Category: photography

Ice is Nice – 14 February 2016

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combo bSome days you can only just manage to drag yourself out to take one or two photos, other days the opportunities are endless. Such was it today. When I woke, the sun was battering at the window trying to get in to lighten our morning. After breakfast I couldn’t resist it any longer and I took the Oly out to play in the snow. Great light, but treacherous underfoot with about 20-25mm of ice on paths and roads. I’d only put on my boots, not my crampon things. I detest them, but they are useful on days like this. Anyway, once I got to St Mo’s, it was a bit softer and safer walking on the snow than the ice. Spotted some deer, but not before they saw me and raced on ahead. No chance to even take the camera out of the bag, but it was just as good watching them run throught the trees, occasionally lit by the morning sun.

Today I concentrated on the little bits of light and ice sitting on grass stems and branches of low weeds. Managed one shot of a grass stem with a bead of thawed ice on it. For once I got the focus just right with the grass slightly blurred, but the aerial image in focus. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to get this effect, and this morning I achieved it by accident. Also liked the oversharpened and oversaturated shot of the cowparsley head covered in beads of melting ice. The contre-jour shot of the leaf was a no-brainer. Warm coloured subject against cool background colours. Simple. Just getting back up again from the crouch that’s needed to take the shot, that’s the challenge for me.

Back home for lunch and a coffee, then Scamp wanted to go for a walk to Condorrat. More walking over the icy crevasses, and then one last look for something interesting with the Nikon this time, but the light was too low by then, so I got nothing worthwhile. Up early and out. The early bird gets the worm (and the good shots). That should be my motto from now on, providing it’s not raining. Click on the shots above to see the images better on Flickr.

Snow – 13 February 2016

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIt snowed today. We were meant to go to Embra, but we decided it would be better to stay local. We finally agreed to go for lunch to Vecchia Bologna, yes, I’ve mentioned it before. Anyway, we drove through a bit of snow to get there, had lunch, went to Waitrose and then drove through a full scale blizzard to get back. No matter how bad it got, you just have to keep repeating “The holiday is booked, The holiday is booked …” That gets you through a lot of stuff.

Built a lens tester to check that bloody Tamron. Results are inconclusive. I think it’s back focusing, but I’ll need to re-do it in better light. Basically I don’t think I care any more. It’s not doing what it should. I’ll send it away to Tamron and get them to check it. If that doesn’t make it any better, I’ll drop in and the camera down the stair and claim it on insurance – only kidding Mr Insurance Man (Fingers crossed behind my back).

It’s flooers today for a PoD (Photo of the Day if you hadn’t worked that out). I don’t know if the greater the number of flowers, the greater the depth of ennui. If so, I should have switched to wide angle and photographed the whole bunch. Hoping the snow stays until tomorrow when I’ll go out and get some black and white snowy shots. Tonight I had a bottle of Adnams Broadside. Thank you Jic for introducing us!

A grey day, lemonade scones and a still life – 26 January 2016

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnother uninteresting day with nothing much to recommend it.  Windy and wet with occasional chances for the sun to burst through for a few minutes.  Driving rain from the south for a change.  It washes the windows if nothing else.  Every time the I decided to take a walk and get some photos in the bright spells, the rain would start again.  Scamp and I went to the gym instead and did a bit of exercising, but as she had a lunch appointment, we didn’t get a chance for a swim.

Did a bit of painting, but left it unfinished again.  Made some lemonade scones.  Simple recipe:

  • 2 cups self-raising flour
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 150 ml double cream
  • 150 ml lemonade

Makes roughly 12 scones and they are as light as a feather.  Even Scamp agrees, it must be so.

Today’s photo is physalis 1 .  It was produced using a combination of different technologies.  The camera was mounted on a tripod, an old Bilora that I bought second hand for a couple of quid in a house clearing about forty years ago.  The other technology was the brand new Pixel remote trigger.  Old and new technologies managed to produce a good image when used together.  Hoping for good weather tomorrow, but more snow forecast.  We’ll see.

 

  1. Just keep repeating “Physalis, Physalis, Physalis”.  Then when someone asks you what they are, you don’t blurt out “SYPHILIS!” as someone I was sitting next to at a restaurant did.  A conversation stopper. ↩

A Brush With Art – 24 January 2016

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAFred and I went to Cass Art today for a mixed media workshop.  For once, this was a workshop which would have benefited from the wearing of industrial protective clothing like a boiler suit.  However to contradict the title of today’s blog, no brushes were used in this art class.  We did use pipettes, painting knives, sandpaper and kitchen towel, but no brushes were harmed in any way.  It seemed to be an attempt at selling the Pebeo abstract paint products we were encouraged to use by a poorly prepared and inexperienced ‘tutor’ who admitted half way through the class that she hadn’t actually used these products very much.  Hmm, as an ex teacher, I’d have to say that there were times when I ‘winged it’ through a class, but I was so much better than this – most of the time!  I got the impression that the ‘sell’ was not very successful either, as very few of our peers bought any of the Pebeo products after the class.  This is by far the poorest presentation I’ve been to at Cass Art.  As far as the product goes, it seemed that there was very little creative artistry possible with it.  Strange effects, but not a lot of control available.  The paint looked like a thinned down version of Hammerite at a vastly inflated price.  Maybe I just don’t understand this abstract nonsense art.

