Your R System Images - July 2025

[PKM-UK]

We hope you enjoy creating memorable images this month!

Have fun - but stay safe and well…

Phil and Karen

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Any R System images (stills or movies) can be posted. If you would like to say something about the subject, settings, or processing, that will be very welcome.

Remember, you don't have to only post things you took this month - sometimes people don't get around to processing/ editing images straight away. (Think of it more as an ‘images I’d like to post here this month’ thing). Images taken with non-R System lenses are also very welcome as this adds to the interest.

Images posted on this thread will also be available to view in the dedicated Monthly R System Images Gallery, which can be found Here.

Commenting on people’s posts is encouraged, as it keeps everyone interested and coming back. (Please aim to be considerate, thoughtful and constructive).

Service Announcement: Please note we’ve just returned from our major Frank-Fest of the year (400 miles driven, 90 miles walked/ 2,440 feet of ascent and 140 miles cycled/ 4,818 feet of ascent - we need a holiday... . Phil now has 6,500+ raw files plus a bunch of GoPro footage to chew through). We’re already preparing for the next one - and this will be followed by our first international trip since the pandemic and, as we won’t be around, the August thread will have to be posted a bit earlier than usual. Consequently, we will not be providing any comments this month (or probably next!). This is not a sign of disfavour, but we’re a tad busy!

Finally, please post in accordance with the RF Shooters Community Guidelines.

Thank you!

 

[PKM-UK]

Images from our recent visit to the Castle Howard Estate, Henderskelfe, North Yorkshire, England.

(Shot raw and processed using: DxO PL Elite/ ViewPoint, Adobe LrC/ PS with Tony Kuyper TK-9 Panels and Topaz Labs Photo AI).

You can find out more about the history of Castle Howard by clicking Here.

Phil and Karen


1. Although building work began in 1699, the construction of Castle Howard took over 100 years to complete, spanning the lifetimes of three Earls. The 1st Earl of Carlisle, Charles Howard (1629-1685) was the great grandson of Lord William Howard (1563-1640), the youngest son of Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, whose skill at marrying heiresses eventually led to his execution.

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2. Charles' grandson, Charles Howard the 3rd Earl of Carlisle (1679-1738), is famed as the creator of Castle Howard. He enlisted the help of his friend, dramatist John Vanbrugh. Vanbrugh, having never built anything before, recruited Nicholas Hawksmoor to assist him. At the time of Vanbrugh’s death (1726) and that of the 3rd Earl (1738) the house was still incomplete.

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3. On the morning of 9th November 1940, a fire broke out at Castle Howard which destroyed rooms in the basement, principal and upper levels, as well as the dome, which collapsed into the Great Hall. The dome was rebuilt and redecorated in 1960-62. Other restoring works continues.

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4. Since the 1960s, Castle Howard has been used as a location for many film and television productions, including 'Brideshead Revisited' in 1981 and 2008. The Arctic Monkeys' 'Four out of Five' Music video was made here in 2018 (and featured the keyboards seen lower left).

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5. The Picture Gallery (left) and Chapel (right). The Chapel is part of the mid-18th century west wing, originally intended to be a dining room, it was completed in 1801-11 and is occasionally used for services, evensong and organ practice.

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6. Castle Howard is home to works of art of international significance, displayed within the state rooms and is surrounded by extensive and diverse gardens and parkland. It has been open to the public since 1952 and is visited by around 250,00 people annually.

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(Sources: Castle Howard, Wikipedia).

 

[MikeZ]

Phil, thanks for another fascinating set of photos and great history. Looking at the "house" and knowing it's age, I wonder how the plumbing and electrical services were installed WITHOUT damaging the finishes. Silly thought, I know, but that's sort of thing that runs through my head.

 

[PKM-UK]

Phil, thanks for another fascinating set of photos and great history. Looking at the "house" and knowing it's age, I wonder how the plumbing and electrical services were installed WITHOUT damaging the finishes. Silly thought, I know, but that's sort of thing that runs through my head.

Hi Mike,

Cheers - much appreciated! This property was a real joy - self-guided tours, with photography (for non-commercial use) being actively encouraged.


