Moderated by: chrisbet,
Tidal Estuary Photography Project for Inshore Rescue  Rate Topic 
AuthorPost

Posted by Robert: Wed Apr 3rd, 2019 06:07 1st Post
I met one of the local Inshore Rescue volunteers and while telling him about my astro adventures and that I had been testing up on the moor, he asked me if I have any photo's of the estuary showing the sand-bar (the boundary at low tide between the sands and deep-sea water) and all the channels with the tide fully out. I am sure I have but not the entire sand-bar.  So while I was up on the moor, I explored a track which I thought might get a decent view of the entire estuary.  Maps are useless because the channels are continually shifting and Google Earth blur them out, perhaps for the same reason.

While I was exploring the track I attracted the attention of the local gamekeeper, who stopped and watched me for some time while I enjoyed my fish and chips!  Eventually the parking spot near the  bench came free and I moved down to set up before darkness fell, ready to test the Go-Pro camera.  Gamekeeper still back and forth keeping an eye on me! lol

Eventually it was almost fully dark, just about to test the Go-Pro the gamekeeper came past again so I stopped him and assured him I was just a mad photographer waiting for it to go really dark before I could take some photo's. :lol: He seemed a bit puzzled, I explained you can't see the stars in daylight!!! He laughed, so I took the opportunity to ask him where the best viewpoint would be where I could get a full view of the Duddon sand-bar and the estuary.  He was very helpful and showed me where I could go to get a the best view of the entire estuary.  I am going up there this afternoon to check it out.  I am hoping I can make a time-lapse video of an entire incoming tide on a very low to very high spring tide.



____________________
Robert.



Posted by jk: Wed Apr 3rd, 2019 07:23 2nd Post
Be interested to see the tide bar photos.


I have a magnifier right angle eyepiece for Nikon in my bellows macro box....... but it is in Spain.

This is the item.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SEAGULL-1x-2x-right-angle-view-finder-for-Canon-Nikon-Fuji-Pentax-Samsung/121073511879?epid=942739191&hash=item1c308b2dc7:g:H64AAOxyNepRmcI~&frcectupt=true



____________________
Still learning after all these years!
https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none


Posted by Robert: Wed Apr 3rd, 2019 07:48 3rd Post
Thanks, I will see what my buddy comes up with, he's a bit unpredictable...

I am struggling to come up with the dates for maximum tides, I know it varies throughout the year as well as the month but my searches only bring up the next weeks tides.  I know the inshore rescue lads have tide tables, but I don't often see them, and I would like to find more helpful data, I can access myself on-line, like the Photographers Ephemeris, but for tides, there must be something, it's vitally important to so many people and predictable.

One of my neighbours mentioned we will get some very high tides this year, JK, do you have a favourite tidal data source for advance planning of projects?

We have snow down to about 300ft this morning.



____________________
Robert.



Posted by chrisbet: Wed Apr 3rd, 2019 08:22 4th Post
Have a look here -- https://www.ntslf.org/tides/tidepred?port=Heysham  and  https://www.ntslf.org/tides/hilo?port=Heysham

Heysham tide times won't be much different and if the height of the tide is of interest then you can see the spring tide dates & heights.



____________________
If it is broken it was probably me ....


Posted by Robert: Wed Apr 3rd, 2019 08:46 5th Post
Thanks Chris, seems the 19-20th April is a pretty good time, very low and high tides, it's actually the low I am after, to reveal most of the sands.  We don't have a weather forecast for that w/e yet but I can only live in hope.



____________________
Robert.



Posted by jk: Wed Apr 3rd, 2019 09:07 6th Post
Low tide difference is about 1 hour later at Askham than Heysham.



____________________
Still learning after all these years!
https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none


Posted by Robert: Wed Apr 3rd, 2019 09:15 7th Post
Thanks JK, time not so critical as height (or depth).  I am glad I don't have to wait months to get something so extreme.

This could be a precursor to a time-lapse I want to make of the tidal activity out in the estuary.  It's quite amazing how much power there is and the relatively vast area it covers.  A subject all of it's own, without the wildlife it supports.



