Your R System Images - June 2023

[ctitanic]

Babies

 

[PKM-UK]

Babies
View attachment 17098

Hi Frank,

A wonderful capture of two beautiful creatures - got to be hot contenders for cuties of the month…

Thank you for sharing…

P&K

 

[jcass]

My daughters are going to be ooh'ing over this one. Orange kittens are their fav.

 

[ctitanic]

Hi Frank,

A wonderful capture of two beautiful creatures - got to be hot contenders for cuties of the month…

Thank you for sharing…

P&K

Thanks!
I loved this shot. They are feral so this is a pure example of being in the right place at the right moment.

 

[PKM-UK]

Images from a recent visit to Brecon, Powys, Wales.

(Shot raw and processed using: DxO PhotoLab Elite/ ViewPoint and Adobe Lightroom Classic/ Photoshop).

You can find out more about Brecon Cathedral by clicking Here.

Phil and Karen


1. Brecon Cathedral Church of St John the Evangelist began as a Benedictine Priory in 1093. It is a breathtakingly delightful place - and photography is actively encouraged!

2. It was built by the Normans on the site of an earlier Celtic church. At the dissolution of the monasteries in 1537 it became Brecon’s Parish Church, and was eventually designated as a Cathedral in 1923.

3. There is a wealth of history waiting to be uncovered within. (You may recall Welsh archers met at Tretower Castle before heading off to fight alongside King Henry V).

4. Talybont Dam and Reservoir (which we cycled to and around - the climb up the hill on the far side was a never-ending, leg killing, gradual grind, but on the plus side what a descent!!! ). Construction of the dam began in 1931.

5. The site of the Pen-y-Crug Iron Age Hillfort, just outside of - and overlooking - Brecon. The fort was defended by a series of ditches which are still in clear evidence today. ‘The Crug’ hill is 331 metes in height.

(Sources: Brecon Cathedral, WIKIPEDIA)

 

[MikeZ]

Another amazing set. Keep them coming.

 

[Bert-63]

I call this Speed Dating. Male/female Surf Scoters.

 

[PKM-UK]

I call this Speed Dating. Male/female Surf Scoters.

View attachment 17137

Hi Bob,

A timely (not interrupting anything? ) capture - good luck everyone...

Thank you for sharing...

P&K

 

[PKM-UK]

Another amazing set. Keep them coming.

Hi Mike,

Cheers - appreciated!

We have the next 3 sets already lined up (all from Wales) - we hope you like derelict castles...

P&K

 

[PKM-UK]

Wow - gorgeous things to wake up to - it's 5:45 AM here the Pacific Northwest - hope you're having a good day!

Hi Bob,

Not sure who you're replying to (without a quote included) - and those cats are VERY cute! - but on behalf of everyone it could be, Cheers - appreciated!

P&K

 

[Bert-63]

Hi Bob,

Not sure who you're replying to without a quote - and those cats are VERY cute! - but on behalf of everyone it could be, Cheers - appreciated!

P&K

Thanks - I deleted it - it wouldn't 'add' no matter what I did.

 

[PKM-UK]

Thanks - I deleted it - it wouldn't 'add' no matter what I did.

Hi Bob,

Technology eh? No problem at all there - any non-aligned praise will be gratefully received...

P&K

 

[PKM-UK]

One from this morning's wood walk - a bright start after a thorough drenching last night produced the vaguest hint of angel beams.

I tried to make things pop in post and kind-of got something - anyway here you go, good morning from Warwickshire, England...

(Shot raw and edited using: Adobe Lightroom Classic/ Photoshop, DxO Nik Collection and Topaz Studio 2).

Phil

 

[Bucolic Old Sir Henry]

Today's bird is the pīwakawaka, or fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa). I actually went out to photograph swallows, but they'd decided to go somewhere else, and so I had to make do with these little fellows. They are very obliging poseurs, but very difficult to capture in flight because they are consummate flutterers and darters, chasing insects on the wing. Working on it...

