*** This Week Through Your Eyes 2024.07.20 ***

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ChrisOly
Members 1260 posts

July 20, 2024, 11:50 a.m. July 20, 2024, 11:50 a.m.
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@SteveMonks has written:

A Hill Without A View

We appreciate the effort and stamina in order to produce this amazing series. Just fabulous.
My fave...
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Woodsider79
Members 628 posts

July 20, 2024, 12:50 p.m. July 20, 2024, 12:50 p.m.
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@SteveMonks has written:

A Hill Without A View

It's Grim Up North

The moors cranking the bleakness up to 11 as I made my way back to Drinkwater's. This was around 9PM, with sunset about 30 minutes away, but the oppressive cloud cover made it feel much later.

The Murky Moors

When I reached Coppice Stile, I stopped to look back at where I'd just been. You can make out the bulky shape of Great Hill cloaked in clag on the horizon. This image is probably my favourite from this set and I think its the various imperfections that make it so. It's shot at f/1.2 which means nothing is crisply in focus, adding to the murkiness of the image and the colour balance is definitely skewed towards the blue end of the spectrum. I did correct the colour balance at one point, but the image lost some of its character, so I reverted it to the preset daylight value you see here.

That view down towards Drinkwater's has to be my favourite among the familiar scenes you regularly post, and this version is no exception. Very moody. As is the murky moors shot.
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NCV
Members 1620 posts

July 20, 2024, 1:23 p.m. July 20, 2024, 1:23 p.m.
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@Wormsmeat has written:

My daughter's boyfriend in Thailand. Some of the sunsets there were spectacular.

Wonderful sunset, and just enough water blur to take it to the next level.
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NCV
Members 1620 posts

July 20, 2024, 1:27 p.m. July 20, 2024, 1:27 p.m.
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@Fireplace33 has written:

Re-opening the Pilsbach open air gallery

Once again, as every year, we renewed all the 28 pictures along our open air gallery in our little village of Pilsbach.
This is the 9th year of the "Pilsbach Freilichtgalerie"
It's become quite a tradition here.
Always a fun event, this year on a warm and sunny day with a champagne reception and then a walk altogether around the 3.5km circular path. There’s music along the way and lots of opportunities to chat with the visitors , 52 in number this year.

And 4 from my set of 12 pictures

This is a really lovely idea. Do you leve the pictures up for the whole year.

I really like this shot, an archetypal mountain shot.
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NCV
Members 1620 posts

July 20, 2024, 1:30 p.m. July 20, 2024, 1:30 p.m.
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@Woodsider79 has written:

Impressions of Sanday

One of the more northerly of Orkney's islands, Sanday has a unique character, with huge skies and wide sandy beaches, mostly deserted. I loved it, perhaps influenced by the fact that we had a couple of days of at least partly sunny weather 😁

An evening walk from the cotage we stayed in took us around this headland. Long evenings - it didn't really get completely dark at all.

I am always attracted to this sort of landscape with infinite space.

Looks like a wonderful place to spend a holiday, if you get some good weather.
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NCV
Members 1620 posts

July 20, 2024, 1:37 p.m. July 20, 2024, 1:37 p.m.
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@ChrisOly has written:

Approaching

The human figures make this shot more interesting. Otherwise it would have been a pretty boring symmetrical shot.
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NCV
Members 1620 posts

July 20, 2024, 1:48 p.m. July 20, 2024, 1:48 p.m.
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@Woodsider79 has written:

@NCV has written:

Back to Blighty

Just got back from a short holiday in England. We caught a concert in Kew Gardens, and it was nice to see Chiswick , where I lived for a few years. But the main part of the holiday was spent around Newent, in Gloucestershire. We briefly touched on the Forest of Dean, and my wife really enjoyed the short climb to May Hill, with some incredible views.

The area around Newent was quite new to me, and I really enjoyed the places we found, even some unexpected finds. Next week I will post some of the monuments we found.

My old home territory! Always interesting to see familiar places through other people's eyes. May Hill's distinctive silhouette was always a waymark on the journey home after being away. I have a painting of it on my living room wall, and will probably be going back there visiting friends later in the summer. I have shared images of Lydney docks in the past. And Gloucester cathedral is familiar as a concert venue - I've sung in there on quite a few occasions. Did you see the modern gargoyles?

I had some places from your past posts in mind, and Lydney was one of them. I wanted to catch the boat cemetery at Purton, but time ran out. My wife usually complains about climbing any hill, but she was star struck with May hill, and we made it to the clump of trees without any moaning. On our travells around it was a place we could make out from a lot of places.

