Nemos Phototgraphy

Celine Dion & Helene Fischer "My Heart Will Go On"

2012-01-25T21:46:00.000Z

A busy day at BODMIN GENERAL railway station.

2011-12-24T14:21:00.004Z

Bodmin General, is the HQ station of the Bodmin and Wenford Railway... another preserved railway, this time in Cornwall. The station is in the middle of the route of the railway, meaning that you first catch a train out towards Bodmin Parkway, where it shares a station with the mainline. The train then returns to Bodmin General, and goes out the other way to Boscarne Junction. You can see a plan of the railway here....

http://www.bodminandwenfordrailway.co.uk/pages/guide.html

so here is some of the "action" on a recent visit.....

Tornado and Britannia - double heading

2011-12-22T11:56:00.000Z

The Brand New (?) Steam Engine TORNADO, and the restored BRITANNIA, double heading a rake of coaches, out of Ropley Station, on the Mid Hants Preserved Steam Railway, otherwise known as " The Watercress Line".

Bournemouth Air Show. (as seen from Christchurch ! ! !)

2011-08-21T19:03:00.001+01:00

Was down at Christchurch quay, for a day visit, there were some classic cars on show on the green, and then overhead, flew the Lancaster bomber, taking part in the Bournemouth Air Show.2011... tragically, one of the Red Arrows pilots was killed, when his plane developed a fault after the main show on Saturday..as they were returning to the airfield... he crashed and was killed.

The following pics were taken with my FZ28, with the mpx reduced to 7mpx... giving me a zoom of 21.4 times, instead of 18 X... and with my 1.4 sigma lens screwed on, I now have a max zoom of 29.96 (almost 30 X ZOOOOM)..

Bournemouth is about 5 miles in a straight line along the coast from Christchurch, so I reckon that the pics I took today, were between 1 and 2 miles... the Bi-planes flew directly over my head, while on their way to the show, and I reckon the last pic he/she would have been about 500feet above me.

I am particularly pleased with the shot(s) of the "memorial flight" REMEMBER TO CLICK ON THE PIC TO ENLARGE IT...

New Appreciation of the Sigma 1.4 Telephoto lens

2011-07-20T15:53:00.001+01:00

After some discussion on flickr, I have just completed a series of photographs, to show the excellent quality of the Sigma 1.4 Telephoto lens I have been using for the past 18 months or so.

The first photograph is from my conservatory door across the patio, to centre focus on the basket containing a fuschia, on the right hand side of the archway. The distance is about 10 feet, (3 mtrs). The camera is set on the IA position. NO post processing has been done to any of these photographs, except to add the text and the crop to show the simulated addition of the SIGMA 1.4 Telephoto lens.

ORIGINAL VIEW (click the pic to enlarge)

ZOOM TO 18 X OPTICAL ZOOM (click the pic to enlarge)

SIMULATED 18 X OPTICAL ZOOM BY CROPPING (click the pic to enlarge)

ADDING THE SIGMA 1.4 TELEPHOTO LENS (click the pic to enlarge)

CROPPING THE 18 X ZOOM TO SIMULATE ADDING THE 1.4 TELEPHOTO LENS (click the pic to enlarge)

Adding the Sigma 1.4 Telephoto lens, makes the FZ28 into a MAXIMUM OPTICAL ZOOM of 25.2 X Optical Zoom. (40% MORE OPTICAL ZOOM) without any deterioration in the quality of the photograph.

At this level of increase, cropping the original "seems" to give the same result, however, the cropped picture has had the pixels enlarged to produce the result required, and therefore, must, lose some definition in the process, compared to the addition of the Sigma 1.4 telephoto lens.....

Whilst it is an extreme example, you can see what happens when you crop a picture, by looking at the third picture, that has been cropped, to simulate 18 X zoom.. By adding a good quality lens, such as the Sigma 1.4 teleconverter lens, there is no barrel distortion, and no chromatic aberration, as there has been with the other lenses that I have evaluated over the period. These problems can be caused by poor quality lenses, or the different focal length/plane of the combined FZ lens system and the additional. Fortunately, the Sigma lens works very well with the Leica FZ lens system.

ANOTHER evaluation of a telephoto lens

2011-07-19T20:37:00.000+01:00

Another evaluation !.. yes, another one... this time it is

Pro 46mm 3.0X Tele-Photo Lens For Panasonic HDC-SDT750

Which is actually a new 3D video camera by Panasonic.However, it was advertised on Ebay, with a 46mm thread, so how could I resist the chance to try it out !!!. So I sent off for it, and a few days later it arrived from HongKong. When I opened the package, I was very impressed. The lens was well protected from the usual bumps in the post, but inside the box, it was again protected inside a nice leather look tie top bag. Getting the lens out, and looking through it, I was again impressed with the clarity and the sharpness, plus the "solid" build of the lens itself.

I noticed that the outer barrel of the lens was larger than my previous lenses, including my favourite Sigma 1.4 lens, so I had to switch on the camera, and let the lens barrel extend to "normal" position before screwing on the 3 X telephoto lens. I had to remember to remove it before switching off, otherwise it would have caused some problems, when the camera lens barrel retracted into the camera lens housing.

Here it is fitted to my FZ28..... This is how it looks, after switching on. As you can see, the barrel is slightly larger than the housing, and , despite removing the Panasonic Lens Hood Ring, would not retract IF the camera is switched off, with the 3 X telephoto lens attached.....

(CLICK ON THE PICS TO ENLARGE)

The next pic shows the FZ28 at FULL ZOOM, with the lens attached

The lens is very heavy, compared to others, this lens weighs in at 11 ounces, or 320 grms.... compare that to the total weight of the FZ28 at 16 ounces or 475 grms. and you can see it needs careful handling. The zoom motor seemed to cope adequately with the extra weight, but I would not want to keep zooming back and forth for many operations may soon wear out the motor unit.

So, what did it perform like? Well, sad to say, I was disappointed. Looking through it, as an "eye glass" or short telescope, and it produced clear sharp image quality.... however, as you can see from the pics, it caused distortion around the edges, for quite a way into the centre.... this also produces some "colour shifting". and the centre of the lens did not focus well, when trying to work with the Panasonic FZ28.

Here are some test pics...

The first pic is "normal 18X zoom" of a yacht, about 3 miles out to sea, from Lee on the Solent, looking towards the Isle of Wight.

(CLICK ON THE PICS TO ENLARGE)

This next pic is with the 3 X telephoto lens attached. Same boat, same distance...............

As you can see, the 3X telephoto has worked ! ... BUT you can also see the problems it causes !..

Here are a couple of much nearer subjects... about 100 metres away...

And for the real test... how does it compare to my Sigma 1.4 !! ! ! ! ..

The first pic is "normal 18 X zoom".....Focus point is the Red Lifesaver in the centre of the pic...

CLICK ON THE PICS TO ENLARGE...

Followed by the Famous Sigma 1.4 telephoto lens......

And finally, by the 3 X telephoto lens...........

So, there you have it.... another evaluation....

Reluctantly, I have re-packaged it, and posted it back.... ... .... If you have any comments you can log in on here or comment on the Panasonic FZ28 flickr discussion page....

http://www.flickr.com/groups/793920@N24/

or the FZ35/38 discussion page...

http://www.flickr.com/groups/fz35/

Evaluation of IQ Video CRX3010 2x Telephoto Lens (M46 Mount)

2011-07-09T21:58:00.001+01:00

Evaluation of IQ Video CRX3010 2x Telephoto Lens

I saw this lens, advertised on Ebay, and thought it might just be the answer to the elusive "handy" 2 X telephoto lens.... so I sent off for it, and it arrived after two days... even though it was Royal Mail 2nd class post ! ! !. On opening the box, I was very pleased with the physical size, and the "professional look" and construction.

As you can see from the photographs, it has an "integral" slide out lens hood, and when fitted on to the lens of the FZ28, it retracted into the main case of the camera, when it was switched off, without having to be removed... Exactly how my Sigma 1.4 X telephoto lens worked....

So far..... So good ! ! ... now to do some photo testing.... which I am sorry to say was very disappointing, after such a good start...

You will see from the test pics, that I first took one at 18 X Optical zoom, then added my 1.4 X Sigma lens, then removed that, and added the new IQ CRX3010 2X lens... ...

It is noticeable that the Sigma lens does "loose some light" , but this is easily rectified using software.... the important thing is that there is no significant loss of definition and sharpness.

Looking at the CRX3010 pics, it is obvious that it does not "work" with the FZ28 lens system, and produces very blurry results.... What a shame... Ah well, back to the search engines ! ! .. will keep on trying.

