Dancing – Page 66 – My Photo Blog

Drip, Drip – 25 July 2016

Posted on July 25, 2016July 25, 2016 by Zogman

The title refers, of course to the weather. Yet another rainy day, but as I write this in the back bedroom while Scamp watches Celebrity Masterchef (boak!), there is blue sky with some clouds of course, but blue sky nevertheless and the promise of a better day tomorrow. Hope it’s a better day for Scamp too.

Scamp’s new phone was due to arrive this morning between 9.12am and 10.12am. I just love DPD’s accurate time intervals. Anyway, it arrived just around 9.15am and as she opened the parcel and then the box the phone was in, I noticed that the seal was broken on the box, the bit that says “If the seal is broken reject the phone, blah blah”. I carefully took the phone out of the box and noticed there were finger prints on the protective plastic cover. The cover itself looked as if it had been removed and replaced. You know how it looks when that’s been done, the bubbles and the edges not quite right. Now it might be my paranoia, but in these days of heightened cyber security fears, that sort of thing shouldn’t happen. We eventually agreed that she should phone Vodafone and request a replacement in a sealed box. It took three phone calls and finally a post on Facebook to get the thing almost sorted. I say ‘almost’ because she now has to wait 48 hours to get approval to get the replacement from a Vodafone shop. Neither of us can understand why she has to wait that amount of time and neither of us is happy with the result. Customer service from Vodafone has been shocking for both of us now and I don’t think either of us will be renewing our current contracts.

I’ve been painting experimentally today, using cling film to create interesting effects in watercolour. I tried doing the same thing with acrylic, but it wasn’t as successful. The next thing is to try it on a real painting, and on a larger piece of paper.

Neither of us went to salsa tonight. Me because I couldn’t really be bothered and Scamp because her shoulder is still giving her some pain.

Did you know if you overwater a spider plant, the plant gets rid of the excess through the leaves? That’s where today’s photos come from. It’s amazing what you find out. Every day’s a school day. I never thought I’d say that again after June 2014.

Better weather forecast for tomorrow. Let’s hope they aren’t lying.

Another Wet One – 4 July 2016

Posted on July 4, 2016July 4, 2016 by Zogman

Wet from start to finish today, but stuck to my guns and went out in the rain to capture something of the essence of the day. There were quite a lot of people about given the weather conditions. I felt sorry for the poor wee man sitting fishing under his umbrella. I hope he caught something – not the cold though! My cold has lifted thank goodness. Scamp is still coughing, but I think she is on the mend now.

It would be nice to say that these were all as they came out of the camera, but as usual, some ‘shopping’ was necessary.
The man with the dog for example:
When I got the base photo, the dog was off investigating an interesting scent in the woods, so I had to wait until it surfaced again, but then the man was facing me and had lost his hunched shoulders pose that really summed up the rainy day. No problem, I cut out the dog and added it to the original base photo, then blended it in with a vector mask. Although I knew it was raining heavily at the time, the photo didn’t show it, so I added some rain as a layer and changed the layer type to Lighten and it looked so much better. If you can’t see those carefully crafted raindrops, check out the version on Flickr 😉 EDIT! Well, you will when Flickr remembers how to upload files. What’s the point of having all these bells and whistles when the basic system doesn’t work. For Flickr read Fuckr.

Had coffee with Val in the middle of the day and enjoyed the chat. It’s always good to see old friends you haven’t met with for a long time. Had a long discussion about computers and programs. Picked up a few tips on new apps to try, both on the PC and on the Mac.

Dinner was a bit rushed as I decided at the last minute to go to salsa after all and with Scamp’s blessing. I knew that Jamie Gal wouldn’t be hosting tonight’s session, and was hoping it wasn’t Colin but dreading it might be Shannon although there is one worse than that. Surely she wouldn’t inflict him on an advanced class. Keep him for the beginners. It turned out to be Will who taught a good class very clear instruction and a great deal of humour. Total enjoyment for the full hour, 9/10 Will.

Driving home, I thought I might attempt Charing Cross Mansions as a sketching objective some time. One of the prettier architectural frontages of Glasgow. I would need a dry day for that, and the weather forecast doesn’t seem to include one of those for the foreseeable future.

