Chapter 34 of "Moby-Dick" by Herman Melville is titled "The Cabin-Table." In this chapter, the narrative shifts its focus away from the action involving the hunt for the white whale, Moby Dick, and instead provides a detailed description of the daily life on the whaling ship Pequod, particularly in the ship's cabin.

Captain Ahab is not present in this chapter, and the narrative gives readers a glimpse into the relationships and dynamics among the various crew members. It also explores the role of the ship's cabin as a communal space where the crew gathers to eat, socialize, and unwind. The chapter describes the meals, the conversation, and the general atmosphere among the crew members during their time in the cabin.

This chapter provides a bit of a respite from the intense pursuit of Moby Dick and serves to further develop the characters and their interactions on the ship. It's a moment of relative calm in the midst of the larger narrative's high tension and suspense.

 So, we popped along to an almighty country fair in July - the Welland Steam Rally. It was huge, and quite mad. I've never seen quite so many steam engines in one place. 

 I popped along to the annual Bristol Balloon Fiesta this year and took my camcorder as per usual. A nice chance to try some nightime shots. The image quality delivered by the 6k pro plus the Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 is astounding. The camera does seem to generate noise in the image in dimly lit situtions, quite noticeably. I remedied this in post with the de-noise filter in Davinci Resolve. This uses a LOT of processing power but is remarkably good.

What a glorious weekend we had - the Vintage Nostalgia weekend is a festival in rural Wiltshire, revelling in all things retro and vintage. Music from eras such as the 1920's, 1940's, 60's, and all sorts of wonderful vintage vehicles, clothes and food and drinks. Such a relaxed event, with people of all ages getting into the spirit and dressing up.  I've never been to such a lovely, calm and good spirited event. check out their website and social media here. https://www.vintagenostalgiafestival.co.uk/

We spent a glorious week in Cornwall, rather spontaneously booking a little cottage on Monday as the weather looked very promising. It was sunny, cool, and not busy with other tourists! If you're curious about the camera this time, I used a DJI X5 gimbal camera. It's decent gimbal unit and couples to the Oslo handle introduced in 2016, now discontinued. I have a love/hate relationship with it, the 4K resolution is very welcome, and the 4/3 lens is excellent. However, the bitrate is rather low at around 60mb/s at full UHD which is really nowhere near enough, not even for FHD. Also, the dynamic range is questionable, and the mechanics of operating it are a bit of a chore until you get very familiar with it. That's said, if you stick with the highest resolution in post and upload it at the same resolution too, the image holds up pretty well. I ditched the awful D-LOG picture setting as it is simply impossible to get decent results, and I now use 'none' from the list of picture options, and then set contrast, brightness and sharpening all to -3. This provide surprisingly decent starting point for light colouring work. 

 A short Film.

As always, filmed on my C100 plus outboard SSD recorder, while mooching about with my dogs. 

Edited in Davinci Resolve 18.5.

 Chapter 33. - The Specksnyder

 

The sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), also known as the spermaceti whale, is the largest of the toothed whales and one of the largest predators on Earth. They can grow up to 60 feet (18 meters) long and weigh up to 45 tons.

One of the most distinctive features of the sperm whale is its enormous head, which can make up one-third of its body length. Inside the head is a large organ called the spermaceti organ, which was historically hunted for the wax-like substance it contains, also called spermaceti. This substance was highly valued for its use in candles, cosmetics, and other products.

Sperm whales have a dark gray or black skin, with a wrinkled texture that becomes more pronounced as they age. They have a single blowhole located on the left side of their head, which they use to breathe air when they surface.

Sperm whales are deep divers, known for their ability to dive to depths of up to 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) in search of their preferred prey, which includes giant squid and other deep-sea creatures. They are also social animals that live in family groups, called pods, which can contain up to 20 individuals.

Despite being protected by international law, sperm whales continue to face threats from hunting, pollution, and habitat loss. However, their population appears to be slowly recovering, thanks to conservation efforts and a better understanding of their behavior and biology.