Over the fields and far away

Remarkably clear sky and little mist today which was a great change from yesterday’s rain. After spending most of my day wrestling with Lightroom, trying unsuccessfully to produce a more subtle solarization effect than yesterday’s, I decided to go out.

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I drove up to Fannyside and saw this vista. It looked quite good in colour, but so much better in mono.

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Having said there was little mist around, turn 90º and it looks like there is  mist lying over the loch at Fannside.  Yes, there was a very little mist there, but really this is the effect of using the clarity slider in Lightroom.  It seems to increase the contrast local to tonal differences, much the same as the acutance I used to get when developing B&W film in Paterson Acutol.  This shot looked terrible in colour and it was a relief to see it looking so much better in mono.  It’s still a little dark, but I think it looks ok, especially on a black ground.

Bathtime

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Troon might have had weather for the ducks today (Saturday), but it looks like it was also suitable for starlings. These birds were having a great time.

The bird second from the left wasn’t actually in this shot, he/she was cloned in from another shot.  Also, the DOF was faked using McPhun Focus, a free download from McPhun (Legally Free, that is!).  It’s not absolutely true, but what is in photography.

It was comforting on the drive home to see the CITRAC signs through torrential rain informing us “Heavy rain expected”. Without that information I’d never have noticed!

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