Experiment - Strobist - Happy Holidays

Experiment - Strobist - Happy Holidays, originally uploaded by Rusty Marvin (Topaz Counting, less busy!).

LR-16267 - Well it has been some time since I have managed to push the button and actually post on Flickr, there is a whole list of stuff which is fairly mundane, then there is the elders to which keep popping in and out of hospital and the need to follow up appointments, oh yawn you really don't want to hear about all that. I had a deadline to hit on the 28th as well............

So to celebrate thought I would play with some double off camera flash shots which I have been waiting to for 18 days (no I wasn't really counting) since the second flash unit arrived. Plus play around with an experimental hood I created.

Two of my favorite things; nature and food!

Flash units, both covered with white socks to reduce the flash strenght (bit like a softbox)
One placed in line to the right
Two place 30 degrees in front to the left

Tags
Food, mince pie, holly, green, strobist, icing sugar, pastry, mince meat, black, off camera flash, canon eos 7d

Life is like a buttery .... for Mavis

Life is like a buttery .... for Mavis, originally uploaded by Rusty Marvin (Topaz Counting, just really busy).

I only met Mavis once, but knew quite a bit about her battles through life. If they handed out medals for fighting against Cancer she would win my vote hands down. She push herself using all her strength which would equal the effort put in to get a first place in every Olympic event to beat the disease / cell mutation, sadly losing the fight last Friday.
Mavis may your God be with you now you have been released from your cocoon.

Love, peace and banana’s

Life is like a butterfly
It’s changing everyday
Filled with many challenges
I face along the way

I started as a child
Loved and carefree
Not knowing who I’d become
Or how painful life would be

Now that I am older
I’ll be so special soon
Everything’s about to change
I’m breaking free from my cocoon

IMG_1704_PS

The Question is how did the Wood Lice get there!

The Question is how did the Wood Lice get there!, originally uploaded by Rusty Marvin (Topaz Counting).

LR-7_15871_PS - The old chopped but not fallen problem.
I love lying on my back and looking at the sky or up through the trees, but never though I would be able to see it from the underside of a tree. Those wood lice must have had one hell of a shock :)

Below is a shot I took last year, moaning about the Health & Safety that the European Forestry commission brought in some contractors to do.
Eventually work up the courage to go lie underneath it and take a few shots, even though it was swaying around.

The underside is lit by the direct sun reflect on a 18 inch reflector which took about 20 minutes to set up, but I think it was worth it in the end.

Tags
logging logged cut sawn chainsaw tree felling sky PoV "wood lice" "Isle of Wight"

Compare - LR Aged - Boots

Compare - LR Aged - Boots, originally uploaded by Rusty Marvin (Celebrating Light).

LR-Aged-15835 - Regular viewers may be aware that the old Fell style walking boots had been letting in water for the last few week. Here is the replacements, which I hope are more durable than the Fell cloth style, yes they have steel toe caps as well.
Now I have not brought a pair of shoes that have a manual with them before, except for some Clark shoes (with compass, tracking symbols and alike).
Whilst they were fresh out the box, I thought it was an opportunity to try some product shots :)

Plus an excuse to share Paolo Nutini - New Shoes if you wanted to listen.

Hey, I put some new shoes on,
And suddenly everything is right,
I said, hey, I put some new shoes on and everybody's smiling,
It so inviting,
Oh, short on money,
But long on time,
Slowly strolling in the sweet sunshine,
And I'm running late,
And I don't need an excuse,
'cause I'm wearing my brand new shoes.

Have a great weekend

Exposure: 0.02 sec (1/50)
Aperturef/10.0
ISO Speed: 320
Lightroom Aged

Compare in slideshow

Experiment - LE, L bracket tripod - Marilyn Monroe Mushroom

Experiment - LE, L bracket tripod - Marilyn Monroe Mushroom, originally uploaded by Rusty Marvin (Celebrating Light).

LR-15753 - To the ordinary viewer it is yet another mushroom i my every growing shots of mushrooms, in the Mushrooms (magic or otherwise) set. That it may well be, but having spent three years rolling around on the forest floor and never quite getting what I want in the foreground and not quite happy with the PoV.
Experiment is in fact in the way the camera is mounted which is a L shaped bracket and clearing the ground by about and inch (2.5cm) providing the short foreground focus and maintaining the focus on the underside of the gills. Add to this the long Exposures provides the ability to display the light I see through the gills. Display the stem and the gills in focus. The slight disappointment is the start of the bokeh forming in the back of the shot which is down to my camera skills. The lack skill can be seen in the original size. you might be interested to see the lack of sharpness around the mushroom edge

Exposure: 1
Aperture: f/20.0
ISO Speed: 1000 - probably just over the top

Fallen Beech Surf, barking for it

Fallen Beech Surf, barking for it, originally uploaded by Rusty Marvin (Celebrating Light).

LR-15767 - Just a bit of fun from the forest floor an alternative cliff edge seascape, with the waves about to break over some rocks.

Build the field or cut the tree and they will come - Worm concern

Build the field or cut the tree and they will come - Worm concern, originally uploaded by Rusty Marvin (Celebrating Light).

LR-15704 - A couple from the personal achievement file, not quite but almost taken from about 26 feet (nearly 8 metres) free hand. Normally I reach for the camera and off they go, but this semi friendly Blackbird listened to the shutter clicking away whilst I got a few shots in

Canon EOS 7D - Freehand
Exposure: 0.025 sec (1/40)
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal Length: 300 mm
ISO Speed: 320 - In a slightly darker area
Lens: EF75-300mm f/4-5.6