Stretch-Me

Since it is the 1st of Jan 2013 over here in time travel land (New Zealand) I would like to start my posts for the new year with a simple fun photo. Nothing real amazing about this image, and no real post processing performed, but, it is not every day I allow some laughter to be had at my expense :-)

Inside the Southward Car Museum there are two carnival type mirrors against one wall. I just had to find out what I looked like in one of them with some amazing old cars in the background.

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Tools Galore

HDR panorama taken at Cobblestones Regional Early Settlers Museum in Greytown, New Zealand.

This image was taken with a Raspberry Pi controlling my Canon 600D with a Tamron 18-270mm PZD. It is a 4 image 7 bracketed HDR merged into a panorama. Therefore this image consist of 28 photos. Bracketed shots taken with gphoto and HDR processing done with Photomatix. This is possibly one of the most complex photos I have ever produced.

For details on how to do something similar please see my blog article at: teach-me-photo.blogspot.co.nz

Click to view larger version.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 18mm, Exposure 0.6sec - 1/4 to 1/320sec at f8, ISO 200, Focus manual, VC off, Flash none, Filter none.

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1928 Mercedes Benz 38/250 ss Exhaust

1928 Mercedes Benz 38/250 ss side exhausts taken at the Southward Car Museum on the Kapiti coast. You gotta go!

Back to the car, what can I tell you about it? Well, on its day it was classically beautiful but it was also a beast on the track because it was supercharged with nearly 300 horsepower and top speed of 120. Spec is 7100cc 6 cylinder OHC fitted with a supercharger that only kicks in when the accelerator is fully depressed.  This was the fastest car of its day. Personally, I would not mind one of these in my garage!

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 50mm, Exposure 1/160sec at f8, ISO 1600, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 25mm, Exposure 1/400sec at f8, ISO 1600, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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Old time pharmacy

Next to the last post's photo of the Austin in the mock garage display at the Southward Car Museum, this is my second favorite photo ever. Why? Well, what draws me to this photo is simply the genuineness and realism to the scene. Just look at the counter, shelves, wallpaper and floor. So much to look at.

On top of this I would like to highlight the technical complexity of this photo. Of all the photos I have taken thus far in my life this is surely the third most complex photo of all. The reason being that this photo is a composite of 21 photos to make a three shot HDR panorama (7 x 3), shot through a screen door with holes just large enough to poke my lens through, with a little bit of Photoshop to fill in gaps created during the stitching process to make the panorama. I wish you could see the precarious position I had to make my tripod stand in, just to get close enough to the door to get my lens through the door so to speak.

I do hope you enjoy this photo from the Cobblestone Museum in Greytown. (click to enlarge)

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 20mm, Exposure 0.6sec - 1/100sec at f8, ISO 800, Focus auto, VC off, Flash none, Filter none.

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Austin Fixup

This is a display at the Southward Car Museum of an Austin in a mechanic shop. I love the warm tones and feel of the photo that kind of transports you back in time to make you part of the era and setting.

I would encourage you to view the full image. Notice how your eyes keeps jumping around in the scene searching out the various bits of interest.

Something else I need to point out, of all my photos on this blog, this one is possibly THE best example on how good the image stabilizing is on the Tamron 18-270mm PZD. This image is a 3 shot HDR taken hand held. The shots were taken at 0.4s, 1/10s and 1/40s. The manufacturer claims a 4 stop advantage with this lens due to the image stabilization and I can vouch for that from experience. I know I would not have made the shot with any of my other lenses.

Enjoy!

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 18mm, Exposure 1/10sec at f8, ISO 800, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

And here is a slightly different angle.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 20mm, Exposure 1/13sec at f8, ISO 800, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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Cobblestone Museum Shed

Next time you drive through to Masterton, make a point of visiting this amazing little museum in Greytown.

This image is of one of the displays. Due to lighting it gave the perfect setting for a 7 shot HDR. Why 7 shots you ask. Well, I was using a Raspberry Pi to control my camera since the Canon can only take 3 shot bracketed. Good HDR photos require a setting (subject matter) with a lot of contrast and lighting levels. With the sun partially shining in to the shed, I had nice dark and lighted areas. Hope you like the outcome.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 18mm, Exposure 1/5-1/30sec at f8, ISO 800, Focus manual, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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1909 White Steam Car Lamp

This is most likely a 1909 White Steam Car Roadster. Have a look at the video links here to see one being built up by Jay Leno from a pile of rust. What an amazing car!

