James, Author at Grays Life

Finding the Fibonacci Spiral in Capture One

Using the Fibonacci Spiral to aid composition in CaptureOne

I’ve been using Capture One for a couple of years on version 10 and recently updated this to their latest version, 21, only because I changed my camera from a SONY A7R to an A7iii. The earlier version doesn’t support this camera. No matter, it was an excellent excuse to upgrade.

We start with the image I took of my father, who was walking along a beach in West Wales. It was a cold day, with a strong wind blowing off the sea. As he walked in front of me, I remember thinking that it made for a strong image, and as I took it, I imagined it working best in black and white.

To help me with the composition, I first took advantage of the grid lines on my A7iii, which I’d set up in the camera beforehand. Then, in CaptureOne, I looked for the Fibonacci Spiral, which I’d used on previous versions, but it can be hard to find. This image below is more or less what came out of the camera.

Select ‘View’ from the dropdown menu, then look for ‘Add Tool to Adjustment Menu’ and then finally, ‘Grid’. Select ‘Grid’, and you’ll find a new block in the ‘Adjustment Menu’.

Adding the Fibonacci Spiral in CaptureOne

Expand the Grid block by selecting the arrow to the left-hand side, which opens the block up and reveals the grid type, including Golden Ratio, Fibonacci Spiral and Rectangular. I prefer to work with either Golden Ratio or Fibonacci, and both help me fine-tune the composition.

Clicking the checkbox ‘Show’ puts the grid on the screen, and you can then cycle through the ‘Clockwise’, ‘Mirror’ checkboxes to move the grid around the screen so that by selecting all or none of the checkboxes, you can get the very centre of the spirals to be on the top right, bottom right, bottom left and top left.

The final image with the centre of the spiral is just where I want it to be.

The final image corrected with the Fibonacci Spiral in CaptureOne

Cardiff’s New Cycle Lanes – Wellington Street to Newport Road

Reels

New footage from one of Cardiff’s cycle lanes put down recently by the City Council. This one is from Wellington Street, through Cowbridge Road and along Castle Street, then Newport Road. This is one of the longest segregated lanes in Cardiff and you have a great feeling of security as you ride along it. The only negative, is at the traffic lights, these need to be prioritised for the cyclist, otherwise they won’t stop, and that makes it unsafe. Staying too long at traffic lights cools us down, better to keep the bikes moving, which helps remove traffic from the roads, freeing them up for everyone else. #CardiffCityCouncil #BikeWeekUK #Cycling

Bike Commuting – Cardiff City Center to Radyr

Reels

Filmed on an afternoon’s cycle home after a day in the office. The aim of the video is to show how easy it is to cycle now around Cardiff. In the last 12 months the Council have put in pop up cycle lanes and now recently, these have been converted into permanent segregated lanes in a number of streets around the city. The council are pushing through five main cycleways, more on this in another post, and though some are not yet fully connected, it’s only going to be a matter of time before they are and offer a safe space to cycle in.

This route that takes you from the City Centre to the outskirts of Cardiff in approximately 30 minutes. The elevation isn’t more than 80-85m, so it’s fairly gentle, except a last part that I end up pushing the bike up as the gearing is just not low enough to get me up the hill – going into Danescourt. Also, my bike is an old city bike that I’ve had about 20 years or so, and the gearing is the old-style Sturmey Archer, 3 x speed type, and probably not likely to withstand me pumping the pedals up this slope.

Future posts are going to look at some of these cycle lanes. So far, the most accessible ways are going into and out of the city. Perhaps new routes across the city will get a look in, in the future, but for the time being, the effort is going into making the cycle lanes into town safe, protected and welcoming.

An Italian Side Street

Photography

Fuji X-Pro1 | XF18mm f2 Pancake Lens | Exposure f4 @ 1/125 sec. | ISO 200 | © James Gray

Propped up on its stand, an old timer bicycle waits for its owner in a cobbled side street in Mantova, Italy. Just a short drive from Verona, the home of the lovers, Romeo and Juliet. There’s history on the corner of every street in Italy. If the motorbike wasn’t in the picture, then it would be much harder to date the picture, but I took it just a couple of years ago on a Fuji X-Pro1, which was a pretty good camera for taking street photographs. This camera hardly made a sound when you take a picture, just the slightest noise.

Taken on a visit to a supplier in a nearby town, and this was from a walk about in the afternoon to chill out before flying home the next day.

It’s a Hill. Get Over It.

Marketing

It’s a Hill. Get Over It.

As a passionate runner, nothing motivates me more than watching an inspiring Nike ad on TV, or reading one in the running magazines. Whether it’s the slogan “It’s a hill, get over it” or the iconic image of a runner powering up a steep incline, these ads always motivate me to lace up my running shoes and hit the trails.

They inspire me to push myself to new limits and reach higher heights, reminding me that anything is possible with hard work and determination. And when I’m feeling tired or discouraged, these ads motivate me to keep going, fueling my drive to succeed.

So whether I’m struggling through my daily jog or gearing up for an upcoming race, I know I’ll always be able to draw motivation from these Nike ads. When life throws you a curve ball, just get out there and run with it!

My last month has been poor, I’ve hardly run at all…a combination of ice, snow and generally cold, wet weather has meant that when I was free to run, the weather was against me.

Hoping for better times in February, and whether or not there is a hill in the way, won’t matter…it will just be great to be running again and feeling fit.

It’s just something you have to get over, whether it’s a wall, a hill, or a tough part of the run, it’s time to buckle down and get to the end of your run, no matter what.

These inspiration ads from Nike, like the ‘Rise, Run, Rest, Repeat‘ are highly motivational and get me up off the sofa. I never regret going for a run, but always when I could have run, but didn’t!