Caterpillar | Andrew Harvard Photography

It’s gonna take some comparing to tell if the first set of photos at this location HDR 3 (high dynamic range) final have been improved on.

So if you have a minute, click on HDR 3 (high dynamic range) final, view the photos and then look below to see if the last 2 months of dabbling in HDR has reaped any positives (the quality of the HDR not the shot or view).

I’m using a Canon 550D with standard 18/55mm. Just discovered Magic Lantern to get more than 3 bracketed shots at once.

I leave ISO at 200, the F-stop is set depending on what the camera auto sets on AUTO mode (I gauge then set back to AV). I focus with auto then set back to M before shooting. The stabilizer is OFF.

Photomatix is my processing friend.

Let me know what you think – I love hints and advice from any experts out there.

A few weeks back I had to go and collect an item in Queensburgh.

Luckily, I had my faithful Canon 550D with me when I stumbled upon some lovely machinery in a valley.

I could not help myself and had to pull over and take some photos from the roadside.

The business was closed at the time but this did not stop me from investigating what QPS (on the roof of the building) stood for and how the business originated.

The owner’s secret, which I really like, is “Hard work, integrity and service excellence – Lots of hard work!”

The QPS website reveals the following information and more:

“Three hundred rand was all it took to start Queensburgh Plant Sales 30 years ago.

Roger Thorne, who already had many years of practical and management experience in South Africa and abroad by 1977, saw a need for the reliable supply of quality second-hand machine parts and spares for earthmoving equipment, something that was not then being met in the market at the time.

Today, Queensburgh Plant Sales has an extensive range of new and used spares for many makes of earthmoving equipment and machines including Galion, Komatsu, Caterpillar, Clark / Michigan, Hanomag, Hitachi, Detroit Diesel / GM Engines, Aveling Barford, Volvo, Hough, Case, Bomag, Dynapac and JCB to name just a few!

Their customers range from one-man businesses to municipalities and earthmoving companies throughout southern Africa and even as far as Australia. With the earthmoving sales industry being very dynamic, Queensburgh Plant Sales always strive to ensure that the latest technologies are available to its customers.

As to the secret of his company still being in business after 30 years, for Roger Thorne the formula is not complicated: “Hard work, integrity and service excellence have kept us going,” he says and adds with a laugh, “lots of hard work!”

Maybe if Roger likes the photos below he will invite me over to take some super closeup photos of QPS’s quality second-hand machine parts and spares for earthmoving equipment.