Category: photography

A grey start with late brightness – 17 March 2016

Posted on by Zogman

combo bThe day started off very dull and grey.  Scamp went off to meet a friend for coffee in Hamilton and reported that the weather there was much better than here in Cumbersheugh.  Nothing surprising there with our omnipresent Cumbersheugh Cloud.  I went up “The Toonie” to meet Fred for a coffee.  It’s not as if we don’t have coffee or coffee makers at home, it was just a coincidence that we were both meeting different friends for the same beverege.  Had a natter with Fred and we set the world to rights as usual then the unthinkable happened.  The Costa repair man came in to service the coffee machine and they could only provide tea.  Now I’m perfectly happy with tea, but as far as I know, Fred only drinks coffee and beer.  Hardly ever spirits and never tea.  So we had to either walk to the other end of the centre and enter the dingy Costa there or sit coffee-less in the light.  We chose the latter.

When I came home, via Tesco as I was cooking tonight and Dobbies because I wanted to be self-sufficient in mint for mojitos, the weather was definitely brightening up, so I got my boots on and went over to St Mo’s to get some foties.  Got a couple of shots of a pair of deer and a lot of contre-jour ones against the low light.  The monochrome one of the trees was a happy accident.  I was trying to  work out how to use my phone to geotag the photos in the new Oly and just took a grab shot.  When I got home, I found that I had indeed geotagged the shot but it was unremarkable and was destined for the bin.  I must have pressed a hot key that did a basic conversion to mono and when I was doing a final check of shots for the bin, I liked the result.  Not PoD, but interesting enough to save.  Have a look at it on Flickr viewed on the lightbox (press L) and see what you think.

Back in the old routine – 15 March 2016

Posted on by Zogman

combo bIt was a struggle but today we set off for the gym and a swim. The gym was tough, but I did my 6 torture devices and proceeded to a busy pool where I managed a couple of lengths without bumping into anyone, but gave up as more people entered the water. Went and sat in the steam room for a while before finishing off with five minutes in the jacuzzi. Exercise done for today.

Managed a short walk through St Mo’s later in the afternoon and caught a couple of oystercatchers unawares, then got another shot of a duck lifting off. Took “The Big Dog” (yes, JIC your terminology is rubbing off on me) with me today with the Tamron in place. It seemed to behave perfectly, mainly because I was limiting the ISO to about 3000, not its usual 25000. At least that gives the lens a fair chance to show its mettle without having grain the size of golf balls.

Other than that, it was a dull day with a cold biting wind, not a bit like yesterday. Might as well have been in Corralejo!

Sunshine – 14 March 2016

Posted on by Zogman

combo bHey, 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.

Hoodie – 7 March 2016

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combo bToday I gave in and bought a hoodie. It was another cold grey day. We did have an hour of sunshine around midday but that was it. In the morning we walked to the start of the dunes saw a strange (artist’s?) house with lots of icons on the walls. Just begging to be photographed.  Next door was what we think is a nudist hotel. High industrial looking metal walls and a name that hinted at naturism. We must go back and investigate.

Once I’d decided to bite the bullet and go for comfort over fashion, we walked half way into town and had a look in lots of shops, even venturing into Zara!!  Couldn’t find what what I wanted at a sensible price (€85 for a hoodie? I think not). With that in mind we walked back to our local shopping centre and got one there. Not in the shop where the Indian woman asked “You like it. You not going to buy?”  “Eh, naw”. Finally got one. A bit dearer than the Indian one, but from a much more pleasant seller. The squeaky wheel doesn’t always get the grease.  Just been to the Rambutan restaurant for dinner and it was great. Not the best hotel in the world, but the food is exceptional.

First day of Spring? Nobody told the weather – 1 March 2016

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combo b

For the first day of Spring, the weather was really like Winter.  Cold winds and even colder rain showers.  Spent the morning tidying up the back bedroom for the return of the wanderers.  Then in a bright spell, I grabbed the dreaded Micra boot handle and bolted it in place, joined up the cable to check it still worked (it did – did you doubt me?) and fixed the cover panel back in place.  Job done.  £95 for a new switch?  I think not.  All you needed was a 10mm spanner, a Torx screwdriver, a stanley knife, a JB00A push to make switch, a sheet of sandpaper, a hot melt glue gun, a silicon gun and some duct tape, always some duct tape.  Oh yes, and some step by step instructions from a kind gentleman on the net.

Couldn’t decide what to do next.  I’d considered the gym, but I needed some photos for the 365, so a walk was a better option and with a look at the sky, it would need to be a short one.  Managed a dry half hour at St Mo’s.  Nothing very inspiring.  The Tufted Duck was keeping well out of detailed camera shot range and the Oystercatchers were just messing me about.  As soon as I got the camera fired up, they were gone.  Oysters in St Mo’s, who would have thought it.

