Focus stacking garden flowers

I have been experimenting with the automatic focus stacking facilities afforded by the Olympus OMD E-M1.  For the uninitiated this allows the photographer to capture a series of images each of which has a very shallow depth of field and then to combine the infocus parts of the images to drive at an image in which the required part of the image is sharp, while the background remains a pleasing soft blur.  Usually this means setting up the camera on a special rack on a tripod with allows a series images to be taken, moving the camera forwards a very small amount between exposures.  However, the Olympus system automatically takes a series of shots with different focal points and then (optionally) stacks them for you.  The images below have all been stacked in the camera with the exception of the shot with two roses which gave me too much depth of field, so I selected a subset of the images and stacked them using Photoshop.  The final image shows how too many shots results in too much focus!

Salisbury - mostly cathedral

Staying with my brother in Winchester, we visited Salisbury on Monday. the first thing to catch our eye in the cathedral precincts was an extraordinary sculptured bottom.  We discovered that this was part of an exhibition by Sophie Ryder who seems to specialise in creatures with hare's heads and human bodies…

Inside the cathedral I was surprised to find that it was not a cathedral with masses of natural light as I had imagined.  Visiting with non-photographers anticipating their lunch inhibited my use of tripod, so I used the built-in HDR facilities on my Olympus OMD E-M1 all hand-held.  The first shots are from the garden of Ted Heath's house. The last pair are my attempt at showing the magnificent scissor arches which were introduced to support the spire when it was added 100 years after the main body of the cathedral.

Adam's story - the Grafman Triathlon

I spent today beside Graham Water in the company of Kate, Arthur and Elsie whilst Adam completed the "Grafman" Half Ironman Triathlon.  This comprised a 1.9km swim, a 91 km bike ride followed by a half marathon (21 km) run.  Adam completed the course in 6 hours 13 minutes and 38 secs.  I arrived after the swim had started, so my photographic record starts with Adam in the Transition area after his swim as he changes to get on his bike for the second phase.  The Transition Area is a large compound where all of the athletes kit lives whilst they are completing each stage.  It is policed by "Technical Officials" who ensure that the minutiae of the rules are obeyed

Having met up with Kate and the children we went out to the road, to catch Adam on his return from the first short leg to the bike ride:

Now we went to have breakfast whilst we knew that our hero would be absent for about three hours. Then after 2:59:09 min the saddle, he was back in Transition to prepare for the run:

And then, he's up and running.  The course consists of two unequal loops which together make up 10.5km, so are run twice:

After the first lap is looking very weary - perhaps  he is anticipating the climb which starts the second lap.

Towards the end of the first loop of the second lap he looks much better

And then - the finish! Arthur joins him for the run up the funnel to the Finish and earns his own medal!  Adam and his friend Jem enjoy the competitor's reward of a pint of (alcohol-free) lager