 

[PKM-UK]

Today's bird is the pīwakawaka, or fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa). I actually went out to photograph swallows, but they'd decided to go somewhere else, and so I had to make do with these little fellows. They are very obliging poseurs, but very difficult to capture in flight because they are consummate flutterers and darters, chasing insects on the wing. Working on it...

View attachment 17203View attachment 17202View attachment 17201View attachment 17200

Hi Gareth,

Small, fast and skittish birds are always a real challenge (at least for us anyway) - so these are terrific captures, with great fine feather detail and nice eye catch-light. (And what a bunch of little cuties!).

Thank you for sharing...

P&K

 

[PKM-UK]

One from yesterday morning's early wood walk - I was chatting with Karen, hadn't taken my camera out of my sling pack, the camera settings were all over the place and we found ourselves looking at a wild stag Muntjac deer...

I kept it busy with a quick 'hello matey' as I wrestled my camera out and got a couple of quick shots before it ambled off, appalled by my lack of preparedness. Despite my best efforts the camera did OK, but with ISO up at 6400.

Shot raw, I tried Lightroom Denoise and Topaz Photo AI (manual tweaking of the settings), but preferred the results from DxO DeepPRIME XD which can be seen in the below image entitled 'Patient deer photographed by an idiot'.


Anyway, the punch line is that, undeterred, I did exactly the same thing when I did my mid-morning wood walk (minus Karen, but engrossed in an audio book) - sigh...

Phil

 

[Tim Mayo]

A great crested grebe at Carsington Water in the Peak District. The 7.5 mile circular walk around the reservoir is lovely at this time of year.

 

[PKM-UK]

A great crested grebe at Carsington Water in the Peak District. The 7.5 mile circular walk around the reservoir is lovely at this time of year.

View attachment 17216

Hi Tim,

A great capture of a beautiful creature, rather tricky to photograph too (talk about dynamic range!). Thank you for sharing...

We cycled a good part of the Carsington Water route last August on our way to/ from the nearby Tissington Trail and Haddon Hall - and you're right, it is very pleasant. The water levels looked to be quite well down at the time of our visit.

P&K

 

[dgphoto8]

Images from a recent visit to Brecon, Powys, Wales.

(Shot raw and processed using: DxO PhotoLab Elite/ ViewPoint and Adobe Lightroom Classic/ Photoshop).

You can find out more about Brecon Cathedral by clicking Here.

Phil and Karen


1. Brecon Cathedral Church of St John the Evangelist began as a Benedictine Priory in 1093. It is a breathtakingly delightful place - and photography is actively encouraged!

View attachment 17125

2. It was built by the Normans on the site of an earlier Celtic church. At the dissolution of the monasteries in 1537 it became Brecon’s Parish Church, and was eventually designated as a Cathedral in 1923.

View attachment 17126

3. There is a wealth of history waiting to be uncovered within. (You may recall Welsh archers met at Tretower Castle before heading off to fight alongside King Henry V).

View attachment 17127

4. Talybont Dam and Reservoir (which we cycled to and around - the climb up the hill on the far side was a never-ending, leg killing, gradual grind, but on the plus side what a descent!!! ). Construction of the dam began in 1931.

View attachment 17128

5. The site of the Pen-y-Crug Iron Age Hillfort, just outside of - and overlooking - Brecon. The fort was defended by a series of ditches which are still in clear evidence today. ‘The Crug’ hill is 331 metes in height.

View attachment 17129

(Sources: Brecon Cathedral, WIKIPEDIA)

Wonderful photos. I love how you captured the lines and colors of the church. Stained glass is always beautiful

 

[dgphoto8]

A great crested grebe at Carsington Water in the Peak District. The 7.5 mile circular walk around the reservoir is lovely at this time of year.

View attachment 17216

Wonderful capture of a beautiful bird, Tim.