Once we got back and I’d had my lunch I spent the afternoon searching out the tracks from the ’70s album ‘Rockbuster’ on YouTube.  It’s amazing the amount of music that’s available there.

Today’s photo solves two problems:

  1. I had no opportunity to take any pictures today.

  2. I’d recently bought a wireless remote for the E-PL5 and hadn’t managed to try it properly.

Problem solved. Picture taken and the remote works perfectly. In case you’re interested, it’s a Pixel RW-221/UC1 Wireless Shutter Remote.  Such a pity that Oly didn’t think to produce their own remote for this excellent camera, like Nikon did.

The Wild West – 23 January 2016

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combo bAccording to the weather reports and the weather apps, today was to be a good weather day.  They lied.

We drove down to Troon to get some fresh air, a walk along the beach and lunch.  The thermometer in the car read 5ºc when we arrived, but it lied too.  That didn’t take into account the windchill from a cold south wind blowing across the beach.  The kite surfers didn’t seem to mind, in fact they were revelling in the windy conditions.  We stood and watched them for quite a while after walking along a very untidy beach.  Loads of debris from the recent storms, Frank being the most likely suspect.  Apparently there were whole trees washed up on the south beach.

After walking back to the town we wandered round the vast selection of shops Troon has to offer.  It’s like so many of Scotland’s, in fact Britain’s towns these days and seems that the charity shops outnumber the full price shops.  Lunch was in the Lido which was very busy, most of the background noise being contributed by the girls at a ten year old’s birthday party.  Food was good, although my burger was thicker but with a smaller diameter than previously.  Scamp had Churrasco barbacued chicken skewers which looked delicious, but she said they were “Ok”.  She’s a tough critic, I know from experience.

After stopping on the way for provisions in Waitrose, we drove home.  After we stopped near the house, Scamp found a wallet on the road next to the car.  I suggested we hand it over to the police and let them deal with it, so we turned tail and drove up to the police station.  Felt better for doing that.  It was our good Samaritan deed of the day.  Hope the poor bloke got his wallet.

Picture on the right is not as it was taken.  The kite the bloke, I’m guessing it was a bloke, was using was a dark blue and grey and it was not quite in the frame, so I clipped a nice orange one from a diffent shot and replaced the dull one with it.  There, that looks much better!

Rain predicted for tomorrow.  What a surprise.

A Different Sort of Day – 22 January 2016

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combo bAfter a downer of a week, weatherwise and otherwise, we woke today to … rain. Woke up at around 6.00am to rain battering against the window. Turned over and went back to sleep. Next thing I knew it was 9.00am and it was still raining. Oh well, I’d decided to go in to Glasgow for a wander and the weather app on my phone said it would be sunny by midday – fat chance says I. By the time I’d got myself organised and finished just one more chapter of Strange Loyalties by the late William McIlvanney, a very introspective novel with wonderful use of language, by the time I finally put it down, it was getting on for 11.30. Scamp had declined my offer of a run into town, so I went myself on the train. Got parked easily for a change at the station.

When I was walking up to the station, the rain had stopped and wonder of wonders, there was blue sky up there. At 12.10, sitting in the Glasgow train, the clouds parted and the sun shone. It stayed that way for the rest of the day. The weather app was right, well, ten minutes late, but we can forgive it that. In Glasgow I went up to JL, but they had no bargains – well, they hardly ever do. Had a play around with one of the Oly 4/3 DSLRs I’ve been watching coming down in price. Second hand of course. Unfortunately I handled the posh V2 version first, so the viewfinder wasn’t as clear in the second, more affordable, one. That said, it has come EVFs have come a long way since the Sony F707, or even the removable EVF of the Oly E-PL5. Sorry for all that technospeak, Jic, it’s over now, you can open your eyes again.

Lots of lovely light in Bucky Street and interesting people too. I have to thank the community policeman who noticed I’d dropped the viewfinder from the E-PL5 in my rush to get a shot. Thank you very much whoever you are, I never really got a chance to thank you properly. I know it’s unlikely you will ever read this, but I feel better now. I walked all the way down past St Enoch’s to the Clyde walkway and found even more photo opportunities.

Back up to the station, back home and a piece ‘n’ cheese for a late lunch before Scamp came home from a “Witches” meeting.

What a difference a bit of sun makes.

Sore Legs – 19 January 2016

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combo bIt was cold today, not as cold as it has been, and most of the snow has gone now, but it was not particularly comfortable. We went to the gym and had a swim afterwards. This was the most exercise I’ve done in a long time and I’m beginning to feel the effects in my legs tonight. The pool was lovely and warm, maybe too warm. I did a few lengths, but spent most of my time in the jacuzzi and the sauna.