I believe Castle Howard was amongst the first grand houses to get electric lighting - and in 2020 it also became one of the first to install heat pumps in order to generate hot water for heating and other uses within the estate.

The introduction of electricity and plumbing/ heating undoubtedly presented various challenges at many of the grand houses, but most owners seem to have risen to the occasion (presumably through the use of ingenuity, artistry, determination - and, of course, money... ).

Phil

 

[Hali]

Images from our recent visit to the Castle Howard Estate, Henderskelfe, North Yorkshire, England.

(Shot raw and processed using: DxO PL Elite/ ViewPoint, Adobe LrC/ PS with Tony Kuyper TK-9 Panels and Topaz Labs Photo AI).

You can find out more about the history of Castle Howard by clicking Here.

Phil and Karen


1. Although building work began in 1699, the construction of Castle Howard took over 100 years to complete, spanning the lifetimes of three Earls. The 1st Earl of Carlisle, Charles Howard (1629-1685) was the great grandson of Lord William Howard (1563-1640), the youngest son of Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, whose skill at marrying heiresses eventually led to his execution.

View attachment 38021

2. Charles' grandson, Charles Howard the 3rd Earl of Carlisle (1679-1738), is famed as the creator of Castle Howard. He enlisted the help of his friend, dramatist John Vanbrugh. Vanbrugh, having never built anything before, recruited Nicholas Hawksmoor to assist him. At the time of Vanbrugh’s death (1726) and that of the 3rd Earl (1738) the house was still incomplete.

View attachment 38022

3. On the morning of 9th November 1940, a fire broke out at Castle Howard which destroyed rooms in the basement, principal and upper levels, as well as the dome, which collapsed into the Great Hall. The dome was rebuilt and redecorated in 1960-62. Other restoring works continues.

View attachment 38024

4. Since the 1960s, Castle Howard has been used as a location for many film and television productions, including 'Brideshead Revisited' in 1981 and 2008. The Arctic Monkeys' 'Four out of Five' Music video was made here in 2018 (and featured the keyboards seen lower left).

View attachment 38023

5. The Picture Gallery (left) and Chapel (right). The Chapel is part of the mid-18th century west wing, originally intended to be a dining room, it was completed in 1801-11 and is occasionally used for services, evensong and organ practice.

View attachment 38025

6. Castle Howard is home to works of art of international significance, displayed within the state rooms and is surrounded by extensive and diverse gardens and parkland. It has been open to the public since 1952 and is visited by around 250,00 people annually.

View attachment 38026

(Sources: Castle Howard, Wikipedia).

I am constantly in awe of your work, both the sheer grandness of these castles and the details you provide. Thank you for starting the month on an outstanding note, as always.

 

[Hali]

In May. I went to New York City for 3 days with a photography friend of mine, and we had fun photographing around Grand Central Station, at the Oculus, and the 9-11 Memorial Site and elsewhere. Here are a few of the images. On another note, I apologize for the extended absence. I spent the month of June with my husband (a Nikon shooter - *gasp*), driving to and photographing around the island of Newfoundland. Many images to come from that trip after I download my 490GB of images.

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[PKM-UK]

I am constantly in awe of your work, both the sheer grandness of these castles and the details you provide. Thank you for starting the month on an outstanding note, as always.

Hi Hali,

Thank you for your very kind feedback - much appreciated!

P&K

 

[TwoWheeler]

I believe Castle Howard was amongst the first grand houses to get electric lighting - and in 2020 it also became one of the first to install heat pumps in order to generate hot water for heating and other uses within the estate.

I should post pictures of some of my local castles.

I’m sure everyone would be awestruck by the Tyvek siding and blue tarp roofing! It’d be a bit of a job to photoshop out the appliances and junk cars though.

 

[AOC]

A little Puffin Talk. Elliston NL, Canada

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[Hali]

A little Puffin Talk. Elliston NL, Canada View attachment 38112

Great image. I never did quite get the tongue out shot like that during my trip. When were you there?

 

[AOC]

Great image. I never did quite get the tongue out shot like that during my trip. When were you there?