Our visit to Gloucester Cathedral, was very brief, and it was pouring down with rain, so I did not see much of the outside. I missed the gargoyles. Did you sing from that sort of grandstand they have erected in the nave? I actually liked Hereford Cathedral more, but more about that next week.
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NCV
Members 1620 posts

July 20, 2024, 1:55 p.m. July 20, 2024, 1:55 p.m.
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@SteveMonks has written:

A Hill Without A View

While much of the UK was busy watching some blokes kick a ball around on Sunday evening, I went out for a walk on the moors. It was a dull grey evening, with a hint of stormy colour looming on the distant horizon above the Irish sea, but otherwise an unremarkable evening. Even the midges seemed to be taking a break, as was most of the moorland fauna for that matter. Even the ever present sheep had largely disappeared, although I was trudging through a lot of evidence that they weren't too far away, so for the most part I had the moors to myself as I made my way up Black Brook, eventually emerging onto Heapey Moor.

After the heady excitement of lugging the GFX kit and a tripod around Duxbury Woods the day before, I'd returned to the more manageable X-T50 kit for this walk, along with the 18/2, 23/1.4 and 56mm/1.2 Fuji primes in my bag. In some ways, I'd have preferred the Sigma 18-50/2.8 zoom for its convenience, but it really does seem to lack something when compared against my motley collection of prime lenses, so it tends to sit at home when I'm out on these walks.

All images taken handheld without filters (mainly because I don't have any to fit the diverse spread of filter threads on these lenses) and processed from single raw files in Capture One Pro 23.

Sheep are strange beasts. I one remember coming across a group of them standing guard over one of their number that had been attacked and dismembered by a wolf pack. It was pretty weird as that were baying loudly over the corpses of their late companion.

I am certain a walk on the murky moors was more satisfying than watching England's rather humiliating game with Spain.
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ChrisOly
Members 1260 posts

July 20, 2024, 2:30 p.m. July 20, 2024, 2:30 p.m.
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@NCV has written:

@ChrisOly has written:

Approaching

The human figures make this shot more interesting. Otherwise it would have been a pretty boring symmetrical shot.

I actually waited for humans for few minutes before pressing the button.
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Woodsider79
Members 628 posts

July 20, 2024, 2:54 p.m. July 20, 2024, 2:54 p.m.
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@NCV has written:

@Woodsider79 has written:

@NCV has written:

Back to Blighty

Just got back from a short holiday in England. We caught a concert in Kew Gardens, and it was nice to see Chiswick , where I lived for a few years. But the main part of the holiday was spent around Newent, in Gloucestershire. We briefly touched on the Forest of Dean, and my wife really enjoyed the short climb to May Hill, with some incredible views.

The area around Newent was quite new to me, and I really enjoyed the places we found, even some unexpected finds. Next week I will post some of the monuments we found.

My old home territory! Always interesting to see familiar places through other people's eyes. May Hill's distinctive silhouette was always a waymark on the journey home after being away. I have a painting of it on my living room wall, and will probably be going back there visiting friends later in the summer. I have shared images of Lydney docks in the past. And Gloucester cathedral is familiar as a concert venue - I've sung in there on quite a few occasions. Did you see the modern gargoyles?

I had some places from your past posts in mind, and Lydney was one of them. I wanted to catch the boat cemetery at Purton, but time ran out. My wife usually complains about climbing any hill, but she was star struck with May hill, and we made it to the clump of trees without any moaning. On our travells around it was a place we could make out from a lot of places.

Our visit to Gloucester Cathedral, was very brief, and it was pouring down with rain, so I did not see much of the outside. I missed the gargoyles. Did you sing from that sort of grandstand they have erected in the nave? I actually liked Hereford Cathedral more, but more about that next week.

I have indeed sung from the temporary staging, including one time performing a jazz Mass, when we had to 'break step' like a marching army for fear of bringing the thing down! I've also done a wedding in the choir, and a few times standing on the floor in front of the organ where the staging you saw was. It's a fantastic place to sing, great acoustics.
The modern gargoyles are on the NW side, representing Gloucestershire's traditional activities;
A rugby player from Gloucester city
[]

A Freeminer from the Forest of Dean

A Jockey holding the Cheltenham Gold Cup

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Fireplace33
Members 873 posts

July 20, 2024, 3:42 p.m. July 20, 2024, 3:42 p.m.
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@NCV has written:

Back to Blighty

Just got back from a short holiday in England. We caught a concert in Kew Gardens, and it was nice to see Chiswick , where I lived for a few years. But the main part of the holiday was spent around Newent, in Gloucestershire. We briefly touched on the Forest of Dean, and my wife really enjoyed the short climb to May Hill, with some incredible views.

