Hold on! Wasn’t the Gimp the person kept in the lockable box in the basement at the gun shop in Pulp Fiction? eek! 
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@fryingtonite love the photo with the squirrel. I see you said it wasn’t planned but the unplanned ones are sometimes the best. Great work.
Hi Mrs5K
Thanks! Yes, it was lucky. We have a couple of squirrels that hang about our garden. Dunno where they go, but we often see them running along the fence and back again a while later.
Last year, I saw one running along the fence with a couple of babies in tow. Now THAT would have made a nice pic!
I’ve got a pretty rubbish tiny plastic tripod with the zoom lens, but think it might be OK for low shots. Tomorrow if I get time, I’m going to put a pile of peanuts out for the squirrels and set the camera up next to them. Hopefully get a close-up 
.
Following @Bobbi 's post, I did an unsharp mask on the moon pic, converted it to black and white and played around with the contrast/brightness. Now you can see a bit more detail, which I quite like:
Cheers
Steve
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I would like to make it plain that I am not advocating introducing bondage into the hobby and pursuit of photography.
GIMP is a software package, the ‘Gnu Image Manipulation Program’, and is not connected with the wearing of leather and rubber.
This is not the GIMP mask to which I was referring.
Image manipulation is a vast subject which was being studied before photography came into existence. The way that light works, perspective, light and shade, colour and perception are all relevant and can influence the manufactured image. It can be useful to have some knowledge of these things.
The formation and arrangement of words can also influence what we perceive and how it comes across.
keep on keepin’ on
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I’ll throw this into the mix for anyone who might want more.
This is a vast subject but knowing how perception can be influenced is worth discovering. Whether you chose to use the know how is up to you.
If this is too technical to take in, relax. Don’t let this stunt your creativity. We all have something to share. Do it your way. Nobody goes out and tells a bird they hit a wrong note, or criticises a daisy for getting its colours wrong. You are the way you were meant to be.
keep on keepin’ on
Hi @Bobbi
Yes, of course I was joking as I can see you are. Nice mask though, do you know where you can buy them? Just for the weekend of course
Thanks very much for the vid on unsharp masking. I’ll check it out later as it’s a early start today and not had my coffee yet. I see there’s plenty for me to learn here.
Just as an aside - I zoomed in on my reference image (the kitchen one) and measured the width of the bird box as 36 pixels. Then I did the same with the 36x zoom image and it was 778 pixels. So, 778/36 = just over 20x. Is my method right? If so, my lens is only 20x, not 36x. I bought it as ‘opened never used’ on eBay and wondered if it’s a knock-off? I’ll try and find some official images of it and see if there are any errors in the appearance/text. Hmmmmm
Cheers
Steve
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Believe it or not I’m no expert, just an enthusiast. I would have to google how that works, I too tend to accept what I am told. It isn’t nice to feel that you’ve been ripped off though.
I know for certain that magnification and quality are inversely proportional. A decent quality magnification can work out very expensive, Those super large lenses used by journalists are tens of thousands of pounds I believe.
I’m likely inaccurate here but I think I think 35X refers to focal length rather than image size. Also variation in image size appears to not be proportional to variation in focal length. My brain is boggling in trying to conceive of what is involved.
Looking on the big net I don’t think you have wasted your money and you will likely enjoy capturing some interesting images.
I wouldn’t advise searching for used gimp masks on ebay, they could introduce complications.
Maybe an enthusiast, but a knowledgeable one! Your input is much appreciated! I see someone else is up early too!
I’ll test the theory of image size versus x zoom on my phone later as it will do 0.5x, 1x and 5x so I’ll take a sample and measure them and see what comes out the pot. I trust my phone to be correct (he says hopefully!)
On the Apexel lens, I’ve had a closer look, and there are some other issues with it.
Down the objective end, there’s a knurled ring that will not turn, even if you use some force. Looking o the Apexel site, this is the Field of View adjustment. Additionally, on the official site, it has the text next to the ring saying “-FOV+” and mine does not.
Searching on the Aliexpress site, there’s lots of supposedly Apexel 36x lenses, all with the FOV text missing and reading the reviews there are complaints the FOV ring doesn’t move.
Currently, I think this is an Aliexpress knock-off but have emailed Apexel with some pics to ask their opinion. I’ve also emailed the seller to ask where they bought it from.
The other thing I noticed on one of the pics (36x), was a little chromatic aberration, which surprised me (see below) You can see a blue tinge around the edges of hole in the bird box:
I’ve posted this link to where you can download GIMP software for those wanting to have a look. The downloads are full, free and continuously in development. They are available for Windows, MacOS and Linux.
and this video gives an introduction to using the program:
and, additionally, here’s a set of beginner tutorials for those who want to ease in gently.