More than halfway – 3 July 2016

Posted on July 3, 2016 by Zogman

I hadn’t noticed it, but on Friday we reached the halfway point on this year’s 366. So that means we are on the home stretch, doesn’t it? Should be easy from here on in. It never is though and just at present I’m going through the doldrums with no great interest in taking photos. Maybe it’s the feast of photos I took on holiday last month that’s to blame. 1115 photos in total for June, 936 of which were taken on our fortnight cruise in the Mediterranean. I need some more inspiration, but the weather has been poor for the last couple of weeks and that’s partly the cause, but it’s not the whole story. I just need to apply myself to the task and get on with it. I’ll start tomorrow. I should start today, but this is the weekend and I’m too lazy to do anything much now. That’s the problem. Procrastination. Tomorrow I must get off my backside and take some meaningful photos. Otherwise the 366 becomes a joke. Just a couple of grab shots of flowers to mark the PoD isn’t what I started 365s (or 366s) for. The shots have to be meaningful and be much better quality than I’ve been producing of late. Halfway through a 366 is a good place to start raising the standard.

Today we didn’t do much of note apart from go to the Sunday Social in the afternoon to see just how far we could push Scamp’s shoulder before it became painful. The answer was that we could actually get quite a lot of moves done. Much more than I thought we could. I don’t think she’s quite ready to go back to class yet, and as Jamie Gal is off in London this week, it’s probably best not to return to classes until next Monday. That’s not procrastination, that’s simple common sense. I’m not sure Scamp agrees totally with the logic, but I don’t think she’s quite ready for the speed of a class rueda yet.

I had one of the dinosaur bones from Chapmans in Baldock for dinner tonight, well, I had half a bone (actually a short rib) the other half will either be a large lunch tomorrow or dinner tomorrow night. I’d forgotten just how good they are. Forty-five minutes in the oven at gas 6 covered in tinfoil and it comes out a treat. Thank you JIC for introducing me to this culinary delight.

Anyway, it’s flooers again tonight with a half hearted attempt at patterns with some strawberries. Not exactly award winning stuff.

Looking for that second chance called Tomorrow

Posted on May 9, 2016 by Zogman

A better start to the day than yesterday. Wall to wall sunshine and blue skies with not a cloud to be seen at 8am.

I was torn between going to the gym and cycling for exercise today. Cycling won. You can go to the gym any day, hail, rain or shine, it doesn’t matter. Cycling is best done on the Shine days. Today was definitely a shine day. Unfortunately it was also a windy day with a strong east wind. East winds are usually cold, but today’s was an exception, being nicely warm. I got togged up with my short sleeved cycling top, shorts and walking boots. You see, cycling for me is not just about the joy of the open road, it’s also about getting me to places where I can take photos and walking boots are so much more practical than trainers or cycling boots. Having said that, my cycling boots are actually rock climbing boots, not that I’ve ever climbed rocks wearing them. They are very comfortable, but not practical for walking through bogs searching for damselflies or dragonflies. There were no dragonflies today – far too early, they don’t hatch up here until about August. There were no damselflies either, although it’s almost time for them. They usually appear May – June time, depending on the light and the heat. What I did see was a wee rabbit which sat watching me, deciding on its next move. That move was an extremely fast about turn and away across the field. I liked the yellow blobs – moss fruiting bodies. Usually the blobs are green and there were some of the green variety, but the yellow ones looked that bit different.

Salsa at night for one – Scamp’s shoulder is not fit for salsa yet. We did attempt a bit of bachata, but danced as a couple and didn’t change partners to protect her arm from some of the less careful dancers, of which there are quite a few sometimes.

More sun forecast for tomorrow, but not as hot as today. Maybe a walk tomorrow if the wind is as strong as today. A head wind coming home is not, to quote John Torode “A lovely, lovely thing.”

A really lovely day – 20 April 2016

Posted on April 20, 2016 by Zogman

Today was a lovely day from start to finish – unless you were a Rangers supporter because they were beaten 3 – 2 by Hibernian for some cup or league or other. Personally, I couldn’t care less.

Stayed in in the morning waiting for the postman to bring my second camera strap. This one destined for my E-PL5 or ‘5 as it’s now known. While I was waiting, I put my boots on and went and cut the front grass. It seemed a shame to just sit there on the step soaking up the rays when I could be doing some useful work and since Scamp had a muscle pain in her arm, the grass cutting would probably make it worse. Postman arrived just as I was finishing and he did indeed have the strap. A bit wider and more colourful than the previous black one. I’m quite impressed with the quality of these straps.

