Simon's 52 in 2023

[SimonH]

Nice set but the tulips really do stand out

Thanks Allan

Tunnel - Hood Road 2 for me. Loving the colours and this has more variety.
Spring - Tulips for me too. The use of 3 colours from teh same side of the colour wheel works really well in this shot

Thanks Tim - obviously I planned the colour wheel thing

Beautiful tulips Simon, I always like these types of shots but it's way too early where I am for them.

Thanks Bill. They're fab!

Yes the tulips is the best picture, the contrasting colours and the tight crop is fantastic. Definitely on theme for spring.

Thank you Sophie!

 

[SimonH]

Week 14 - Smooth

Nipped over to Pembrokeshire for (literally) 24 hours on Friday, so see my sister in her caravan. Saturday was glorious so we spent a few hours on the fabulous Whitesands beach near St Davids, where the outgoing tide had left the broad expanse of beach incredibly smooth.

Whitesands 1 - with a reflection of Carn Llidi in the wet sand
I've gone for this shot for the theme and reflection, although my favourite of the three is the third shot

Whitesands1 by Simon Hiscocks, on Flickr

Whitesands 2 - looking back up the beach along a wet sand line from a steam tumbling over the cliff

Whitesands2 by Simon Hiscocks, on Flickr

Whitesands 3 - up on the Pembrokeshire coast path given a high elevation view of the beach and the expanse of smooth sand

Whitesands3 by Simon Hiscocks, on Flickr

 

[rpn]

Looks like you had a nice day out. Love all three of them and just can't pick a favourite.

 

[SimonH]

Looks like you had a nice day out. Love all three of them and just can't pick a favourite.

Cheers Stan. Love it down there....

 

[Peter123]

Looks a lovely location.
Agree with your comments about each shot - you've chosen the one most appropriate to the theme.

 

[SimonH]

Looks a lovely location.
Agree with your comments about each shot - you've chosen the one most appropriate to the theme.

Cheers Peter - it's a fabulous part of the world. I've been going there for over 50 years!

 

[ncf15]

Prefer no 3,better light ? Whitesands is my favourite Pembrokeshire beach as well. We used to camp above the carpark every bank holiday. I stayed closer to home for my beach shot.

 

[SimonH]

Prefer no 3,better light ? Whitesands is my favourite Pembrokeshire beach as well. We used to camp above the carpark every bank holiday. I stayed closer to home for my beach shot.

Thanks Nick - Yes, I think the glare off the sand probably did for the exposure a bit, whilst the height in the final one makes for a better all round shot (in my view).

 

[Darkslinger]

Beautiful shots Simon.

 

[SimonH]

Beautiful shots Simon.

Thank you Bill!

 

[Cloudforest]

3 lovely images Simon. While #1 probably fits the theme better you could always claim that the sand on #3 has been smoothed out by the tide

 

[SimonH]

3 lovely images Simon. While #1 probably fits the theme better you could always claim that the sand on #3 has been smoothed out by the tide

Thanks Pete!

 

[HelenC]

A lovely place... Pembrokeshire is full of wonderful locations. I'm with you on #3 as my favourite.

 

[SimonH]

A lovely place... Pembrokeshire is full of wonderful locations. I'm with you on #3 as my favourite.

Thanks Helen! Absolutely love it down there. I think I’ve no doubt said it before, but have been going down there since I was 12 on family holidays. I’m 63 now. Barely missed a year and normally pop over a few times a year - only a couple of hours from us.

 

[Gav.]

Nice set, another vote for #3, smooth beach

 

[SimonH]

Nice set, another vote for #3, smooth beach

Thanks Gav!

 

[SimonH]

Week 15 - Snapper's Choice

This is a right opportunistic "snapper's choice. Was out for a walk yesterday down at Cardiff Bay barrage and came across this grey heron preening itself on a marina boardwalk. Unfortunately the light wasn't brilliant (but I suppose at least it's stopped raining), and I couldn't quite get a decent enough angle to lose the boardwalk altogether. He was looking much more tatty than this when we came across him, but he tidied himself up in the 10 mins or so we were watching. This was taken with my Panasonic Lumix FZ2000 bridge and I've tried to denoise a little in Topaz and crop clone out some of the distracting reflections in the close up image, which is my preferred shot.

Heron1 by Simon Hiscocks, on Flickr

Heron2 by Simon Hiscocks, on Flickr

 

[Darkslinger]

Two fantastic images Simon, I love the close-up but the full body shot takes my vote.

 

[SimonH]

Two fantastic images Simon, I love the close-up but the full body shot takes my vote.

