digartal

Thank you, they are lovely little birds. Cheers Mark

Thanks JRR. The Superb (Blue) is more common around here than the red backed. I used to have some blues in my front yard but local pets scared them off. Right place right time and while I could not adjust to my desired settings, it was timely. Thanks for commenting. Mark

Managed to capture a few hundred shots of this tiny little bird (Male and Female) with my digtal camera last week. Images edited and cropped square for social media. They had been quite shy and elusive but saw some more this morning strangely enough. Made some of them into a slide show using a Style shared by DaveGee - thanks again DaveGee. Cheers Mark

Always interesting to see snow images associated with Christmas. In the southern hemisphere, we are in the middle of summer and it is very hot here.

Amazing, absolutely stunning work. Very impressive.

Thanks, yes Adult face painting for sure.

Thanks Nelson, amazing what ChatGPT can do to give you the bones and remove northern hemisphere references and then make it more local.

I attend a Halloween special cabaret night in early November. The lady who runs it also does Life Drawing so this is Life Drawing meets Showtime. This is a selection of camera and mobile images from the night made into an AV using PTE. This second version was captured and edited on the mobile using horizontal pictures. Cheers Mark

On the outskirts of Lennox Head, a cozy over-50s residential village nestled among the native tall trees, flora, and fauna, a sense of anticipation bubbled with the arrival of December. It was the time of year when the air became thicker and warmer, carrying the scent of the heat from the day and the promise of festivities coming soon. In this quaint community, the holiday spirit came alive in the most heartwarming ways. Some residents of Sanctuary Village took immense pride in adorning their homes with Christmas lights. For them, it wasn't merely about twinkling decorations; it was a tradition that embodied camaraderie and the celebration of Christmas cheer. Each day, as the sun dipped low on the hills behind the village, casting an amber glow, a friendly sense of camaraderie unfolded silently among the neighbours as they gathered for the Christmas cheer. Each year, The Village People dedicated weeks meticulously planning and stringing lights, aiming to outshine their previous year's spectacle. At the forefront of this seasonal spectacle were Greg and Barbara. Affectionately known as the "Lighting Maestros," their house took the art of holiday decorations to soaring heights from the rooftop to the star on the tree. Turning their modest cottage into a mesmerizing display of shimmering lights and animated figures. In 2023, the moving Santa stood proudly outside their home and sang and danced jovially to the sound of Christmas tunes. It said that the lights from their place can be seen from space. Around the winding streets, the jovial Sharon, — also joined in the festive fervour. Her approach was more whimsical, featuring a menagerie of colourful statues and ornaments wrapped with lights and strung between and through the garden, and the archway and accompanied by an extensive collection of ornaments and trinkets gathered over many years. The veranda was transformed to a magical display of Christmas festivities. As families entered the village, sounds of excitement could be heard in the air. As December unfolded, most of the village became an enchanting sight as the Christmas cheer spread from ear to here. Soft, twinkling lights adorned eaves, windows, and fences, creating a kaleidoscope of colours that danced in the balmy summer night. Residents and visitors strolled along the winding roads, marvelling at the creativity and dedication displayed by The Village People. Yet, the true magic of Sanctuary Village wasn't merely the luminous displays but the unity they fostered amongst the night lighters. Neighbours came together, lending a helping hand when a strand of lights flickered, tinsel or a decoration needed adjusting. As friendships deepened over shared stories over a roast dinner and cold drinks at the Social Club Christmas Party. As the days drew closer to Christmas, the laughter echoed through the groups of people who came to see the magical light show. The days passed, from to another, a sense of excitement grew, as the appearance of Santa loomed from December 15 until Christmas Eve. Santa would sit in the robust red sleigh, listening to Christmas wishes from the young and the young at heart while checking who was naughty or nice. In the spirit of Christmas, The Village People and Santa asked visitors for a donation to Our House in Lismore. Yearly, from December 15, a sense of wonder enveloped Sanctuary Village. The entire village seemed to sparkle as families gathered outside, admiring the shimmering spectacle. Greg and Barbara’s house glowed like a beacon, and Sharon’s cheerful lights brought a smile to every face young or old. When the clock struck 10.00 pm on Christmas Eve, the village became silent. Santa had to leave and start his deliveries and The Village People needed their rest. For the past 10 days, the twinkling lights had glowed with the true essence of the season: warmth, togetherness, and the joy of sharing moments with children and adults from the local community. In Sanctuary Village even though some residents had gone to greener pastures, the beauty of the holiday lights was not just in their brilliance, but in the friendships, they illuminated among the residents — a testament to the enduring spirit of community in the village and the magic of Christmas. I have been practicing my sixth sense to see who has been naughty and nice as I am playing Santa Claus for 5 nights before Christmas. This was captured and edited on the mobile hence the vertical format.

