Category: photography

The Far East – 4 April 2026

Posted on by Zogman

Today we travelled to the Far East, Edinburgh to see how the other half live.

The weather was kind to us to begin with, but the weather fairies had said we should bring a brolly. We ignored them, but perhaps we shouldn’t have. We walked our usual path from Haymarket, up Morrison Street then through the canyon of Ladyfield before crossing to the Nero on Lothian Road. Best coffee I’ve had in weeks in there, then the walk over to Castle Terrace and the farmer’s market there. I was looking for a couple of pieces of Hogget. Hogget is the word used to describe a lamb in its second spring or summer. The meat is richer than lamb, but not as strong as mutton. I find it hard to get in butcher’s, but am usually able to get some in the Edinburgh farmer’s market. So it was today. In the fridge I’ve now got a couple of chunks of Hogget chump chops and a Cannon of Hogget in the fridge. Apparently you can cook a hogget cannon like you would cook steak. One lot will hopefully provide dinner for me tomorrow and the other will go in the freezer for me to find later in the year.

By the time we were clear of the farmer’s market, the rain was getting heavy, so after a wander round the outdoor markets of the Grassmarket, Scamp decided we should have lunch in Petit Paris. A real French restaurant. We both went for the same menu: Soup of the day, (loaded with veg) and Fish of the Day which was Coley with Mash. I didn’t think I was hungry until I’d finished both plates and would have licked the plate if I thought I’d get away with it. A half a glass of red to wash it down because I was driving when we got home.

By the time we left the rain was heavy. We walked up West Bow and shook our heads at the Harry Potter nutters standing in the rain before they spent a fortune on magic wands and top hats and other things that only foreigners buy. Ourselves excluded, of course.

Next we made our way back down the steep Mound to listen to a gospel choir and then on to Princes Street gardens to watch the annual Passion Play. We only stayed a while, but by then we were soaked through, so we headed for the station and with minutes to spare, caught the train home.

Tonight we watched an excellent adults cartoon and then, The Greatest Story Ever Told. An Easter story that started life in the mid 1960s. I’ll admit I had never seen it before.

Wish we’d stayed longer at the Passion Play, maybe next time.

PoD went to cranes reflected in a new glass-fronted building in the city.

Wind is getting a bit stronger tonight. Hopefully it will be gone by tomorrow. No plans for Sunday.

Out to lunch – 3 April 2026

Posted on by Zogman

Today Scamp and Shona met Isobel for a chat and a coffee. I stayed out of the way!

I met Scamp and Shona for lunch just after midday, at a new restaurant in Cumbersheugh, Bellissimo.
Scamp had Mussels for a starter and Seabass with Lemon sauce and mixed veg.
Shona had Italian Meatballs as a starter, with a main of Pollo Milanese.
My starter was Seasoned chicken strips in batter and my main was Penne Arrabiata.
All in all, a good meal although the food was slow in coming. We’d give it another shot, especially as our old faithful, Brodens is now gone.
We dropped Shona off at the Lidl store in the north of the town and then we drove home.

I took my Sony 24-105mm lens and the A7c out for a walk later in the afternoon. Gusty winds made photographing difficult, but not impossible. One of my favourite shots, a Horse Chestnut leaf just about to burst open, got PoD. It was another cold day and that gusty wind didn’t help.

Tomorrow we’re hoping to go to Edinburgh, but there have been a lot of high wind warnings in place, so we’ll check the weather before we make any rash decisions tomorrow morning.

Dancin’ and School Ties – 2 April 2026

Posted on by Zogman

Strange mixture.

Today started with a bit of shopping. Quite a large bit of shopping too, but it was all basic foodstuffs … boring. We had a cup of coffee when we got home and realised we had about 15min to get ready for our afternoon out in Glenburn for today’s Tea Dance.

After a frantic scrabble, we headed off to this Paisley offshoot and arrived just in time. It was the usual format of mainly ballroom dances in the first half and sequence dances in the second half. We usually leave about half an hour early to avoid the schools coming out and clogging up the roads with little darlings who are picked up by doting aunts, uncles, grans etc, because the poor things can’t walk long distances. It was different in my day. We had to walk to school and back again. It toughened you up etc, etc …
Anyway, the weans would be out and enjoying themselves when we left at the end of the dances.