Series of test pics to give evaluations

REMEMBER TO CLICK ON EACH PICTURE TO GET A LARGER VERSION.....

Each pic has a description at the bottom to explain what lens is being used. The last pic of each group is a crop from the first one, to simulate how a 2 X telephoto pic should look, compared to the actual CRX3010.

In summary, after taking a pic at 18X Optical zoom, careful cropping to 2X simulated (as shown) can give just as good a pic, without the need for a telephoto lens ! ! ! .. (maybe I should be looking for a 3 X telephoto lens ! ! )

War on the line - A Watercress Line special weekend event

2011-06-15T08:53:00.003+01:00

The Watercress Line, running from Alton to Alresford, also known as the "Mid Hants Railway", is preserved steam line of over 10 miles, with "probably" one of the steepest gradients on any UK line.... to the drivers and firemen of the steam loco`s, it is referred to as "going over the Alps"... At the Alton end, the line runs in to a seperate platform in a shared station with the "normal" rail network, which has the effect of extending the line from London, to Alresford.... Between Alton and Alresford are two small stations and an extensive workshop... the whole line is preserved and worked as though it still belonged to the Southern Railway, before it was "made redundant" by the infamous Doctor Beeching, who decided that non profit making sections of the railways should be shut down completely....

Fortunately some volunteers formed themselves into a Preservation Society, and now the line gives thousands of people a real experience of "how it used to be"... To make the railway pay, they have "Special Event" weekends, (including Thomas the tank !)... and last weekend it was the turn of "War on the Line"... where military preservation groups, come to re-enact a wartime scenario, outside Alresford station, and along the line ...

The event is "Free" to visit, but is intended to stimulate travel on the railway, and at £14 per adult, for all day riding on the trains, (usually at least 3 different classes of steam loco) is pretty good value.

Here are some pics taken at Alresford,..... No commentary on them, as they are pretty much explanatory.

See if you can spot the "refugee children" in the pics below ! ! !

If you click on the PIC it will E N L A R G E ! ! ! ......

Sepia gives a flavour of the era, I think, but have added the colour versions too ....

A Bluetit Family came to breakfast !

2011-05-25T12:27:00.001+01:00

A Bluetit Family came to breakfast !

It is rare for us to see any birds on our feeding station, so I was quite surprised, and pleased to see so many bluetits having a feast for breakfast..... I counted SEVEN when I stopped the movie...

Don`t forget to click on the bottom right corner to view in FULL SCREEN....

(Sorry about the quality, it was shot through the security glass of a double-glazed door !)

And one of them decided an early bath would be quite refreshing..... !..!

144 X ZoooooOOOOOOOm on the Panasonic FZ28

2011-04-27T13:04:00.003+01:00

CLICK HERE TO ENLARGE THE PIC........

OK... sounds rediculous I know.... but I have this "thing" about getting as much zoooooom as I can from what I have available... today, we went to Farlington Marshes, and I spotted something moving about 300 feet (100 mtrs) away... so I made sure I had my 1.4 teleconverter lens fitted (see earlier postings about this).... and also reduced the MPX count on my FZ28, to make the maximum OPTICAL ZOOM read 25.7 on the sliding scale. I then found a convenient seat, and firmly rested (as best I could) my camera on the back of it, and zoomed in on the subject..... I then went the "whole hog", and added in the 4 X digital zoom ... doing the maths, it works like this.... 25.7 Optical Zoom multiply by 1.4 teleconverter lens gives 35.98 (call it 36 X OPTICAL ZOOM)... then add on 4 X DIGITAL ZOOM....(36 X 4 ) to give a massive 144 X ZOOOOM..... OK so it is a "bit" noisy, but it is not too bad considering the size of the sensor, and the fact that the 1.4 teleconverter lens is not actually made for the FZ28.... ( It is a Sigma VIDEO CAMERA accessory lens)...

Wagsy`s Lake pics

2011-04-15T20:05:00.002+01:00

This is the ORIGINAL, as sent to me... CLICK ON THE PIC TO ENLARGE IT

Here is my "improvement" using Irfanview.

CLICK ON THE PIC TO ENLARGE IT !

Open Irfanview. Go to "Image" (top tool bar ) Drop down menu
click on "Auto Adjust Colours"..... wait....then click on "Image"
Colour Corrections... opens a new window with two pics side by side...
Left side is original, Right side is the "adjusted" pic.
move "Contrast" slider to + 10 ...... and "Gamma" slider to 0.65
And if you think it needs it.... Saturation to + 50 click OK and
then Save... (save it in the original folder with A after the file name/number to show it is Adjusted., )

and there you go !... Let me know when you have seen it, and I will remove this from the blog .

Cloning using Photo Pos Pro - FREE & Easy to use Photoshop Alternative !

2011-03-15T19:42:00.000Z

Esmeralda put this pic on Flickr, from her trip to Mexico or somewhere forren!... and she complained that something was missing from the bottom right corner... I suggested a crop, or cloning some foliage... she did not want to crop any further, and does not know how (easy it is) to clone, especially with Photo Pos Pro. which is similar in layout and functionality to Photoshop...

Here is her original ....

and this is the "clone" version....

So.... how easy is it....

How to “clone” using PhotoPosPro

First….. Download and install Photo Pos Pro. From here…..

http://download.cnet.com/Photo-Pos-Pro/3000-2192-10264444.html?part=dl-PhotoPosP&subj=dl&tag=button

Once installed. It looks pretty much like Photo shop…

File > Open (find the pic you want to work on, and “open” it)…

On the left hand margin….. Select the “clone brush”… (10th icon from the top)

(You can select the "size" and shape of the brush on the small drop down box on the right of the workspace)

Move cursor across the pic to a suitable starting point for cloning…. Then Right Click on the start point….

Now move the cursor to where you want the “clone” to appear, Left click and hold, and move the cursor about and watch the “clone” appear…

You can see where the clone is coming from, by watching the “original” right click position…

Easy Innit! ! ! …

another Irfanview example

2010-11-26T19:44:00.000Z

Once again... "improved" with Irfanview... FREE program... ask me for details and my free tutorial !..

Reduced Gamma to 90
increased contrast to 6
then cropped.
then saved.

Using Irfanview, to "improve" a pic

2010-11-09T13:06:00.000Z

Two clicks and the difference is quite remarkable...

1st, move the "Gamma" slider to .60

2nd move the "contrast" slider to 6

click OK

then save....... job done.!.

I will delete this posting as soon as you say you have seen it....

In Car Entertainment

2010-11-06T18:10:00.001Z

This is my new "toy"... MP4 player, with camera, digi movi cam, FM radio, webcam, games, and loads of other stuff !... I bought it from "BT Shop"... especially to play my Helene Fischer videos!... (I do have others on there too! !)..when I am waiting for " `er indoors " to come out of the supermarket with a trolley load !..

I do not drive the car, with this setup!... it is all tucked away, out of sight, when driving...

The speakers were bought seperately, and are powered by a small battery pack (4 x AAA)

The sound quality is really very good, as good as my external computer speakers, and as good as my "proper" earphones... Certainly makes a change from the boring stuff on Radio 4..... !

The Watercress Line .... or Mid Hants Preserved Railway.

2010-09-12T22:49:00.002+01:00

Watercress Line..... or Mid Hants Railway.....

http://www.watercressline.co.uk/Home

http://www.watercressline.co.uk/Events

Either way, it is a super little preserved line, that runs from Alresford to Alton in Hampshire, southern England.....The line is known to the engine drivers and fireman as "over the alps", because it has some very steep gradients in the climb, therefore it needs BIG engines to haul the rake of coaches .... There are several BIG steam loco`s at the shed, and they usually take it in turn to steam on the weekends.... This last weekend saw the introduction to the fleet of an engine that has been re-built and refurbished, since it last steamed over 45 years ago.... the engine is a Stanier Black Five... general purpose loco, number 45379. Also on duty this weekend, was a Serbian built 0-6-0 tank engine, that had been bought and repainted in BR colours / logo , 30075, doing a shuttle service between Ropley, and Alresford, with an observation car in tow, while the "big boys" got on with providing passenger and goods services every half hour.... The other big boys on duty were 34007 Bullied Pacific "Wadebridge" .... Number 88 on a visit from the Somerset and Dorset joint railway... .... 73096 BR standard Class 5 loco, and 92212 a Class 9F loco.....

There was so much going on, with engines being changed over, and the different services provided, that it was, without doubt, a very successful weekend for the staff..... Re-creating the whole atmosphere of how it used to be when I was a boy ..... way back in the 1950`s.....