The White Motor Company operated from 1900 to 1980. On July 4, 1905, a racing steam car named "Whistling Billy" and driven by Webb Jay set a record of 73.75 mph (118.66 kph) on the Morris Park Racecourse. In 1909, president-elect William Howard Taft selected a 40 hp (30 kW) White Model M 7-seat tourer as the first official automobile of the President of the United States. The last steam cars were built in 1911 after which the company moved over to petrol cars.

Here is my shot taken at the Southward Car Museum. I do hope the photo will do the car justice :-)

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 119mm, Exposure 1/100sec at f8, ISO 800, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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1943 Schwimmwagen

Taken at the Southward Car Museum.

To quote Wikipedia:

"The VW Type 128 and 166 Schwimmwagen (literally Floating / Swimming Car) were amphibious four-wheel drive off-roaders, used extensively by the German Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS during the Second World War. The Type 166 is the most numerous mass-produced amphibious car in history.

VW Schwimmwagens were produced by the Volkswagen factory at Fallersleben / Wolfsburg and Porsche's facilities in Stuttgart; with the bodies (or rather hulls) produced by Ambi Budd in Berlin. 15,584 Type 166 Schwimmwagen cars were produced from 1941 through 1944; 14,276 at Fallersleben and 1,308 by Porsche. Given these numbers, the VW 166 is the most mass-produced amphibious car in history. Only 163 are known by the Schwimmwagen Registry to remain today, and only 13 have survived without restoration work."

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 18mm, Exposure 1/50sec at f8, ISO 800, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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Southward Car Museum

Over the coming weeks I will post some highlights of our trip to the Southward Car Museum yesterday. All in all I took almost 500 photos :-)

So as a start, here is a 5 shot panorama of the main floor of the museum. For those of you who have not yet been, especially if you are a petrol head like me, YOU GOTTA GO!!!

Back to the aim of this blog - my Tamron lens performed beautifully. It allowed me a useful 18mm for most of the shots since you are pretty close to the subject matter being constrained by the insides and layout of the museum. I could also get some nice close ups shots like the badge off a Porche 911, and it gave me the option to take shots of interesting bits at full 270mm zoom to blur out the busy background to isolate the focal point. I must also note that the brilliant image stabilizing allowed me hand held shots throughout not using flash but only museum lighting.

(click the image for a fuller version)

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 18mm, Exposure 1/100sec at f8, ISO 800, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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Aiming at Wellington

This cannon is just next to the Dominion Observatory in the botanical gardens in Wellington. Not the easiest subject due to the greyish paint color of the cannon. I've tried to make the composition as interesting as possible with the cannon on the right etc. Some post processing in Photoshop managed to regain some character in the cannon.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 18mm, Exposure 1/250sec at f8, ISO 100, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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Cable Car

I am on leave, so we took the boys on a field trip to the Botanical Gardens and the Observatory. To get there we took the cable car up from Lambton Quay. At the top I had a chance to snap the following pics.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 18mm, Exposure 1/250sec at f8, ISO 100, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

 Below a 3 shot bracketed HDR.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 18mm, Exposure 1/320sec at f8, ISO 100, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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Pretty in Pink

We made the most of the sunny weekend with a trip to Harcourt park. This post and the next two to follow, will show some of the quick photos I took while playing with the kids.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/1600sec at f8, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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Day in the sun

How pleasant the life of a duck must be - that is outside hunting season needless to say :-)

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/1000sec at f8, ISO 800, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/1000sec at f8, ISO 800, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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Hikitia

For a change I am at a loss for words. My wife would agree that it does not happen too frequently :-)

In any case, I've been trying for a while now to get something useful from this crane boat. But time of day that I can make it there etc. up to now made for some pretty uninteresting photos. In my view in any case. So, this is some form of an attempt to save one of my photos of Hikitia. I hope you like :-)

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 30mm, Exposure 1/160sec at f8, ISO 200, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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Day at the Spa

On a day trip to the TePapa museum with my family the local bird life also aimed at making the most of the sunny weather. This guy was taking a long and thorough bath with his/her mates. As requested by a friendly poster danielepoalo over at the DP Review forums, here is a full size image for your pleasure (Right Click|View Image to enlarge, not sure how to get blogger to show full image).

