1545 - Let The Bells Ring


Delayed again, I’m sorry. My absence even caused Anita to inquire about my health. Thanks, I’m fine, maybe a little tired.

On Thursday I went for another walk along the river, this time a much longer distance along the southern shore, up to the next bridge and then back on the other side, something between eight and ten kilometers.

Again I came back with almost 200 images, but this time the weather was not as clear and the light most of the time flat.I probably could find some more images worth processing, but I think I can leave it as well at three.

The probably most interesting thing was the spider. I saw her, sitting in the not very warm sun on a stone, and when I tried to take an image, she first ran away. It took some chasing and coercion until I finally got the image that you see here. Interesting. I never knew that spiders are active during winter.

The water image is deliberately over-saturated, because, well, I think it looks good 🙂

No, really, it was already very dark when I took the image, even at the camera’s white balance maximum of 10000K the image had a ghastly blue cast, and I am surprised myself, how much I could get out of it in Photoshop.

The Song of the Day is “Let The Bells Ring” from Nick Cave’s 2004 masterpiece “Abattoir Blues / Lyre Of Orpheus”. Hear it on YouTube.


There are 4 comments

Ken Bello   (2011-01-08)

That spider shot is FANTASTIC!!!

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Anita Jesse   (2011-01-09)

This was more than worth waiting for! I am glad to hear that you are fine and delighted to see these photos. Is this how it's done? I'm looking for some flat light! 😉 These are all gorgeous, and each time I clicked on the photo for the larger image I thought, "Wait, maybe this is my favorite." By the way, to my eye the processing on the water couldn't be better.

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Flo   (2011-01-09)

I agree with Ken about that spider shot! Amazing that it's out and about - and also that it ran so fast when you tried to make an image of it. The water shot is so lovely with all those pastels - like water color - pardon the pun. Those ice bells - how on earth did they come about? Are those real bells of glass or plastic beneath an ice coating? I think this has to be the most unusual ice image I've ever seen.

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andreas   (2011-01-09)

Thanks all. Well, the ice bells, you don't see it here, but there was a twig, about 10-15 cm off the ground. Water drips down and makes icicles, and then the lapping water from the river adds to their base. It's all natural and it is not even uncommon. All it needs is a river, because without the coming and going of the waves, no ice would build at the base. Thus you would not see them at a pond. I really love this Tamron 17-50 with its close-focusing capability. I held the camera very low, below the twig, and focused to nearest. This way I mad a series of images until I got what I wanted. Same with the water image: without the Tamron's stabilization, I would not have been able to take the image. It's 1/4s, ISO 320, hand-held. Same with the spider. When I'm in need, this lens triples as a macro. Amazingly versatile.

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