 

[PKM-UK]

Wonderful photos. I love how you captured the lines and colors of the church. Stained glass is always beautiful

Hi Don,

Cheers - much appreciated!

It was a fantastic place to explore - as we walked in we were greeted by a gentleman who said 'a very warm welcome, please take as many photographs of our Cathedral as you want and share them to encourage others to visit us'.

P&K

 

[PKM-UK]

Hanging around yesterday afternoon waiting for the garage to tell us our camper van was ready for collection and got to playing with a recent image from Chester Zoo (tune-in for more next month!). Thought I'd share some results here...

Software used (for the creative bit) - DxO Nik Collection and Topaz Studio 2.

Phil

Original edit (Karen's image of a Sumatran Tiger) and some options...

 

[PKM-UK]

Same principle, hanging around this morning waiting to start loading our camper van for this weekend's trip and got playing with a (fairly mediocre) shot from a recent morning walk. I quite like the 'electric skies' effect, so here you go...

(Main creative changes engineered using Topaz Studio 2).

Phil

 

[Tim Mayo]

A great capture of a beautiful creature, rather tricky to photograph too (talk about dynamic range!). Thank you for sharing...

We cycled a good part of the Carsington Water route last August on our way to/ from the nearby Tissington Trail and Haddon Hall - and you're right, it is very pleasant. The water levels looked to be quite well down at the time of our visit.

Cheers Phil. I met a non photo shooting friend there for a walk so didn't get to shoot as much as I would of liked. Will definitely be going back though! Definitely a nice cycling route as well. Now I just need to encourage our young boys to cycle

 

[JayAy]

A couple of images form a walk along the Grand Union Canal. One of them was a cooperative subject and the other would just not stay still!

 

[JustUs7]

Haven’t gotten home yet. Used the in camera raw processing on the following. The first is Desert View Watchtower at Grand Canyon National Park with a well timed (but fast moving) Raven in frame. The second is Horseshoe Bend. As I’m typically limited to travel during family vacation time, I could not be there during sunset, which many try for. But we were blessed with light in the Canyon and distant rain showers creating an amazing scene. Looking forward to getting home and playing with the light and shadows to do the scene justice.

Another view point along the rim trail. Experimenting with the in camera raw processing again.

 

[JustUs7]

Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona, AZ. Focus was intentional on the foreground flower. An f/2.8 would have been nice here, but the 24-240 is so great for travel.

 

[Bucolic Old Sir Henry]

A couple of images form a walk along the Grand Union Canal. One of them was a cooperative subject and the other would just not stay still!

That's a cracking shot of the dragonfly. I've spent many happy - and frustrating - hours by our garden pond struggling to get a shot that good. I have found that if you're patient and watchful, some of them will fly repeated patterns with pauses in the same spots, so you can line things up. Doesn't always work, and not all species will do it all the time, but it does help. If I'm honest (and don't tell SWMBO) it's one of the main reasons I traded in the RF 600 f11 against the RF100-500, to get the closer focussing.

Here's one from last summer (Procordulia grayi - yellow-spotted dragonfly - NZ native):

 

[JayAy]

Thanks @Bucolic Old Sir Henry. I was lucky it was flying back and forth along the same stretch of canal, so I was able to use animal eye tracking af, which once I'd found the subject (not so easy) it stuck pretty well - it was blazing hot (not a common phrase associated with the UK) at around 11:00 with no cloud, so would be difficulty to get much brighter conditions. In hind sight (always 20/20) I should have upped the ISO a bit more and closed the aperture a touch to get a bit better depth - that's for another day. Your yellow-spotted dragonfly is good too - a harder capture that mine I suspect because of the head on view.

 

[PKM-UK]

A couple of images form a walk along the Grand Union Canal. One of them was a cooperative subject and the other would just not stay still!

Hi Julian,

Two excellent shots, well seen and captured. The dragonfly is exceptional (and shades it as our favourite!). Thank you for sharing...

P&K