After a few days when the early morning temperature has been around 7˚C it was a bit of a shock to wake up to -3˚C. Fortunately once the Sun rose things began to improve. The clear overnight skies which caused the drop in temperature also gave many people, not this one unfortunately, a chance to see an Aurora over much of the country.
While I was monitoring the nature cameras today I happened to spot that both Great Tits came to investigate the camera nest box. The change over as one left and the other arrived is very fast. Don't blink or you will miss it:
Things are looking promising for a third year of nesting in the camera box.
Friday, 28 February 2014
Thursday, 27 February 2014
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Wednesday was a good day overall.
Blue sky and Sunshine most of the day though tempered with a chilly wind.
(The Sunspot on the left (AR1990) produced a very strong flare on Tuesday.)
NASA video can be watched HERE.
The weather was nice enough for us to take a longer route for our mid-day walkies. We followed a narrow public footpath which was still somewhat muddy and slippery from recent rain. Half way down I was puzzled to see someone had dumped a bicycle gear in the undergrowth. An example of an IQ0 expecting everyone else to clear up their junk:
Once we left the footpath and started along the main road I spotted one of my favourite house signs:
The wheelwright closed years ago and I don't know whether they actually keep bees there. In the ditch which runs alongside the road there were a few bullrushes looking just about ready to spread thousands of seeds around the area:
On reaching the village school some of the daffodils growing in a Sunny spot under the hedge were coming in to flower:
Further on, in front of the village hall, the wallflowers, snowdrops and primulas were in full bloom:
Oh, yes, I did get Round Tuit and trimmed the grass.
On the afternoon walk we just went to the end of our lane to see what was happening on the farm land. Half way down the field there was some activity where one of the land drains was being cleared and deepened:
Spoiling the country scene were a couple of recently discarded pizza packages:
Someone had obviously parked on the cricket car park to have their lunch and was too idle to take their rubbish home. An example of an all to frequent discourtesy we see in the village.
Back to teeming down with rain this morning and I see that there is a forecast of snow for Friday. It is not expected as yet to reach this coast but it could well mean that temperatures will drop to a more seasonal average of about 6C.
Blue sky and Sunshine most of the day though tempered with a chilly wind.
(The Sunspot on the left (AR1990) produced a very strong flare on Tuesday.)
NASA video can be watched HERE.
The weather was nice enough for us to take a longer route for our mid-day walkies. We followed a narrow public footpath which was still somewhat muddy and slippery from recent rain. Half way down I was puzzled to see someone had dumped a bicycle gear in the undergrowth. An example of an IQ0 expecting everyone else to clear up their junk:
Once we left the footpath and started along the main road I spotted one of my favourite house signs:
The wheelwright closed years ago and I don't know whether they actually keep bees there. In the ditch which runs alongside the road there were a few bullrushes looking just about ready to spread thousands of seeds around the area:
On reaching the village school some of the daffodils growing in a Sunny spot under the hedge were coming in to flower:
Further on, in front of the village hall, the wallflowers, snowdrops and primulas were in full bloom:
Oh, yes, I did get Round Tuit and trimmed the grass.
On the afternoon walk we just went to the end of our lane to see what was happening on the farm land. Half way down the field there was some activity where one of the land drains was being cleared and deepened:
Spoiling the country scene were a couple of recently discarded pizza packages:
Someone had obviously parked on the cricket car park to have their lunch and was too idle to take their rubbish home. An example of an all to frequent discourtesy we see in the village.
Back to teeming down with rain this morning and I see that there is a forecast of snow for Friday. It is not expected as yet to reach this coast but it could well mean that temperatures will drop to a more seasonal average of about 6C.
Wednesday, 26 February 2014
Almost Under Control
Well, the grass didn't get cut yesterday. It was soaking wet first thing after overnight rain. By midday it was drying out fairly well when it poured with rain again. So it ended up as another day experimenting with stacked macro photography.