Quick dash to Tesco for supplies and then home to make dinner.  That’s about it.  Snow forecast for tomorrow morning.  Thankfully I don’t need to be up and out in it.  If it’s photogenic, I may take the camera for a walk.  As Scamp is fond of saying, it all depends on the weather.

Old Boot – 28 February 2016

Posted on by Zogman

combo bI think Old Boot was the name of the dog in the newspaper cartoon “The Perishers” away back in the mid ’70s. However, the old boot that took up most of my day today was the boot lock on Scamp’s Micra. A couple of weeks ago, with no prior warning, the boot refused to open when the release was pressed. I first thought it was the release mechanism that was at fault, but after a few sprays of WD40 it still refused to open, so it was on to the Internet to find out if any other hapless motorists had had the same problem. More importantly, had they solved the problem. It turned out that the problem itself was the microswitch in the boot handle becoming corroded or otherwise borked. Back out again and tried the test they suggested and indeed it appeared to be the switch that was causing all the bother. Nissan replacement part £95 + labour + VAT. Finally I found two useful pages on the Net explaining how to go about the repair using a Maplin microswitch costing around £2.00 Inc VAT. That sounded more like it. Since Scamp was not desperate to get it repaired pronto, I decided to wait until she and her sisters were off on holiday and do the job then. Today was that day. It was a fairly easy job, thanks to the aforementioned instructions. I only diverged a little from them in the fitting of the replacement switch. The lock assembly is sitting. on the table now neatly soldered (actually the soldering is awful – it would get you an instant fail in any metalwork or electronics course) and glued together. I’ve not got to weather seal it and it can go back on the car as soon as possible. One more Brownie Point for me.

It was a lovely bright, dry, almost warm day which is why I chose to do the job today. No point in mixing electronics and water. That’s probably what damaged the old switch in the first place. Went for a walk later in the fading light to try to get some photos with the new camera. After spending ages setting it up last night, I changed the settings, deleting all my changes – dummy! As a result, the shots are not as good as they could be. I think I’ve managed to get almost everything back again now. This camera is an amazing piece of technology, but is so easy to get wrong. One wrong button press and bang everything is back to stage one. I should know better, but I don’t. Story of my life, I think.

Boats, Bridges, Bikes and Accents – 27 February 2016

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combo bBeautiful morning. Seemed a shame to waste it, so I got my bike on the rack and drove over to Culross (sorry Hazy, take that look off your face). I parked and cycled along the footpath back to Kincardine. The going was fairly easy. A few slight slopes, but nothing very strenuous. However when I was freewheeling down one hill, I just thought it might be a bit of a challenge on the way back. Took some photos of the bridges, Kincardine and Clacks (short for Clackmannanshire Bridge). Why are people paid to decide the names for bridges, then come up with a mouthful like Clackmannanshire Bridge? They know fine well that the folk that stay there and the ones that use it will make up their own names for the crossings. Clacks Bridge sounds so much better. Nothing to do with Diskworld though.

While I was there an old guy wheeling a bike came along. I say ‘old’ but he was probably about the same age as me. He spoke to me, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying.  I thought he might be Polish. He repeated it and still I couldn’t make him out. It was only when he turned and said very slowly, “It’s nice to see a bit of sun” it twigged that he’d said “It’s a grand day”. His Fife accent was so thick it was almost impenetrable to my Lanarkshire ears. I agreed with him and he went on his way to the boat yard where he laboured a bit hauling a rowing boat down the jetty and setting off in it.

I’d just finished taking shots of the bridges and the mountains beyond and was ready to come home when I turned and saw the three wee boats sitting on the water with the beautiful cloudscape behind. Camera back out and got another load of pictures. The Oly isn’t tamed yet. It kept overexposing (sounds naughty, but it just means the photos are very pale) so when I got home I changed the exposure setting to Auto. That’s something I never do.

The run back was uneventful except, remember that hill? I was right, it was a killer on the way back. Got my blood pressure up and my pulse racing. Does you good to get out somewhere on a real bike, not a computer simulation.

Sirloin steak for dinner. It was lovely and I felt I’d earned it today.

An Early Start – 24 February 2016

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combo bSo what of the day?  Well, it was a really early rise with the alarm set for 5.30am.  A quick breakfast and a couple of mouthfulls of tea then out to defrost the car.  It wasn’t too bad really, only about -1ºc.  It had been colder during the night, but now there were clouds hiding the moon which raised the temperature a bit.  Next we loaded the cases into the car, because today Scamp and her sisters were off to a place where there is rarely, if ever a need to defrost the cars, Fuerteventura.

