Today in pictures

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by mobertol

The promised snow arrived but after 3 hours of thick swirling flakes it turned to freezing rain I braved the weather and had a wander with my camera all the same - the results are a bit disapointing. Didn't cross paths with anyone, even the birds were all hiding! It was bitterly cold and at one point I was questioning my own sanity! I was spurred on by the thought of how Davemac would probably have been revelling in it and would not have chickened out when faced by a bit of H2O You can see some traces of snow in the first photo and there are a few droplets...

A lovely set of shots! Very atmospheric. I particularly like #2

[mobertol]

Originally Posted by Turtle

A lovely set of shots! Very atmospheric. I particularly like #2

That's the old footbridge -wouldn't dare to cross it! It was odd -bitterly cold and driving freezing rain and the little river Morbasco had mist rising where it curved bit -perhaps for the difference in temps?

[Turtle]

Yes. Probably the temp. difference I would think. I live near a river that often steams like that.

[davemac]

My exile into the world of RAW has ended, and the conclusion is:-

general photography for day to day use, JPEG is perfectly fine, however if you have a specific photo in mind that you wish to put in a frame, put on display, or enter in a competition then RAW gives you the option to tweak, and manipulate, something that is limited in JPEG.
The use of RAW also comes with the requirement to learn how to use an editing software suite, as just shooting in RAW then doing a straight conversion to JPEG offers no advantage over shooting JPEG in the first place.

I have found though, that once the editing software has been mastered, then some of the techniques can be used to improve a JPEG, but I think this is another quest for someone else, as for now it's back to JPEG and Photoscape.
I have found Photoscape (Photoscape : Free Photo Editing Software (Photo Editor) Download) , when you look in all its nooks and crannies, has a lot of the common functions that Paintshop Pro and Photoshop contain. Right........ having got that off my chest, its back to JPEG for a while, and on to my next quest......looking at the possibility of becoming invisible......I can't see it myself.

[davemac]

Today in Pictures, The Coppice, the return, this time keeping one eye on the camera settings, one eye on the subject, and one eye on the dogs (2) also one eye on the weather and another on the time.

1. Chainsaw Art.
2. I couldn't find the unicorn, but I did find its feeding station.
3. It was a day to get a moist gusset.
4. In fact it was impossible not to get one.
5. So I stopped trying.
6. Some of these sloped are very tricky.
7. This was down a slippery slope, and a slipperier climb back up.
8. Can we go now, I'm wet, with a muddy winkle.
9. Look, I'm really fed up now.
10. OK....... just one last shot.

[maxthecollie]

Originally Posted by davemac

My exile into the world of RAW has ended, and the conclusion is:-

general photography for day to day use, JPEG is perfectly fine, however if you have a specific photo in mind that you wish to put in a frame, put on display, or enter in a competition then RAW gives you the option to tweak, and manipulate, something that is limited in JPEG.
The use of RAW also comes with the requirement to learn how to use an editing software suite, as just shooting in RAW then doing a straight conversion to JPEG offers no advantage over shooting JPEG in the first place.

I have found though, that once the editing software has been mastered, then some of the techniques can be used to improve a JPEG, but I think this is another quest for someone else, as for now it's back to JPEG and Photoscape.
I have found Photoscape (Photoscape : Free Photo Editing Software (Photo Editor) Download) , when you look in all its nooks and crannies, has a lot of the common functions that Paintshop Pro and Photoshop contain. Right........ having got that off my chest, its back to JPEG for a while, and on to my next quest......looking at the possibility of becoming invisible......I can't see it myself.

It's too cold to shoot in the RAW ,Dave .My camera does RAW and JPEG together so I put my RAW files into a separate external hard drive to play with when I get time

[maxthecollie]

Originally Posted by davemac

Today in Pictures, The Coppice, the return, this time keeping one eye on the camera settings, one eye on the subject, and one eye on the dogs (2) also one eye on the weather and another on the time.

1. Chainsaw Art.
2. I couldn't find the unicorn, but I did find its feeding station.
3. It was a day to get a moist gusset.
4. In fact it was impossible not to get one.
5. So I stopped trying.
6. Some of these sloped are very tricky.
7. This was down a slippery slope, and a slipperier climb back up.
8. Can we go now, I'm wet, with a muddy winkle.
9. Look, I'm really fed up now.
10. OK....... just one last shot.

Love the shot of Bob in no 9

[davemac]

Originally Posted by maxthecollie

It's too cold to shoot in the RAW ,Dave .My camera does RAW and JPEG together so I put my RAW files into a separate external hard drive to play with when I get time

I kept my flip flops on though.

I think that is a compromise that works, shooting in both formats and then you have the option, if any stand out, for extra work in an editing suite. I may give that a go once I have mastered the software.

I noticed the capacity of my SD card (16gb) was 1000 photos in JPEG and when I switched over to RAW I could only take just over 500.
That is the only problem I can see is the capacity of the SD cards to store out in the field, but if you have a large enough card and an external hard drive then shooting in both formats gives you options.