The area around Newent was quite new to me, and I really enjoyed the places we found, even some unexpected finds. Next week I will post some of the monuments we found.

Strand on the Green Chiswick

Hammersmith

Lidney

Gloucester

Here's my pick from the tour. A nice set!
The shot with the boats in Hammersmith is a classic UK seaside view.
Not surprised to see some church interiors in your set, all well done of course.
It's nice to visit England again. I'll be back there for just over a week in September :-)
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SteveMonks
Members 306 posts

July 20, 2024, 4:14 p.m. July 20, 2024, 4:14 p.m.
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@Wormsmeat has written:

My daughter's boyfriend in Thailand. Some of the sunsets there were spectacular.

Nice, subdued sunset colours. I find myself reminded of Antony Gormley's Another Place installation at Crosby Beach, which I should make an effort to visit some day.
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NCV
Members 1620 posts

July 20, 2024, 4:19 p.m. July 20, 2024, 4:19 p.m.
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@Woodsider79 has written:

[quote="@NCV"]
[quote="@Woodsider79"]
[quote="@NCV"]

I have indeed sung from the temporary staging, including one time performing a jazz Mass, when we had to 'break step' like a marching army for fear of bringing the thing down! I've also done a wedding in the choir, and a few times standing on the floor in front of the organ where the staging you saw was. It's a fantastic place to sing, great acoustics.
The modern gargoyles are on the NW side, representing Gloucestershire's traditional activities;

Next time, I will try to see the outside too. I think my wife wants to go back to the area.
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SteveMonks
Members 306 posts

July 20, 2024, 4:23 p.m. July 20, 2024, 4:23 p.m.
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@Fireplace33 has written:

Re-opening the Pilsbach open air gallery

Once again, as every year, we renewed all the 28 pictures along our open air gallery in our little village of Pilsbach.
This is the 9th year of the "Pilsbach Freilichtgalerie"
It's become quite a tradition here.
Always a fun event, this year on a warm and sunny day with a champagne reception and then a walk altogether around the 3.5km circular path. There’s music along the way and lots of opportunities to chat with the visitors , 52 in number this year.

Here’s a few B&W shots of the visitors

I like the sweep of the road in this one.

@Fireplace33 has written:

And 4 from my set of 12 pictures

This is a stunning image. What fabulous view.

@Fireplace33 has written:

I'm envious of the mountains where you live, not that I'd be much good at climbing them these days, but it would be fantastic to walk in the valleys beneath them. You've captured them well here.

@Fireplace33 has written:

Have you posted this one before? It looks familiar. I like the autumnal colours.

Fireplace33 likes this.

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SteveMonks
Members 306 posts

July 20, 2024, 4:30 p.m. July 20, 2024, 4:30 p.m.
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@NCV has written:

Back to Blighty

Just got back from a short holiday in England. We caught a concert in Kew Gardens, and it was nice to see Chiswick , where I lived for a few years. But the main part of the holiday was spent around Newent, in Gloucestershire. We briefly touched on the Forest of Dean, and my wife really enjoyed the short climb to May Hill, with some incredible views.

Gloucester

This is the standout image in this set for me. The way those curved ceilings interact with the light from the windows is really special.
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Fireplace33
Members 873 posts

July 20, 2024, 4:38 p.m. July 20, 2024, 4:38 p.m.
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@SteveMonks has written:

A Hill Without A View

While much of the UK was busy watching some blokes kick a ball around on Sunday evening, I went out for a walk on the moors. It was a dull grey evening, with a hint of stormy colour looming on the distant horizon above the Irish sea, but otherwise an unremarkable evening. Even the midges seemed to be taking a break, as was most of the moorland fauna for that matter. Even the ever present sheep had largely disappeared, although I was trudging through a lot of evidence that they weren't too far away, so for the most part I had the moors to myself as I made my way up Black Brook, eventually emerging onto Heapey Moor.

After the heady excitement of lugging the GFX kit and a tripod around Duxbury Woods the day before, I'd returned to the more manageable X-T50 kit for this walk, along with the 18/2, 23/1.4 and 56mm/1.2 Fuji primes in my bag. In some ways, I'd have preferred the Sigma 18-50/2.8 zoom for its convenience, but it really does seem to lack something when compared against my motley collection of prime lenses, so it tends to sit at home when I'm out on these walks.

