Thoughts and musings of an old codger.

Lockdown activities   - Tuesday 30-3-2021

Things have been fairly quiet lately. Not being able to travel to take new photographs I have been going back through folder of old shots, with new eyes so to speak. Not only new eyes, but modern editing software, and quite frankly I am amazed what is now possible [for me]. It is quite likely the results I find easily obtainable today were possible in Photoshop or something similar years ago, but the learning curve was so steep I never managed to get past the foothills.

PendennisPendennis

As you can see, the left hand image was washed out, with a blown sky. A bit of faffing in software with a sky replacement has transformed it.
At the other end of the scale, there is now more scope to try and be a bit creative. The photos below were taken at Lanhydrock last year.

LanhydrockLanhydrock

This little cottage was a tricky shot, as I couldn't stand where I really wanted to. It was also so wonky I had trouble finding a way to straighten the image. It was never going to be a shower, so I added a starry night just for fun.

We have booked a couple of weeks in the West Country in May, hoping travel restrictions will be lifted by then.
My wife and I both love Devon and Cornwall, and I am already preparing an itinery of the places I want to photograph.
Tin Mines fascinate me. Apart from the industrial heritage, I just love the texture of the stone buildings. Wheal Coates, Wheal Francis and Botallack are just a few I want to re-visit, plus the China Clay pits, Tors of Dartmoor, Tintagel and Bodmin Moor, Golitha Falls, Sennen Cove and St Just.

One often hears the phrase "The light is just so much better in Cornwall" and you may have agreed [silently] but being a practical type thought "Light is light, it comes from the sun and is the same everywhere".
True enough, but what makes Cornwall different is down to many things. Firstly, because of the shape of the county, you are never far from the sea, which reflects the blue light from the sky (or vice versa, I can never remember), and secondly, a lot of Cornwall is granite, and minute particles of silica are constantly eroding off the rugged coastline and mixing with the sea and sky, refracting that blue wavelength.