After a quick bite to eat I rolled the bike out and went for a run. The weather couldn’t have been better. Almost no wind and a blue dome above me. It’s a while since I’ve had a chance to wander over one of the wilderness walks and a bike is the only way to get there. No parking places nearby, so a bit of exploration and some exercise too. Didn’t do very many miles today, only about 6 miles all in, but hopefully I’ll get more done during the summer. I meant to mention in yesterday’s blog that I saw my first swallows yesterday. Three definite sightings.

As I was leaving, Scamp started painting an old orange box that will hopefully hold her sweet peas. The orange box must be over 30 years old and came from my mum and dad’s house. It’s wooden, probably beech and originated from Cyprus. It might have been my brother Alex’s toy box at one time. Notice the carefully mown lawn in the background!

While I was out I managed to get the shot of the spider hanging from its web. I liked the translucency of the body with the light shining through it.

Before I went out I took the preparatory shots for the Weemen picture and finished it off tonight in Comic Life via Photoshop. One more to go in the series.

Salsa tonight was easy as far as moves were concerned, but hard on the legs and feet. Scamp says it’s because of the concrete floor. I don’t know if that’s true, but it was sore on my wee feet.

May go in to Glasgow tomorrow if the weather holds.

Endorphins again

Posted on April 17, 2016 by Zogman

A dull morning. Cold and dull.

Afternoon was spent trying to ignore the ignorant Rangers supporters next door stamping and shouting their team on to an eventual win, while we watched the F1 cars whizzing around a hot track in China. Neither of these sporting events really improved my mood.

Scamp wanted to go to the Sunday Social at Mercado in Glasgow. I wasn’t totally over the moon about driving and parking in Glasgow city centre just after an Old Firm game. We’d never been to Mercado, but had heard that the floor wasn’t great for dancing. I thought I might just have enough time to go out and get today’s PoD, but just as I was going out, the rain came on. Plan 2. I’d left the ‘weemen’ setup and tripod in position in the spare room. I took three of four shots of the same scene as before with differing focus points. At least I’d have a potential PoD.

On the off chance that it would improve my mood, I drove in to Glasgow. Tried to park in an NCP carpark just round from Mercado. Luckily I didn’t have enough change to pay the exorbitant £6 for 2 hours. Drove back round and parked on the street 100m away. Parking free on a Sunday. A bit further to walk, but a saving of £6. NCP Normal Costly Parking.

Maybe it was the endorphins again, but after 2 hours of almost non-stop dancing, I walked out in a totally different mood. Maybe it’s not anything so scientific, but there’s something in this salsa dancing that gives me sore feet, but lifts my spirits. Watched a few ‘rubber men’ wandering around bemused with smiles on their faces and Rangers scarfs. Maybe they were experiencing the effects of endorphins too. Saw a few sad looking green and white dressed men too. It’s a strange game this football.

The image for this PoD is two shots. One focused on the Queen and one on Shug and Tam. I exported them from Lightroom as layers into Photoshop and painted a mask on Shug and Tam’s layer to allow the Queen to show through from the lower layer. This gave the effect of sharp focus on the front pair and on the Queen at the rear of the stage while the ‘subjects’ were out of focus, a physical impossibility, but essential to the conversation. The text was laid on using Comic Life V1 which, thankfully, I’d retained when I updated to V2. Sometimes updates do more damage than good. That’s why I’m still using Mountain Lion instead of the allegedly borked El Capitan on the Mac. I’ll continue to use it until it isn’t practical anymore.

Hopefully a warmer day tomorrow.

Moody Monday – 4 April 2016

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Zogman

It has rained almost all day, but that’s ok, because it produced today’s PoD which is a water drop of the curve of a tulip leaf with another tulip leaf or two behind. Taken with the somewhat bypassed E-PL5. That shouldn’t be the case, because the E-PL5 is an excellent camera. In some ways it surpasses the E-M10 in that the rear screen has even more flexibility than the ’10’s and the EVF can flip vertically to allow the camera to be at ground level with the photog looking down through the viewfinder and out through the lens rather than lying prone to get one eye to the viewfinder as is the case with the ’10. Without the EVF, it’s just that little bit nearer too which is a great advantage for taking candid shots which I occasionally do. I used the kit lens for the above shot and it makes a fine fist of the job. For some reason, the ’10 doesn’t like the kit lens and produces dark blobs which look like dust bunnies but aren’t. I’ve checked with my sensor checker lupe and the sensor is clean. The lens also had a problem with the aperture leafs sticking which caused the ’10 to overexpose occasionally, but the ‘5 hasn’t shown either of these faults so far. I’ll keep a weather eye open for problems in the next week or so.