I’m sure that is enough for now. Give it a try - you will find how useful it can be.
Plus it will take your mind off the stroke thing for a bit.
Sorry I interrupted when you were in full flow @fryingtonite I’m looking forward to seeing the squirrel images you are planning.
. . . and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t put it about how enthusiastic about GIMP masks I appear to be.
keep on keepin’ on
Hi @Bobbi
Thanks again for the tutorial and info on your Gimp mask, sorry software . Being such a multitalented photographer, I now understand if I take photos using the mask they will all be sharp. MY wife likes the mask, mostly 'cos it has a lockable zip over the mouth, which I didn’t think was very nice
I’m not going to check it out yet, as have burnt myself out getting a bit too excited about the zoom lens lol, but once recovered, I’ll check it out.
actually I can do the squirrel thing now. Well, not now as it’s dark and they will have gone to bye byes. I mean tomorrow if I’m not comatose. I’ve doen something similar before with the catflap (another story!) My phone will take 8K videos, so I’ll set it for that and time lapse, maybe 3 frames per second, hopefully catch one of the devils and pull a good frame out. Hope they don’t nibble or steal my phone.
Ok for the other story. I was interested which cats came through the catflap in the night, so did the above and got some nice pics which made me laugh:
And while I’m on a roll… I did some microphotography with my phone and microscope. What started out seeming something fairly easy, it turned into a full blown project, but was loads of fun. Here’s some pics. Zoom in on the spider if you dare!
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feel free to practice in your next post
[grid]
(link to image 1)
(link to image 2)
(link to image 3)
etc etc
[/grid] will give you a nicely formatted grouping of a collection of images (link to image etc)
If you’re going to do a grid it is easier to
- Upload all the images
- Preview post
- Select the square of squares on the first image (the tags are then added for you)
Ciao
Simon
Thanks both for the tip on how to present the pics in a grid. I’ll be sure to use them next time.
I got an email from Apexel who make the lens. They told me it was pucker and was not a zoom lens, but a telephoto one, so fixed at 36x. Feeling a little guilty now getting a tenner off from the seller!
Anyway, the 20-40x zoom will arrive in the next week away on the slow boat from China which is the one I want, so clock in France, here I come!
Have a nice day y’all… 
From what little I know about lenses fixed focus tends to mean better quality images, adjustable lenses sacrifice something in order to provide convenience.
I once had a fixed focus 50mm lens on my camera which produced a noticeably brighter and sharper image than the zoom I was using. That meant of course less versatility. The zoom made framing the image simpler and point and shoot was easy. It is swings and roundabouts I suppose.
Bet you’ve got your eye out checking for that delivery man.
It is so long since I took photos. My wife has been doing it for me. It’s time I made an effort, even if the results are not to my liking.
Well its been I while and I’m rusty, almost forgot how. I finally took a shot.
7.00 am Tuesday February 2024
‘still life with laptop.’ (still life in the old dog ??)
Quite Content
Here in my chair I am sat
This cup of tea
Is just for me
You don’t get better than that.
keep on keepin’ on
Maybe a screenshot counts as a photo?
Alien intelligentsia ??
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@Bobbi This is quite amusing and happend to me. When I first started to learn Gimp I was looking at how to replicate familiar Photoshop techniques. So I was innocently googling Gimp masking etc and shortly after on Facebook I couldn’t understand why I was being bombarded with suggestions to join some rather dodgy looking interest groups. When the penny dropped it did make me laugh, but it also confirmed that Big Brother is in fact always watching you, which isn’t quite so funny 
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@Bobbi Nice pics! And a demo of the grid feature you told me about too. Your comments about fixed/variable zoom were interesting and although I’ve ordered the variable zoom for convenience, you reminded me about the quality issue between fixed/variable zooms. Armed with that info, I’m going to keep the fixed 36x for now so I can play with them and compare the two.
Yes, the postie turned up this morning and I nearly got excited, as I checked the tracking and the lens seems to be with Evri, so in the UK. But no, not yet, I’ll have to be patient. In any case as really need to discipline myself and make the lens clamp first. On that note 4 1/4" UNC nuts arrived today. Not really part of the design, but thought they might come in handy.
News here is that the phone is mounted on the tiddly plastic tripod in the garden, set to record 8K video @3 fps and is positioned just above a small pile of mealworms and peanuts as I know the local squirrels like them both. I’ve not seen any there yet, but will leave it for a few hours and check the video, rather than sit and watch. My wife says she saw a neighbour’s cat having a sniff, so that might be a decent shot . Just hoping the phone’s there later and not stolen by some random fox!
