Day 184
July 3, 2010This week’s theme is ‘Wide”
So let’s start with a wide look at a beautiful summer sky……..
1,342,641
This week’s theme is ‘Wide”
So let’s start with a wide look at a beautiful summer sky……..
Taken with a 14mm wide angle lens this small stone lion looks very menacing.
The problem with wide angle lenses is they are not at all selective regarding the background, they gather everything and it’s usually pin sharp!
I’ve applied a motion blur in Photoshop to remove what was a very distracting background of wall, fence and bushes.
The lion is one a pair that ‘guard’our steps in the garden.
A day out in Sheffield, well actually a pub crawl with the lads!
We started at Sheffield station which has a new pub/bar called the Sheffield Tap.
This week’s theme is ‘wide’ so I took the opportunity to capture the Cutting Edge Sculpture outside the station in Sheaf Square
I couldn’t miss the opportunity to post a photograph of the Sheffield Tap.
Station pubs can be pretty miserable places. It doesn’t have to be like that….. If anywhere can prove the case in favour of the station pub, you’d suspect, it must be Sheffield, our city has a real ale culture that’s arguably unmatched anywhere in England.
A long, polished bar offers eight Thornbridge ales with a load of other stuff like proper lager and proper cider, and behind it a row of fridges is packed with dozens and dozens of varieties of Belgian beers.
A graceful ceiling arches high above. The walls are lined with tiles. Brass fittings gleam sumptuously. In an open fireplace, no fire, but it is summer! It has been so successful that they allegedly paid off the borrowings for the £200,000 restoration in three months.
I certainly caused some motorists to slow down when taking this from our local motorway bridge.
I suppose a big camera and wide angle lens on a tripod does have some resemblance to a speed trap !!!
A short visit to Chatsworth House today to view some of the changes they have made and a chance to take a wide angle shot from a new vantage point above the Painted Hall.
A bit of a grey day, the sun is taking a rest and promised to return tomorrow.
A picture of the front of the Winter Garden in Sheffield.
Sheffield Winter Garden is one of the largest temperate glasshouses to be built in the UK during the last hundred years, and the largest urban glasshouse anywhere in Europe. It is home to more than 2,000 plants from all around the world. It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 22 May 2003.
The Winter Garden is some 70 metres (77 yd) long and 21 metres (23 yd) high.
The building has background frost protection to minimum of 4 degrees Celsius and it is one of the largest Glue Laminate or “Glulam” buildings in the UK (Glulam is made by forming and gluing strips of timber into specific shapes). The wood used isLarch, a durable timber which will, over time, turn a light silvery grey colour. The larch, derived from sustainable forests, requires no preservatives or coatings. This reduces the use of solvents and also avoids the use of chemicals that could kill the plants. It has an intelligent Building Management System which controls fans and vents to make sure the plants are cooled in summer and kept warm in winter. The system will “learn” year-on-year.
The bedding plants are changed five times a year, to give a seasonal change, and all the plants are watered by hose or by watering can, as it is the only way to ensure that all the plants get the correct amount of water.
The last of the Wide theme so it seemed fitting to show the lens that has gathered many of these images.
The Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L USM is an ultra wide angle prime lens with a 114° field of view. It is the widest full-frame lens in the Canon EF series. You can almost see your ears!
The beautiful front element of the lens is so prominent that it does not allow the use of filters on the front. Filters are instead mounted on the rear.
Before you ask….it’s a credit card wilting £1,900 !!!
( Heard at a photo club….”When I die, don’t let the wife sell my lenses for what I told her they cost!”) Luckily I don’t have that problem, Kairen is very supportive…and likes diamonds.
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