Exakta RTL 1000 35 mm film camera

2010-09-04T17:57:00.002+01:00

CLICK ON THE PICS TO ENLARGE THEM.......

The lens on the camera has this info around it....

ORESTON 1.8/50 MEYER-OPTIK GORLITZ 534617 f1.8 to f16 and 12" to 30` or .33 to 10 mtrs (infinity)

The small lens on the bottom right has this info around it

SOLIGOR 1:2.8    f =28mm        f2.8 to f16
No 17102225          0.45 to 10 mtrs   (infinity)
Made In Japan          2` to 30`

The tall lens on the left has this info around it

SOLIGOR 1:4.5 f = 200mm     f4.5 to f22
No1680190         3 mtr to 50 mtrs (infinity)
Made In Japan 10` to 200` (infinity)

There is an original Handbook and an extra handbook for the Penta Prism that is attached to the top of the camera. Also there is a "Johnson`s photography handbook" and a Exakta History (hardback) (the one at the bottom) a spare prism lens (I think) and a flash connector for the hot shoe.
The camera, case, and strap, are in very good condition, being made of leather, All the glass in the lenses looks like new, no scratches or dust.... and they all fix on the camera with simplicity and ease... they all focus well, and the shutter system works without a fault.

Portsmouth International Kite Festival 2010

2010-08-29T18:14:00.000+01:00

Once again, the Portsmouth International Kite Festival was held on Southsea Common, this August Bank Holiday. There was a pretty stiff breeze blowing, I would say about force 4, which gave plenty of lift for the larger exhibition kites. The weather was dry, but the cloud base was very low, and at times, threatened to drench the show... but it never materialised, (at least not while I was there!)... in fact, from time to time there was a nice blue sky, as you can see from the pics.

A new set of pics using EZ and a 1.4 teleconverter

2010-08-18T13:36:00.000+01:00

To see a larger version , click on each pic.....

Firstly , the location... The pink flower is about 10 feet (3 mtrs) from the camera. and the object behind it is about 3 feet (1 mtr)...

There is no "scientific" or "technical" expertise involved in taking these pics.... just a random thought that came into my head....

The first two pics are taken with the Sigma 1.4 X teleconverter lens screwed onto my FZ28 movable zoom lens. The camera has had the MPX count reduced from 10 to 7 mpx. to give the EZ (Extra Zoom) feature, this makes the 18X zoom into 21.4 X BEFORE bringing into account the Digital Zoom..... NO digital Zoom is used in these shots. So, with the Zoom set at 21.4 X and the 1.4 Teleconverter lens added, this brings the Optical Zoom up to almost 30 X...(29.96 ).... ALL the pics are taken "hand held" standing up....

The third pic has the camera mpx reduced to 3mpx.... giving MORE EZ...!... Zooming out to the "normal" 18X zoom position (before you go into digital zoom) and adding on the EZ, brings the ZOOOOM out to 32.1 X optical zoom.... (NO teleconverter used on this shot)...

The Fourth pic is a crop of the third one.... Cropped by about half the total of the orginal pic, to illustrate that having 3mpx as the EZ setting does not necessarily mean a huge degradation in picture quality when cropped.... (It does show some serious degradation if cropped really close, i.e. to show the hover fly at the left of the flower head)...

The next two pics are a repeat of the previous two, as a double check on picture quality....

The last four are similar operations, except that I have added the 1.4 X Teleconverter lens to the camera, now giving a fantastic 45 X optical ZOOOOOM (32.1 x 1.4 = 44.94 X optical zoom)

Check out the two "crop pics" to see the quality of the pics.... (don`t forget to click on the pics to see a larger version.)

Good enough for viewing on a computer screen, at 3mpx, maybe a little rough if printed out above the normal "postcard size".... but hey!.... Photography is supposed to be fun ! ! ! ..

Auto Adjusting pics with Irfanview

2010-08-17T10:18:00.010+01:00

see a larger version of each pic, just click on it.....

Just a few experiments to show what difference "Auto Adjust" can make to a pic, using one or two clicks only..... with IRFANVIEW.... a quick and simple program for editing your pics.... You can do quite a lot of stuff with it.... including straightening the verticals or horizontals, cropping, inserting text, colour changing (RGB- GRB, and other combo`s) vertical flip, horizontal flip, (mirror image effect), and of course you can adjust the colour balance, either by manually adjusting the R G B sliders along with the Brightness, Gamma, Contrast, and Saturation.... You can add raindrops if you want, turn the pic into a negative, and B&W, or even make it look "old fashioned" by making it a Sepia colour... The program is FREE to download, and FREE to use.... Download the main Irfanview program from here,

http://www.irfanview.com/

and install it,..... then download the "plugins" part, and install that.... it should automatically go into the original Irfanview setup program, so you don`t have to mess about with it... and within 10 minutes of your first download starting, you have it up and running !...

In a "low light" situation, (such as a sunset) you may want to include the "foreground" in the pic, so this is where the AUTO ADJUST comes into use.... as you can see, the first pic is very dark, almost black, in the foreground, yet with one click on the auto adjust, you can make out the line of the roadway, and the houses...

The same situation with the spider`s web....

You can see how the Sepia effect works, and this too can be "improved" with the use of the AUTO ADJUST

Yes, it IS Optical ZOOOOOM. 36X on the FZ28

2010-06-24T19:40:00.004+01:00

One of my contacts on flickr, was asking about my Sigma Telephoto lens (1.4X) and during my reply I suggest that they get the TCON 1.7, and the adapter tube, as my Sigma is not available any more, (half a days searching on google).... I suggested that by reducing the MPX count from 10 to 7 would give a big improvement on the Optical zooom.... ! then I thought about going down to 5mpx. and here is some remarkable results...
The pics have text installed on them to show what zoom was used. I must say, the quality of the last pic with the 36 X zooooooom is quite impressive....

click on the pic to view larger.... and then click on the pic again for even bigger versions

Bear in mind this is a 1.4 X telephoto lens, that screws directly onto my FZ28 lens, NO adapter tube is used... The TCON 1.7 will give a bigger zooooooom capability.

Turkmenian Eagle Owl

2010-06-21T15:10:00.005+01:00

For some unknown reason, I have been told that "some of you " cannot view my pics in "l a r g e" size.... I haven`t made any changes to my setup, but have noticed this on a few of my contacts, where I cannot view their uploads in LARGE.... I have all the usual items on top of my pic on my side, perhaps there is something wrong at Flickr side....
so for those who cannot see my Turkmenian Eagle Owl in LARGE size... here it is...!

If you CLICK anywhere on the pic , it should open in a new window, When it has opened..... you can click again, to get a

R E A L L Y B I G P I C T U R E

........ the size of your screen.....

Wide Angle Lens - Test shots

2010-06-01T12:46:00.005+01:00

I have had the Teleconverter lens on my camera, more or less, permanently since my last blog, so have almost forgotten about it`s "little brother", lurking in my camera bag..... the 0.7 x Wide Angle lens...

As with the Teleconverter, it screws straight onto the FZ28 lens barrel, and sits snug as a bug in a rug, when the camera is switched off. The down side of this is that it (and the teleconverter) produces a "porthole" effect if I forget to zoom out a little bit... In the case of the wide angle lens, this means zoooming out to just a little more than 1 X optical, but in the case of the teleconverter lens, it means going out to about 5 x optical... Not a great problem, just worth mentioning.

Now todays test shots, are aimed (!) at finding out what difference the Wide Angle lens actually makes to the amount of " view " you get with it added to the FZ28... Obviously, I cannot vouch for any other makes of lens or camera, But, I think I may well be using it for landscape photography a bit more, and it could even save a couple of shots when doing panorama`s...

anyway, here are the pics... I have put text on them to explain when the lens is used, or not... you will have to check the edges of the pix to see how much "extra" you get, and work out for yourself if it is a viable or necessary accessory for you to carry around with you....

Comparison Pics

2010-05-01T10:40:00.002+01:00

I couldn`t figure out how to add these pics to the post about EZ so here they are as a seperate entry...

An "original" / "normal" 18 time optical zoom pic was placed side by side with the final pic of the set below, to give a guide for the placing of the "crop" box to show how much Extra Zoom has been achieved using the EZ facility (reducing the mpx count from 10 to 7 on the menu) and adding on my Sigma 1.4 teleconverter lens.... this gives a "mathematical 29.96 X Optical zoom.....

The pics I have used have all been re-sized from the originals to 600 X 800, but I don`t think they have lost anything in the process.... they still look as good as the originals...

