PHOTO COMPETITION — COMMENTS THREAD

skullfunkerry

stickyfiddle said:

Got one in this month. It’s a little bit pre-Covid for obvious reasons. I had a fairly hard time choosing between this and a couple of others as all have things I don’t like about them..

I’d love to be able to shoot more of this sort of stuff but rarely get opportunities, especially these days

The second & third of those are my favourites. I like the one you've posted, too. Is it at Rockingham?

stickyfiddle

skullfunkerry said:

stickyfiddle said:

Got one in this month. It’s a little bit pre-Covid for obvious reasons. I had a fairly hard time choosing between this and a couple of others as all have things I don’t like about them..

I’d love to be able to shoot more of this sort of stuff but rarely get opportunities, especially these days

The second & third of those are my favourites. I like the one you've posted, too. Is it at Rockingham?

Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi This was just from the spectactors' area - I need to see if I can get photo access at some of these events.

I think the 2nd one above is probably technically the best but I don't love the framing. It'd be amazing if I could get on the other side of the fence!  

Jimbro66

I've nothing to put in to the comp this month but there are a good selection of entries submitted so, again, voting won't be easy.

Here's a motion shot that might have qualified except it was taken 18 months ago:

Grumpyrocker

I just didn't have time to get out and take something this month. And nothing in the bag fitted. 

skullfunkerry

Love that shot @Jimbro66 ;

Jimbro66

skullfunkerry said:

Love that shot @Jimbro66 ;

Thanks mate   We had a fun time doing that back on a very cold February evening last year.

skullfunkerry

Jimbro66 said:

skullfunkerry said:

Love that shot @Jimbro66 ;

Thanks mate   We had a fun time doing that back on a very cold February evening last year.

Can I ask what settings you used for it? I have a friend whose other half does fire dancing & I've suggested doing some light trails & movement photos with them, but I'm not really sure what I need, other than longer shutter times 

Jimbro66

skullfunkerry said:

Can I ask what settings you used for it? I have a friend whose other half does fire dancing & I've suggested doing some light trails & movement photos with them, but I'm not really sure what I need, other than longer shutter times 

As you say Kerry, the technique needs slightly longer shutter times but not very long. Then rear curtain sync is used on your flash so that the trails of colour are behind the moving subject.

For that shot I used my Fuji X-T3 with 35/2 lens. Camera settings were ISO 250, f/5 aperture, 1.5 seconds shutter speed, manual exposure and manual focus. I used my Godox V350 flash mounted on a stand and triggered by a Godox X1T transmitter mounted on my camera. It’s not essential to mount the flash off-camera but it gives better results. The constant lighting for the trails was provided by LED lights with controllable output and colour temperature to match the flash.

The effect is better if the subject moves against a dark background and it’s important to shut out any other lighting that can spoil the effect and give colour temperature issues in the images. For your fire dancers taking the shots outside in the dark, away from other light sources, may work OK. It’s trial and error really.

We experimented quite a bit with getting the LED lighting right and firing the flash at the right time to suit the dancer’s movement. In that shot above the flash fired just a fraction too early (I.e. I pressed the shutter button a fraction too soon) but it’s OK.

I found this YouTube vid that explains the technique quite well:

https://youtu.be/9jiT6gw_dj0

skullfunkerry

Last day of voting today, over in the competition thread

skullfunkerry

Winner has just been announced in the competition thread 

skullfunkerry

New competition thread is up:

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/212904/photo-competition-24-september-2021#latest

And I forgot to mention: I want to know more about the picture @Shrews entered last month, please

Shrews

Well done @skullfunkerry on your August win!

My pic was a Spacex rocket launch from the Kennedy Space Centre on January 24th this year. It's a still from a video I did (not sure if that's allowed for the comp!) On the day I had the choice of take pics or video and I opted for the latter.

The flight was planned for the 22nd (when I was at the space centre) but got cancelled as I was queuing to go in. I tried again next day from Playalinda Beach (about 3m away) and it was cancelled about 30 secs from lift off.

Tried again on the 3rd day, and even though the weather was worse for those of us on the beach it surprised us all by lifting off. I think we got about 5-10 seconds before it disappeared into cloud! 

But another bucket list entry ticked off, I had seen a rocket launch! 

Shrews

Just an explanation on my September pic. This is my (now) fiancee in the delightful lake town of Miory, Belarus. Why it makes me smile is that life there is very different and she thinks nothing of seeing a river, lake or any other kind of water that I would tentavily stick a toe in first, and whipping off her clothes to her underwear and jumping in.

Even in the Belarus winter, she and her friends dig a hole in the ice and jump in. She's trying to coax me into it, but I think swimming pools are cold, so that's never going to happen. 

Obviously now I've started to get used to her shenanigans and managed to get a quick snap before she disappeared!

It makes me smile whenever I am home and I think of her and the people there. And now I have a pic to remind me! 

skullfunkerry

Shrews said:

Just an explanation on my September pic. This is my (now) fiancee in the delightful lake town of Miory, Belarus. Why it makes me smile is that life there is very different and she thinks nothing of seeing a river, lake or any other kind of water that I would tentavily stick a toe in first, and whipping off her clothes to her underwear and jumping in.

Even in the Belarus winter, she and her friends dig a hole in the ice and jump in. She's trying to coax me into it, but I think swimming pools are cold, so that's never going to happen. 

Obviously now I've started to get used to her shenanigans and managed to get a quick snap before she disappeared!

It makes me smile whenever I am home and I think of her and the people there. And now I have a pic to remind me! 

I absolutely love that

boogieman

Thanks for explaining @Shrews. I was wondering what was going on there. 

paulnb57

My September photo, it was a difficult choice from many photos…..

Our special place is our 4.75 Acres of woodland, set in an AONB on the Isle of Wight, we just love the place! It is only a ten minute drive from home.
We got it 4 years ago and it was very overgrown with brambles which had in places, smothered and killed trees, we have cleared a lot and replanted, bloody hard work, but so rewarding, where there was dark and very little wildlife, there is now light, wild flowers have returned, creatures have returned. We have Badger, Fox, Hares, Buzzards, Woodpeckers, Rabbits (bloody burrowing rabbits) best of all Red Squirrels.
It was a life saver during the lockdowns, we would take a packed lunch and go there for the day.
Yesterday lunchtime we packed the campervan and went the woods and stayed the night, marvellous!  
Attached are too many photos, but we love the place!

skullfunkerry

I love that as well, @paulnb57

I think this month is going to be quite heart-warming!

skullfunkerry

My photo this month is from Magnolia Nature Reserve, which until I got a dog a couple of months ago I had no idea was literally up the road from my house

When I took this month’s photo it was just me and the dog, and for that few seconds all I could hear was the wind through the trees, birds, and insects. Not a human noise to be heard: no voices, phones, cars, music or planes. It was perfect

markslade07

My pic this time round is of my 3 kids (biggun and little twins) when we were on holiday about this time last year. It was the first time we’d got away from the house in months (obviously) and we’re staying in a friends caravan. We’d had such a lovely time playing on the beach, going to the arcades etc and were just on a pre-tea walk around the site. The 3 of them just sat on the bench looking at the lake and biggun (who was 5 at the time) just put her arms around her two 3 year old sisters and I just happened to be stood behind and took the shot! Just makes me smile as they’d all had a pretty crap time with school/ nursery and they just had such a lovely holiday!

Jonathangus

@BillDL - upload your pics to Imgur, then:

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/210527/posting-pics-from-imgur-2021-update