PC is 25.4.

Thanks Alex, appreciate you sharing and will look at it when the need arises. Very contemporary and would suit many subjects. Mark

Wow - always a dilemma to find the right music. Sometimes the AV starts with the music and then you capture the images.

Very effective and well done. Love the concept as a Transition also. Thanks for sharing.

Impressive sphere and AV, thanks for sharing.

Hi Rosy There are numerous models here Link on Amazon. Mine was bought at an AU store on ebay but I am sure they will be available in the UK. Have not used mine on the job but hope to do that this week. It has a single battery and is a standard format which did not come with the unit. You can buy models that are cheaper and have less features. Mark

Nice to see your set up. Mine was not that elaborate and used A3 printed backgrounds and only front lit. I used a MIOPS Water trigger but still takes a lot of patience. Nice crown in your image. Mark

No I have not used anything like that. I just bought a Field Monitor that goes on my camera for macro, video and replay etc but that is only around 6 inches but image quality is great and even has a touch screen.

I am just starting to get interested in video and the popularity is growing. Like many photographer/AV enthusiasts still images were the go and movement could be created in the AV. With static objects, single image animation has an impact in the AV (pan, zoom etc which I use for property photography) but it is still not as good as video which gives you a 3D-like effect. With moving objects and people, video is quite powerful in an AV albeit it takes more time to capture, edit and produce. On saying that AI is making video editing more user-friendly.

Hello Pascal Great transitions and thank you for sharing. I love the water drop image also, something I need to find more time to do. Here is a link to an old video edited with the transitions above. Cheers Mark

Stunning work extremely creative and very entertaining. I cannot imagine the time and effort to create something like this and I am in awe of your skill and creativity. Congratulations once again and thanks for sharing. May you enjoy many more years of audio-visual animation. Cheers Mark

My interest in photography did not begin till 1988 at the time of the Expo in Brisbane. After that, I joined a local camera club in Brisbane and became interested in AV's. I can remember sitting with an old friend at his house and making AVs with slides and adding pulses to an accompanying tape well into the early hours of the morning. Barry used to write articles and tutorials for a UK magazine before moving down under. The magazines were ordered each month from the newsagent and collected as soon as they came in. The advent of digital was a boom to AVs and they became easier to make and save and had many more features - transitions, styles, effects, etc. Our club ran the Metropolitan Audio Visual Club competition for one year. It was conducted on a rotational basis with other clubs and some used Picture to Exe while others used different software (no longer available). At the time I was assisting the projectionist. We had to bring a desktop PC in for the judging/presentation as our laptop was unable to run the PTE EXE application. In one of the Metropolitan Audio Visual Competition in Brisbane (another old friend Bill Smit) was the judge. His comments about my AV stuck in my mind "Just because there are over 100 transitions in the software, you don't have to use them in your show". The advent of digital video affected AVs for a while but then people started to incorporate still and video images. It is also a testament to Igor and his team that PTE continues to grow and prosper all these many years later. Thank you Barry and Igor for your stamina and dedication over the years.

Thanks Dave - this will go next to the other one.

I looked at the Nikon, Canon, and Sony bridge cameras about 12 months ago. The biggest negative for the 125 zoom was blur due to camera shake and the image quality was not all that good. In the end, I bought the Sony RX10IV and even bought a second one to be converted to IR. The menu and controls are different to my other Sony's but they are my regular "wandering" cameras. I also have a Samsung Galaxy S23 and absolutely amazed at the quality of still and video images. You can get a gimbal for it that makes shooting videos much easier.

Thanks for looking. Yes it is a great spot. I also took some drone images as well as some infrared but that is for another day. May visit again tomorrow as I have a small job in the morning.