Category: photography

A bit of culture – 9 July 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Today I met Alex in Glasgow and we went for a walk in the sunshine.  Later we came back in the teeming rain. That’s Scotland.

Yesterday the weather was beautiful and today it was the same in the morning, but after we got off the bus to go to the Burrell Collection, we could feel the first spits of rain. By the time we got in and went for lunch the rain was getting heavy.

Today was a return visit to the Burrell. We’d seen most of the exhibits before, but there were lots of surprises too, like a tiny ceramic perfume bottle from circa 500BC and a Renoir bust of the man with the broken nose which had a tiny little signature in the inside of the hollow casting. It’s the little things you go back to see again and again.

My intention today was to take people pictures. One of the great things about this tele lens is the way it can separate a person from the background and I was playing with that a lot. The other thing that I tried was isolating people in the long corridors that almost always have a focal point at their far end. The weather might have been terrible, but we were inside and dry and we both had a great day.

Back home on the bus I listened to a podcast about Ramesses The Great. What a lad he was if all the stories were true. The average lifespan of Egyptians then was about 30 years. He lived until he was 80! The world was just as ill divided then, it seems.

Watched the Professionals doing Bakeoff and Scamp and I were agreed that the best pair won.

PoD was called Twa Dugs. Taken on the steps of the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow. I think there may be more to come from today’s shoot, though.

Things I’ll remember from today:

  • Lunch today in a mobbed cafe are in the Burrell (New Yorker).
  • Seeing that 500BC perfume bottle
  • The Twa Dugs
  • Girl in Nero chattering away nonstop to us
  • Maybe, just maybe seeing Charles Hamilton

We may be going shopping for essentials tomorrow.

Beautiful warm day. Was that summer? – 8 July 2024

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In the morning, I started to clear out some to the rubbish in my room. Just junk mainly. That left me some room to store the things I wanted to keep in the racks in the corner. The rubbish bag is full and it’s in the grey bin now. Can’t go back.

I drove up to the town centre later to get my hair cut. It didn’t take long, probably about ten minutes from me opening the door to going back out again. A number 2 cut all over cost me less than a tenner!

I’d parked in Tesco car park, so it seemed a good idea to pay for it with a bag of rolls for lunch. Not as good as the ones they used to bake on the premises, but not bad, if a bit doughy. On the way in I bumped into Lorraine Henderson who I used to work with. It was quite embarrassing, because she obviously had forgotten my name and I had forgotten her’s. She was with a friend who originally came from the Cumbershugh area but was now in the US. Said was on holiday here and said she would come back here ‘in an instant’, and I thought “Aye Right!”

Back home and after lunch, I started making a support for the apple tree. One bough in particular is carrying a heavy load just now and that load is just going to get heavier as the apples swell. The support is a bit rough and ready, but it’s holding for now. I think we might need another one further along the branch just to stop the bough from breaking. That’s for the future. For now it’s a lot better than it was.

When we were finished and sort of tidied up, I drove Scamp up to B&M to get a set of three storage boxes. One was earmarked for holding her dance shoes and another would be for my shoes, although I’ve a plan to chuck out some of the older shoes I’ll never wear again.

The weather was still lovely when we got back, so Scamp read in the garden with a Pimms and I went for a walk in St Mo’s. PoD was a close up of a solitary Soldier Beetle. Unusual to see just one. Usually they are in pairs, busy making more Soldier Beetles! Saw and photographed Common Blue Damselflies too. When I got back to the house I had the final bottle of beer from last year’s box. Only slightly out of date, but tasted fine. Dinner was Tuna Pasta and that was really nice.

Hoping to meet Alex in Glasgow tomorrow to go to the Burrell Collection. Rain predicted!! Scamp says she’s going to do some tidying.

Out for a walk – 6 July 2024

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Scamp suggested we drive to Colzium, just outside Kilsyth and go for a walk in the park.

That sounded like a good idea. The weather looked fairly settled with blue skies and white clouds, so off we went. We parked in a small carpark in the trees and started a ‘figure of eight’ walk by passing Colzium House which was once the seat of the Edmonstone family but became the property of the Burgh of Kilsyth after the Second World War. Built in 1783, it was substantially enlarged in 1861. Beyond the house, the path climbs a long tiring hill with excellent views over to Bar Hill and the intervening fields with their different shades of green. From there we walked through the woodland, still climbing until we reached the top and took a wee rest on a rough hewn bench.

