*** This Week Through Your Eyes 2024.01.08 ***

Interesting coastline, with the cliffs set back like that. The land must be rising - presumably post ice age isostatic rebound.

Interesting times indeed. They travelled through Czechoslovakia and wondered why everywhere was so quiet, only columns of russian military vehicles going the other way. They later discovered they had been breezing through in the midst of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia!

Not the Sarp crossing, but through the Caucasus; Vladikavkaz to Tbilisi.

Van is somewhere I would love to visit.

There are very amazing details.

Wow, being there during the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia!

I lived in Van for three years 1999–2002; it is an interesting place. I am planning to visit again. The lake was beautiful. It was the height of internal conflicts, with a large number of internally displaced people from rural areas of the region, as well as Iranian refugees. It was chaotic and crowded. I’m sure the city would have changed over 20 years anyway, but I know the earthquake has transformed it even more.

Now, you’ve got to go there in the summer and show us when it’s green and lush. The last photo reminded me of a typical tropical palm tree extending towards the sea in a tourist photo of the tropics. The rock is spectacular as well.

So sorry to hear about that. Having been suffering from visual issues myself since last August, I can fully sympathise with how traumatic and worrying it can be. Hopefully the operation has been a success and you'll soon make a full recovery.

Just a handful of shots from me this week. I went back to the creepy woods at Roddlesworth for more woodland photography last weekend, capturing a handful of interesting shots. There's lots of potential at that location in better photographic conditions, such as mist or fog, but given how eerie it is in dull flat light, I'm not sure I'd want to revisit it when it's like that.

Interesting side note; having felt strangely uneasy wandering around that part of the woods last weekend, I was quite surprised to come across a video on Youtube from a local "paranormal investigator" taken in the same area of woodland and talking about all kinds of crazy stuff being sighted there, from big cats (a suspected panther of all things!) to more dubious things such as "shadow men" whatever the hell they are.

I'm a bit sceptical of all of this stuff, but I think I might just head out to a different location this weekend, just in case ;-)

All images taken on a tripod with the GFX100S + 45-100 f/4 + CPL, bonus picture at the end taken with the Nikon Z8 + 24-200. All processed from individual raw files in Capture One Pro 23.

Sideways

I was mostly interested in the mossy tree here, but I quite liked the curious alignment of the pines behind it, all mostly straight apart from a pair that seem to have tilted by exactly the same angle.

Hunted

A little bush cowers in the shadows while being pursued through the woods by the evil tree.

Light in The Dark

A somewhat more relaxed spot in the middle of the pine woods.

Much Applause

Various forest dwellers applaud the return of an old friend.

Bonus Pic: A Chorley Sunset

Looking across the centre of Chorley from the summit of The Nab as the sun is about to set behind the distant Harrock Hill. Cloudless nights are always a bit disappointing from a sunset perspective, but it sure beats the usual Irish Sea perma-fog that often plagues my sunset walks. One of the nicest things about a night like this is the soft light that develops after the sun has set. This gave a pleasant, yet slightly surreal feel to the evening as I made my way back to the car.

I've never been much of a fan of my 24-200, it does not stand up well against either my 24-70 f/.28S or the 100-400 f/4.5-5.6S and as such has never seen a lot of use. But when you want a bit more reach than the 24-70 offers and can't face the prospect of carrying the 100-400 as well, it's a neat little thing to have in your bag or even pocket without feeling like you're being weighed down.

It is always interesting to go back and rediscover pictures from the past. Disconcerting to know that these pictures are almost history. I have shots of Italy, now now seem to come from another world that I shot in the Eighties.

I built myself, or rather had built for a bottle of grappa a slide copier, that recycled negative holders from my enlarger. I got some very good results with the EM5i.

I recently digitised the good stuff from my theatrical photography negatives, that our Provincial theatre wanted for their archives. Nikon make a slide/negative copier that screws onto a macro lens. Maybe Olympus make something similar. It is pretty amazing what you can do in post with old negatives and slides.

These terra cotta sculptures are astonishing. It often seems to be the acutely observed bystanders that catch my eye.

Probably some guy with a tripod and big camera...

Nice action shot 😁

I managed to put together something similar myself using the Nikon device plus converter on my Olympus and a vintage macro lens, but focusing was tricky, and non-flat transparencies challenging. At the moment it's packed away somewhere pending removal to new house. These copies were a free trial from a commercial company, so it would be interesting to compare if I can find the right box to unpack!

Waiting

Empire Sandy moored in Toronto Harbour over the winter months and waiting for Spring.

She was built in England and joined WW II effort in 1943 as a deep sea tugboat vessel. Came to Canada in 1950's and was a workhorse towing timber in Lake Superior, Ontario. Late 1970's she was totally rebuild in 1880's fashion as a sailboat and became a Tall Ship.

At present she is the biggest sailing schooner in Canada and is used as a charter vessel for corporate functions etc.

Love the shot.
Get better and all the best.

Excellent frame.

Great history lesson.

Excellent framing.

So real, all of them. Superb.

Raw nature, splendid.

Just fantastic shot and thank you for tripod update from last week.

A fine ship. Nice detail in the reflections too.