____________________
Robert.



Posted by jk: Wed Apr 3rd, 2019 09:30 8th Post
If you want lowest low tide then... I will need to dig deeper to get the data.
You need a spring tide, low tide...  Around the time of New Moon and Full Moon.   This gives lowest low tide, so minimal depth over the bar!
Looking at the charts quickly I would say this Saturday 6th April and every two weeks (approx) after would be best.



Try this url for weekly tides for you.
https://www.tidetimes.co.uk/duddon-bar-tide-times

For background info then try this url.
http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moontides/



____________________
Still learning after all these years!
https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none


Posted by blackfox: Wed Apr 3rd, 2019 11:21 9th Post
I will let you know later rob I have a proper Liverpool bay tide chart .



Posted by blackfox: Wed Apr 3rd, 2019 11:43 10th Post
right rob ,from my little blue book for Morecambe 
  fri 19th 12pm  9.8 mtr. 32.2 feet 
  sat 20th 12.45p.m 9.9mtr. 32.4 feet   both adjusted to take account of British summer time which throws out a lot of tide tables .. low air pressure and a south/westerly wind tend to make for higher than predicted tides due to the nature of Liverpool bay and the Irish Sea .
oops low tides fri  at 06.45
                     sat 07.20 

 or evening low water 
    fri 7.10 p.m
    sat 7.50 p.m 

marches tides would have been better ..

p.s looking at your photos of the church spire the first thing that comes into my mind is mirror shock/slap have you thought of trying a mirrorless body .. most Panasonic or Olympus bodies take virtually any lens from any maker via adaptors i.e old manual focus lens .



Posted by jk: Wed Apr 3rd, 2019 12:54 11th Post
Feet?
We will have fathoms, chains and rods next!  :lol:

Yep, those time are aligned to my calculations and wind and low pressure also effect the height. Wind is the biggest effect.

Like Jeff says mirrorless is better/easier as there is no mirror slap but D3 and D800 have mirror lockup.



____________________
Still learning after all these years!
https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none


Posted by chrisbet: Wed Apr 3rd, 2019 15:02 12th Post
Fathoms yes, but chains & rods are definitely land based measures.

Tide heights have traditionally been in feet.



____________________
If it is broken it was probably me ....


Posted by Robert: Wed Apr 3rd, 2019 15:17 13th Post
I blame it all on Brexit!  Even the excruciating painful cramp in my left leg this evening.  I haven't had a bad cramp for several years...

Am currently processing 290 exposures I made this afternoon, all of them 5 shot bracketed sets.  The gamekeeper was right, there are mine workings in the hillside and from the waste tips the vantage afforded is perfect.  Once I have processed them I will post something.  I made at least three panoramas I intended to take the fisheye but a panorama will be better to take advantage of the D800, the detail is remarkable.



____________________
Robert.



Posted by blackfox: Wed Apr 3rd, 2019 15:28 14th Post
Having owned a yacht or two and sailed around the Irish Sea for 18+ years I'm quite certain the tides are in either metres or feet usually the latter ... and without a doubt it's one of the most dodgy places in the world to sail you can be 4 or 5 miles out and have 12 foot of water under the hull in places .. a old mate of mine did a transatlantic run in a tiny 18 foot day yacht  and told me the worst part of the journey was between Rhyl and the tip of Ireland .  Just did to prove he could I think as he was a multi millionaire with  4 large yachts all over the world .



Posted by jk: Wed Apr 3rd, 2019 15:29 15th Post
What were the mines prospecting for?

Look forward to some landscapes from others.  
Currently I am shooting land and sea scapes with the Z7 and Fuji XT2/3.



____________________
Still learning after all these years!
https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none


Posted by Robert: Wed Apr 3rd, 2019 17:16 16th Post
They were slate mines, some of the best blue Burlington slate.  The current major quarry is less than two miles away, a massive undertaking, my guess this was an exploratory dig, although it's pretty extensive, considering it was all dug by hand. Probably dates from mid 19th century, when the railways came.  Access wasn't good, still isn't, crossing open boggy moorland.  The main quarry is open cast and close to a main road.

This is one of the mines:  The pile of rubble at the back is what I believe they did to make the mine safe, they blasted the rock face above the entrance to the main tunnel to prevent anybody going into the mine, which would be very dangerous, the roof is not propped, even if it were propped, the props would be rotten by now.  I have been into one mine where the roof has collapsed and probably a hundred tons of very large boulders are strewn on the mine floor, a massive cavern where the roof has collapsed.