Please leave comments, I would love to hear from you.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 219mm, Exposure 1/1000sec at f8, ISO 800, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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Pink Tiger - What?

OK, OK, so the pink tiger is actually a tigerlily :-)

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 100mm, Exposure 1/60sec at f22, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none. 

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 76mm, Exposure 1/60sec at f16, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none. 

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Tigerlily

Not much to comment here but to note that the Tamron again shows its flexibility. These images were taken one after the other without swapping lenses. The one photo was taken at 270mm and the one following at 25mm and right there is one of the biggest selling points of this lens.

So the Tamron 18-270mm VC PZD may not be the sharpest fastest lens on the market, but for the price you will be very hard pressed to find any lens as versatile. As for image quality, and keeping in mind I shot these inside and handheld, all I can say, I am more than pleased with the results below! A+ Tamron.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/80sec at f16, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.  

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 25mm, Exposure 1/100sec at f16, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none. 

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Selected B&W Flowers

It is summer and rainy and cold and windy. Yucky weather all round. So, I may as well take time to go through some of my older photos I've shot with the Tamron 18-270mm PZD and play with some Photoshop at the same time.

The idea for the images below comes from some other B&W photos I've seen on Flickr. Below my results.

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Attention!!!

Who says a winter day cannot yield good beach photos! I have no clue what these poles were used for in time past, but, they really added interest and character to a scene that would otherwise have been just another plain beach photo.

Well, I was not too happy with how these turned out in color, so I did a quick black and white conversion in Photoshop and I am very pleased with the dramatic effect. I would also like to re-iterate how pleased I am with the performance of the Tamron 18-270mm PZD. This lens is now such a natural part of my kit and I find using it more and more over my other lenses. This hold true especially for general family outings like this particular day, where I do not want to drag my whole camera bag along with me.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 18mm, Exposure 1/200sec at f8, ISO 100, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none. 

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 18mm, Exposure 1/200sec at f8, ISO 100, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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Beauty and the Beast

On our way back from our outing (see previous post), close to home we have a new section in development. The workers had their earth moving equipment parked close to the road with quite a view in the background. Time was on my side and allowed a couple of quick pics before the sun dipped too low.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 25mm, Exposure 1/320sec at f11, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none. 

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 23mm, Exposure 1/200sec at f8, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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Flower in the cold

It has been a while since I've last posted to this blog. Needless to say it is now winter over here, so being a winter rainfall area, my photography has also entered a slow period.

The other weekend we had a break in the weather, and even though we were all battling with a cold, we went down to the beach just to get out a bit. While on our trip I spotted this little flower. This photo was deliberately taken at maximum zoom so I can get some of the busy background out of focus.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/400sec at f8, ISO 100, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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Parliament buildings

Parliament buildings in Wellington. I am pleased with how the building textures and colors came out. Processing was mainly done in CameraRaw 7 with CS6. Please refer to the following how-to that I've typed up to see what processing I've performed on these images: http://teach-me-photo.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/photoshop-statue.html

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 25mm, Exposure 1/1000sec at f8, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 42mm, Exposure 1/1600sec at f8, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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Premier John Ballance

The statue of Premier John Ballance stands in front of the Parliamentary Library on the Parliament grounds in Wellington. Walking back to our offices after going to a customer one morning, I decided to take a shortcut through the parliament grounds to take a number of photos before the worst of the winter rolls in. I will post these over the next couple of days.

To start off, this statue was post processed in Adobe Photoshop CS6 Beta only. Most tweaking was performed in Camera Raw.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 42mm, Exposure 1/640sec at f8, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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Tug

I've always had a little fascination with tug boats. Usually these tugs are operating where I cannot get close enough to them but I was lucky enough the other day.

Although the Tamron performed beautifully, allowing multiple shots of the two tugs in action (only one shown in this blog)  at different zoom levels, the normal photos were too busy due to the background.

Oh well, since I've recently installed the Beta version of Photoshop CS6, I thought it best to play a bit with the new Oil Painting effects in CS6. Below the results for your enjoyment.(click the photos to view them in full size)

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 142mm, Exposure 1/200sec at f8, ISO 200, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 219mm, Exposure 1/125sec at f8, ISO 200, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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Old Derelict

A derelict building in Kate Sheppard Place in Wellington. Met a friend who owns a Mojo the other day, but I was not sure where his shop was. Well, while I was walking around looking for his place I came across this jewel of a building. Oh, before I forget, I did find my friend's Mojo. Please visit Ian at Mojo in the Vogel Centre in Aitken street. No discount sorry, but I promise possibly the best Mojo in New Zealand!