Testing EZ function with 1.4 Sigma Teleconverter lens

2010-04-30T14:26:00.004+01:00

I have been using my Sigma 1.4 teleconverter lens for quite a lot of my bird shots, as it gives me 25.2 X optical zoom instead of 18X.... The FZ28, has a function for reducing the MPX count in the saved image, from 10mpx to 7mpx, and this gives rise to the "EZ" facility... or Extra Zoom.... Increasing the normal 18X optical to 21.4 X optical.....

Now some people don`t agree that it is Optical Zoom, and degrades the picture, so I thought I would do some test shots....

The pics you see here, are all taken from the same spot, using the white flower as the focus point, which I measured at 11 feet 6 inches, or for the metrically minded.....3.5 metres. If you want to see the EXIF info, then you can go to my flickr page to view them all....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32369450@N02/

Here is the camera zoom settings for each pic..... (all taken at 7mpx to use the EZ facility)
Readings from the camera

006 18X optical zoom (less than normal full zoom)(no teleconverter lens)

007 21.4 X optical zoom ( full zoom on the lens) (no teleconverter lens)

008 18 X optical zoom PLUS the sigma 1.4 teleconverter lens (less than full zoom)

009 21.4 X optical zoom PLUS the sigma 1.4 teleconverter lens (full zoom)

It is quite interesting to compare the first pic with the last... the first pic is at NORMAL 18 X optical zoom with 10mpx set..... the last pic has 21.4 X plus the 1.4 teleconverter, and the EZ making a total (if my maths is correct) ALMOST 30 X OPTICAL ZOOM ! ! ...

If you can, please click on the pics to enlarge them, and let me know if you think there is any degradation in any of the pics..... you can do this on my flickr page (linky as above)

Thank you...

How to use the Neck Strap as a "Hand Grip"

2010-04-23T20:01:00.003+01:00

How I use the neck strap as a "hand grip"......

. I shall try to describe how....

thick part of neck strap behind wrist (where wrist watch goes)
left hand ... hold small finger and thumb as far apart as possible. Like winding wool !
Hold camera in right hand across body, and keep strap taught.
lower left hand and close, collecting both sides of strap into one
twist hand so that straps go over left thumb.
open hand flat, twist to palm facing your body, take strap across hand
twist hand, so that strap now comes behind fingers,
Camera is now (or very near) to left hand for holding.....

You can shorten the straps to make it happen as one final move, but you may also find that you can take the right hand end of strap under the base of the camera, to make a tight fit, into hand hold....

Sounds a bit tricky, but with a few practice tries, it is quite easy to do, and becomes second nature... can carry my camera like this for a fair while, and it is always ready for the "instant" action shot..!...

Changing the background on a picture

2010-03-22T16:15:00.004Z

I have been using Photoshop CS4 and some tutorials from YouTube, to experiment with changing the colour of the background on pictures.... I am only just starting out, and the pics on here are my first efforts, so don`t quote me as an expert in this field !.....

I wanted to remove the "cage" background on the pic of the lioness, and replace it with something a bit more "plain".... I haven`t mastered getting the two "layers" to be the same physical size, so the lioness was bigger than the new background when I eventually "merged" and "flattened" them.!

I`m quite pleased with the result, it took me several hours of carefully going round the edge of the lioness` fur, using a 2 pixel brush and the "background eraser tool", including going around the individual whiskers.... for those who look closely, they will notice that some places had a "good" treatment, whilst others just got the "rough justice" treatment!! ! ! ...

To do the outline, especially the whiskers, I had to blow up/magnify the original pic to 700 x, and then it was a question of working at, almost, individual pixels!... my mouse seemed to want to go it`s own way in places, so the result needs to be viewed from afar......!... anyway it took me several hours to do, and then I reverted to a larger size brush to completely remove the rest of the background....

the "Carnival Glass" colours in the background were made using a photograph of one of our internal walls, which is a sort of pale blue/grey, then I used the saturation of colours in Irfanview, to max them out, and got the "carnival glass colour" effect...

I have also done several other "texture" photos around the house to see what I can use on future "jobs". ! !

Evaluation of the BESEL 2X teleconverter lens.

2010-03-04T16:28:00.004Z

Today, I received some lenses, from a friend of mine, for evaluation.... He originally bought them for his FZ18, but was not really happy with the results. I have done some test pics with them, and tend to agree with him that they really are not sharp enough.... the seem to lose focus on the outer edges, and this continues into the subject matter, despite using spot focus, right to the centre. The subject always appears to be "fuzzy" and "not quite clear"....

These tests were "quick" tests, as I am going to try to do more testing later this week, If the results are different, then I will post them on here and compare them....

To see "how the lenses were set up" you will need to click on the pics to read the text that has been superimposed.... each pair of pics, shows one taken with the Normal 18 X optical zoom and one taken with the 2 X teleconverter added...

The FZ28, and the FZ18 use the same body, and lens system. The FZ28 I have came with a "ring" for use with the lens hood. I left this in positon for some tests and removed it for others, see the text to see which way it was used, and see if you can tell any difference in the sharpness of the pics...

comments please to enquiries@nemosphotography.co.uk

The lenses were supplied as a "mega kit" from this company......

http://www.digitaltoyshop.co.uk/product.asp?pt_id=1192&p_id=122&lg=1&c=MEGAKIT_%28WIDE_ANGLE__MACRO__AND_TELEPHOTO_KIT%29_for_Panasonic_Lumix_DMC-FZ18

Evaluation of Sigma 1.4 teleconverter lens.

2010-02-24T11:06:00.003Z

I have in my possession, a Sigma 1.4 X teleconverter lens, that a friend gave to me... I think it is supposed to be for a video camera, but it fits on my FZ28 with it`s 46mm thread, and does not need to be removed when shutting the camera down... I have not used it much, (for no particular reason) since I did my initial tests when I got it, and found it only increased the 18X zoom by a small amount... Recently I have been investigating the internet to see if I could come up with a cheaper alternative to the TCON17 favoured by so many... below is an evaluation of a Sony lens that I rather liked.... however, I may have done it a dis-service and been too quick to return it....
Since returning it to Amazon, I have become aware of a setting on page 5 of the FZ28 camera menu listed as "Conversion"... Not fully understanding what it meant, I left it alone, until a remark on the FZ35/38 group on flickr.... so, today I have done some more test with my 1.4 X teleconverter lens, to see if it makes any difference to the "quality" of the pics.... I am not sure it makes any difference at all....! I think the reason for having the setting, is to ensure that when you zoom back from full zoom, the motor stops about halfway, preventing the additional lens from jamming inside the housing.... so it is really a safety setting....

Anyway, I put up four pics that have come straight from the camera. (apart from the text added to them) for you to decide, and tell me if you can see any difference in the "quality" of the pics...

NOTE... CLICK ON THE PICS TO GET A LARGER VERSION....

The first two are NORMAL settings.... 18 X zoom and 18X zoom with the 1.4 x converter.....

The second two are both taken with the "conversion" setting at "T" (18x and 18x plus1.4x)

If you can see any quality difference, (or none at all) then please leave a comment below, or on the FZ28 thread here

http://www.flickr.com/groups/793920@N24/discuss/72157622887937015/

Thank you for your time....

EVALUATION OF Sony VCL-D2046 Telephoto Conversion Lens

2010-02-20T09:12:00.004Z

Sony VCL-D2046 Telephoto Conversion Lens at about £50.00 on Amazon, seemed like a "good idea", and a cheaper alternative to the Panasonic Telephoto lens, or the TCON17, both of which required an additional cost of an adapter tube....
I ordered the lens on Amazon, on Wednesday evening, and the forecast delivery date was 7 days later. I was pleasantly surprised, when it arrived on Friday. !... Super service.... I actually received it from my neighbour, and it was well into the evening, when I opened the box, and fitted the lens to my camera... as it was dark, there was nothing I could really shoot to see how it performed, other than the moon. !... how about that for a test ???? so I took a "normal" 18 X spot focus shot of the moon and then screwed the Sony lens onto the FZ28.... took another shot, but was immediately disappointed. The FZ28 was crisp, but the Sony addition made it all fuzzy and blurry, as if condensation was in the lens... Oh well, it was cold out there!.. I`ll have a go in the morning when the sun is shining....