This is the slate, it's the best naturally formed strata I have seen, it's beautiful stone, like building with Leggo bricks!



And closer up, this is how they made roofing slates, this sample has split itself, with repeated frosts.



____________________
Robert.



Posted by jk: Wed Apr 3rd, 2019 18:06 17th Post
Really looking forward to the next part of the Equatorial Mount for Night Sky Photography story.
The sky photos but these tidal pictures will also be good.

Down here in Cornwall we have Delabole slate which is famous as well.
The mine is about 30 miles away.  I must take a visit.



____________________
Still learning after all these years!
https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none


Posted by Robert: Wed Apr 3rd, 2019 19:18 18th Post
The best slate is the Coniston green which last well over 100 years, the Burlington blue is less dense, absorbs water and eventually goes soft and goes to mush.

The mine method is so they can extract unweathered stone which will last longer than the surface stone, mining produces a large amount of waste but probably not as much as the open cast quarry method which requires all the overburden to be removed, which is probably safer...  That creates vast waste heaps which are something of an eyesore, esp. in the Lake District with all the 'Doo Gooders' with their nimby attitude.



____________________
Robert.



Posted by blackfox: Thu Apr 4th, 2019 16:09 19th Post
Welsh slates the best :whip:



Posted by jk: Thu Apr 4th, 2019 16:54 20th Post
Kernow rules.
:bowing: :devil::whip:



____________________
Still learning after all these years!
https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none


Posted by Robert: Thu Apr 4th, 2019 17:22 21st Post
blackfox wrote:
Welsh slates the best :whip: Mmmm, some of it tends to go rotten quicker, but good stuff, thicker, is good.  Tends to be pink/purple (ish).

Welsh tends to be cheapest, good Burlington then Coniston green, if you can get it and can afford it!!!



____________________
Robert.



Posted by Robert: Thu Apr 4th, 2019 17:39 22nd Post
I have prepared some images to post, going back to 2016 I took a lot from another viewpoint, Rebecca Hill, which were mainly Sunsets.  I have looked at them today and I think I am getting a better image of the sand-bar from that location, it's much closer, about 8.5 Km, rather than 11Km to the Bank House Moor mines.  Rebecca Hill is only 190M, compared with Bank house mines which are 250M. I still intend to do a time-lapse video from Bank House Mines.

I haven't been on top form last few days, I will try to post the pictures tomorrow, I really can't raise the energy this evening.



____________________
Robert.



Posted by Robert: Fri Apr 5th, 2019 17:48 23rd Post
Finally, images!  Sorry for the delay but everything seems to be a big effort right now.

This is the little village of Soutergate, bathed in sunshine, directly below my vantage point on the old slate mine waste heap.



This is a photo I took in 2015 from another location, part of a panorama series of a sunset, Nikon D200.  This is where we are headed tomorrow morning about 6 am to catch the tide coming in at Sunrise.



This was taken on Wednesday from above Soutergate, Nikon D800 and Nikkor 24-105 f/4.0 VR 11 Km from the Duddon Bar.



This is a wider version of the same panorama.



Finally a view up into the Lakes the rain is falling in the over Seatwaite as it often does. A classic example of almost four seasons in one scene.



____________________
Robert.



Posted by chrisbet: Fri Apr 5th, 2019 19:23 24th Post
The wider pano has sand dunes behind the wind turbines - I have slid a Clydesdale down those dunes :lol:

On the beach - apologies for quality - not my photo as I am sitting on the right hand horse!



____________________
If it is broken it was probably me ....


Posted by chrisbet: Fri Apr 5th, 2019 19:29 25th Post
This from white combe? I think that is black combe on the right ....




____________________
If it is broken it was probably me ....


Posted by Robert: Sat Apr 6th, 2019 00:45 26th Post
chrisbet wrote:
The wider pano has sand dunes behind the wind turbines - I have slid a Clydesdale down those dunes :lol:

On the beach - apologies for quality - not my photo as I am sitting on the right hand horse!

Sounds like Haverigg beach, maybe towards Silecroft?  Loads of dunes along there.  There was an item in the National Geographic in the 1960's about lightning and they featured a sand dune at Haverrig which had been struck by lightning and showed photographs of the glass 'tube' formed by the intense heat of the strike,  I  seem to remember it was about 30 feet long(deep into the sand) which had been excavated.