Once we had caught our breath we crossed the bridge over the Colzium Burn and started the descent, because “what goes up must come down” on the other side of the burn. I was taking some photos of moss fruiting bodies ( a long time favourite of mine) when a man stopped and asked what camera I was using. Obviously a photog, he said that he had a ‘crop sensor’ Nikon, but just used it for family and holidays. He stood and talked for a while and then we went our separate ways. It’s uncommon for folk to ask what camera I’m using. Only serious photographers do that, so I think he was more serious than he seemed.

Down to the old curling pond, the first one in Scotland it’s said, and finished our circuit back at the carpark. Drove home and had a quick cup of tea and toast, intending to go over to The Cotton House later in the afternoon for a late lunch … except, both of us were too busy reading and by the time we realised, the restaurant would have been near to closing.

Instead, Scamp put some washing in, then worked in the garden for a while and I helped out for a while. The parking area was full when we got back from our walk and I had to park quite a distance away, but I noticed when we were in the front garden that a parking space had appeared, so I went to retrieve the car while Scamp hung out the washing. Just as I was parking the an ice cream van stopped and as I had some ‘real’ money in my pocket, I got two ’99’ cones and watched Scamp’s face light up. Her second surprise this week.

We spent more time discussing plants and what could be cut back and what couldn’t. Scamp was also making plans for another planter to go into the front garden. Always thinking about next year. We were standing in the living room discussing whether to water the plant tonight because many of them in the tubs were very dry when I noticed it was raining. We brought in the washing which was nearly dry and realised that we wouldn’t need to water after all.

Dinner was a Spice Tailor curry made with Chicken Thighs. Just a wee bit hotter than we were expecting.

Watched The Duke. A 2020 British comedy we’d seen before, but neither of us could remember the whole thing. A harmless bit of fluff, allegedly based on a true story.

Pod was a photo of Colzium House.

No plans for tomorrow, but the weather looks not as good as today.

 

Talking gardens with Isobel – 4 July 2024

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Today we were meeting Isobel for coffee in Costa. Not my favourite place, but it suited us today. Just a place for the ladies to have a blether.

The conversation was wide ranging, about family and the difficulty for young folk to find a permanent job, but eventually it all came round to flowers, plants and gardening. Isobel is a really dedicated gardener and I’m sure she and Scamp could spend all day talking about plants and different regimes for planting, feeding and disposing of unwanted plants. She is quite a hard task master with no quarter given. If a plant isn’t performing, it either gets cut down to the ground to force better growth next year, or it gets ripped out and dumped in the bin. There’s usually another plant ready and waiting to fill its place.

When the talking was done Scamp went to get a new cover for her phone and I drove Isobel home, then I went back to pick up Scamp and we drove home. She told me that everyone in the shops wanted to sell her a wallet type cover but she stuck to her guns and got the cover she wanted, not one they wanted rid of. I know where she gets that attitude from, Isobel!

After lunch we walked up to the Polling Station and handed over our bus passes as proof of identity, then put our cross in the correct box. Strangely we used to be quite coy about who we had voted for, but now we were much more open about it and both of us had gone for the same party. Spoiler Alert: It wasn’t a Conservative!

It was a wild day with gusty winds and heavy rain showers, but thankfully we got up to the Polling Station and back again without getting wet. That’s a miracle in itself these days.

I managed a walk in St Mo’s later in the afternoon and although it wasn’t very wet, the cold blustery west wind wasn’t great to walk in and I was glad to get back home with a couple of photos. This time I’d fixed the new lens on to the A6500 where it was a bit overbalanced by the Tamron. It still produced a decent shot of a little wee yellow flower which became PoD. I must look it up to see just exactly what it was. While the lens copes quite well with these almost macro subjects, it’s not really suited to them. It’s more a large landscape lens or a means of isolating a subject from the background. Maybe I need to get out into the wider world to test it properly.

Dinner was Savoury Rice which is basically “What have we got in the fridge?” with some rice cooked in a chicken stock. It was very nice. I had it without any additions, but in retrospect, maybe a dash of Soy Sauce and maybe a splash of Yorkshire Relish would have lifted it.