Looking around the garden, I could not see anything that would be "far enough away" to prove the worth of the investment in the 2 X telephoto lens.... so I spotted a tree in the next door garden, (next street) Spot focus on the top of the tree, where I could see some movement.... (pigeons)... took a "normal" view, and then zoomed out to 5 X optical.....took another shot, then took another with the Sony lens added,..... this would show the 10X zoom with the Sony lens....... then I removed the Sony lens, and zoomed out to 10X optical. this shot is important because it should show direct comparison between the additional 2X zoom on the 5X original, now being 10X zoom.... ... it is also important because this is the base for the next shot WITH the Sony lens, making 20x zoom and the final picture....

(hope that makes sense)

anyway.... It must be remembered, I am not a professional photographer, and my tests were not really "controlled" or technically set up before hand.... I must admit, I am disappointed that it hasn`t lived up to MY expectations.... it probably works in a slightly different way on the Sony cameras that it is designed for, but certainly worth the effort, even if only to show others how it performed....

Looking at the lens, it is well made, has a metal body and 2 aspherical lenses, looking through them with the eye, they are clear and bright. It screws directly onto the Panasonic zoom lens, BUT, you must remove it before switching the camera off.... otherwise, due to its slightly conical shape, it will jam the lens, as it retracts.....It weighs 170grms, which is about 6 imperial ounces, so gives a bit more "weight" to the camera as a unit.... .

Cropping from Rubbish Pics to make a "Keeper" !

2010-02-01T11:32:00.004Z

Just passing on a few thoughts on how to make "a keeper" out of a lot of Rubbish Pics !....

If I had put the "originals" on my flickr site, I doubt if I would have had any comments, so I tried to crop the "best bits" and here is what I did.

You can see the comments here.....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32369450@N02/

click on the pic (on Flickr ) to bring it up to size, and the comments are displayed below it...

Due to the way this blogger site works, the one that is on flickr, is the last but one !..... the others are not on flickr...

A new year has arrived!

2010-01-07T14:26:00.007Z

Christmas has been and gone. ! The decorations are all put away for another 11 months!.. Went to North Wales for the New Year. Almost did not make it, as snow was forecast for the journey day. and the day after we got back home, we also got a really good covering of snow..... about 6 inches. which is unusual for being on the south coast of England...... Yes, we "sometimes" get snow, but not normally as much as this..... Just about all transport stops, and life becomes just a tad difficult!... we live on a small hill, so getting the car out and back in, is just a waste of time and effort.... we just have to hoof it, or stay indoors until the snow thaws sufficient to get traction on the road surface again.!....

So here is some "snowy pics"...

OK..... have been tinkering with the Menu Settings on the FZ28, with the results as above.....

1. Sepia.......
2. Normal.....
3. Cool .....
4. Warm....

the snowman and the icicle were taken with "normal" settings.... I am quite pleased with the icicle droplet, as I only took three manual shots before getting this one !...

Christmas is coming.....

2009-11-30T19:34:00.004Z

Every year, I go up into the loft, and bring down about 30 boxes of decorations !... My wife just loves to decorate the house, and collects "bits and pieces" as and when she sees them... we have a small bungalow, at present, but have lived on a narrowboat, and also had much larger houses too... No matter how big or small, the rooms get festooned with all manner of christmas decorations... We have a christmas tree, complete with lights, outside the house, we have another near the front door, one in the lounge, one in the bathroom, one in the second lounge, plus many other items, such as mechanical/musical father christmas` that sing a song, .... we have lots of "fairground ornaments" when activated, play christmas carols, and move the carousel horses up and down. Not content with that, she makes all the shelves up into christmas displays, and even the fireplace is not left out !.... This year we have the nativity scene surrounded by snow.

Here are a few photographs to give you an idea of how hard she works to make our christmas, "christmassy" ! !..

____________________________________________________________________

A windy day at the seafront

2009-11-18T19:47:00.007Z

Was blowing an onshore gale down at Southsea today, so much so, that the hovercraft service to the Isle of Wight was "temporarily suspended!"

Oh YES !.. The runner got a real good soaking, an even bigger wave crashed over the bin lorry as he was running by ! ! ! ...

At Last... I have my FZ28 back again.

2009-11-12T16:11:00.003Z

At last !... I received my camera back from the supplier.... "repaired and checked under warranty".... nothing else... no reason given for the fault, or what caused it... so I won`t know if I do it wrong again, until it happens !... oh well, I don`t think it was me anyway!..
Only taken a couple of pics of a squirrel eating nuts, and a short movie of another squirrel, who seems to like eating the bulbs he digs up !...

Now the big problem is learning how to use the zoom lever on the front, cos on the fuji, it is two push buttons on the back !...

As a matter of "technical" interest... I saw the culprit, then I went to front of house to get my camera. on the way back, I set it on movie mode, and zoomed up to the full 18X optical, then slowly moved the curtain aside, to shoot the movie through two panes of double glazing in the door !... so that is why it may look a little "flat" in the contrast department...

Actually , I think it is pretty good, considering the conditions, light wasn`t all that good as it was cloudy, and rain in the air, so quite a damp atmosphere too.

A minor problem?

2009-10-23T11:39:00.005+01:00

I haven`t been using my FZ28 for the past 3 weeks, because it had to go back to the suppliers. It developed a "weird" fault... I was using it as normal, and suddenly the zoom returned back to nothing!... I tried to use the zoom lever to get back to what I was shooting, but it just kept returning to the "home" position!.. I then found out that none of the buttons on the back of the camera functioned !... Switched off, removed the memory card, re-inserted it, and everything seemed to be back to normal, carried on for a couple of days, and then it did it again!. This time it zoomed out to max zoom (including digital zoom) and would not return. ! Changed the battery and it came back to normal again, for an hour or so, then did it again, changed the battery back to original and it settled down... Having cleaned the card contacts, and changed the battery, the fault was so intermittent that it could not be pinned down to anything that I had, or was, doing. So, I contacted the suppliers, and they sent me a returns number.... They say it will be between 2 to 6 weeks before anything happens. !...

Meanwhile I have missed a couple of really good shots, that needed the 18X optical zoom on the FZ28 compared to my (now) reserve camera the Fuji S5600 which is only 10X optical zoom.

Oh well, I am glad I did not sell it after getting the FZ28 !... I may be suffering from withdrawal symptoms, not having the FZ28, but at least I can shoot with the Fuji until it returns.

Went down to the sea front to watch the world go by, and met some starlings for lunch !... lucky I had my Fuji !... Also saw the sailing barge "Alice", which seemed to be practising raising and lowering the sails. Just for good measure, I also saw HMS Liverpool, entering harbour, whilst the regular Hovercraft service from Southsea Beach to the Isle of Wight came into view. ! All within 1 hour ! ! !...

Holiday in North Wales

2009-09-22T10:58:00.003+01:00

I get withdrawal symptoms, if I don`t go back to Wales, at least twice a year !... have just come back from a week in Old Colwyn, North Wales, (that`s on the northern coast not far from Llandudno!)

The A55, or North Wales Expressway, is a super road, on one side you get the mountains, and the villages hugging the lower slopes, and on the other side you get the sea.... Old Colwyn, is one of those villages, that has the A55 running through it, although it is hard to notice..... you can walk from the "old" main road through the village, down to the beach in about 5 minutes. Two places worth a mention there, one is "Fairy Glen" and the other is "Min-Y-Don".... both of these are local woodlands, and yet they are right there in the village for all to enjoy. Extremely pleasant to walk and listen to the birds, or just enjoy the peace and quiet.

Whilst staying at Old Colwyn, I had the pleasure to travel on the much extended Welsh Highland Railway... This is an old railway line that was closed years ago, due to being un-economical, but enthusiasts have been trying to restore it ever since... Recently (at least 10 years ago) it has become a tourist attraction for the area, running from just outside Caernarfon Castle, to Aberglaslyn Pass, near Bedgellert, it is almost fully restored through to Porthmadog, where it will link up with the popular Ffestiniog Railway. For more information please visit their websites

http://welshhighlandrailway.net/

I am now posting some photographs taken on that journey, and can thoroughly recommend it as a "day out".... It is a wonderful experience, and very relaxing way to see some of the most spectacular scenery in North Wales, INCLUDING Mount Snowdon, where the train skirts around the lower slopes at Rhyd Ddu, before setting off for the twisting and winding descent into Bedgellert.

Website Re-Vamped !

2009-08-24T12:20:00.002+01:00

I have been very busy, re-vamping my website, with a "new look" smart black finish, and adding many more new photographs.....

http://www.nemosphotography.co.uk

it now contains over eleven hundred photographs, quite a few are from the old website, because they have gained the "google" recognition and will help people to find my site easier. They will also act as a "driver" for the newer photographs in the google way of things!...
I have also been busy uploading more photographs to my selling sites, which include another new one...

http://www.imagekind.com/searchresult.aspx?search=nemosphotography

There are currently 52 photographs for sale, ready framed, on this new site.