I think I can just about make out the Isle of Man, ultra faintly in the mist.



____________________
Robert.



Posted by Robert: Sat Apr 6th, 2019 00:48 27th Post
chrisbet wrote:
This from white combe? I think that is black combe on the right ....



Not sure, will have a look at the map when we get back from Moor Farm.  Off out now to make time-lapse.



____________________
Robert.



Posted by chrisbet: Sat Apr 6th, 2019 04:22 28th Post
Robert wrote:
Sounds like Haverigg beach, maybe towards Silecroft?  Loads of dunes along there. We started on the beach car park at Silecroft and rode south - not quite reaching the point.



These are the dunes:



____________________
If it is broken it was probably me ....


Posted by blackfox: Sat Apr 6th, 2019 04:58 29th Post
hmmm nice horses shot spoiled by massive over sharpening halos around horses and riders :'(



Posted by chrisbet: Sat Apr 6th, 2019 05:55 30th Post
Sorry - wasn't the sharpening but me playing with the various slides in darktable ... :lol:

I have made a more moderate edit of the original in its place.



____________________
If it is broken it was probably me ....


Posted by Bob Bowen: Sat Apr 6th, 2019 08:00 31st Post
Love you tidal landscapes Robert. Hope you feel better soon.



____________________
Bob Bowen


Posted by jk: Sat Apr 6th, 2019 13:13 32nd Post
Hope the high tide pictures came out well.  I am sure that they are good.
Love the swirl of the esturary in the first image.



____________________
Still learning after all these years!
https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none


Posted by Robert: Sat Apr 6th, 2019 13:49 33rd Post
Bob Bowen wrote:
Love you tidal landscapes Robert. Hope you feel better soon. Thanks Bob, I really enjoy getting these pictures, that helps but everything is a big effort at the moment.  Will soon be back to normal, I hope.  I seem to have energy in waves, boundless energy then lethargy! LOL



____________________
Robert.



Posted by Robert: Sat Apr 6th, 2019 14:12 34th Post
jk wrote:
Hope the high tide pictures came out well.  I am sure that they are good.
Love the swirl of the esturary in the first image.
The shapes and forms of the channels are amazing.

I got about 3½ hours of video of the tidal flow, compressed into about 27 seconds!  I have stretched it to about a minute and a half and posted it on YouTube.  The compression is crap, it's WAY better with the original in iMovie.  I may try re-processing the files.

For what  it's worth here is my first attempt of a time-lapse tidal flow, started at about 06:30 am BST to about 11:00 am BST.  High tide was about noon.

I slipped up and didn't charge the D800 battery so when I realised after about 30 minutes, I swapped it out for Eric's Battery.  That did 4 hours of time-lapse and ran out, I had set the D800 to record until noon, high tide time.  I have a 'cheap' plastic motor drive second battery holder, I believe that will allow me to use both batteries to power the D800, effectively doubling the recording time.  Also, I made an exposure every 15 seconds,  I plan to increase that to every 5 seconds, that should produce a smoother video.

I am very disappointed with the poor quality from the YouTube video, I may have settings wrong, I always struggle with video, it's a pretty specialised area.  I very rarely do video so most of the  terminology is gibberish to me.  Anyway, enough excuses, lets see if it works...



BTW, many thanks to Chris, who has made this possible.  I have some horse pix of my own I will post once I have this working.



____________________
Robert.



Posted by Robert: Sat Apr 6th, 2019 15:03 35th Post
Horsey pix for Chris...  Belonging to Terry and Sharon, who kindly allow me to access their farm land for photography purposes.

D3, Nikkor 80-200 f2.8 (trombone) ISO200, between 1/2500 sec and 1/5000 sec, f/2.8 active AF.



Hey! What about me?





Together.



____________________
Robert.



Posted by jk: Sat Apr 6th, 2019 16:02 36th Post
That is very good for first shoot. The weather looks a bit hazy.  It was here in Cornwall.  Really need a cold, dry day with no wind, I think, for best results.