Like I said, it was a wet day today, and as is Monday which is Scamp’s day for Gems, I made myself scarce this afternoon and did a little bit of work in the gym and then had bit of a swim and then 15 minutes in the sauna to round off my session for the day. Pool was very busy, but that’s to be expected with the school Easter holidays on.

Hoping to go to salsa tonight and maybe try to remember what we did in bachata last week. Hoping for better weather tomorrow and the chance to get my bike out.

Another day not wasted – 30 March 2016

Posted on March 30, 2016 by Zogman

Up fairly early and went to the gym. Scamp was quite circumspect with the machines, not wanting to aggravate here sore shoulder and then a heat soak in the steam room, the sauna and the jacuzzi.

After a quick light lunch I toddled off to fill up with petrol which has gone up to 101.99p per litre a rise of 2p since last week. I drove around for a while after that frittering away that expensive alcohol looking for some photos. I eventually settled on Hulks Road but luckily didn’t encounter any gigantic angry green men and got a few shots looking down the valley towards Glasgow an the incoming rain clouds.

Tonight we went to salsa as we hadn’t had our dancing fix on Monday because it was Easter holiday. Drove through some torrential rain showers with the sun shining brightly behind them. Worth it though. Exhausted after two classes and found they were pretending to repair the motorway again and there were diversions everywhere. I made my own diversion and found a way back on. Why do they divert you to a slip road that’s closed? Only Glasgow has the answer and they’re not telling anyone. Looks like a decent day tomorrow, so we’re heading for some scenery somewhere. That’s the plan anyway.

Sunshine – 14 March 2016

Posted on March 14, 2016March 15, 2016 by Zogman

Hey, maybe we brought some sunshine back. Deep in the folds of our bags there must have been a little seed of Canaries magic sunshine. When I woke this morning, just after 7.00am the sun was shining through the windows and the sky was blue. Got up and did a little more catching up on the blog then after breakfast I set to to clear my ToDo list for the day. By midday it was clear, apart from some more blog posts and Flickr post to upload. The heavy lifting was done. I must say that it would have been a much more onerous task without the magic of DayOne and Dropbox. DayOne on my phone means I can peck away at the keyboard and write about things as they happen during the day and that means it’s not such a chore (I hate that american sounding word) to remember and write up my day when I’m tired at night (like I am now). Dropbox allows me to sync the DayOne write-ups with the Mac. Anyway, as usual, I digress.

Got the bike out and went out wearing shorts! I took my longs as well as insurance, just in case the sun was lying and it was really cold. It wasn’t. It was windy though, an easterly wind, which means it’s a headwind when I’m on my way home. Not to worry though, that would be later. It was a tail wind on the way out.

Got some good macro photos of Coltsfoot Daisies. They always remind me of my dad. He used to say they were one of the first signs of spring. It was him who told me how it got its name. It’s to do with the shape of the leaf. Also got some green blobs – my name for the fruiting bodies of moss. Pretty little things if you take the time to look and quite colourful too. Got one shot of a duck doing its vertical takeoff. Ducks make me think of fighter planes the way they take off in a straight line, climbing away into the sky just like a Typhoon or a Tornado does, but a lot quieter. Beautiful flight patterns when landing too, with down pointing wings – technically anhedral as opposed to dihedral. Less stable, but better for controlling the airflow.

Salsa and bachata at night. Old moves, but well remembered in salsa and good combinations that we’ll need to work at in bachata.

Mixed forecasts for tomorrow. As Scamp says, we’ll need to see what the weather’s like.

Gym, Walk, Dance – 22 February 2016

Posted on February 22, 2016 by Zogman

I usually go to the gym while Scamp has her Gems group in the afternoon. Today I changed that around today and went to the gym in the morning. After the workout, I went for a swim, but the pool was full, so I sat in the sauna instead. Fifteen minutes in total silence in a hot environment. Absolutely fantastic. Came out and the pool was quite a lot quieter, so I managed a few lengths before the Monday hoardes returned.

After lunch and while the Gems were gathering, I went for a walk down the Luggie. Not the best day, but there was warm sunshine and a little bit of a breeze, so I got some photos.

After dinner we went to salsa which was quite good, but for once the bachatta was even better. With the moves we have learned in the past three or four weeks, we can build a fairly decent combination. That’s something that Scamp has wanted for a while and I can see the possibilities in it.

Sore tonight. Sore shoulders and back. I’m doing something wrong with the upper body machines in the gym. I may go for a swim tomorrow, but no gym. I might even manage another fifteen minutes in the warmth of the sauna.