The drive home was much swifter than it usually is. I’ve a plan for the fastest way to get to Glenburn and a different route for returning. It might seem daft, but it does work, for me at least.

I took a camera and lens out for a walk in St Mo’s when we got home and got a photo of a school tie hanging from a lamp post. I don’t know what the scribbles on the tie were, but just to be safe, I removed some of the writing.

We’re hoping to go to have coffee with Isobel and Shona tomorrow and maybe a quick lunch afterwards. If everything works out, of course. Storm ‘Dave’ looks as if it’s going to show up at the weekend. Let’s hope it’s not as violent as the weather fairies are predicting.

Walking in Sunshine – 1 April 2026

Posted on by Zogman

Not fooling!

Just a quick shot taken yesterday walking back from St Mo’s.It was a mixed up day for me, with a lot going on. Still not sorted it out properly, but at least you have a photo to look at.

There is usually a problem on the 1st of the month when I have to save off the previous month’s photos and create a space for the new month’s shots. This year I’ve had problems because the catalog is getting too big. I need to reduce its size and complexity. If I get it right, all will be fine and the computer should run a lot faster. If I do it wrong the whole thing goes BANG! and takes all the hard work I’ve put in to Lightroom with it. Aren’t computers wonderful things … when they are working!

For just now I’ve posted the photo and I should be able to do the same for today’s PoD too.

Fingers crossed!

Spending money – 31 March 2026

Posted on by Zogman

At least it was money I was spending this time.

I’d had two lenses break down on me recently. One lens I’d been using almost solely and another older lens that had a limited range, but which produced lovely clear photos.Two within a week. I couldn’t believe it. I think I read every article that existed, trying to find a solution but couldn’t find anyone who would admit to having the same problem as me. I thought I could just run them until they completely failed, but then realise that would be damaging the cameras too, so I stopped using them and fell back on another pair of older, but solidly performing lenses for a while. But they weren’t the same as the two broken down lenses. The final straw that broke my camel’s back was when I took one of the lenses to a reputable repair company in Glasgow and was told how much it would cost to repair it.

Today I paid for one new lens. It’s exactly the same make and model as the one that failed me but this time I have a 2 year warranty and a guarantee from John Lewis that covers me for accidental damage. I hope I never have to use it.

Alex was the first person I’d heard talk about Buyers Remorse. The feeling, just as you leave the shop or when you remove your credit card from the machine, that you’ve made a mistake. We’ve all felt it at one time or another, but for some reason the feeling wasn’t there this morning. Scamp had run me to the train station. I was intending to go to JL to see if they had the lens and even if they did have it, I’d have a try with it. Even if I liked what I saw, I’d still walk up the hill to WEX to compare it with the one I knew they had. But I didn’t do that either. I just checked there were no scratches on the metal mount, no fingerprints on the lens glass and bought it there and then. It was mine. Even more was what the tech guy in the repair shop had said. “Don’t buy second hand. It’s false economy.” He was right.

The PoD was one of the first shots I took with the lens today. Looking through the front blossoms to focus out the flowers and then to have the blurred image of the flowers behind. It worked exactly like I planned it.

Tomorrow I may get Buyer’s Remorse tomorrow, more than likely I will, but it will disappear.

Scamp is intending to go to a ‘Witches’ lunch tomorrow and I may go and take some photos.

A dull, windy day – 30 March 2026

Posted on by Zogman

I had great plans for today, but none of them came to fruition.

Neither of us could settle last night. Scamp seemed to have the ‘Rumbling Tums’ and I was wide awake and just couldn’t get to sleep. I think it was the changing of the clocks in the middle of the early Sunday morning that caused it.

I’d half thought of going in to Glasgow to look for a new lens that would work on all three cameras. Then I looked at how to Reissue the SSL and Reinstall it on my Namecheap account. That’s when I realised I hadn’t a clue what any of that actually meant, so I left it and had a cup of coffee instead.

It was another blustery day to begin with, but as the day trundled on, the windspeed gently dropped away. In the afternoon I went for a walk in St Mo’s and got good use of my little rechargeable hand warmers. Lots of Canada Geese again, more than yesterday, so I’m guessing they are getting ready to fly north again although the temperature isn’t as high as I’d expect now that we’re on the edge of reaching April. Not a lot of buds on the trees here, so I’m thinking there might be another spell of cold weather to come yet.