I think that you need to go low to high tide which is a 12 hour span (actually usually about 11hrs 35mins if I remember correctly) or vice versa.  Every 15 seconds is good as this will smooth well.  Every 5 seconds will give you huge number of images.  For meI would probably go for 1 exposure per minute = 12hrs x 60mins = 720 exposures so that will be one fully charged D800 battery!   I think!



____________________
Still learning after all these years!
https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none


Posted by Robert: Sat Apr 6th, 2019 16:33 37th Post
Thanks JK, yes it was very hazy, we couldn't see the offshore wind turbines, in the last hour it cleared, but by then the battery had gone.  It was very cold and very windy at first, we also had to deal with cows, I was concerned they might try to use the D800 on a tripod as a scratching post, knock it over than trample it in the mud.  I anchored the camera to some barbed wire and positioned the tripod in a precarious position on the edge of a deep quarry.

I had to apply slow motion to 25% and 10% of normal to make the video which was about 22 seconds long to start with, a reasonable length. Otherwise if you blinked you missed it!

The D800 has a video trick up it's sleeve, this was the first time I have used it intentionally (don't ask!), what it does is take the exposures in a different format, then at the end of the recording it assembles a video clip, it's one single file.  The finished file is quite small (64Mb) compared with the thousands of exposures I have taken in the past to assemble into a movie. It does this quite seamlessly, even when the camera's battery runs out of charge (but not if you switch the camera off before it's done).  Nikon's default is five seconds per frame, one can go down to 1 second if needed to get an appropriate replay speed.



____________________
Robert.



Posted by chrisbet: Sat Apr 6th, 2019 18:07 38th Post
Nice to see horses in the sunshine :-)

Grey and damp day here...

The video isn't too bad if you watch full screen and crank it up to 1080 in the settings. Not sure why you stretched it out - it looks better to me at twice that speed.



____________________
If it is broken it was probably me ....


Posted by Robert: Sun Apr 7th, 2019 03:36 39th Post
chrisbet wrote:
The video isn't too bad if you watch full screen and crank it up to 1080 in the settings. Not sure why you stretched it out - it looks better to me at twice that speed.
I thought it was set at 1080, I was sure I selected that setting but this is only a trial run, I need to get used to the video setup with the camera.  In the past I have done T-L by taking JPEGs every 15 or 20 seconds then combining them into a video in photoshop but the process is messy, convoluted and very time consuming.  I have thousands of images watching leaf buds bursting taken at 30 minute intervals over weeks. With the D800 all you have to do is make some settings in the camera and walk away.  The result is a single video file which is ready to view, easy peasy!  I love it, can't wait to do more...

I stretched the video because there is so much happening as the channels fill and envelop the sandbanks it's impossible to follow the action from about 3½ Hrs compressed into 22.4 seconds.  The main reason for the video is so people can see how the channels fill and how easy it is to get cut off very quickly, far quicker than you can run.  Once the bore starts to flow things happen very quickly.  It's very interesting to see how gently the water rises until a certain point when it starts to surge in.  I don't think the tide graphs accurately reflect the ramp profile of the tidal rise, it's not linear, there is a very distinct surge.  The Inshore Rescue's focus is on avoiding people getting into trouble on the sands in the first place.



____________________
Robert.



Posted by jk: Sun Apr 7th, 2019 05:01 40th Post
Robert,
The tidal rate of change is not linear.
See here.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_twelfths

Therefore you need to maybe change rate to a slower frame for first and last two hours of the time but in the middle 8 hours you need a faster frame to show the change.



____________________
Still learning after all these years!
https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none


Posted by chrisbet: Sun Apr 7th, 2019 08:41 41st Post
Low to High tide is just over 6 hours and the first hour after low and before high is considered "dead water" so the noticeable movement is 4 hours long.

As a boat owner in the Thames estuary, I am well familiar with the issue of people being cut off by the tide which races in behind you if you are unaware of the nature of the mudflats.

We even have an RNLI hovercraft to deal with the problem! :smilesmall:



____________________
If it is broken it was probably me ....


Posted by jk: Sun Apr 7th, 2019 11:14 42nd Post
jk wrote:
Robert,
The tidal rate of change is not linear.
See here.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_twelfths

Therefore you need to maybe change rate to a slower frame for first and last two hours of the time but in the middle 8 hours you need a faster frame to show the change.
Correction of my post above after reading Chris' post.