You don`t have to buy anything...... but would appreciate it, if you could tell your friends about the sites I have up and running, and ask them to leave comments on here too !....
Thankyou.

Tee Shirts Now Available, and update on Photos

2009-08-10T20:52:00.002+01:00

Just to update you, as promised, ....

there are now 62 photographs for sale on my site.....

AND it is possible to have some of them printed on a Tee Shirt, with a choice of background colours.

You can see the Tee Shirt designs/photographs here......

http://www.redbubble.com/people/lumixfz28/t-shirts/

So, have a look, and buy a special person a special T-shirt !

Thanks for looking.....

My New Website ! ! .... Buy My Framed Photographs !

2009-08-08T19:42:00.002+01:00

Doesn`t time fly by, when your are (busy) or enjoying yourself.!.... It seems a long time ago that I posted anything on here, so here is a little update message....

I have had a few enquiries, (well one or two!) about buying my photographs as gift items for relatives, so have been searching the net to see who can produce such wonderous artefacts, because I do not have the capability to do so. The result is, that I now have a new website on Redbubble,

http://lumixfz28.redbubble.com/

where you can view more of my photographs, and then decide on the right hand side, what form the gift should be..... The site is secure, and you can pay by credit card, or by PayPal. Once the order has been confirmed, the people at Red Bubble do all the rest. They sort out the photograph, and then make up and despatch the order direct to you.! Normally this takes about 10 days...

At present, there are 49 photographs on the site, with a wide variety of subjects to choose from. You also choose the product size, and style....

I will be adding more within the next few days, and an update will be put on here giving the latest count of available photographs... I am hoping to be able to put up quite a few "landscape panorama" (wide screen) photographs, which would be suitable for hanging in the lounge, or along the hallway, or even in the office!...

Don`t be shy.......... go and have a look, if you like what you see, leave a comment.... you can view my profile, and all of my work at this u.r.l.

http://www.redbubble.com/people/LumixFZ28.

Looking forward to see your comments....

Thank you.

HMS Sultan, Summer Show..... Annual Event

2009-06-21T18:19:00.009+01:00

HMS SULTAN, is the Royal Navy School of Mechanical Engineering..... originally conceived to train stokers for the "new" coal fired, steam powered ships. Now, it is bang up to date, and covers many aspects of Mechanical Engineering as applied to todays modern Royal Navy. Each year, they produce a magnificent summer show, as part of the "community spirit".... it takes the form of an enlarged "village fete".... with many commercial stalls, a travelling fairground, static displays of helicopters, and tanks (from the Royal Marines) and other aspects of the Navy too.

There is a large arena event area, where steam powered traction engines, (including one that used to belong to HMS SULTAN) parade, with vintage cars, dog display team, parachute arrivals, and a cut down version of the famous "Field Gun Run"... to entertain the crowds.... It is a 2 day event, but each day is the same... so it is not "over subscribed" with visitors, all trying to see everything on one day.

One of the displays was by the Royal Artillery Motorcycle Display Team, and I have use my FZ28 in "outdoor sports" mode, to see how it copes with the speed of the "Flying Gunners"... some of the results you can see alongside....

If you ever get the chance to go (next year, maybe???) then it is well worth the money, and it is NOT expensive.... however, beware of the ice cream sellers.... £7.00 for 3 ice creams, is a bit over the top, in my opinion... There are several "food" stalls, but I cannot vouch for them, as we took a picnic with us, and made it a "real old fashioned" day out! ! Parking is Free, and well organised, complete with (temporary) traffic light control for pedestrian to cross in safety, from the car park to the main site.

The little traction engine, is actually towing the large fullsize version!...

The red steam lorry is being driven (very fast) by a lady driver, and gives a step back in time picture, with the Hovercraft to the left, and the Modern HGV to the right of it.!

The Helicopter, is on a raised stand, and was giving kids rides up into the belly using the winch ! great fun for them.... There were several other helicopters there for the kids to go and sit in the pilots seat, for proud mums and dads to take pics of them !... Quite a few of the tanks were also "open" to visitors too.

The motorcycle display team started jumping one vehicle, and ended the show by clearing 4 !... but by the look of it.... only just ! ! The four men, in the pic above the helicopter, were doing "wheelies" from four corners of the display area, and crossing each others path.

More photographs from Birdworld

2009-06-19T21:16:00.008+01:00

Here are some more photographs of the residents at Birdworld.... Although we spent over 5 hours there, because we had our great granddaughter with us, (she was more interested in the slides and play areas!!!) we did not see all the birds....

To do them justice, requires a selfish attitude, and a solo visit, with your camera, and spare battery... just in case!

Some of them (unfortunately) are not exactly photogenic, those with just one colour, brown or black, etc., so I had to give them a miss.... After all, colour photography, demands COLOUR... and the pretty coloured birds get the attention !.... So.... do not think that I am showing ALL the residents.... there are many many more, including a HUGE aviary with several different species of Parrot.... if you are lucky, one may come to you and say HELLO !...

If you would like to leave comments on any of my blog posts, then please click on the link below each one.... I do read them... !

A Day Out at BIRDWORLD, Holt Pound, Farnham, Surrey.

2009-06-18T20:00:00.007+01:00

Today, we took our great grand-daughter to Birdworld, Near Farnham, Surrey. The last time I went there was over 25 years ago, and I vaguely remember being disappointed with the place !...

This time it was different...

Over the years, it has improved.... both in the presentation of the place, and the number, and variety, of birds on display.... The aviaries have been designed with plenty of flying space, for the occupants, and the whole area of Birdworld is "wheelchair friendly".... although this was not of concern to us on our visit, it can be to those unfortunate enough to have to use wheelchairs to get about... For the family with small children, the comparison would be "push-chair" friendly !...

We arrived about 11 am, and spent the rest of the day just wandering around, we took a picnic in with us, and had that at the Jenny Wren Farm, end of the site..... There are toilet facilities in the grounds, and also at the entrance, another good point is there are also a couple of places away from the main restaurant area, to get a cup of tea, or other drinks, and ice creams. It was "quiet" today, but we have driven past at the weekends, and noticed the car-park overflowing with cars.

The highlight of the day for me, was the flying display. This was in the hands of a very capable young lady, Lizzy, and her two assistants. Previous flying displays, at wild life centres, have concentrated on the "education of the masses" commentary, by the person doing the flying, with the occasional "swoop by" of a hawk, or two.... However, Lizzy, at Birdworld, did give some information about the birds, which was interesting, and did not divert the attention from the birds in flight... it was a "light" entertainment style, and completely relaxing to watch and listen to the commentary. The flying display consisted of Two Large Owls, (flying seperately), a "Ground Hopping Striated Cara Cara, a species that comes from the Falkland Islands, where it is known as "Johnny Rook", apparently it finds it`s food supply amongst the baby penguins, and other small ground animals, even going as far as looking under rocks and undergrowth. The team had taught it a version of Kerplunk, where a morsel of food was suspended inside a wire cage with sticks to be removed before it became available at the bottom, for the bird to eat as reward....! Also a pair of Kookaburra`s, who would only land on their own "coloured" stick.! and a magnificent Blue & Gold Macaw, which had an affection for Lizzy, who was flying the birds.

If you haven`t been to Birdworld, then I can recommend it.... as an incentive, go to their website http://www.birdworld.co.uk/ and check out the "Free Ticket" offer .....

To sum up...... Well worth a visit, and very enjoyable. Some photographs from the days outing to whet your appetite ! !

The camera goes everywhere I go ! ! !

2009-06-12T20:15:00.002+01:00

Whenever I go out of the house, I make sure my camera is going with me.... Usually I manage to come home with a few photographs that I can spend a leisurely hour deleting !... occasionally, I manage to find a couple of reasonable pictures, and today, is no exception.... to add a bit of variety to the pictures you see in this blog, I try to find something different to photograph every day.... the problem I have, is, that I forget to post them to the blog !.... I`m making up for it today with two postings... here are some I took earlier !..

Experiments with DOF, or BOKEH

2009-06-12T20:00:00.002+01:00

There has been some discussion on the Panasonic FZ28 flickr group that I am a member of, about how to get the "fuzzy" effect and a sharp subject in pictures.... more commonly referred to as DOF or Depth Of Field, or Bokeh.... so I have been having a go at producing some photographs using this technique.... It seems to be quite easy to do, especially with the zoom range and the Macro setting on the FZ28, so ..... here are my efforts, for you to enjoy.... (I hope)

If you want to see the pictures large, and by themselves, just double click on it....

