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If I were to describe Venice I would say; beautiful, romantic, historical, cultural, picturesque, photogenic, but there are so many adjectives and none do any justice to this unique City, you just have to see it to believe it, the city just seems to be afloat.



The Bridge of Sighs

Having owned my Canon EOS 30D for 6 years and after many visits to various review sites and forums, I decided to upgrade to a nice new shiny Canon EOS 7D.
When I was handed the fairly weighty box it became apparent after unpacking it that the weight was due mainly to a 276 page manual. Now being a man, we don't do manuals, our attention spans dont stretch that far, unless its beer or sport, it dates back to the caveman days when you picked something up and just used it or alternatively hit someone over the head with it, it was a simple time.
Anyway I did spend alot of money on it so I read it cover to cover. There was no football on and I ran out of beer....!!
So armed with all this new found knowledge it was time to arrange a roadtrip. Destination Wales, locations Skomer Island and Gigrin Farm, target species Puffins and Red Kites.
Puffins are the clowns of the bird world a sort of cross between a Parrot and a Penguin, and according to a friend of mine they apparently taste good too!!



Red Kites are one of Britains largest bird of prey with a wingspan of nearly 2 metres. Red Kites were an endangered species until rehabilitation centres and feeding stations like Gigrin Farm helped improve their population, its incredible to think that numbers fell to below twenty in the UK with only one female.
I'm also happy not to know what they taste like!!




Click here to view my best shots of the weekend, hope you enjoy

Thanks for looking

Mark

Took a chance on Friday evening as the weather looked good but all forecasts predicted rain, lots of rain.
So I jumped in the car stuck on the sat-nav and an hour later arrived at the beautiful Victorian pier in Clevedon.
My aim was to take seascape photos with long 4-5 minute exposures using various filters to smooth the sea and to get plenty of movement in the cloud.
However when I stepped out of my car I was greeted with chilling gale force winds, so keeping a camera steady even on a tripod was not going to be an easy task.
Also just to add to the mix I forgot my remote shutter release so I would have to hold down the shutter button for 5 minutes with no gloves in freezing cold winds and trying to keep dead still.
I really wanted the shot so it was time to man up. Anyway after 4 or 5 attempts each shot was blurred and unsalvageable and I also lost all feeling in my hand, infact my hand was so cold it felt burning hot, ummm must remember gloves next time.
So I decided that maybe I should just take shots of the pier and try to rescue the evening.
Here is my best shot.
Canon EOS 30D F22 3 X Exposures +/- 2 stops, 0.9 Full Grad, tone mapped, Photoshop Sepia filter multiple blended 60% opacity to add warmth, atmosphere and mood, sharpening, levels etc in photoshop.

I've wanted a decent Ultra Wide Lens for a while and they dont come much better and wider than the Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC .
I've been itching to get out and about, but only managed an hour in Swindon before the weather spoiled my fun.
Check out my first time HDR shots. 3 x exposures +/- 2 stops, tone mapped and a little tweaking in Photoshop.