I was supposed to run them to the bus station in Glasgow, but the CITRAC signs said it would be an easy 19mins to the airport, so I decided to just extend the run out to there instead.  Indeed, for once, CITRAC was right and it was a textbook run out along the motorway.  Dropped them off and set off back down the motorway again in the opposite direction.  I had expected heavier traffic heading east into Glasgow, but the gods were with me because it was far lighter than I had anticipated and I made good time back home.  I was glad I’d left the heating on.  Nothing beats a warm house to come home to.

Today DPD were delivering my new (new to me) camera.  I’d finally settled on an Olympus OM D E-M10.  Apparently:

  • D is for Digital to separate it from the old OM1, 2 and 10 film cameras
  • E is for Electronic (duh, I think the word ‘Digital’ gives the game away)
  • M is for Mirrorless
  • 10 is for the model number

Really?  Do we need all those numbers and letters?  Why don’t they just call it an OM 10D?  Olympus don’t make anything other than mirrorless cameras and compacts now anyway.  Maybe longer names make the objects look more important.  Audi seem to do quite well with one letter and a one number.

Anyway, the parcel arrived dead on the target time of 15.08.  Signed for it and carefully unpacked it – no I didn’t, I ripped off the bubble wrap and stuck the battery in it to see what it could do.  As with my other Oly cameras there were a multitude of menus to navigate.  Luckily, this one was very similar to the E-PL5 (don’t ask what the letters and numbers mean), so it wasn’t the steep learning curve I had there.  Suffice to say that I headed off to St Mo’s to test it and some of the results are show above.  Am I impressed?  I have to say yes, reservedly yes.  It’s a very small camera.  Not too small, I think, but I wouldn’t want to work with anything smaller.  I remember when the OM1 came out in the mid ’70s, everyone said it was a lady’s camera, but a few professional photographers whe were big blokes took a shine to it and it gained acceptance.  I thought it was a lovely camera.

While waiting for the new toy to arrive, I monitored the sisters flight down to the Canaries on Flight Radar 24 which gives vast amounts of information to those interested in such things.

So, the car goes in for MOT tomorrow and I’m hoping to take my mind off that by taking some more photos.  Not testing – taking.

Four season in one day – 23 February 2016

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combo bThe day started with a swim this morning.  No gym, just some water relaxation.  It seems to have helped my back and still gave me some exercise.  After that, Scamp and I went for lunch and I took myself out for a walk while she was making the final touches to her packing for HER holiday.  The light was beautiful today with the occasional cloud giving a bit of shadow detail on the hills.  For once (whisper it) the Tamron behaved well.  As Scamp suggested, maybe it too just wants to be out in sunshine.

When I got home, it was time to drive to Glasgow to pick up Jackie.  Beautiful sunshine when I left home, blizzard conditions on the motorway ten minutes later, then beautiful sunshine five minutes later.

It is Scotland after all.

Broken Promises – 15 February 2016

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combo bSo much for getting up and out early today.  To be fair, I did get up earlier than I have of late, but the ‘out‘ didn’t materialize.  What I did do was put the Christmas decorations up in the loft because that was overdue.  This isn’t the latest it’s been.  I think one year it was March before I got round to it.

When Scamps crowd of ladies came round for their practise I couldn’t decide whether to go for the Gym/Swim option of a walk in the sun.  The sun won, because I can go to the gym any day and the swim option is best selected on a dull rainy day.  Best to get out and get some foties taken, so that is what I did.  I walked along the railway from Auchinstarry and when I got to Dumbreck Marshes, the silence was deafening.  I really mean that.  It wasn’t a total silence.  It’s hard to achieve that anywhere in the UK although parts of Skye come close.  No, there were sounds like the grass rustling and the occasional small bird singing, but no road noise or aircraft noise, because the breeze was from the east, so planes were taking off to the east and by the time they were overhead, they were already at 5000 odd feet and not making as much noise as when they were on their final approach at under 2000 feet.  It was a lovely afternoon with hardly anyone about.  I even managed a small ink sketch of a house in a stand of trees.  Very relaxing.  You don’t get that sort of silence at the gym or the pool, and I still had to walk back so I was getting some exercise too.

Got a few photos, but not many.  I’m finding it difficult to motivate myself with this 365.  Maybe I need a year off, but I’ve started now and I need to see it through.  As Scamp says, if I stop now I’ll regret it later.  No doubt I will, but I need to find a new set of subjects.  Something other than landscapes and macros.  Maybe architecture would fit the bill.  I don’t fancy portraiture.  Still life was working for a while there, but that’s quite a difficult subject to get right and an easy one to turn into a cliché.  I’ll think about it.

Tomorrow is to be a gym/swim day, we’re both agreed on that.  We need the exercise, as if the hour of salsa and another hour of bachatta wasn’t enough tonight.  Good fun, but tiring.