I visited the week of June 21 to June 28. A couple days with Puffins at Bonavista and then 3 days or so in Trepassey area with whales in mind at St. Vincent's beach and then a morning visit to Cape St. Mary Ecological Reserve for Gannets at Bird Rock. It was a good photography oriented trip

 

[AOC]

Whale breach captured from St. Vincent's beach in Newfoundland. I did drop in a different sky from my sky captures folder taken of skies I find interesting.

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[TwoWheeler]

A little Puffin Talk. Elliston NL, Canada

…the last thing a fish sees….

 

[TwoWheeler]

In May. I went to New York City for 3 days

Obligatory Upstater response: “I’m sorry…”

Some of those images, when strung together by scrolling, are pretty trippy!

 

[AOC]

More shots taken recently on a trip to Newfoundland Canada

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[Wings and Things]

Puffins and gannets - two of my favourite birds. Lovely images.

 

[MikeZ]

A great set - love the avian photos!

 

[Hali]

I visited the week of June 21 to June 28. A couple days with Puffins at Bonavista and then 3 days or so in Trepassey area with whales in mind at St. Vincent's beach and then a morning visit to Cape St. Mary Ecological Reserve for Gannets at Bird Rock. It was a good photography oriented trip

So our trips overlapped. We were there from June 10-30. The Puffins were so fun to visit with as were the Gannets. We spent 4 days with the puffins (the 14th-18th), 3 days with the Gannets (at the end of the trip the 25-29) and only one afternoon at St. Vincent's. Gorgeous images you've posted from your trip. Did we overlap at Elliston?

 

[AOC]

So our trips overlapped. We were there from June 10-30. The Puffins were so fun to visit with as were the Gannets. We spent 4 days with the puffins (the 14th-18th), 3 days with the Gannets (at the end of the trip the 25-29) and only one afternoon at St. Vincent's. Gorgeous images you've posted from your trip. Did we overlap at Elliston?

we missed each other at Elliston. I shot the Puffins for two days 6/22 to 6/23. Light was diffused the first day and brightened up later in the day. On the 2nd day we had a little drizzle at first but clouds thinned a little latter. Wanted to go back for the morning of 6/24 but the group I was with wanted to push on to Trepassey and the see and photograph the whales up close from the beach shore line at St. Vincent's. However it was very foggy at Trepassey on 6/24 and the fog did not really lift until 6 PM on 6/25. Shot whales at St Vincent's in fog from 5 pm to 6:30 until fog broke on 6/26. Then we could see lots of whale activity more clearly with multiple humpback whale breaches and tail slaps. I went to Bird Rock on the morning of 6/26 and on the way back stopped at St Vincent's to photograph whales again. Shot Cape Race Lighthouse on the morning of 6/27 and Whales in late afternoon at St Vincent's. Left for home on 6/28. Also visited lighthouses at Bonavista, Trepassey and Cape Pine during my visit to Newfoundland.

 

[JustUs7]

Happy Independence Day to those celebrating in the USA! Hometown fireworks. Being a small suburban area, there really isn’t any context to include. Not over the water. No beautiful cityscape or bridges. Just some fun fireworks.

Processed in DPP4.

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[Chris Summers]

Our community is technically a part of the city of Houston but our July 4th parade still has a small town feeling with lots of floats with local businesses and youth groups as well as local politicians, law enforcement members and service organizations. I ended up shooting with my R7 and a Tamron 18-400mm lens which gave me a lot of flexibility without being too heavy to carry on a typical hot and humid SE Texas day. I also shot with my Canon M5 that is converted for infrared. I had a lot more fun shooting the kids along the sidelines of the parade route but overall a fun day.

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[AOC]

A couple of images taken of Cape Race Lighthouse in NL Canada on 6.27.25 Played with selective color with an antique look for fun

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[Hali]

A couple of images taken of Cape Race Lighthouse in NL Canada on 6.27.25 Played with selective color with an antique look for funView attachment 38202


View attachment 38203

Those are beautiful. I really like the sepia one. Just the feel of it, the step removed from reality, that still shows how grand the lighthouse was but gives it a bit of unworldliness.