Despite the increase in the waterfowl groups, PoD was Colt’s Foot Daisies. One of my dad’s favourite wildflowers. Every spring when I see them, it reminds me of him, showing me how the stems looked like horses shoes.

Dinner tonight was Mince and Tatties again with a few slice of beetroot. Scamp had a Fried Egg wit her Tatties. Later in the evening I had a home made Tattie Scone made with yesterday’s leftover potatoes. Scamp has left her’s and if she doesn’t grab it by midday tomorrow I may be tempted to snaffle her’s too!

No dancing tonight, because Kirsty is having a fortnight off. It was good not to have to drive over to the town centre for an hour’s dancing. I do enjoy it, but she sometimes repeats and repeats the steps. We could do with a bit of variation in the classes.

Tomorrow we may make that trip to Glasgow. Both the lenses I have are now useless. I’ll just have to bite the bullet and spend some money on one new one, at least.

Another wild old day – 29 March 2026

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The clocks went forward an hour in the middle of the night, but we were deep in sleep then, so we must take other folk’s word for it.

It may have been the start of British Summer Time, but it certainly didn’t feel like it this morning. A howling wind and lashing rain doesn’t really fit very well with the concept of Summer in any country. Not that it mattered much because neither of us were going very far today.

Sunday lunch is usually Black Pudding, Bacon and maybe a fried egg for me. Today we both had Poached Egg on Toast. Me, because my stomach was a bit upset and I wanted to have a lighter lunch than normal. Scamp, because she wanted to be up sides with me. It must be about a year since I’ve had a poached egg and today’s was just excellent, because Scamp cooked it!

The furthest I got today was a walk around St Mo’s pond with my Tamron 70-180mm, watching the swans chasing the Canada Geese away from the area where they were nest building. Although the swans seemed to be winning, I felt that the geese were just giving them the run-around. Eventually the swans returned to the nesting area, but not before one swan puffed itself up and became quite threatening to me. I took Jamie’s hint and left sharpish, but only because my portable hand warmer had run out of charge … honest!
That swan made PoD.

When I got home, Scamp was just finishing off a sponge cake and allowing it to cool. Today’s main for me was Mince and Tatties with the usual addition of sliced Beetroot. Scamp had a slice of Salmon with mashed potatoes. Dessert was the Sponge with custard. Delightfully light sponge. Again, Scamp’s work, not mine – as if I could make something like that!!

Spoke to Jamie and heard that he was planting out his seeds in the greenhouse. Although it was cold down there too, I think it wasn’t quite as cold as we’ve had for the past couple of weeks. A planned power outage from his council was going to mean that he had to work from home later in the week.

Tomorrow we may go out somewhere. Kirsty’s class is cancelled for the next two weeks for Easter holidays.

Dancin’ – 28 March 2026

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We drove to Brookfield for today’s lesson.

We drove through rain and hail to get to Brookfield for today’s lesson which was less than scintillating. To much recapping of dances we’d done before. Nothing at all that was new. I felt it was disappointing and a lot of treading water, meaning that for the second dance we’ve had, it was a bit underwhelming. I didn’t enjoy it.

I enjoyed the drive back home, even less. It seems that every time we drive to or from Brookfield, the route is slightly different. Different road layouts and longer queues. I gave up in the end and went via the Clyde Tunnel. At least you are driving between 30 and 40mph for most of the way and there are traffic lights to ensure that you get your chance to get on to the M8 at the end. Driving over the Kingston Bridge is a lottery. Some days the traffic flows slowly, but it does flow. Other days it’s just a car park with the occasional chance to move forward by a car’s length. I hate driving on a Saturday!

We did get back home in about an hour which is quite good for a Saturday when there’s football on. After that, I fell asleep on the couch, so don’t ask me who won, or even who were playing! I was just glad to be off the main road,

I went for a walk in the late afternoon and managed to get some photos of some Salmonberry flowers near the outfall at St Mo’s. I know I’ve photographed them before, but they are pretty little flowers and deserve a place in the sun, and there was sun today.

Dinner tonight was home made Fish & Chips. Two lovely big slices of haddock fried in batter with homemade chips. We watched the Japanese F1 GP while we had dinner. Not as exciting as the previous ones, but Suzuka is a scary looking race track. Today was the qualifying race, hopefully the race tomorrow will be just as exciting.