The pics below looks OK on the normal photos but I just had to lay on a bit of HDR to do justice to the character of this little building.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 80mm, Exposure 1/80sec at f8, ISO 200, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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Three sailors and a flag

On my way to a customer I took the scenic route and saw that the navy came for a visit. The Tamron performed beautifully allowing a quick zoom in without the hassles of worrying about not have the right lens on.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/400sec at f8, ISO 200, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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General Practitioner

Well, I have mixed feelings about this shot, and maybe one day I will go and re-shoot it. Why am I conflicted? The main reason is the red car in the scene. Without the car I know the scene will look more empty, but on the other hand this partial car give some action and life to the shot.

Oh well, enjoy what I have for now. This truly is a very interesting and full of character building.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 18mm, Exposure 1/320sec at f8 +-2EV bracketed, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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Old character

This old building on the corner of Willis St and Ghuznee in Wellington (and incidentally where the doorway of my last post was taken), is really full of character. I just love the textures, architecture and age of the building. The images below were all taken on the same day. Slight HDR processing was used to turn otherwise hard midday sun photos into something optically more interesting. Oh, before I forgot all photos were taken as three shot +-2 stops sets (exposure bracketing), and the Tamron set to F8 since I know that is where the lens gives its best sharpness.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 76mm, Exposure 1/800sec at f8 +-2EV bracketed, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/400sec at f8 +-2EV bracketed, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/200sec at f8 +-2EV bracketed, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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Doorway

Beautiful doorway from a building on the corner of Willis St and Ghuznee in Wellington. This shot would not be possible or have the depth if it was not for a bit of HDR from 3 shots all 2 stops apart. I am very glad I took the time to stop and take a couple of shots of the doorway. Initially I walked past it. Whoops, almost a missed opportunity.

One tip I can leave you with is that HDR works best with natural earthy colors, such as browns, golds, yellows and greens. Blue and red can easily become over saturated during your HDR processing. Keep that in mind when you shoot subjects.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 18mm, Exposure 1/200sec at f8, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash popup, Filter none.

For more details read this page.

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Antrim House

Antrim house in Boulcott Street in Wellington. Now a heritage building. I had to get permission to shoot this as non professional/no profit. Keep in mind if you shoot property, you may need to get permission to do so for your own use.

The first image is a 4 shot panorama. It took quite a bit of Photoshop effort to get this photo straightened out since I shot up close at 18mm.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 18mm, Exposure 1/125sec at f8, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash popup, Filter none.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 18mm, Exposure 1/100sec at f8, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash popup, Filter none.

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Old school publishing

There is this nice cafe in the Dominion Post building in Boulcott Street Wellington. The coffee is very good, and I would recommend their Cappuccinos. The shop was recently re-branded and the decor changed from an aged look, to something modern and inviting. While placing my order I noticed these two old school typewriters in the window. I checked to make sure I have permission to shoot these first and I am pretty pleased with the results since I did not have any decent lighting or tripod.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 35mm, Exposure 1/15sec at f7.1, ISO 800, Focus auto, VC on, Flash popup, Filter none.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 35mm, Exposure 1/30sec at f7.1, ISO 800, Focus auto, VC on, Flash popup, Filter none.

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Rooftop plumbing

This image was taken at ground level of a building with this fascinating rusty old chimney pipe and a mish-mash of plumbing to its side. I just knew it would make for a good photo. See if you can spot the  pigeon sitting in the shade.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 169mm, Exposure 1/500sec at f8 with +-2EV exposure bracketing, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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Two wheels and rusty

By now you should know me and my liking of anything rusty. During a lunch time stroll I passed some motorbikes parked under a tree. This rusty old bike stood out like a sore thumb. From the angle I needed to take the photo, I could see the background was way too busy. To make sure the background was nicely out of focus, I selected a long zoom range as well as a large aperture. Problem solved!

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 219mm, Exposure 1/100sec at f6.3 with +-2EV exposure bracketing, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter none.

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