 

[Hali]

Our community is technically a part of the city of Houston but our July 4th parade still has a small town feeling with lots of floats with local businesses and youth groups as well as local politicians, law enforcement members and service organizations. I ended up shooting with my R7 and a Tamron 18-400mm lens which gave me a lot of flexibility without being too heavy to carry on a typical hot and humid SE Texas day. I also shot with my Canon M5 that is converted for infrared. I had a lot more fun shooting the kids along the sidelines of the parade route but overall a fun day.

View attachment 38166View attachment 38167View attachment 38168View attachment 38169View attachment 38170View attachment 38171View attachment 38172View attachment 38173View attachment 38174View attachment 38175View attachment 38176View attachment 38177View attachment 38178View attachment 38179View attachment 38180

Nice images, Chris. You all haven't been inundated with rain like Austin and the rest of Central Texas, have you?

 

[Hali]

we missed each other at Elliston. I shot the Puffins for two days 6/22 to 6/23. Light was diffused the first day and brightened up later in the day. On the 2nd day we had a little drizzle at first but clouds thinned a little latter. Wanted to go back for the morning of 6/24 but the group I was with wanted to push on to Trepassey and the see and photograph the whales up close from the beach shore line at St. Vincent's. However it was very foggy at Trepassey on 6/24 and the fog did not really lift until 6 PM on 6/25. Shot whales at St Vincent's in fog from 5 pm to 6:30 until fog broke on 6/26. Then we could see lots of whale activity more clearly with multiple humpback whale breaches and tail slaps. I went to Bird Rock on the morning of 6/26 and on the way back stopped at St Vincent's to photograph whales again. Shot Cape Race Lighthouse on the morning of 6/27 and Whales in late afternoon at St Vincent's. Left for home on 6/28. Also visited lighthouses at Bonavista, Trepassey and Cape Pine during my visit to Newfoundland.

Sounds like a great trip. We were at St. Vincents on the 22nd and got lucky with the weather. No fog, but not too much whale action, almost all Minkes. Still it was a great time visiting there. I hear it's been insane there since we left, just saw a report from the mayor of the town on my google feed about it.

 

[klaspavel]

Let me show you a rather rare phenomenon in Europe, the altocumulus lenticularis - a silky and smooth type of cloud. The photo itself is just a snapshot from swimming at the dam, but I want to share this natural phenomenon with you (maybe there is someone from the field of meteorology here and can tell us more about it).

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[Bucolic Old Sir Henry]

Let me show you a rather rare phenomenon in Europe, the altocumulus lenticularis - a silky and smooth type of cloud. The photo itself is just a snapshot from swimming at the dam, but I want to share this natural phenomenon with you (maybe there is someone from the field of meteorology here and can tell us more about it).

Lenticular clouds are not rare round here! They form on the lee (downwind) side of mountains, when conditions are right. You basically need a fairly steady wind, not too turbulent, which hits the mountains and is forced upwards (often causing rain). As the air rises, clouds form. The air behaves a bit like waves on the ocean, with clouds forming on the peaks of the waves. Sometimes this can occur in layers like a sponge cake (but without cream filling), or in repeating patterns. Sometimes the waves can be seen to break, and you have loops of cloud (technically they're called Helmholtz waves when they do this).

Our local lenticular clouds form on the eastern side of the Southern Alps as the prevailing Southern Ocean westerlies blow in, and we call it a "Nor'west Arch". Our farm is often right underneath the arch, and sometimes we can get amazing sunsets as the layers are lit up by the setting sun.

Here a couple of examples, from our clifftop:

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I promise I haven't dialled up the saturation... ;-) (but I did re-edit them slightly so that they meet thread rules!).

 

[Chris Summers]

Nice images, Chris. You all haven't been inundated with rain like Austin and the rest of Central Texas, have you?

Thanks for asking, we have had the usual wet June and some showers during the first week of July but nothing like what they got out in the Texas Hill Country.

 

[ShipleyNW]

Summertime...And the Livin is Easy

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[timm]

A random bug perched on a Queen Ann's Lace blossom on my walk this evening.

Tim

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