All images taken handheld without filters (mainly because I don't have any to fit the diverse spread of filter threads on these lenses) and processed from single raw files in Capture One Pro 23.

Great Hill From Drinkwater's

At The Foot of Great Hill

The main public footpath up the nose of Great Hill runs through this fenced off area. I'm not sure why this part of the hill is fenced off, I suspect it's more for historic reasons that any modern practical ones. When I started to climb the hill, I noticed the view was getting fuzzier, as it turned out I'd arrived at the hill along with an incoming wave of clag.

Great Hill Sheep Summit Meeting (see what I did there?)

As I waded deeper into the fog, I found where almost all of the sheep had been hiding. For some reason, they'd abandoned the moors and congregated on the hill and boy did they not want to move. Normally sheep are very skittish and run away as you approach them, but these guys were totally standing their ground as I made my way past them. They'd clearly been there a while, as the path was booby trapped worse than the kind of ancient structure you might find Harrison Ford hanging around in (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Poo?).

Safety In Numbers

Something had definitely spooked them and they were mostly clustered in groups. I've recently heard a number of (old) reports of strange beasts on the moors, but to be fair, I've never seen or heard anything untoward up there, so I'm a bit dubious, but seeing the sheep acting like this did put me on edge a little bit.

Evil Eyes In The Sky

As I made my way back down, a sinister pair of glowing red eyes appeared in the sky, or, you know, just some stormy red light breaking through the cloud cover.

Some Sort Of Sunset

Looking out from White Coppice just after sunset, there was no clear break in the clouds, just a hint of colour in the sky and a muddy, muted look to the colours below.

Here's my selection with the inviting gate leading to ..... those sheep!

Nicely lit sheep in the second one I selected

I didn't see the 2 red lines as "eyes" before you mentioned them, I just liked the shot, but yes, I suppose they could be eyes looking down at you ;-)

And sunsets are always pleasant to see and make for some good shots!
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SteveMonks
Members 306 posts

July 20, 2024, 4:38 p.m. July 20, 2024, 4:38 p.m.
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@Woodsider79 has written:

Impressions of Sanday

One of the more northerly of Orkney's islands, Sanday has a unique character, with huge skies and wide sandy beaches, mostly deserted. I loved it, perhaps influenced by the fact that we had a couple of days of at least partly sunny weather 😁

An evening walk from the cotage we stayed in took us around this headland. Long evenings - it didn't really get completely dark at all.

I'm not particularly a fan of ICM or double exposures in general, but this one works very well and has a nice feel to it, whatever you've done with it - I can't make my mind up if it's ICM or multiple exposure, or maybe even both?

Lovely colours in all of them.
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SteveMonks
Members 306 posts

July 20, 2024, 4:45 p.m. July 20, 2024, 4:45 p.m.
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@NCV has written:

@SteveMonks has written:

A Hill Without A View

While much of the UK was busy watching some blokes kick a ball around on Sunday evening, I went out for a walk on the moors. It was a dull grey evening, with a hint of stormy colour looming on the distant horizon above the Irish sea, but otherwise an unremarkable evening. Even the midges seemed to be taking a break, as was most of the moorland fauna for that matter. Even the ever present sheep had largely disappeared, although I was trudging through a lot of evidence that they weren't too far away, so for the most part I had the moors to myself as I made my way up Black Brook, eventually emerging onto Heapey Moor.

After the heady excitement of lugging the GFX kit and a tripod around Duxbury Woods the day before, I'd returned to the more manageable X-T50 kit for this walk, along with the 18/2, 23/1.4 and 56mm/1.2 Fuji primes in my bag. In some ways, I'd have preferred the Sigma 18-50/2.8 zoom for its convenience, but it really does seem to lack something when compared against my motley collection of prime lenses, so it tends to sit at home when I'm out on these walks.

All images taken handheld without filters (mainly because I don't have any to fit the diverse spread of filter threads on these lenses) and processed from single raw files in Capture One Pro 23.

Sheep are strange beasts. I one remember coming across a group of them standing guard over one of their number that had been attacked and dismembered by a wolf pack. It was pretty weird as that were baying loudly over the corpses of their late companion.

I am certain a walk on the murky moors was more satisfying than watching England's rather humiliating game with Spain.

I wouldn't have felt like I'd missed out even if they had won. I have no time for football, I've never seen the appeal. The moors on the other hand, well, they rarely disappoint.

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