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February 2010
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 9:47 am
by Jack Harrison
Mick the Plasterer demonstrates the latest equipment to get to those difficult hairstreaks. Apparently much taller models are available.
Jack
Re: February 2010
Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:53 am
by Lee Hurrell
As part of my job I have to carry out Health & Safety assessments in the workplace for learners.
I don't think Mick would be getting away with that if I were to visit.....
Cheers
Lee
Re: February 2010
Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 7:47 pm
by Zonda
Indeed,,,,,, if he fell backwards, he could crack his coccyx.
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
Re: February 2010
Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 8:57 pm
by Lee Hurrell
No butterflies yet despite the warm sun today but I did catch this little beauty in my cemetery this afternoon
Cheers
Lee
Re: February 2010
Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 1:39 pm
by Zonda
I've been taking pics of these as well Lee. Little charmers they are, but pretty quick and jerky. I didnt know about the orange eyelid until i had caught a few up close.
![Image](http://lh5.ggpht.com/_wGSRUg9JC5Q/S22rl8LsPkI/AAAAAAAAE8M/NAIinaq75fs/s800/Long-tailed%20Tit%20003%20%28S%29.jpg)
Re: February 2010
Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 3:24 pm
by Vince Massimo
That's a real beauty Zonda. I recall that there were some nice Long-Tailed Tit photos posted before you joined the forums, which show the orange eyelid very well. I managed to locate them again under the title of "A perfect Moment". The post is dated September 23rd 2008 and can be found on page 7 of the General category of the forum listings. I will attempt a link later because I know that if I try now I will fail miserably and probably lose this post.
(Edit) Try:
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=2725
Cheers,
Vince
Re: February 2010
Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 3:53 pm
by Jack Harrison
Smashing LT Tit.
Mick has finished his plastering; he didn't fall.
However - and I think he's having me on - one contributor to this group has told me privately that he is seriously considering getting some stilts for those difficult butterflies. He had previously mentioned step ladders!
Of course, Captain Oates has hired a cherry picker to be able to look down on tree-top Purple Emperors.
Neil: Try to persuade Matthew to join in the banter on ukb. He would be a valuable contributor but I guess he doesn’t have a lot of spare time.
Jack
Re: February 2010
Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 7:21 pm
by Lee Hurrell
Zonda - wow
![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
What a photo, truly stunning!
I'll keep trying....
They are jerky, a second after the shutter clicked mine was away.
Can I ask what were the details of your shot were? I've been trying to photograph garden (and cemetery) birds while the butterflies are out of season without much success really....
Cheers
Lee
Re: February 2010
Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 9:54 pm
by Zonda
Hya Lee, i cant really remember the details now, it was a couple of weeks ago. It was my Nikon D200, with Sigma 150-500mm OS. I think it was bright, but cloudy, so around ISO 640-800. Shutter speed would have been 1/250 or more. I've since darkened the whole background to hide the unsightly artifacts. I'm gonna get some of those Mick stilts, and some large flares to hide them,,,, then i'll be all ready for the blackberry picking season.
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Re: February 2010
Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 6:52 am
by Gruditch
Yeah stunning shot Zonda.
Regards Gruditch
Re: February 2010
Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 2:33 pm
by Dave McCormick
No butterflies around yet here, but found a Pale Brindled Beauty Male last night
Re: February 2010
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 2:46 pm
by Charles Nicol
i can't see Zonda's tit pic
Charles
Re: February 2010
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 3:20 pm
by Jack Harrison
Apparently the most searched for birds on Google are Great Tits.
Jack
Re: February 2010
Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 5:47 am
by Charles Nicol
jackharr wrote:Apparently the most searched for birds on Google are Great Tits.
Jack
i'm rubbish at birds... i can't tell a Tit from a Booby
Charles
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
Re: February 2010
Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 6:52 am
by Pete Eeles
Charles Nicol wrote:i can't see Zonda's tit pic
Charles
It seems to have disappeared from the site where it was hosted (which wasn't UKB!). Shame, since it's a cracking pic!
Cheers,
- Pete
Re: February 2010
Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 7:03 am
by Zonda
Oops! Sorry i've been fiddling with it, and changed the url. Here it is cleaned up and framed.
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
![Image](http://lh3.ggpht.com/_wGSRUg9JC5Q/S28nRoLhMRI/AAAAAAAAFCA/q8rKwmKKR3E/s800/Long-tailed%20Tit%20003%28crop%20and%20clean%29.jpg)
Re: February 2010
Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 9:56 am
by Jack Harrison
I know that some people have issues about the ethics of post-processing. I don’t. I see no difference between say using a filter to darken a sky (old film technique and never questioned) and the modern digital of lightening shadows/darkening highlights. Moreover in the old days we used to post-process at the enlarger easel; dodging and burning to achieve a more realistic final print
Zonda’s L.T.Tit is a superb example of digital post-processing done to perfection – I love it. What would be really interesting would be to see the original, (cropped and resized, but no brightness, background adjustments. Many of us could learn a few tricks.
Jack
Re: February 2010
Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 1:26 pm
by Charles Nicol
That was worth waiting for Zonda !!
A fine tit indeed
C
Re: February 2010
Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 3:53 pm
by Zonda
I'm really no great shakes at post camera work. I haven't even got Photoshop, just use freebee downloads, mostly Paint.Net which i recommend to anyone on a light budget. With the Long-tailed Tit, i didn't like the light areas behind its head, so decided to make the whole background a uniform dark (almost black) colour. The only other manips were a little colour saturation, and sharpening.
Paint.Net features the best free noise reduction that i have been able to find on the net, having tried NeatImage,(which i didnt like at all), Noiseware(which was the best of the rest), and had a look at Helicon as well. Here is the almost original of the LTT pic, it's as far as i can go back on this one.
Re: February 2010
Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 4:25 pm
by Jack Harrison
I’ll have a look at Paint.Net.
One thing I always do (and from your comments Zonda you might not have done so) is to retain the original totally unaltered and do any post-processing on a copy. I learnt this lesson the hard way!
Jack