That was about it for the day, except for Andy & Jamie Murray’s doubles exit from Wimbledon, against a better pairing. I’m not sure if he will continue to the mixed doubles now.

No plans for tomorrow yet, Just waiting with bated breath to find out who wins the poisoned chalice of the house in Downing Street.

 

A wee surprise – 2 July 2024

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We had agreed that we should go out somewhere today.

I suggested to Scamp that she might like to go down to Troon to test out the dance floor there. There are two dances a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays and since we were committed on Thursday, why not go today? By the time I’d rinsed the breakfast dishes, Scamp had laid out prospective dresses and shoes, so I guessed the invitation had been accepted!

The dance started at 1pm and finished at 3pm. The drive down to Troon was without event and by the time we got there the sun was shining. Even better still, there was a parking space next to the hall. After heading in to the wrong building by mistake we were given detailed instruction on how to get to the hall which was next door, but was hidden round a corner. Booked ourselves in and paid a tenner for both of us, probably the going rate for us Auld Yins!

We found a large dance hall with the compere and keyboard maestro ready for action on the stage with his three keyboards. He had a good sound system and the sang to all the tunes he played, and he played a lot. We were used to Stewart & Jane’s setup where they played pre-recorded music and there was tea at half time. Not so today. If you wanted something to drink, you had to provide it yourself. That way participants didn’t lose any dancing time.

I think we danced for almost everything he played. The only things we stayed seated for were the ‘school dances’ Military Two Step and Canadian Barn Dance. We also avoided the Viennese Waltz which isn’t in our syllabus. We even added in a Salsa track and a Bachata, just for fun. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming. Ronnie and Millie seemed surprised to see us and we had a bit of banter with them.

For once in a dance class, the time seemed to fly. I don’t think it was because my dancing was stunning, because it wasn’t, I think I was just enjoying dancing. But soon it was time for the last waltz and we assured everyone we spoke to that we’d be back, despite the long drive.

Since we hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast, Scamp suggested we go for a late lunch at the Lido in Troon: Mussels for Scamp and Italian sausage and pasta for me. We had stopped at Morrison’s on the way home to buy a loaf and ended up with a trolley full of stuff, as usual.

The run back in  the rain, took a bit more time than the drive down, but I’d expected that. Much more traffic on the road and a lot of congestion coming off the M74 on to the M 73. I’d hate to drive through that every day.

I only took six photos today and kept only four of them. PoD was a bloke sitting on the wall at the seaside having his lunch.

We have no plans as yet for tomorrow. I’m sure something will turn up.

White Rabbits (x3) – 1 July 2024

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The first day of July and for about an hour tonight, it actually felt like summer.

In the morning, it was that cold wind again that took all the heat away. There really wasn’t much encouragement to go out and take some photos, but I did anyway, but not until well after lunch.

I struggled again to understand the purpose of the three available settings on the new camera, but eventually gave up. I think from what I’ve read that a lot of these settings are more for movie filming than stills photography.

I took the camera and the new lens out for a walk in the afternoon, but the wind was the problem again. Nothing like what’s happening in the Caribbean just now with 130mph winds, but our breezes were annoying too. More than half the photos ended up on the cutting room floor.

Dinner for Scamp tonight was yesterday’s Ratatouille reheated with some tinned tomatoes and some passata added. Mine was yesterday’s Spaghetti Bolognese magically turned into Chilli con Carne with the other half of the tomatoes and passata. Both were fine served with rice. I even had enough left over from my chilli to to go into the freezer for a day when I fancy something different!

The light was lovely about 7.30pm so I took the camera and the new lens out for a walk. I managed to get some more interesting photos this time in the Golden Hour. The best by far became PoD.

No real plans for tomorrow, but hopefully we won’t have to wait so long for the sun to shine and we’ll get a chance to go out somewhere.

The Fox and the Blackbird – 30 June 2024

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The latest bout of Buyers Remorse came about as a result of a Fox on the 3rd of June this year and came to an end with a Blackbird this morning.