No real plans for tomorrow. If we can avoid the rain we may go for a walk.

Sunshine and Showers – 27 March 2026

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Scamp was off to FItSteps this morning. Possibly the last of these classes for a while at least. I think she’ll miss the company and the banter.

I stayed at home and took some photos of a bunch of Tulips, like Parrot Tulips with layers of flowers. They were a birthday present for Scamp and had their bulbs still attached to the stems. I’d never seen a plant like that before and neither had Scamp. The sun was angling down in the living room and I liked the stripes on the carpet. A really interesting composition that definitely needed photographing, so I did it! PoD captured and posted before 10.30am!

Somebody, at some time had left an upstairs window open (probably me). It had swung over and knocked three geranium plants off the window sill. I attempted to refill them, but the soil was very dry and I just refilled what I could and left them for Scamp to fix properly, then I used the Dyson to clear up the resulting mess. That’s when I realised the Dyson wasn’t working at its best. Presumably that will mean another trip to Currys for a replacement. It’s been a hard working machine and doesn’t really owe us anything. It’s just another item to add to the bills.

When Scamp returned we had lunch and she fixed the geranium plants. Meanwhile I was thinking about taking the 16-35mm out for a walk in St Mo’s. That was until I looked out the front window and saw the rain streamers and clouds blowing along the Campsie Fells and decided that I should maybe give it fifteen minutes to blow past. It took about half an hour before the sun came out and I went out to meet it.

I was hardly over the road to St Mo’s when the clouds returned and this time they’d brought hail with them and started pelting me with the snow pellets. It would have taken me too long to go back to the house, so I zipped up my Rab jacket, pulled the hood up and faced the onslaught. Just like the rain before it, the hail didn’t last long and I walk around St Mo’s in a field of sunshine. Got a few shots, but didn’t really need them because the PoD was already posted. This was just for the fun of it.

Back home Scamp had made Slow Cooked Chicken Thighs with Mushrooms for dinner. It was delicious fall-off-the-bone and just melted away. Scamp should be on Masterchef!

That was about if for a lazy Friday. I’m guessing we may be dancing tomorrow although snow and ice warnings are coming from the weather fairies. We’ll just have to grin and bear it.

Out on the town – 26 March 2026

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Not just any old town, this was Glasgow town. I was meeting Alex for a photo walk.

A photo walk that would start in Caffè Nero, as most of our photo walks do. We’d intended going to Paisley if the weather was fine and if it wasn’t we were heading for Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in the West End. After some discussion we agreed that we’d get the bus out to Kelvingrove because there were occasional rain showers and the weather wasn’t great. Before we went there, I wanted a look at a replacement Sony 24-105mm lens and by luck they did have one on display in Jessops. It’s not my favourite photo shop, but their price for the lens was just the same as any other of the shops I’d looked at online or in the photo shops. I had a look at the lens and a listen to make sure there were no squeaks or squeals from it and that put my mind at rest. I thanked the assistant for the chance to test it. I might just buy it some day soon.

With that done we walked round to the bus station and just managed to catch the bus to Kelvingrove. The Art Galleries hadn’t changed much, but they rarely do change their exhibits. I walked round the outside of the building to get some architectural photos while Alex went looking for something new to photograph inside. I did get a few photos of the old sandstone building and fancied that one of them would make a decent photo. In fact, it made PoD, there being no real contenders to take its place.

We met up again inside and Alex suggested we go for lunch. We both went for a sandwich. The food in Kelvingrove is really quite excellent, and quick service too. Another walk round and we bought a few things in the shop, then we caught a bus back to town.

Another coffee in Waterstones and we walked down to the bus station. Where we parted company and decided we’d pick somewhere we hadn’t been for a while for our next jaunt. Possibly along the coast if the weather was kind to us.

Back home and with a plate of soup on our laps we settled to try out Wordle because neither Scamp nor I had attempted it. We pooled our collective knowledge and managed to outwit the puzzle setter.

Later we watched the final of Masterchef The Professionals. For once, I got it right.

Tomorrow, Scamp is intending to go to her last FitSteps class. She thinks it may be the last one of all, as the numbers are dropping away. I’d just say “Never say Never”.