In one of his comments Adrian (Adrian's Images) pointed out that the Canon was accompanied with software to control it from a computer. I hadn't bothered to install it as I have usually been disappointed with programs given with cameras and from previous experience Canon try to take control of everything. Anyway I decided to install it all on the MacBook. Adrain also pointed me to a set of instructions which go with Zerene Stacker detailing how to use the program which gives full control of the camera. It certainly does. Full control over shutter speed, focussing, ISO, etc.. Using the program gives very precise control over small changes in focus which is just what is needed for stacking. Also what the camera sees is show nice and large on the laptop screen. Much better than squinting through a viewfinder or at a small preview screen.
Three results of a couple of hours playing in the kitchen.
The first is of some moss, a bit over exposed which resulted in some haloing. That gave me a chance to use the Retouching facility in ZS which did a reasonable job of manually copying (painting) bits from single shots which were in focus to the final stacked result:
13 stacked photos
The second of a small succulent about 20mm across, was the opposite, under exposed, but that was easily fixed in post processing:
29 stacked photos
Finally a close view of a pine cone:
44 stacked photos
One thing I did find. Three red pixels. They always showed as a tiny red dot. With the change in focus comes a change in the position of the subject so the red dot came in a slightly different place as each photo is processed on the stack. This resulted in short red dotted lines. Fortunately they were easy to eliminate with the Retouching facility in ZS. At first I though they might be dead pixels in the camera but when I checked previous stacked photos they were nowhere to be seen. New dust on the sensor or fault in the computer software?
In one of his comments Adrian (Adrian's Images) pointed out that the Canon was accompanied with software to control it from a computer. I hadn't bothered to install it as I have usually been disappointed with programs given with cameras and from previous experience Canon try to take control of everything. Anyway I decided to install it all on the MacBook. Adrain also pointed me to a set of instructions which go with Zerene Stacker detailing how to use the program which gives full control of the camera. It certainly does. Full control over shutter speed, focussing, ISO, etc.. Using the program gives very precise control over small changes in focus which is just what is needed for stacking. Also what the camera sees is show nice and large on the laptop screen. Much better than squinting through a viewfinder or at a small preview screen.
Three results of a couple of hours playing in the kitchen.
The first is of some moss, a bit over exposed which resulted in some haloing. That gave me a chance to use the Retouching facility in ZS which did a reasonable job of manually copying (painting) bits from single shots which were in focus to the final stacked result:
13 stacked photos
The second of a small succulent about 20mm across, was the opposite, under exposed, but that was easily fixed in post processing:
29 stacked photos
Finally a close view of a pine cone:
44 stacked photos
One thing I did find. Three red pixels. They always showed as a tiny red dot. With the change in focus comes a change in the position of the subject so the red dot came in a slightly different place as each photo is processed on the stack. This resulted in short red dotted lines. Fortunately they were easy to eliminate with the Retouching facility in ZS. At first I though they might be dead pixels in the camera but when I checked previous stacked photos they were nowhere to be seen. New dust on the sensor or fault in the computer software?
Tuesday, 25 February 2014
Heading Towards Spring
Although there have been several days with bitter winds and a few frosty mornings, February hereabouts has been quite mild. Average temperature would be around 6˚C but several days have seen double figures by mid afternoon.
Recently some of the Crocuses have started flowering:
More of the tiny (2mm) flowers are showing on the Corkscrew Hazel bush and some of the catkins are starting to elongate as they open up:
Other bulbs are beginning to show through in the garden and just up the lane the daffodils in a sheltered spot are about to open their flowers.
In the fruit cage one of the raspberry canes has got well ahead of itself producing leaves and flowers. The rest are only showing new buds so far as are the blackcurrant bushes.
A couple of Muscari flowers are just opening and the daisies in the lawn are beginning to appear:
I will probably have to give the grass a trim today as it has continued growing for much of the Winter.
Recently some of the Crocuses have started flowering:
More of the tiny (2mm) flowers are showing on the Corkscrew Hazel bush and some of the catkins are starting to elongate as they open up:
Other bulbs are beginning to show through in the garden and just up the lane the daffodils in a sheltered spot are about to open their flowers.