Yet more photographs of North Wales.

2009-06-10T09:12:00.002+01:00

One day, we went to a "Dutch Pancake House" for lunch !... yes, a strange place to have in Wales, but with over 60 different pancakes to choose from, .....well worth a visit... ! after lunch we took the chance to stroll around the fishing lakes, and came across these otters having their lunch too !
The day was topped off with a stroll down to the local beach, and capturing a sunset. !

More Photographs of North Wales....

2009-06-10T09:03:00.002+01:00

Here are some more photographs of North Wales, the Bridge is a very old crossing of the river, and originally was built for use by horse and cart traffic, and also the Mail Coaches.... It is only just wide enough to take ONE modern coach, however, the one in the picture seems to have had a problem getting over the summit !... I think it must have "grounded", as the passengers had to be removed to lighten the weight on the springs, and give enough ground clearance for the coach to continue...
As this is the main road, you can imagine the traffic chaos, (despite my picture of not traffic) in the narrow streets of the town. All road signs in Wales are "bi-lingual" in Welsh and English.... which makes navigation a bit tricky some times ! ! !....

A Holiday in North Wales.....

2009-06-10T08:44:00.004+01:00

I have recently returned from a week in North Wales. Despite being born a Yorkshireman, and lived in the midlands of England, I always seem to want to be in Wales..... I find it a fascinating country, and love driving on the many "old" roads, to visit "another world".... Whenever I go to Wales, I try to find a new " old " road , across a mountain range, that hasn`t been used much by motor transport for some years, except perhaps the local farmer on his tractor, or quad bike. The road surface can range from "reasonable" to " not very good". This makes it a challenge to drive on, but adds to the excitement, especially if it is on a steep gradient. ! !
Here are some photos taken from that trip....

the castle is Conway Castle,.....

There are more photographs from Wales, on my website, that I took over the past few years, using my Fuji S5600.... check them out at http://www.nemosphotography.co.uk and click on the navigation to Wales, at the top of the page...

2009-06-10T08:14:00.001+01:00

Been quite a while since I last posted, but have been busy with many things.....A trip to Eastliegh Lakeside Railway, proved to be very interesting, as there were many engines in steam, and those that were not steaming, were proudly on display in the sidings, just outside the engine shed,opposite the main platform. Here are a few examples.

A day out with Thomas the Tank & Friends !

2009-04-15T20:23:00.005+01:00

It happens ! !...

Thomas the Tank engine, and friends, visited the local preserved steam railway ( The Watercress Line) so, of course, Great Granpa, and Great Gran`ma, had to take the Great Grand Daughter to have a day on the trains.. ! The weather was fine, thankfully,

it wasn`t raining,

and the sun wasn`t
beating down, and making life uncomfortable...

The trains ran on time, as always..

both on this line, and on the famous Thomas the tank engine lines.. Why? because the "fat controller" was there to make sure they did.. It was a great day out Diesel was there, Gordon was there, and Percy, and even Daisy the railcar got a trip out too!...

The pictures can tell the story.....

2009-03-11T14:56:00.002Z

Wednesday 11 March 2009

Blowing My Own Trumpet ! ! !

This morning I received an email announcing that I had been placed Joint Second in a Major Camera Manufacturers WebsiteMonthly competition, by their resident "Professional Photographer". The prize is a £100 voucher towards the cost of a new camera from their e-shop!... In February, I also won the weekly competition, which was voted by the viewers/members of the site, and the prize for that was a £75 voucher... ! The photograph of "In-Flight Refuelling" (Swallow feeding it`s young) is the monthly prize winner, and the "Spinnaker Tower Night" is the winner for the weekly competition....

A couple of months ago, I entered a similar competition run by the Fuji site, and managed to gain a Third Place with the reflection in the teapot photograph.

The smoky roller photograph was a second place in a local village show competition, along with the railway viaduct.

I am really pleased with myself !... So here I am "blowing my own trumpet"! ! ! !.

2009-03-08T11:29:00.006Z

Sunday 8 March 2009

I have been experimenting with the settings for megapixel, and extra zoom, and then saving them on the C1 and C2 positions..... During a trip out yesterday, to Midhurst, in West Sussex, I had a chance to test them out, with the pictures you see today. The settings I used were as follows

ISO 200, Aperture priority, spot focus, with Q-AF, intelligent exposure, and Auto stability.

I have done some calculations to work out the approx distance from the camera, to show the capability of the camera to find and focus on a very distant object, even though they were all shot free standing, and hand held.

The buzzard, I estimate were about 300 feet (possibly up to 400 feet), and obviously at that distance, you would not expect to see detail in the feathers, but it is possible to make out the markings on the wings and the shape of the bird, thereby enabling identification of the type of bird that it was... I have not cropped the picture......Not spectacular in terms of photograph quality, but to me it is the thrill of actually capturing the birds, as much as getting the "perfect" shot.

The Crow, he/she was at the top of the tree, and the estimated distance from camera to subject here is about 50 feet. I have not cropped the picture, but used Irfanview, to adjust the colours, and present the subject in better contrast, as I was shooting into the clear sky background, it presented the camera with an over exposure situation.

The chaffinch was flitting around the trees, and singing his heart out... it was tricky to get him in a good position without loads of branches in the way. Again, I estimate him to be about 4o feet high in the tree. You will know which one`s are the crops, and you can see there is quite a good bit of detail in the birds feathers. I have adjusted the contrast and colouring using Irfanview, because , again, they were shot into the sky...

Now the zoom levels.... on the Buzzards, I used maximum zoom available, i.e 21.4 X optical zoom, and then the full digital zoom on top of that making it a total zoom of 85.5 X.

The crow , and the chaffinch, I think were just on Optical zoom of about 20 X.....

2009-03-02T20:13:00.003Z

Monday 2 March 2009

Went to visit a "local" lake, well, it is about 35 miles from where I live, but I suppose that is "local" when you live in a large country such as USA or Australia. ! ! !... Took our great granddaughter to "feed the ducks", but ended up feeding the seagulls !... Managed to get a few decent shots, but was mainly trying out my 1.4 teleconverter lens, and also the "burst" mode on the FZ28.... I took over 700 shots in just under 2 hours ! ! !... Strangely, not many of the attempts to catch birds in flight worked out with the burst mode.... maybe I need more practice.... The best shots turned out to be "single" shots, where I second-guessed the flight path, and took a chance !...

This morning, I was out in the garden, trying out my 18 X optical zoom on the local bird population, and also the Extra Zoom facility, that is enabled by downsizing the MPX figure on the main menu... Down from 10 mpx to 7 mpx, gives you EZ (extra zoom) facility of 24.5 on the normal optical zoom. I was just going indoors, (as is usual) when I spotted a blue tit, sitting on the fence at the bottom of the garden.....

When I got the shot on my laptop screen, it looks very much like a fledgeling ! !... Which I think for the 2nd day of March, is very early for this bird !..... I hope he manages to survive as we usually have another cold spell before the spring has really sprung....

2009-02-22T15:13:00.003Z

February 22nd 2009

A Day Out at the Railway.

Yesterday, it was a nice bright and sunny day, so we went out in the car to view the local snowdrops, and to visit a local Preserved Steam Railway....

We have been there several times before, and the snowdrops are located in a small village, about halfway along the route to the town of Alresford, in Hampshire, U.K., which is one end of the line, for the Watercress Line, Steam Railway.

Having grown up with steam locomotives, passing by my house as a kid, I have an interest in the preserved railways of today. The Watercress Line, was part of the Southern Railway, which was taken over by British Railways, but was always known as "the southern railway".... It ran from London to all points south and west, from Brighton, to Bournemouth.... The current railway is run by volunteers, and is very true to the traditions of the early southern railway, with uniforms, and rolling stock to match...

Yesterday, was a special day for me, as the steam engine running the service that day was one of my favourite designs, and gave the impression of being the "rolls royce" of steam locomotive for express passenger use.