Yes, of course a screenshot is a photo It’s an image isn’t it?
@Strings Your post made me laugh, but you’re right about being tracked everywhere you go. Now, if someone secretly installed covert video cameras in your home, you’d be upset, of course, but Google and web sites do this all the time in secret. They used to place tracking cookies on your computer, but now it’s Browser Fingerprinting.
I was chatting to a friend about Anxiety and we talked about Monty Pythons’ worried song. I found it on Youtube and sent her the link via WhatsApp. A day later, when I logged into BBC Iplayer, I got a notification that there was a program on anxiety. Now THAT I don’t like! I’ve been interested in Internet Privacy for some time and think it’s important, from protecting you from unwanted spam, to guarding against being hacked.
Ok, off my soap box…
If I get a single frame of the video that isn’t just our grass, I’ll be sure to post it up
Cheers Steve
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@fryingtonite I agree completely about preserving privacy. It’s something we should all do as much as possible because there are people who try their hardest to look into every aspect of our lives.
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Hi @Strings Yes, it kicked off for me when a few thing happened in my life. The first was my stepdaughter was buying a house, funded in a large part by her inheriting from her dad a few years ago. She fell victim to a solicitor-type scam and transferred the 42K deposit to the scammers. Not only a lot of money, but losing her dad’s money hit her hard. Long story short, she got all the money back from the bank under the CRM scheme which refunds you if you’re a victim of a scam.
Soz all, I’m off topic and don’t want to hijack the photography thread, if you want to start an Internet Privacy/security thread, I’ve got plenty to say to anyone that wants to listen
Cheers
Steve
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Replying to my own message again. How are you Steve? Not bad thanks Steve
OK back on topic. The phone was set up yesterday, on the diddly toy tripod nice and low next to a stepping stone on the grass. Thought I’d put some mealworms and peanuts on the stone to attract the little devils as they nick the bird’s stuff, so I know they like them.
The only buggeration factor was that we keep the cat biscuits in the same type of unlabelled contaier as the peanuts and I’m not clever enough to recognise the difference when they are in my hand… You can guess the rest… I put down cat biscuits and mealworms, a fact which was not lost on the local cats, so if anyone is short of any pics of cat’s bottoms, I’m your man
On the more technical and less stupid front, it all worked very well. I now have a 3.5 hour 4K video of the stepping stone/grass/cats/no squirrels. I checked the res of a single frame and it’s 3840 × 2160, so the same as a 4K telly. Nice.
The mp4 file is pretty flippin’ big @6GB and took a while to copy from my phone and had to free up some space on my laptop as it was nearly full. To view the video, I used an old program called Virtualdub, or more precisely, the later version of vitrtualdub2. This is the fastest video viewing/cutting/copying program I’ve ever come across. Its performance is brilliant, even on my laptop which came out the ark. It’s a DOS program, so you open a command window and run it from there.
The first attempt to view the video and find the frames was using VLC, which I really like and will open/play pretty much any audio/video file, but the only capture is screen capture, which means the image would be at best, the resolution of my laptop, which ain’t anywhere near 4K (I wish!)
Anyway, I’ve been all the way through the video and despite it being of the wrong type of animal (DOH!) it’s pretty good and I think there’s a couple of good shots in there which I’ll post up when done, probably in a grid too! Brace yourselves…
The only other thing I’d change is I set the phone to record 4K and forgot it also does 8K, so will do that next time. Now that file’s gonna be a bigun!
any road up, I’m so pleased I’ve actually done some hobby stuff after such a long time, but have absolutely exhausted myself, so will take it all a bit slower in case my head explodes. I’m not surprised I’ve burnt myself out as it’s been such a long time, it’s generated some anxiety. General good feeling though and one of great achievement, apart from the wrong animal thing
On a different note, I just checked the tracking for the 20-40x lens and it’s with Evri, so in the uk and in my town! 
. MIght come today. Probs won’t do anything with it yet, though, some films and a big fat chill today and recover from all the excitement.
Have a nice day y’all…
Cheers Steve
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Sotware I get from the internet. A new topic.
Thanks for your concern about keeping the integrity of this thread. Staying on topic, it is often quite easy to wander. I suppose you could start a new discussion yourself.
My interest in all this is to attempt to choose software that promotes independence. I will say more if you start up with a discussion about these matters elsewhere. Maybe a discussion about obtaining and using software in. Oh gawd I’m waffling again.
. . . and actually I am very interested in your backyard photo studio and looking forward to seeing some of the results.
I might try little gentle table top imaging and imagining for now.
keep on keepin’ on
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