I watched a fox watching me while I was out at Fannyside taking photos on the 3rd of this month. I took a few photos, but knew it would have been better to have had a longer lens at hand. That started a month long search for such a lens at a price I was willing to pay. I found one about a fortnight ago and swithered for a week and a half about purchasing it. I finally bought the lens yesterday but the first shots I took with it were lacklustre at best. This morning while waiting for my coffee to cool, I watched a blackbird having its morning splash in the birdbath. I grabbed my camera with the new lens and took a few shots with it. A quick chimp 1 I knew the lens was a ‘keeper.’ The fox started it and the blackbird finished it. The Fox and Blackbird would make a good name for a pub, and probably has!

Before lunch we went shopping for food and came back from Tesco with three big bags full, just like Baa Baa Black Sheep if you can think back that far!

After lunch and after listening to Laura Kuenssberg admonishing Sunak for his criticism of the opposition. It felt like she was going to give him a verbal warning before ordering him out of the studio. Must be nice to have the power to kick out the Prime Minister!

Next task for Scamp was more pruning of the roses and finding the name of a little red flower that came from Jamie’s garden (no the ones in the picture, those are Geums) and had appeared in the back garden. It was a Common Rock Rose!
While she was doing her tidying up, I was potting up some basil plants I’d grown from seed. A horticultural afternoon.

Spoke to Jamie later and heard about their invitation to a neighbours’ barbecue. Our weather has been a bit dull to attempt a barbecue any time soon.

PoD was the bathing blackbird, of course.

No real plans for tomorrow.

 

  1. (Chimp – Photographer’s speak for checking the photo on the back screen of the camera, usually constantly!) ↩

Dancin’ – 29 June 2024

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An enjoyable dance class for once.

It started with a few Butterfly Jives. The teachers need to realise that some of their pupils are not as young as they used to be. After the third one, I was beginning to think this was a bad move. After sitting in a car for forty-five minutes with the only movements being my feet on the pedals and a few hand movement on the wheel, the toe-taps, spins and toe-heels were raising my blood pressure and overworking my lungs. But as soon as it started, it finished … thankfully!

The next dance was a gentle Foxtrot. It must be my favourite dance, slow and gentle. While it didn’t have anything energetic, it certainly had a lot of technique with Sway and CBMP. I don’t have a clue what CBMP is other than it’s when you move in one direction while your body is trying to go in another. The teachers make it look so easy, but then, they would. They’ve been practising it for ages. I still enjoyed it.

Stewart managed to squeeze in a couple of Tina Tangos when it seemed we were all losing the place with the Sway and the CBMP. The first one was to Ed Sheeran’s Shivers just to please Scamp.

Last ballroom tracks were for Joy’s Waltz which everyone thought they’d forgotten until we’d danced it through a couple of times and then it sort of fell into place. All down to Muscle Memory.

A couple of fast tracks finishing with Fireball! complete with clapping and shouting “Oi”. Great fun. An almost totally enjoyable class. Just a bit too much theory for me in the middle.

We drove back home via Cowcaddens where we parked and went to pay for and pick up the Tamron 70-180mm f2.8 Di III VXD G2 lens. It might have been Buyers Remorse, but when I got it home, it wasn’t quite as good as I’d hoped it would be. I’m not totally sold on it and it may not end up being a keeper. Only time and a few hundred more test shots will swing it one way or the other. Today’s PoD was taken with it. Just a green leaf but one with lovely curvature.

Tomorrow looks better than today, but no plans for what to do with it yet.

A Late Lunch – 28 June 2024

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No, we didn’t sleep in. This late lunch was planned.

Crawford and Nancy asked us over to Larky for a late lunch, around 2pm. So after watching different weather patterns moving across the sky and still not being sure which one would run the day, we got ourselves decked out in our going-out clothes and drove to Larky.

It turned out a really nice day, as long as you were inside looking out. I reckon it wasn’t quite so warm on the other side of the glass walled conservatory. Lunch was Butternut Squash soup, followed by a Slice of Salmon fried and dressed with Philadelphia Cheese and Roasted Peppers with New Potatoes and Asparagus. Dessert was Bramble and Cream with a drop or two of alcohol to spice it up. Last, but not least was a sponge cake topped with Philadelphia and white chocolate. The whole lot washed down with a Americano coffee.