Butterflies at R.H.S. Wisley

2009-02-12T18:18:00.003Z

12th February 2009

Last night, it was pretty cold!.... and to show how "pretty" cold it was, I took some photos of my car. The frost was so hard I had to use warm water to clear it, but not before I recorded the amazing patterns the frost makes.
After making sure all the glass was clear, we set off for the Royal Horticultural Society Gardens at Wisley, about 45 miles from Portsmouth, towards London. Just off the junction of the A3 and the M25 London orbital road.
The reason for the trip, was to see the butterflies, they had "imported" into the glasshouse, for the benefit of visitors, from 6 months to ??? years ! !... We arrived about 11:30 and the carpark was full to bursting !...
It was still very cold, but the sun was shining, and the day looked good. After a fairly long walk from the entrance, we arrived at the glasshouse, which was opened in 2007 by H.M.Queen Elizabeth II. Once inside, we soon started to warm up, and moving round, we entered the "tropical zone"... this is a section inside the main glass house, that is kept at a very high humidity and temperature, by forcing steam into the atmosphere....
The humidity, and the temperature change caused condensation on the camera lens, and also my glasses !.. It took a good twenty minutes just waiting for them both to warm up and stop "fogging" before I could take any pictures !

So, todays pictures start off with the frosty car, and finish up with some "inside" shots of the butterflies.... oh, yes, there was a very friendly robin in there too !....

2009-02-03T22:04:00.003Z

3rd February 2009

Doesn`t time fly by, when you are busy !.... Yesterday we had the first snow of winter, here in the U.K. It was the worst snowfall for 18 years, and the transport system just collapsed... London`s airports were closed, and the tube trains couldn`t run, and the London Red Buses were kept in their garages for safety reasons.... It was a very quiet day in London !... people just could not get to work.

Here, Near Portsmouth, we did not get it so bad, we only had about 2 inches (50 mm) but it was enough to make our road treachorous to drive on, as we live.

I have found some settings to make the FZ28 more responsive to quick focus and "instant" shooting.... well , almost,.... I have posted them on the flickr group page "

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ28 Digital Camera

under a post titled "Firmware Version(speed of focus) If you scroll down the page, you will see several posts with my car as avatar. The settings are near the bottom...

So, having set my camera on the C1, setting on the dial, Went out to take some snow photos, which you see on here now..... at first it wasn`t too promising, but the further north we went, eventually we hit a Blizzard, that was also moving north, so we did a circle round and came back towards home (south) and withing 15 minutes was driving on clear roads, with blue skies, brilliant sunshine and fluffy white clouds.... ! Such is the weather here in the U.K. !!

2009-01-22T20:00:00.004Z

Teleconverter Lenses on FZ28

Last August, I decided I needed a camera with a bit more zoom. ! Did my research on the net, and decided that the Fuji S8000fd with 18X optical zoom, fitted my pocket, and my zoom requirements. Unfortunately, it did not live up to the expectations.... I thought it was rubbish!.. Despite my other camera being a Fuji S5600 with 10X zoom, and being at least 4 years older, I expected the technology to have improved, hence the choice of Fuji again.... To cut a long story short (email me for the long version ! !) I was enquiring on a non photographic forum, about the merits of teleconverter lenses... one of the replies, (a long time friend on the forum) had a set of Sigma lenses, that he would send me, and if I liked them or found a use, I could keep them, as he no longer needed them!... well, they didn`t fit the Fuji S5600, but I did try them to see what I could expect if I did buy a teleconverter lens instead of a new camera.... Not over impressed, as the improvement in zoom was only 1.4 X.... to obtain any real advantage, I needed at least 2 .0 X zoom. However, the opinions on the forum were against the lenses on ebay, as not of very good quality, and degraded the pictures. The alternative was expensive lenses from other suppliers. So I put the lenses on the shelf, and forgot about them... Having been disappointed with the lenses, and also the Fuji S8000fd, I again researched the net, and came up with the Panasonic Lumix FZ28 as 18X optical zoom. and although more expensive than the fuji, decided on the reviews, that it was worth the extra money..... and IT IS !!!. Recently, on the FZ28 group pages on flickr, questions were raised as to the suitablility of teleconverter lenses, which reminded me about the ones I had (that did not fit the Fuji).. Out of curiosity, more than anything els, I took them down, and was just going to hold it to the lens when I was amazed to find that they were the same size thread, and just screwed straight on !....even more surprise, that when the FZ28 lens was fully retracted, there was no need to remove the teleconverter, or wide angle lens. ! !
To see the lenses and how they fit on the FZ28, I have uploaded some pics of my camera taken with the Fuji S5600.... Initial tests show that there is a slight improvement in zooom capability, and the wide angle lens also works well.....The twist in this story is, the guy I got them from, is a supporter of the R.N.L.I. and so am I..... He did not want me to send him any money, for the lenses, but I insisted that I send him a cheque, made out to the R.N.L.I. so that he could see I had donated.... he agreed, and that makes three parties happy.... Him, as he found a home for his redundant lenses, Me, as I found a use for them, and also paid a very low price, and the R.N.L.I who benefitted from the exchange.

2009-01-18T11:31:00.000Z

Managed to get out again on Saturday 17 Jan 2009. Went to a local (30 miles away!) duck pond, and wanted to get some "flying action shots".... the ducks and seagulls did not want to commit themselves to a photoshoot, or flying display, so as I was returning to the car, I spotted a crow having a bathing session, on the other side of the pond... Unfortunately, to capture him, (or fortuitously, depending on your viewpoint) I had to shoot directly into the sun, so he was really "backlit" which I suppose added to the shot!... for those interested, here are the relevant titles, and exif details....

Stopham Bridge (Near Pulborough) f8 s1/100 ISO 100 aperture priority w/b cloudy
Spangles f7.1 s1/500 ISO 160 Aperture priority w/b cloudy
Crow 111 f7.1 s1/100 ISO 100 Aperture priority
Crow 113 f7.1 s1/60 ISO 100 Aperture priority
Crow 116 f4.4 s1/1000 ISO 100 Shutter Priority

All the pictures were set up using Contrast +2 Saturation Normal Sharpness +2

2009-01-14T16:57:00.000Z

Managed to get out of the house today, and back to the Mill Pond at Emsworth, which is now unfrozen, and the ducks and swans are swimming about "properly"... so as I was just passing, I did not have much time to spend enjoying the view, just enough time to get out the camera and take a couple of shots.... used the P setting and the previous settings I had on the Sunday. Not sure about the results !... but it is possible to see the difference the "warm" setting and +2 on contrast, saturation and sharpness and noise reduction make.... The new pictures, have the following as settings in the Picture adjust setting on the menu..... contrast -2, sharpness +1, saturation 0 and noise reduction -1

Having tried them out, I suppose I will have to go back again, and again, to see how different settings change things.

2009-01-13T17:16:00.000Z

I spent a bit of time on Sunday, reading up on the settings for the Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ28 (from now on will be known on this blog as "the FZ28") and set my camera to some recommended settings... All I need now is somewhere to go, and take some shots.... Oh well, maybe tomorrow will bring something to mind

2009-01-11T14:52:00.000Z

Here are a couple of photographs taken with my FZ28, using the Colour Effect Settings....."warm" setting, and Picture Adjust Settings ..... contrast +2 sharpness +2 saturation +2 and noise reduction +2
I had been going through the menu the day before, and had not reset those setting before shooting, and so the result, is pure luck !...

First footings on the blog ladder !

2009-01-10T22:55:00.000Z

This is my first attempt at a blog, although I do have a website with the same name, www.nemosphotography.co.uk which took me a long time to get working. This seems to be a lot easier !..

I am not an expert at photography, I just like to take photo`s that remind me of things that I like, and maybe others will like too. If only one other person likes the photo`s then it will have made the blog worthwhile, and so, if you do like them, please let me know.

I have two cameras. My first camera, that I used to take the pictures on the website is the Fuji S5600, or in the USA it is known as the S5200 for some reason... It has a 10 X optical zoom and 5 X digital zoom, it is only 5 mpx, but gives really good pictures on the Optical zoom... After nearly 3 years, I have been looking for an improvement in the zoom, eventually, after trying another Fuji camera, I decided the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 to be the camera for me. 18 X optical zoom, on 10 megapixels, and even more, if you are prepared to sacrifice 5 megapixels.....

It is still new to me, so I am on a learning curve, and every day, it amazes me how many features this camera has.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 Zoom test

2009-01-10T15:30:00.000Z

This is a zoom test to see how good the Panasonic camera zoom capability is.... the first picture is as would be seen from inside the car, across the carpark to the multiplex cinema. The focus point is the lower centre poster. The second picture is taken, again, hand held, resting on the steering wheel, through the windscreen, and this time at 10 X optical zoom, which would be as good as my Fuji S5600 could manage, at max optical zoom. The third picture is still inside the car, and this time at max optical zoom for the FZ28, 18 X optical zoom. The last picture is at max optical PLUS the 4 X digital , making a total zoom of 72 x !! ..... These pictures were taken on the 10 mpx setting, and by reducing the mpx to 5 will increase the zoom quite dramatically !.