ABOUT ME

I live in a camper van with a West Highland Terrier for company.
My passion is creating images but it is a work in progress.
I am always willing to share what knowledge I have and can be contacted through the comments on this post or e-mail ADRIAN
ALL IMAGES WILL ENLARGE WITH A LEFT CLICK

Saturday 27 June 2015

I HAVE TO LAUGH. (27/06/15)

I have to laugh or I would cry. At seven o’clock yesterday evening I changed the batteries in two strobes, popped a fresh battery in the camera and headed down to the fungus. There was an excellent little clump growing. I got everything all set up for a time lapse sequence and so far so good.
Now, I was busy with campers last night and whilst changing the batteries in the ring flash I must have put the old ones back in. What a Muppet, after a couple of hours I noticed the flash wasn’t firing.  I should have stopped recording and changed them but had a quick look and I was still getting just about enough light from the soft box. I shoot time lapse in sRAW so can pull/push exposure a couple of stops or use the adjustment brush to do selective bits. I started shooting with an interval of 1min. but after a couple of hours dropped it to 30s. Just after one thirty this morning I checked and all was looking good. There is a folk festival so cars were coming and going but not to worry. Ten minutes later I heard a fox so went to check it wasn’t trying to dine on the hens. It wasn’t but when I looked at the fungus it had fallen over without turning to ink or deliquescing as good spillers say. As you will see in the very short video the bloody slugs had eaten it.
These are Common Inkcaps. I'll have to have another go at them. Murphy says that if something can go wrong it will. Next time I’ll use a 20s interval. This fungus only seems to grow after heavy rain so next time I'll surround them with a ring of salt....that should sort the pesky slugs. I bet Michaela Strachan doesn't have these problems.
Before I go does anyone recognise this beautiful lady?
Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

31 comments:

  1. I'm impressed with the time lapse Adrian. I never know what you are going to get up to next. Have a lovely weekend.

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    1. Margaret, it wasn't worth spending much time on the edit as the Inkcaps didn't get the chance to ink.

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  2. Time Lapse is really great. I think you can find some plug-ins to get rid of the flickering. I know I have one in After Effects, but they are there for other editors as well.

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    1. Mersad, I didn't use GBFlicker as my free trial ran out and I didn't think it very good. I forgot to set aperture on the macro lens. If you don't know how to do this it's simple.
      1. Set aperture required
      2. Hold down DOF preview button and lens release button and twist a tiny bit and OO should appear in the f stop window.
      3. Check camera works, you only have to twist a tiny bit or you will get an error message saying clean lens contacts.
      This gets rid of 90% but car headlights will still cause flicker. Duplicate the frame in front of the light frame, then delete the light frame.
      I was so cross with the slugs that I couldn't be bothered. I was just getting to the interesting bit.

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  3. Oh, your time lapse is so cool.

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    1. John, I was hoping it would be three times longer. Such is life.

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  4. Now that was the Mother of all surprises. Who would have ever thought the slugs would be there to eat the fungus.

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    1. Red, I ought to have known they do as I spend most autumn days trying to beat slugs to the fungi.

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  5. Great time lapse. I have killed at least 100 snails in my garden this week. Ugh!!

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    1. Karen, I've not seen any snails here. I am looking for some as I want to take some video on a first surface mirror.

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  6. Pity the slugs came and ate your subject matter especially since it was looking really good on the time lapse video however I have never seen slugs move so quick.
    The woman is?

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    1. Douglas, the little buggers. I'll maybe do the next one at 10s interval at least then the slugs will be entertaining.

      The woman is CAROL. she is an Aussie school mistress but has been moonlighting in the holidays. Her avatar looks very similar to this lady. I don't believe in happen chance.

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    2. PS. I have to watch the interval as the strobes cut out if they get too hot. Proper snappers use pro gear with a gen set or battery pack. The big studio strobes have massive heat sinks in and I suspect fans.

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  7. I thought the time lapse was great! The woman in the advert could be my old school friend Wendy. But she was and still is a much less effusive person. She would never laugh that widely, even if she was paid to do it, and photographed with a wide-angle lens to boot.

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    1. The wide angle lens was only the start. I like these retro filters. It's Carol from Cairns. There is a link to her blog HERE.
      The time lapse is funny in retrospect but I wasn't best pleased at the time. Looking on the bright side it saved me an hour or two of editing. It is the problem with time lapse that you can't retake. Nor can you cut very much and video editing is all about ditching stuff. I suppose that's why films are so much better than news broadcasts. For film they dump 75%-85% of what they shoot. That is an impossibility for me has I am producer, director, cameraman and editor. The odd occasion I have worked with a director has been very enlightening. I was crap.
      Best I do all the jobs myself then I'm quite good.

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  8. Your time-lapse was a smile-maker! And your animated banner reminded me of some giant bug movies from the 50's. I mean that in a positive way, of course........

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    1. Bill, both the header and the template need changing. I am a child of the fifties. It seemed a bit dark then but not this dark.
      The time lapse was a right balls up I was hoping for dripping ink. If I find those slugs I'll give them what!

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  9. I enjoyed the time lapse too, even if I understand from your text that it did not come out quite the way you intended.

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    1. Monica, "Quite the way intended." Is an understatement I was right royally upset. It's a steep learning curve.

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  10. Adrian you always manage to make me smile or cry: rarely are your posts dull!

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    1. Graham, I could have done with an assistant last night. Polly from the farm across the way popped round this afternoon to see what the flashing was about. I showed her and she was gob smacked. She did point out that naughty children could have stolen the gear. I thought about that and thought some more. Aye about £8K left alone for hours in a nettle patch miles from anywhere advertising it's presence by flashing twice a minute. Definitely need an assistant. Heavy rain forecast for tomorrow so I may get another chance. I'll take more frames next time. I have a posh memory card fast write and sixty odd GB so no worries about storage.

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    1. Thanks Bob but I was hoping for fungus the movie.

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  12. Such a shame the slugs came by as the time lapse was going really well. What you did get is brilliant.

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    1. John, it's worth having another go. I don't know how to keep the slugs away. This is growing on a round bale so the slugs could well be living inside it with the fungus. Tuesday night looks good at the moment. I'll have to work an interval out that the strobes are happy with. I'll have a bit of an experiment.

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  13. Cool time lapse! Too bad those pesky slugs ruined it.....I've heard a shallow dish of beer will take care of those guys.

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    1. Linda, I wasn't best pleased with the slugs and am thinking more along the lines of a big hammer.

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  14. It's a beaut video and you deserve extra credit for providing so much entertainment.

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    1. Pauline, it's not a professional attitude but You get what I get. I really ought to sort all these techniques out properly.

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  15. Oh my friend! That's an unbelievale timelapse video. Well done!

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    1. Kovacs, bad slugs. I hope to try again but they only grow infrequently.

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