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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Ed's thread (3 Viewers)

From roof-tiles to russet tundra, amazing transformation in habitat and scale! (although if you're getting the weather that was predicted, and like we are at the moment, I suspect that tundra conditions would be positively balmy in comparison to your rooftiles) - love the flickering vision of phalaropes - lovely.
 
amazing transformation! Don't think I've ever managed to change the idea for a picture so dramatically along the way. I really like this. I'd go for the cropped version, I think the phalaropes are too lost in the uncropped one.
 
Hello all- long time no post on my part, but I saw something so perfectly beautiful this morning I just had to whap brush on paper. Two ultra dark cock pheasants (dark blue phase, not yer Japanese green) on the brow of a hill, two kites cruising over. Work executed back home during time it took for a precooked macaroni cheese to heat on top rung of the aga, so not much time for fiddling about...
 

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Exotic creatures treated in an equally exotic manner - wonderful art and a zappy way of rendering a visually stimulating scene. Great to have you posting again, particularly stuff of this ilk.
 
as Tim says, stimulating - this is Red Bull and ProPlus on paper, and I'm loving it!

I'm glad it stimulated- everything came in 2s that day. I had a subsequent encounter with 2 Whoopers/2 Greenshank/2 Avocets which was equally beautiful but radically less colourful.

oh- and welcome to world of the long distance commuter..
 
Thought I would offer up for the clinic one that's currently going wrong. Its 36" high and if it gets done, there will be bunch of displaying Oystercatchers on the spit in the middle (or two Peregrines kipping, if I decide to make something up, instead of painting what was there).

Anyway, sky has gone OK I think but the foreground is just a mess even before I have tried to add in the really sparkly highlights- I think the answer is that it needs to needs to be reasonably carefuly painted to match the style in which the sky has been painted, in which case its no good jabbing the brush about and hoping it will work by accident. You actually have to think where the ripples go and what shape they should be...

So they have been painted out and after a pause for thought I shall try again.
 

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and a bonus feature or a blooper, depending how you look at it

I had the pleasure of a bit of bird-uses-tool to admire this morning on the way to work- sparrow collecting a largeish piece of er discarded toilet paper from between the railway tracks, then whizzed off and stuffed it quite deliberately into a low bramble bush until it got snagged, after which it was able to tug off a small piece which it flew off with to its nest

a technique I thought patented by shrikes using thorns to dismember robins.

aren't birds brilliant...
 

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cool little sparrow, a perfect capture of some interesting behaviour. Clinic time... if the painting was on my table, I'd go for some sort of link between the sky and the water, a shaft of light and its reflection for example, at the moment, I feel the horizon cuts the picture in two. The atmosphere is great, so whatever dramatic rethink you come up with (you're a master at these artistic u-turns) keep that heavy looming feel - looks like it's goingto be great.
 
I think you've answered your own question Ed. I have always struggled with water for the same reason. I've always thought that water, like clouds and skies, is such an organic thing that it ought to be possible to represent it in an organic way. I'm increasingly realising though that a more controlled approach is the way to go. With regards to Nick's comment, I'd see distant flights of birds performing the same compositional function of breaking the horizon and I definately agree on the atmosphere looking great.

Nearly forgot to mention how good the spuggie is! Unusual behaviour observation too, you can't take anything as read 'cos the birds are always ready to surprise you.

Mike
 
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Not much to add, really. I think the landscape is looking fab as it is. Probably the main problem will be not how to connect the sky and water, but how to paint your birds with a similar approach to your landscape. They must sit in the scene naturally - so I look forward to how you address this.
Smashing little spuggy pic and nice piece of behaviour noted.
Yep - Birds are brilliant! (are you writing slogans for the RSPB, too? ;) )
 
Hello all. Had a chance over the long weekend to continue the estuary pic and then transferred a photo of it onto the computer to think about what birds will go where. So in pic #2 I've been playing with some little digitised Redshanks, following the wise words of encouragement up-thread to use the birds to break the horizon. Now a pause for thought and then these or something like them will hopefully get painted in.

Also attached what would have been a couple of Greenshanks scampering about between some big clumps of sedge, but it went wrong so I decided to sandpaper it under a running tap. Next steps (if any) uncertain.
 

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woo! lots of exciting things to come here - just don't do what I do - get to an exciting stage like this and then f*ck it all up! The luminosity in these is wonderful
 
Just checked in and no postings in the forum all day- I don't know who is minding the shop (gallery) (forum) in Tim's temporary absence but we can't allow that. So here's some very quick female Peregrine sketches from today lunchtime- chicks hatched and she's happily perched in the sun.
 

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Been pretty quiet round here the last few days. I've not been on much, ironically because I've been away from work suffering with a trapped nerve in my back. Off to work in the morning so I'll contribute a bit more.

Those pere sketches are just delicious, you've got that bulky, squared structure down pat. How far away was she and did you view her through optics? (I don't mean the ones from Tim's bar!)

Mike
 
Been pretty quiet round here the last few days. I've not been on much, ironically because I've been away from work suffering with a trapped nerve in my back. Off to work in the morning so I'll contribute a bit more.

Those pere sketches are just delicious, you've got that bulky, squared structure down pat. How far away was she and did you view her through optics? (I don't mean the ones from Tim's bar!)

Mike

Hello there- sorry to hear about your back. Lugged in a scope for these yesterday- back to more distant views today.
 
Excellent decisive lines on these peregrines. The bar wil be occupied today at my table, though we're needing a new delivery as there seems to be only empty bottles around here. I wonder how that happened? All welcome to join me for a drink but it's strictly byob - I've got my own glass.
 
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