In the fruit cage one of the raspberry canes has got well ahead of itself producing leaves and flowers. The rest are only showing new buds so far as are the blackcurrant bushes.
A couple of Muscari flowers are just opening and the daisies in the lawn are beginning to appear:
I will probably have to give the grass a trim today as it has continued growing for much of the Winter.
Monday, 24 February 2014
Bumbling Heather
Following a look at the great stacked shots on Adrian's Images and the way things stand out against a black background I had another stacking session with this set up using the black foam lining in a postal package:
I decided to try some macro shots of the heather from my garden.
26 focus stacked shots
31 focus stacked shots
The black background looks better to me and I only used the LED table lamp for lighting. Later I spent some time experimented with the camera settings to get a better balance on the exposure.
While I was cutting the pieces of heather I had a surprise when I found a bumble bee on the under side of my secateurs. I put them down on the top of a wheelie bin, grabbed the 50D which always has the macro lens set up and managed a few hand held shots before it flew away. Afterwards I wondered how well Zerene Stacker would cope with those:
Much better than I expected, especially as the bee was not completely still. Six stacked hand held shots.
I decided to try some macro shots of the heather from my garden.
26 focus stacked shots
31 focus stacked shots
The black background looks better to me and I only used the LED table lamp for lighting. Later I spent some time experimented with the camera settings to get a better balance on the exposure.
While I was cutting the pieces of heather I had a surprise when I found a bumble bee on the under side of my secateurs. I put them down on the top of a wheelie bin, grabbed the 50D which always has the macro lens set up and managed a few hand held shots before it flew away. Afterwards I wondered how well Zerene Stacker would cope with those:
Much better than I expected, especially as the bee was not completely still. Six stacked hand held shots.
Sunday, 23 February 2014
Stacking a Few More
Tried a few different subjects to get more practice with taking multiple focus stacked macro shots. Added an extra LED lamp to help with exposure and reduce the flatness of the finished result. I knew that retort stand and clamp would be useful one day:
First and last of 16 focus stacked shots of a rose which, incidentally, has continued to produce a few flowers right through the Winter:
The finished focus stacked photo:
A small white flower from the rockery (11 stacked shots):
Wire covered in calcium deposits (11 stacked shots):
Rose Hip (10 stacked shots):
Dried Mealworm (15 stacked shots):
Iris Seeds (14 stacked shots):
All stacked using the trial version of Zerene Stacker. Only the wire photo had a touch of post processing as it was too light.
First and last of 16 focus stacked shots of a rose which, incidentally, has continued to produce a few flowers right through the Winter:
The finished focus stacked photo:
A small white flower from the rockery (11 stacked shots):
Wire covered in calcium deposits (11 stacked shots):
Rose Hip (10 stacked shots):
Dried Mealworm (15 stacked shots):
Iris Seeds (14 stacked shots):
All stacked using the trial version of Zerene Stacker. Only the wire photo had a touch of post processing as it was too light.
Saturday, 22 February 2014
Focus Stacked
Having looked around for a focus stacking app for the MacBook I ended up installing the trial version of Zerene Stacker which gives 30 days full use before deciding whether to buy it.
My first attempt, eight focus stacked images of a flower on my Venus Flytrap:
Canon 50D, 70-200mm lens plus Raynox DCR-250 Super Macro Conversion Lens, LED ring light.
Not a startling image but I'm pleased with it as a first attempt working with jpg images.
I must admit I prefer the look of the program compared to CompineZP on Windows. You can see the final image being built up which gives a chance to see if any of the initial images might be causing problems. It was much easier to use and really flew through the align and stack process.
My first attempt, eight focus stacked images of a flower on my Venus Flytrap:
Canon 50D, 70-200mm lens plus Raynox DCR-250 Super Macro Conversion Lens, LED ring light.
Not a startling image but I'm pleased with it as a first attempt working with jpg images.
I must admit I prefer the look of the program compared to CompineZP on Windows. You can see the final image being built up which gives a chance to see if any of the initial images might be causing problems. It was much easier to use and really flew through the align and stack process.
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