High tide to high tide is 12 hours. High to low is only 6 hours.  
Therefore for best capture you need low frame rate 0-1 hr after High tide (HW) as rate of change is low,  then 2-5hrs after HW up frame rate to match increased change of tidal flow/rise.  5-6hrs after HW and one hour before low water change frame rate back down to similar to first hour after high water.

Chris are you familiar with the mud flats and creeks at Malden?  Equally treacherous.



____________________
Still learning after all these years!
https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none


Posted by Robert: Sun Apr 7th, 2019 12:07 43rd Post
Spent two weeks on the Thames from Chertsey to Letchlade and back, great fun, until my father hit the low bridge at Oxford, demolished the cabin windscreen, then we realised why it folded flat! :lol:  It must have happened before, we just glued it back together, nobody noticed.

I do want the flooding of the marginal areas, yesterday it just covered the grassy margins, I want to get the next extreme tide and that should show the extent of the tidal coverage.

Need more practice with video (time-lapse), now I have a capable camera.



____________________
Robert.



Posted by chrisbet: Sun Apr 7th, 2019 12:48 44th Post
Lol - yes, I know most of the Essex coastline and the Thames up to Lechlade. Never hit a bridge though :lol:



____________________
If it is broken it was probably me ....


Posted by jk: Sun Apr 7th, 2019 13:10 45th Post
Robert wrote:

The D800 has a video trick up it's sleeve, this was the first time I have used it intentionally (don't ask!), what it does is take the exposures in a different format, then at the end of the recording it assembles a video clip, it's one single file.  The finished file is quite small (64Mb) compared with the thousands of exposures I have taken in the past to assemble into a movie. It does this quite seamlessly, even when the camera's battery runs out of charge (but not if you switch the camera off before it's done).  Nikon's default is five seconds per frame, one can go down to 1 second if needed to get an appropriate replay speed.

What menu item is that?  Since I almost never do video I have never used it.



____________________
Still learning after all these years!
https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none


Posted by Robert: Sun Apr 7th, 2019 13:29 46th Post
Last but one item in the Shooting Menu.

It greys out easily, it won't activate without a lens or if bracketing is selected, I am sure there will be other incompatible settings which will grey out the option, those are just the ones I have run up against.

I understand the D850 is even better with additional options and a 'Holy Grail' setting option which allows a much wider exposure range to allow time-lapse to be made from bright daylight through to dark night conditions without user intervention.



____________________
Robert.



Posted by jk: Sun Apr 7th, 2019 14:48 47th Post
Thanks.  I will take a look.



____________________
Still learning after all these years!
https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none


Posted by Robert: Sun Apr 7th, 2019 14:57 48th Post
The time-lapse feature was one of the many reasons I went for the D800, despite it's high pixel count, while useful at times, I don't really need the high resolution day to day.



____________________
Robert.



Posted by jk: Sun Apr 7th, 2019 15:04 49th Post
I find the D800 is a great camera that is perfectly balanced between the 24MP of my D600 and the 45MP of the D850/Z7.
It works well for me.



____________________
Still learning after all these years!
https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none


Posted by Robert: Sun Apr 7th, 2019 15:09 50th Post
I think the thing about the D800 which I most like is the pliability and range of the NEF's, the amazing detail I can find in the shadows and to a lesser extent in the highlights.



____________________
Robert.



Posted by blackfox: Mon Apr 15th, 2019 05:55 51st Post
the only criticism I have on that video rob is the contrast levels and heat haze , a Cpl filter might help or perhaps negative exposure compensation , I would take a few test shots next time to try and raise the contrast levels.. weather looking good for this weekends tides to



Posted by Robert: Mon Apr 15th, 2019 06:11 52nd Post
Thanks for looking Jeff, the video is perfect at this end, I think it's the You Tube video compression which has ****ed it up.  I may have used the wrong settings uploading it, I don't know, some of the video terminology/jargon is double Dutch to me.o.O

I am planning another this next weekend, the weather forecast is good and the tide range is greater, low tide down to 0.5M and high tide up to 10.2M, last week was just a trial run really.  I need to experiment with the video settings in the D800 because  I know they weren't optimal.  I had intended to just take a ton of JPEGs then combine them in Ps into a video, which I have done before but since the D800 can do it in camera so neatly I thought I would give it a whirl.  I will also use the extra battery compartment which came with the camera as a way of doubling the battery capacity.  I need a portable external power source but it will have to wait for now.

