Common Darter

IMG_4721, originally uploaded by Ian_Churchill2010.

Amazed to see this on the 27th November catching the weak suns rays in the bracken by a pond.

The Fragile Dandelion

How often is an interesting picture right under your feet.

This fragile Dandelion was just waiting for a gust of wind.

If you want an interesting image, take loads of pictures and look at things from a different angle and distance.

Airshow Bournemouth 2011

Airshow Bournemouth 2011, a set on Flickr.

The 2011 Bounemouth Airshow was a great event with the stars of the show being the Red Arrows with their amazing display.

However I will view these picture with sorrow as the following day one of these amazing Red Arrow pilots, flight lieutenant Jon Egging (Red 4) lost his life shortly after a display. My thought are with his family.

Balance Trick

Balance Trick, originally uploaded by Ian_Churchill2010.

This is another HDR image crafted from 9 adjusted RAW images.

HDR Scooter jump trick

Scooter jump trick, originally uploaded by Ian_Churchill2010.

This amazing Scooter Jump trick was taken at my local skate park. I was lying on the ground next to the jump and took this image as he flew over. Even though the shot was taken using fill flash, on this very bright sunny day alot of the detail in the shadows was not showing. By merging 9 adjusted RAW images all of the detail is revealed.

Colourful Chameleons

A friend of mine asked me to capture some images of his Chameleons. The are amazing to watch as they change colour and catch their prey with a lightning fast tongue. I have used a single RAW file produce a high dynamic range (HDR) image to bring out the colours on two of the images.

The Fleet Air Arm Museum Alternative Photos Example 1

The Fleet Air Arm Museum at RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset England is the National Museum for the Royal Navy. The museum represents the flying arm of the Royal Navy but also has the first Concorde. RNAS Yeovilton is home to the Royal Navy's Lynx and Commando Helicopter Forces.                                                                                                                                                                                                          A visit to an aircraft museum can means lots of boring pictures of aircraft sitting in hangers.  On the day I took my share of those pictures which get filed and eventually deleted  but I try to take pictures that are different and haven’t been taken before by the millions of previous visitors.  Check out Gavin Hoey  for some more great ideas.                                                                                                                                                                                                                 I've put together 5 examples of alternative images. All are fairly common techniques but I find that I get more pleasure looking at pictures that make me think rather than looking at picture of just common objects taken from common angles.                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Here is Example 1      GET IN CLOSE   As well as taking pictures of the whole aircraft, get in close and take pictures  that show off colours and textures like the aircraft wing above. There are a limited amount of aircraft but an unlimited amount of textures, colours, components and angles.  Don’t be afraid to change the contrast or saturation or even change the image to black and white. I like to digitally frame and share any photos that I have enjoyed creating.   So go ahead, take the family snaps and the normal tourist photos then just STOP and look for that exciting image.

This Jet engine intake fan was tucked away in a dingy recess.
By simply increasing the colour saturation  and exposure
you can now see the details on the blades as they take on this bronze colour.

                                      

Fleet Air Arm Museum Example 2

Example 2 SHOOT IN RAW 
I ALWAYS SHOOT IN RAW FORMAT as it gives me maximum flexibility to change the image at any time after the shot has been taken. RAW contains all of the information collected by the sensor but a jpeg has been compressed into a smaller file and loses a lot of this flexibility. 
This image of Concorde’s engine was taken without a flash in a very dark corner of the hanger. 
Handheld it’s even blurred. Consequently the image is dull and would normally be deleted as of no interest. However as it is shot in RAW I could do some major adjustments in Camera Raw or Lightroom without losing quality. Vibrance, Saturation, Exposure and Contrast were all changed not just by tweaking as normal but by moving the sliders allot and in some cases to the maximum giving this almost HDR effect. I have not added any colour just maxed out what was captured by the camera.    

                                                 

Fleet Air Arm Museum Example 3

Example 3 PANORAMAS. 
Hangers and aircraft are large and difficult to capture without very wide angle lenses. This shot captures not only the aircraft but the entire hanger, by taking these 5 handheld images that overlap by about 30%. I've used PTGUI to stitch them all together but many other programs including Photoshop and GIMP can do the same. Again it’s capturing an image that the normal camera owner cannot. 

                                   

Fleet Air Arm Museum Example 4

Example 4 - 2D to 3D POP OUT OF FRAME EFFECT. This shot of a Lynx Helicopter taking off with its dramatic sky was ok considering it was shot through a window. However by spending a short time in GIMP or Photoshop it can be transformed into this almost 3D image which makes the aircraft look as if it’s flying out of the photo.  

ORIGINAL IMAGE

Fleet Air Arm Museum Example 5

Example 5 – MAKE IT COME TO LIFE. By selecting only the propeller, engine and part of one wing I can put the fighter back in the sky where it belongs. I've used the pen tool in Photoshop to extract the parts I need. The Blades have been duplicated, blurred and rotated to indicate they are spinning. I've duplicated the right wing then flipped it to create the left wing. Saved as a PSD (Photoshop Document) the layers remain separated so it’s easy to go back and change the background. When I took this shot I did not have the final image planned but I always get home and carefully look at each image many times before trying to create something different. It doesn’t always work but when it does I get a real buzz.         

ORIGINAL SHOT

BLUE SKY APPROACH

SWIRLING BACKGROUND

My Local Park in HDR

HDR (High Dynamic Range) Image

Original Image

The original image looks pretty flat and dull.
I took the photo in RAW format I was able to produce 5 separate images with exposure values of -2, -1, 0, +1, +2. These images were combined to increase the dynamic range.
In other words the image now includes the detail in the dark as well as the light areas.