Images from the South Pennines with the Canon Ixus 400 digicam.

By Ian Walker.  UK.

The diminutive Canon Ixus 400 which has now been now replaced by the 500 keeps impressing me with its capture of rich colours and sharp lens. A go anywhere camera, I can highly recommend it for build quality and speed in which you can obtain fleeting moments of unusual lighting in landscape photography. The optical viewfinder which I find essential for framing landscape shots works well, I rarely use the LCD for landscape work but for macro it is bright with a high resolution screen. A new piece of software which can reside in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements has been used [Web Presenter Pro by Fred Miranda, visit www.fredmiranda.com] for combined resizing and resharpening in all the smaller pictures and I am impressed with the results. Some rather severe jpeg compression has been needed in keeping file sizes reasonable even at these sizes which unfortunately has added artifacts to the pictures mainly in the skies and diagonals.

Summertime in the Pennines can be anything but hot and balmy, more often than not its blowing a gale and at best sunshine and showers. This year has been particularly changeable with weather fronts racing in thick and fast...but this can be rewarding for landscape photography but frustrating for outside macro. I hope I have captured here some of the moods both menacing and peaceful that you may encounter in the Pennines,  North of England. Most of these pictures have been shot in the last few weeks.

Some of the pictures will show a hand sign if the cursor arrow is placed over the image these have much larger versions available if you click anywhere on the image but be warned they vary from around 100Kb to 1Mb so you will need a fast connection. The pictures will look best at screen resolutions around 1600x1200, resolutions of 1024x768 will exaggerate compression artifacts.

Three Bales.

 The modern way of storing hay using these pale blue-green plastic containers can create an interesting subject against dark skies.

 Twisted Gate.

Typical of the farms in remote Pennine spots, old mangled gates can be found all over the place. However I think this is probably an extreme case, I like the mix of contrails and clouds.

Canon Ixus 400 with Nikon 4500 circular polarizing filter, shot in Sepia and desaturated in Photoshop.

 Underwing of the orange tip butterfly.

I think the underwing of this beautiful butterfly is nearly as attractive as its bright orange wing tips seen on its upperwing.

Here the Canon has produced a ' velvety' quality to the image, you can almost reach out and touch  the dandelion seeds, the Canon has no aperture or shutter priority but it always provides a pleasing image.

 Lonely Cottage.

This picture was taken quite early in the morning while the mist was still receding. I am pleased with this shot, this really typifies the Pennine scenery in my area.

Canon, Sepia mode desaturated in Photoshop.

 Flowers in the rain.

 Here Canon's rich colours and sharp lens really shine through aided by the lighting created by dark overcast skies

Buttercups.

Canon Ixus 400 with Nikon 4500 circular polarizing filter, shot in Sepia and desaturated in Photoshop.

 Open gate to nowhere.

 Even a modern gate left open by the farmer can lead the viewer into a lonely landscape typical of the Pennines.

 Canon Ixus 400 with Nikon 4500 circular polarizing filter, shot in Sepia and desaturated in Photoshop.

 Logs.

 A freshly cut pile of logs can provide an attractive picture.

Canon in Sepia mode.

 Ringstone Reservoir.

 I like the tiny 'fluffy' clouds dotted in the sky which seem to balance the solitary trees and subtle shades in the water

 Canon Ixus 400 with Nikon 4500 circular polarizing filter, shot in Sepia and desaturated in Photoshop.

 Storm Brewing.

 The sky was the main theme but I need something to balance the picture so I used the farm machinery exposed for nearly silhouette.

 Canon in Sepia mode.

 Fields and Sky.

 Freshly cut fields have a light texture which can take on a luminous quality in Sepia mode.

 Canon Ixus 400 with Nikon 4500 circular polarizing filter, shot in Sepia and desaturated in Photoshop.

 Buttercups and Sky.

Really dramatic images can be created with Photoshop's channel mixer, here an emphasis in the red channel whilst converted from colour to monochrome adds real impact.

Canon in colour mode, edited using Photoshop Elements with Photoshop channel mixer 'plug-in'.

the end.

Comments to the author, Ian Walker, are welcomed.

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