I may run the D300S and use a longer lens to make short clips of specific areas of the estuary.  I also want to edit in some clips of the currents and whirlpools around the pier.  They are seriously dangerous and quite spectacular.

What with getting up early for tides and staying up late to photograph stars I don't see many opportunities for sleep!  But you can't miss good weather for either.



____________________
Robert.



Posted by chrisbet: Mon Apr 15th, 2019 09:58 53rd Post
Robert,

What is the size of the video & what format (mp4, mov, avi) ?



____________________
If it is broken it was probably me ....


Posted by Robert: Mon Apr 22nd, 2019 14:55 54th Post
Sorry Chris, this slipped under my radar.

I have had another session today, spent the morning on Askam Pier, nothing glamorous, just many thousands of tons of slag from the old steelworks, which was demolished in the 1930's flourished in the late 1800's.  The pier forms a barrier nearly a mile long out into the estuary, like a giant breakwater.  The tide has to go round it and the currents are really fierce, at the far end it is about 2 Metres above normal high tides.





I wanted to video a full tide coming in, close up, from the initial bore to slack water at high tide.  This morning a recorded it for a bit over three hours with the D800 and the D3 taking JPEG time lapse at 5 second intervals.  Unfortunately the conditions seemed to have prevented the severe whirlpools forming today, but todays video shows even bigger ones off the end of the pier.

The D800 was wonderful, I set the interval and duration and at the end it finished and the resulting file is an MPEG4 I think, no sound of course  Not sure of the resolution.

The D3 doesn't 'do' video so I set it to work taking JPEGs, 1700 of them!  I have just finished outputting the MPEG4 file a few minuets ago, it has taken me most of the afternoon, I don't do it very often, so had to refresh my  memory on how to do it in Photoshop.  I output it at 1920p resolution I think at 24.xxx frames per second.

The previous video from the D800 was the basis for the you tube video I uploaded.  I will have to check out what the settings were but when I played it before uploading it it was perfect.  I am sure the compression and whatever Google do with it for publication, played havoc with the quality.

Once I have recovered I will upload todays video, I will try to break it down a bit, it totals over 2.5 minutes for three hours of recording on two cameras.



____________________
Robert.



Posted by chrisbet: Mon Apr 22nd, 2019 17:17 55th Post
Well if you let me know the file extension and filesize I can set the forum to allow you to attach the file so people can play it locally without having to go via Utube



____________________
If it is broken it was probably me ....


Posted by Robert: Mon Apr 22nd, 2019 18:28 56th Post
Thank you Chris, below is the 'get info' screen.

That is for about two minutes of video but I plan to edit it down a lot.  I was shooting with two cameras simultaneously almost back to back.  I hope to interlace the two clips when I get the time/energy (I do have the time right now but not the energy!).

I anticipate at least half of the video will be cut out, maybe still frames added to dwell on some aspect perhaps with a touch of Ken Burns thrown in.  I find Video editing tedious and very time consuming.

Perhaps if you can you could advise me what size and other settings might be optimal for this.

Attachment: Screen Shot 2019-04-22 at 23.14.08.jpg (Downloaded 69 times)



____________________
Robert.



Posted by chrisbet: Mon Apr 22nd, 2019 18:43 57th Post
OK - you can try attaching that file to a post. I might need to tweak some of the server settings if it takes to long and times out ideally keep the file as small as possible, consistent with the desired quality.



____________________
If it is broken it was probably me ....


Posted by Robert: Mon Apr 22nd, 2019 19:00 58th Post
Thanks Chris, I will try to edit down tomorrow.



____________________
Robert.



Posted by jk: Tue Apr 23rd, 2019 02:20 59th Post
We agreed when we set up the forum that video would be uploaded to YouTube as video would soon eat our disk space.
Since YT are happy to host for free it makes sense to keep video there.



____________________
Still learning after all these years!
https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none


Posted by Robert: Tue Apr 23rd, 2019 03:17 60th Post
Perhaps a better host like Vimeo (or some other) might be better?  I do have a Vimeo account, or I did.

You Tube is Google (I think) they don't do ANYTHING for free.