I did notice though that my pictures were not all that different in RAW and some were worse, so I think the skill lies in the ability to use the editing software.

[davemac]

Originally Posted by maxthecollie

Love the shot of Bob in no 9

He was sitting down every time I got the camera out, which was a lot, so he became a sitting target.

[Turtle]

A really nice set of photos - the waterfalls are excellent. Well worth all the slipping and sliding (easy for me to say, I know!)
Bob is a handsome devil, and very patient too.

[Turtle]

The aftermath of yesterday's snow storm - a lot of shovelling.
1. Hubby is glad of the little electric snow shovel.
2. Neighbours digging out their cars down the street.
3. A big fox was startled out of hiding. Sorry I didn't have my proper camera on me!

[mobertol]

Originally Posted by davemac

My exile into the world of RAW has ended, and the conclusion is:-

general photography for day to day use, JPEG is perfectly fine, however if you have a specific photo in mind that you wish to put in a frame, put on display, or enter in a competition then RAW gives you the option to tweak, and manipulate, something that is limited in JPEG.
The use of RAW also comes with the requirement to learn how to use an editing software suite, as just shooting in RAW then doing a straight conversion to JPEG offers no advantage over shooting JPEG in the first place.

I have found though, that once the editing software has been mastered, then some of the techniques can be used to improve a JPEG, but I think this is another quest for someone else, as for now it's back to JPEG and Photoscape.
I have found Photoscape (Photoscape : Free Photo Editing Software (Photo Editor) Download) , when you look in all its nooks and crannies, has a lot of the common functions that Paintshop Pro and Photoshop contain. Right........ having got that off my chest, its back to JPEG for a while, and on to my next quest......looking at the possibility of becoming invisible......I can't see it myself.

Originally Posted by davemac

Today in Pictures, The Coppice, the return, this time keeping one eye on the camera settings, one eye on the subject, and one eye on the dogs (2) also one eye on the weather and another on the time.

1. Chainsaw Art.
2. I couldn't find the unicorn, but I did find its feeding station.
3. It was a day to get a moist gusset.
4. In fact it was impossible not to get one.
5. So I stopped trying.
6. Some of these sloped are very tricky.
7. This was down a slippery slope, and a slipperier climb back up.
8. Can we go now, I'm wet, with a muddy winkle.
9. Look, I'm really fed up now.
10. OK....... just one last shot.

I'm sure your explanation of the technical stuff is top-notch -the second dog is invisible - shouldn't that have been you??!!

[mobertol]

Originally Posted by Turtle

The aftermath of yesterday's snow storm - a lot of shovelling.
1. Hubby is glad of the little electric snow shovel.
2. Neighbours digging out their cars down the street.
3. A big fox was startled out of hiding. Sorry I didn't have my proper camera on me!

Now that's serious snow -great photo of the fox too!

[Margaret Pilkington]

Originally Posted by davemac

My exile into the world of RAW has ended, and the conclusion is:-

general photography for day to day use, JPEG is perfectly fine, however if you have a specific photo in mind that you wish to put in a frame, put on display, or enter in a competition then RAW gives you the option to tweak, and manipulate, something that is limited in JPEG.
The use of RAW also comes with the requirement to learn how to use an editing software suite, as just shooting in RAW then doing a straight conversion to JPEG offers no advantage over shooting JPEG in the first place.

I have found though, that once the editing software has been mastered, then some of the techniques can be used to improve a JPEG, but I think this is another quest for someone else, as for now it's back to JPEG and Photoscape.
I have found Photoscape (Photoscape : Free Photo Editing Software (Photo Editor) Download) , when you look in all its nooks and crannies, has a lot of the common functions that Paintshop Pro and Photoshop contain. Right........ having got that off my chest, its back to JPEG for a while, and on to my next quest......looking at the possibility of becoming invisible......I can't see it myself.

It is good to broaden the mind with technical pursuits, but if you are going to use them rarely or there is a program that will do the job without all that mental gymnastics then you would be daft to ignore it(the program).

I think photography is a very interesting pursuit, but you have to have suitable subjects to photograph, and techniques that show the subject off to its best advantage.......Dave you have those skills(in spades). You seem to have a good eye for composition of shots(though how I would know that seeing as I have had absolutely no training,is beyond me)
If you get the right shot, then there is little that needs to be done to tweak it.....maybe a crop but anything else is extra and unwarranted.

This is just my opinion - though I bet there are others out there who will agree with me.
You have taken some shots that I would give my eye teeth for...so stop messing!

[mobertol]

A damp, misty day again but I had to get out for some fresh air... much cheaper than yesterday's excursion to the big shopping mall in Cremona where I hit the final day of the sales!

Lots of signs of coppicing the trees along the local streams. First timid signs of re-birth -new catkins. A contemporary of Maxthecollie in (Cortetano) Italy -it says "Beware of the Dog" but he looks very friendly!! The candle lit at the little shrine at the end of the lane marks the centenary of the birth of Pope John 23rd -(1960's).