Thanks Bill. I don’t think I’ve managed to be that close to a heron for that long before. He wasn’t unduly bothered by us, but there are a lot of houses around there, so probably used to people.

 

[overbez]

Think I prefer the full bird too. Gives context and there's interesting ripples and lines around him as well.

 

[SimonH]

Think I prefer the full bird too. Gives context and there's interesting ripples and lines around him as well.

Thanks Graham!

 

[Gav.]

Nice captures

#2 for me too

 

[SimonH]

Nice captures

#2 for me too

Cheers Gav!

 

[nog]

and #2 for me as well

Think he? looks a bit grumpy though

 

[SimonH]

and #2 for me as well

Think he? looks a bit grumpy though

Thanks Keith. They often do look grumpy…mind you his feathers were in a right state when we first saw him - looked like he’d just been in a shower, so I reckon he was drying out and understandably fed up with waiting around

 

[Allan.H]

Have to agree the 2nd shot though both good.

 

[SimonH]

Have to agree the 2nd shot though both good.

Thanks Allan! Seems like #2 is universal favourite.

 

[Fuji Dave]

Love the close up shot, nice detail and a great shot.

 

[SimonH]

Love the close up shot, nice detail and a great shot.

Cheers Dave! I like the close up too. IQ suffered a little with the bridge camera. Must invest in a telephoto zoom for my X-S10 sometime!

 

[-Oy-]

Two nice shots - can;t piclk a fave

 

[SimonH]

Two nice shots - can;t piclk a fave

Thanks Dave!

 

[seaodyssey]

2 Good Images Simon.

I prefer the 2nd Image, The cloned out bit is too Black and uniformed for me in the first Image.

Only yesterday We saw a heron sitting on a clump of weed floating in the local canal, we had a good look at it while we walked past.

Pete

 

[Peter123]

Good capture Simon.
The full body shot had more pathos.
Looks like he's waiting for a bus.

 

[SimonH]

2 Good Images Simon.

I prefer the 2nd Image, The cloned out bit is too Black and uniformed for me in the first Image.

Only yesterday We saw a heron sitting on a clump of weed floating in the local canal, we had a good look at it while we walked past.

Pete

Thanks Pete. Useful comments too about the black

Good capture Simon.
The full body shot had more pathos.
Looks like he's waiting for a bus.

Cheers Peter. I do love a heron - there’s a heronry on the golf course I play - there were making a right old rocket yesterday building nests up in a tree. Always amazes me to see such a big bird up a tree.

 

[HelenC]

Your chosen shot is great - some lovely detail in the feathers. However, I rather like #2 and and the complementary colours in the background. He blends in quite nicely.

 

[SimonH]

Your chosen shot is great - some lovely detail in the feathers. However, I rather like #2 and and the complementary colours in the background. He blends in quite nicely.

Thanks Helen!

 

[SimonH]

Week 16 - Connected

Three shots for this week's theme of "connected". The first might be a bit of a shoehorn (connected the upper part of the river with the lower part), but I'm going with it just because we had a lovely walk on the "Four Waterfalls" trail up in the Brecon Beacons - sorry, that's now Bannau Brycheiniog after this week's reversion to the Welsh name. There are four (obviously) nice waterfalls on this stretch of the Afon Hepste (that's "river" Hepste for non Welsh speakers). This one is the biggest and most popular, Sgwd yr Eira (pronounced roughly skoowood ur eye-ra), and can be walked behind with some care - it's VERY slippery!).

A search on Flickr will bring many far more impressive photos than mine. I only had my Sony RX100 and iPhone with me, and no tripod so I was caught between a rock and a hard place (almost literally) between going for a natural shot and a slow-motion shot and in the end got neither!

So the first is the natural shot, and the second is an iPhone live shot turned into a long exposure.

The third is my original plan from this walk which is a footbridge connecting the two banks of the Afon Hepste.

Sgwd yr Eira by Simon Hiscocks, on Flickr

Sgwd yr Eira iPhone long exposure by Simon Hiscocks, on Flickr

Footbridge over the Afon Hepste by Simon Hiscocks, on Flickr

 

[-Oy-]

Defo a shoehorn but No1 does it for me! Just the right amount of movement!

 

[nog]

Yeah bit of a shoehorn but needs must and I might be doing the same this week, agree with Dave # 1 for me as well

 

[SimonH]

Defo a shoehorn but No1 does it for me! Just the right amount of movement!

Yeah bit of a shoehorn but needs must and I might be doing the same this week, agree with Dave # 1 for me as well

Thanks guys - I knew the bridge would have been the better one for the theme, but couldn't bring myself to miss out on the waterfall shot!