still in warranty) malfunctioning? Had my photographic skills regressed? Could something be wrong with the (now out-of-waranty) lens? Why was the centre of some images sharp, with progressive blurring or even 'double vision' towards the peripheries? These were questions for Nikon to answer. The image below illustrates the problem nicely (showing why I discarded 4 in 5 images I shot). It was taken in bright sunlight while standing still, handheld with VR active, on Auto program mode at f7.1 with a shutter speed of 1/200th of a second. AF lock was confirmed in Nikon View and corresponds to the central circle overlaid on the image: The bannisters in the central circle are in sharp focus; the bannisters in the peripheral circles are blurred, perhaps even double, with the amount of blurring seemingly worsening as you move towards the image edge. Each circle is the same focal distance from the sensor. I was at a loss to understand the optics behind such a result, and my local camera store recommended I speak ...

The limestone paving of Malham Cove

Bruce — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:11:58 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net doi:tSglPpAB7a8nfM :

This weekend just gone my wife and I met up with David from the Internet for a walk, talk, and geotagging/ track logging at Malham Cove in the Yorkshire Dales. One of the natural attractions along the Pennine Way, from the bottom this 80m tall and 300m wide crag is one impressive wall of rock. No water has fallen down the cliff face since prehistoric times; today the gentle Malham Beck mysteriously emerges from subterranean origins at the base. But it's the weather-eroded limestone "paving" at the top of the crag that is the real attraction. The dissolved plant-filled fissures are known as grykes, and the blocks are termed clints—since you asked. Aside from the oddity of the paving, the views from the Cove and surrounding hills are remarkable. The rolling green hills, dry-stone walls, and constant threat of drizzle are so quintessentially English. Well worth a day trip. Click thumbnail to enlarge imageThe limestone paving of Malham Cove

Lathkill Dale in the Peak District

Bruce — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 15:37:42 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net doi:tSglPpAB7a8nfM :

Lathkill Dale in the Peak District is considered "one of the country's finest limestone valleys". Lathkill is one of five separate limestone valleys comprising the Derbyshire Dales National Nature Reserve, which is managed by English Nature. Friends took us walking in the area yesterday (we hadn't been for a while) and we were reminded how lucky we are to have such easy access to this part of England. The river Lathkill running through the Dale contains the clearest water we've seen anywhere in England. Some of the limestone outcrops that punctuate the valley walls can be seen above the stone wall in the right of the picture. This is fairly typical Peak District scenery, and quite hard to beat on a sunny Spring day. Click thumbnail to enlarge imageLandscape around Lathkill Dale The walk took us about 5 hours, first travelling west along the Dale from Youlgreave before climbing out of the valley just over half way to Monyash. At Monyash we stopped for liquid refreshments at the pub, then headed east along the second half of the Dale to our previous crossing point, climbing out at that stage to return to Youlgreave across the fields. As you can see in the following track, the panorama was taken from a high meadow looking down into the valley. Click thumbnail to enlarge imageOur route around Lathkill Dale Download a KMZ file (57KB) for viewing in Google Earth

The incredible dissolution of being

Bruce — Sat, 10 May 2008 20:25:51 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net doi:tSglPpAB7a8nfM :

Another former communist-occupied country visited, another monument to the fallen photographed. How did communism's lofty ideal of equality become so twisted and evil, delivering oppression and brutality wherever it was (or is) practised? Having seen the poignant sculpture in Moscow commemorating Stalin's victims, and the collected skulls from the Killing Fields of Pol Pot's Cambodia, I wasn't expecting to find a similar memorial in the Czech Republic so moving. But death is only one way you can hurt people: how do you physically capture the dissolution of a man's spirit? The Memorial to the Victims of Communism is located in Prague's Lesser Town, on the lower slopes of Petrín Hill (since my image and this post are geotagged, you can retrieve the exact coordinates). This work by Olbram Zoubek, Jan Kerel, and Zdenêk Holzel was unveiled in 2002 and is succinctly described in this passage: It contains seven "phases" of a man living in a totalitarian state—from the first statue being a full man, up to the last statue where only a part of him remains. This evaporation represents the gradual physical and [psychological] destruction of a man who is ruled by any undemocratic regime. The man disappears due to censorship, secret police, no freedom of thoughts and expressions etc. Click thumbnail to enlarge imageThe incredible dissolution of being Very powerful imagery, I think reinforced by the shallow depth-of-field in this photograph which helps to blur the detail (and even the existence) of the more distant figures. It's not a great shot—taken in light ...