After lunch I went for a walk round St Mo’s and grabbed a few shots with the Oly. I seem to get better results with this new E-PL5 than I do with the Nikon. Sometimes you need the instant response of the Nikon and the quality is better with it, but for day to day shooting and for pocketability (if that’s a word), the Oly wins hands down.

Not a lot done, but a much better day than yesterday. I even got today’s Medium sudoku finished (hopefully correctly!). So things must be getting better.

A day by the loch – 13 January 2016

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combo bToday we woke to sunshine, just as the weather fairies had predicted, so it was up and out early.  We took ‘pieces‘, that’s sandwiches to you unenlightened ones, and we took a flask and all the makings for a cup of coffee and tea and pointed the car at Loch Lomond.  In particular, we headed for Milarrochy Bay on Loch Lomond to see and photograph the famous Milarrochy Tree.  It’s a tree that once stood on the banks of the loch, but is more usually part submerged a few metres from the shore.  Google “Milarrochy Tree” and you’ll see the tree photographed in every time of the day and on every day of the year.  It’s quite a Scottish icon.  In its way it’s as famous as the waterfall at Buachaille Etive Mor.  Google that too if you like.  We can’t remember the last time we went to this spot, but it must have been at least four cars ago, and maybe longer.  It’s a strange way to count time, I know, but it works for us.

Thankfully when we got to the carpark it was deserted so I could spend as much time as I wanted shooting it with all different lenses and all different settings with both cameras, but not at the same time.  That would be taking things too far.  All in all, I think I took about 90 shots of the tree.  If you think that’s overkill, you’re not a photographer.  After eating our pieces and having our cups of coffee we headed up to Rowardennan and the end of the road, well almost, because the predicted clouds were rolling in from the west and looked as if they had been loading up with snow which they were set on dropping any time soon.  Took some shots of the loch which is quite a boring stretch of water with some foreground interest from some rocks and tried to frame the youth hostel with an overhanging pine tree.

After that it was back home in time for tea, well more coffee actually.  It was great just being out in the daylight watching the play of light on the hills.  The sun had shone all morning but then it got tired and had to rest behind some clouds.

A day to remember.

A new year, a new curry shop – 2 January 2016

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combo bAnother late rise today.  This is becoming a habit.  I’d say we were missing the best part of the day, but that wouldn’t be correct.  The light level this morning when we woke was a definite ISO 10000 and that would have been with f1.8 @ 1/30th (that means really, really dull to non-photogs).  Tonight’s big film was The Dark Knight.  We can beat that.  We have The Dark Day … every day.  Enough of this repartee.

Just to get out of the house, we decided on a trip to Stirling … for a curry.  Rather than go to what had been out favourite curry shop, Mr Singh’s, I thought it would be a good idea to try out a new one, well, new to us.  I didn’t know what it was called, but I knew where it was.  It turned out to be the ‘Spice Garden’ and it was good, very good.  The only let down was that their Irn Bru came from a bar nozzle with not nearly enough gas.  I can forgive that if the food is good, and it was.  We’ll be back.

On the way back, I wanted to get a POD.  I intended it to be Stirling Castle, but from the standard tourist viewpoint, the view was not as commanding as I hoped it would be.  Well, what do you expect from the Council created parking place.  I turned 180º and liked the view up the carse.  A ‘carse’, which my spellchecker thinks is a the plural of ‘car’ is “low-lying land beside a river” and the Carse of Stirling can be beautiful on a good day.  Today wasn’t beautiful, but the carse was doing it’s level best, so I took its photo.  Then I grabbed my tripod and walked across to see if Stirling Castle looked any better from the other side of the road.  It didn’t, but the mound at the old cemetery did look good and there were lots of people happily standing on it to make it look quite dramatic.  I imagine they thought they looked dramatic too.  I took a few shots just to make them think they were dramatic and important.

When I got home, the carse photo was easy to process.  The dramatic rock took a little longer.  Because the shots were taken with the same focal length, aperture and shutter settings, it was easy to sandwich two of them in Potatoshop with the empty rock on top and the dramatic person beneath.  Then all I did was change the opacity of the top shot to allow the ‘ghost’ underneath to show through.  Simple!  I’ll do the Stirling Castle shot another day.  I’ve just remembered where to take it from and it’s’ not the Council approved tourist place either.  Well, it wouldn’t be, would it?

Rain – 30 December 2015

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combo bUp at 6.00am to see Jic and Sim on their way back down south through the wind and rain that was with us all night last night. After they left, we went back to bed for another snooze for an hour or three before heading off to Falkirk to fight our way through the supermarket to get enough food to see us through the next two days.

On the drive home I stopped at Underwood Lock on the Forth and Clyde Canal to get some photos. Thankfully the rain had eased a bit and I got two of the shots I had planned. Then I saw a couple walking their dog and grabbed that shot too. I imagine there are a lot of possible shots in the old burned out restaurant, but as the roof has fallen in and the entire site is enclosed behind heavy duty fencing. The fencing doesn’t really bother me, but the thought of the roof falling in on me does, so I think I’ll take more shots, but from the outside only.

That was it for the day. The light had gone, and so had we. We went home.