Wednesday 6 October 2010

Turbine

One of the 3 wind turbines on the road to Grimshader in Lochs on the Isle of Lewis. I have to say I find these machines quite mesmerising to look and almost beautiful in a way but I'm not sure I'd like to have hundreds of them on my doorstep as was proposed for the island.

This shot was a bit of a pain. I had my tripod but had forgotten my remote control so had to rely on the timer function in order to try and get the blades in the right position. After about 40 attempts I decided I wasn't going to get any better than this and called it a day.

Canon 7D, Canon EF 24-70 @ 30mm, ISO 100, f22, 1/25

8 comments:

  1. It was worth the effort. There is something rather elegant about these things. I would rather have a forest of them nearby than a normal power station.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Does that mean you're using HDR for this? Anyway, it's a beautiful and dramatic picture. I can understand about not wanting to have to look at a hundred of them daily, though...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh no, my comment disappeared at the moment I wanted to post it... So one more attempt, I'll try to keep track of my thoughts and repeat what I wanted to say. :-)

    I read in an article that there is one objection to these wind turbines and that is their relatively high noisiness. It means, to have hunderds of them on one's doorstep might not be a pleasurable experience.
    By the way, I work in a company that produces wind turbine shafts and I know how big they are. But I have never seen a wind turbine this close. It looks considerable, especially in your dramatic picture.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have such mixed feelings. They can be very beautiful (I have seen huge windfarms of them and there is one in the Wairarapa in New Zealand of astonishing prominence over 5 kilometers along a mountain ridge and also of great beauty) and they can be very noisy (I have heard large wind farms).

    I have a beautiful view already from my house and I wouldn't want a windfarm to obscure that view. I wouldn't want the noise either. On the one hand I use electricity. On the other these produce it. On one hand they are environmentally friendly - or are they? On the other I have seen figures which suggest that the energy and resources used to produce and site them can be greater than the value of their production over their limited lifespan. So I am confused.

    But it's a beautiful photo.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That sky is absolutely stunning! And I love the colors of the field... beautiful shot!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love the colors of the sky and field. So rich.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is a superb image, love the processing. You have more patience than I. I would have banged on a ND filter and made do with blur on the blades, you have just the right amount to suggest movement.
    I detest the subject but if one looks there is beauty everywhere.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for the comments everyone. Taken a while to reply but my internet connection on the island is painfully slow.

    DawnTreader, no HDR here, just a slow shutter speed and some pushing of contrast and saturation in Aperture 3. I did also clone out an electrical shed that sits at the base of each turbine, just to clean things up a little.

    Petra, There was a long public inquiry on the island into the pros and cons of turning the island into a "wind factory". Fortunately they've decided that offshore farms are a better proposition. I'm sure the controversy over turbines will continue for years to come. One thing they certainly do provide is employment as you know. Hopefully green energy will provide many more opportunities for people in the future.

    ReplyDelete