I agree we need to take advantage of 'free' hosting for video but the quality hit on my last upload was really bad.  It may have been because of my choice of size, format or settings, I don't know but if that's the standard I am going to get from You Tube I won't bother, video has always been very marginal for me, the amount of work needed for a few seconds video is not worth the effort.  Using the D800 time-lapse movie feature makes it a dream, rather than thousands of JPEGs to process, which even with several SSD's and a fast processor is still a drag.



____________________
Robert.



Posted by chrisbet: Tue Apr 23rd, 2019 03:53 61st Post
You are using just 26 GB of your 70GB bandwidth and 2.4GB of your 5 GB disk space.

The occasional use of video is not going to impact costs.



____________________
If it is broken it was probably me ....


Posted by jk: Tue Apr 23rd, 2019 04:02 62nd Post
Once it is enabled then there is no going back.  All it needs is some idiot who start making 4K video uploads of his granny's birthday party, etc., and we then have the problem of culling the video content, with the consequential broken links.
Please DO NOT enable.



____________________
Still learning after all these years!
https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none


Posted by chrisbet: Tue Apr 23rd, 2019 04:06 63rd Post
As you wish - .mov & .mp4 files removed from attachments.



____________________
If it is broken it was probably me ....


Posted by jk: Tue Apr 23rd, 2019 05:02 64th Post
Thanks



____________________
Still learning after all these years!
https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none


Posted by Graham Whistler: Tue Apr 23rd, 2019 18:07 65th Post
Robert thoese are A1 pixs of the old quarry and river estuary!



____________________
Graham Whistler


Posted by Robert: Tue Apr 23rd, 2019 18:21 66th Post
Thanks Graham, I am finally getting to explore that part of the local landscape.  I really want to get up Harter fell, each year I promise myself I will make it but no-go to date.  I would love to be up there at dawn, maybe with mist in the valleys. Maybe this year?



____________________
Robert.



Posted by blackfox: Wed Apr 24th, 2019 05:15 67th Post
I would love to do a video of my grans birthday party , do you have a spare time machine :lol:



Posted by jk: Thu May 2nd, 2019 03:24 68th Post
Robert, You might want to see how this works for you.
https://www.dpreview.com/news/3555713063/timelapse-releases-studio-editing-plug-in-for-lightroom-users



____________________
Still learning after all these years!
https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none


Posted by Robert: Thu May 2nd, 2019 05:15 69th Post
Thank you JK, that looks good, it may be just what I need.  I will have a closer look later.

I have been out of action for the last week and even simple stuff is an effort still.  I had a fall, I tripped over a drill handle outside and fell on my back on a jagged rock.

iPhone image of the rock


The sharp spike made a bad gouge in the flesh but worse, somehow it seems to have torn a muscle near my pelvis which is giving me excruciating pain in certain positions.  Pain killers etc. are helping but my enthusiasm for doing 'stuff' has waned somewhat.  It is improving but only very slowly.

The 'Project'  I am digging out the slag behind my shed to give me more room and my neighbour is planning to build a new shed on his patch, so it's a bit of a joint effort.






____________________
Robert.



Posted by jk: Thu May 2nd, 2019 05:49 70th Post
Oh dear.  I hope you recover soon Robert.
I wont do H&SE spiel as I dont believe in it.  Accidents are a warning!

Hope that you are up and fit again soon.



____________________
Still learning after all these years!
https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none


Posted by Graham Whistler: Thu May 2nd, 2019 15:16 71st Post
Very sorry you hurt yourself Robert, please take it easy and get better soon!



____________________
Graham Whistler

Reply
1st new
This is topic ID = 1693  
Nikon DSLR Forums > Photography > Photography Projects > Tidal Estuary Photography Project for Inshore Rescue Top

Users viewing this topic

Post quick reply

Current theme is Blue



A small amount of member data is captured and held in an attempt to reduce spammers and to manage users. This site also uses cookies to ensure ease of use. In order to comply with new DPR regulations you are required to agree/disagree with this process. If you do not agree then please email the Admins using info@nikondsl.uk Thank you.


Hosted by Octarine Services

UltraBB 1.173 Copyright © 2008-2024 Data 1 Systems
Page processed in 0.1747 seconds (70% database + 30% PHP). 395 queries executed.