We sat and talked about where we’d been and what we’d done since our last meeting which wasn’t all that long ago, but we’d all covered a lot of ground since then. C&N had been using their Historic Scotland and National Trust cards to gain access to a host of places as well as a we-got-lost-and-found-this visit to the Japanese Garden near Dollar. We had been places too, using our Senior Rail Cards, we’d travelled to Stirling and its castle and Edinburgh and on to Leith. So, we had a lot of things to talk about.

When the ladies retired to the conservatory afterward, Crawford and I struggled to find out how to get photos on to an advertisement he was making using his new Chromebook. I’d never used one, but I was sure I could work it out, but I was wrong. It must be the most annoying piece of useless tech. Impossible to navigate without swearing. Eventually I had to admit defeat. Then he told me he had actually built the advert already on his iPhone and it was much easier that using a Chromebook. I could believe that. After about an hour, we were back where we started without having put anything onto paper. We gave up and joined the ladies.

Drove home and got parked after a bit of coming and going with four cars trying perform a ballet routine so that two could leave and two could park at the same time. Eventually it worked out and we even had a spare space!

PoD went to a photo I saw building as we were driving home. It’s a view looking over towards Lenzie from a single track country road near us. It’s actually two photos joined together to make a panorama.

Tomorrow we’re hoping to go dancing and on the way home, pay for and pick up a lens. Apparently it arrived in the shop in the late afternoon.

 

Out for a walk – 26 June 2024

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Today I was meeting Alex for a walk around Glasgow.

For once I was early at Buchanan Bus station, so early that I had a chance to go for a walk down Buchanan Street and grab some street shots there. When I returned to the bus station Alex was waiting for me and we went for a coffee as usual. He wanted to visit Princes Square to get some photos and I didn’t mind going there too. I chose different subjects though. He was interested in the criss crossing escalators at the far end. I was photographing the little coloured glass plates attached to the wrought iron railings. Each to his own.

From Princes Square we walked down Queen Street and turned left into Argyle Street, then Alex decided it was time for lunch so we went to Paesano for a very filling pizza each, ad as I had bussed it in to the town, I could have a glass or wine with my lunch. Alex is TT, so he had Coke. From there we went to the GOMA the second of Alex’s choice of places to go today. He wanted to go up to the gallery and take a shot looking down to the ground floor, taking in the elliptical handrails round the edge of the gallery … except, when we got there we found someone had hung a long banner from the middle of the roof light right down to the ground. There would be no photos of the elliptical galleries today. I felt sorry for him, because he’d brought a special fisheye lens for exactly that shot. As we were leaving the GOMA I got the PoD which was a line of folk sitting on the steps of the building with only the front two in sharp focus. Just one shot that worked really well.

I’d ordered a lens from WEX to check out on Sunday and it was due to arrive today, so we walked up to Blythswood Square and down to Bath Street, then left to take us to WEX and the lens. We both had a play with it with the bloke holding my 24-105mm as surety. Then we tried it’s new younger brother, the more expensive G2 model. Without any prompting, Alex said what I was thinking. “Wow! That’s solid as a rock.” What he meant was there was no shake in the lens the electronics in the camera and the lens were working together to hold the camera sensor steady on the target. We went back in and I told the salesman I’d take the G2 model. Unfortunately they didn’t have one in stock, but he’s ordered one to be sent up from Norwich and it should be with me by the weekend. It’s not been paid for, yet. Not even a deposit was asked for. Looking forward to trying it out properly.

We walked back through the barricades on Sauchiehall Street, had another coffee in Waterstones and a long natter about lenses and Buyers Remorse, then walked down to the bus station where I just missed the X3. It didn’t matter, I had my phone with Spotify and a pair of good earbuds. I listened to a varied and mostly interesting selection on the way home.

Scamp hadn’t had as successful day as far as food was concerned. Her lunch with the Witches wasn’t all that great. I get the feeling that Mac ’n’ Cheese in Brodens would have fitted the bill better. However, like me, she was there to exchange gossip, although, if asked, Alex and I would say we were sharing photographic information.

We watched the Sewing Bee and saw another contestant’s hopes of glory dashed on the cutting room floor.

Tomorrow Scamp has dentist in the afternoon, so I have to come up with something to keep her mind off it and she has to keep my mind of a Tamron 70-180mm F/2.8 Di III VC VXD G2 that just might arrive tomorrow.