A break in the weather

Bruce — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 11:19:38 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net doi:tSglPpAB7a8nfM :

Yesterday's treacherous weather foiled our walking plans. We set out under blue and sunny skies, arriving at our departure point some 25 minutes later under a blanket of grey and chilling precipitation. We didn't go far, returning to the car as the rain got heavier and then turned to sleet. We were safely home when it turned to hail, and then snow. Not to be thwarted this morning we were out the door before 0700h, but this time the skies co-operated and we enjoyed clear but crisp conditions as we took the opportunity to try out my recently-acquired Holux M-241 GPS data logger. As you can see from the following KML conversion of our track log, we drove in from the south east, and began our walk heading along Curbar Edge (seen here previously) in a north-west direction before continuing south along Baslow Edge. By zooming in using Google Earth we could confirm the accuracy of the track; each deviation corresponds to points of interest we left the path to inspect. A track log (in blue) showing Curbar Edge and Baslow Edge in Google Earth Click thumbnail to enlarge imageCurbar Edge after a sprinkling of spring snow The forecast for later today is 0 degrees with hail, sleet, and snow. English weather is fickle at best, but in spring especially it's the early bird that catches the sun.

An ABC of geotagging photos on the Mac

Bruce — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:30:54 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net doi:tSglPpAB7a8nfM :

This article considers geotagging photos from a Mac perspective, looking at automatic and manual methods, and explaining terms such as data loggers, track points, waypoints, and routes. It lists OS X software options for connecting to data loggers, converting track log formats, geo-locating photos, and writing that data to EXIF for both raw and JPEG images. It also covers the importance of time synchronization, what you can do with geotagged photos, workflow, choosing a data logger and controlling it from your Mac. Introduction With my blog articles geotagged and mapped, and the launch of geotagicons.com behind me, the next challenge was to consider geotagging my photos in future. Some time ago I blogged about doing this in iPhoto, and although workable for a small selection of images this manual/ best guess option doesn't scale well to 2-3 week vacations when you return with several hundred images and a poor recollection of what was taken exactly where. Before getting started on something (i.e. spending money!) I like to try and gain a reasonable overview of what I'm about to get into. What follows is a summary of my research into the terminology, technology, hardware and software that a budding Mac photo geotagger will want to get to grips with. If you also like to look before you leap then this article may be of service to you. Although written with fellow Mac users in mind, if you're afflicted with Windows much of the article is still relevant. What is geotagging? In a photographic context, geotagging ...

A winter walk in the Taunus

Bruce — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 09:12:43 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net doi:tSglPpAB7a8nfM :

As January draws to a close I wanted to share the photo that has graced my desktop over the course of this month. I usually like a solid grey on my desktop to avoid distractions, but had to make an exception for this one of Simone's. The Times liked it too; it was selected for online publication in their travel photo competition (week 3). Simone took the photo on Christmas Eve 2007 while walking with family in the Taunus hills near Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The bleakness of the fog-enshrouded scene is offset by a few penetrating rays of sunlight, hardly enough to counter the bone-numbing cold and icy cheeks I can almost feel. On another level the group of walkers seem insignificant and vulnerable in this forest of tall and strong trees. Click thumbnail to enlarge imageA winter walk in the Taunus

Aussie location humour

Bruce — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 19:45:03 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net doi:tSglPpAB7a8nfM :

Photos are sometimes turn out beautiful if you have the necessary skills and/or the luck. Sometimes they turn out rather ordinary, yet you still keep them because they tell a story about the life or habitat of the subject. Sometimes they raise more questions than they answer. Here are two images that raise questions about why people put things where they do. I'll let them speak for themselves. Crossing to nowhere, Nornalup National Park [sidewalk AWOL] Bench beside in Blackwood River, Augusta [bank at bottom left]