Went out cycling today and managed another shot of damselflies. This time the damselflies were mating and were large reds. It was a lovely sunny day and warm too. I was using the E-PL5 again with the Panasonic zoom and an extension tube to reduce the camera to subject distance and of course to enlarge the image of the damselflies. Really difficult to get enough DOF with this setup, but this was one of the good shots. At first I wasn’t happy with the IQ, but now that I’ve looked again, done some pixel peeping and settled myself down, it’s producing some decent shots. Much better with the EVF on to make sure focus is in the right place.
! found a helium balloon tangled in a tree when I was out and set if free. I was amazed at the vertical acceleration as it rose into the sky. Soon it was just a little speck in the clouds. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time for cycling as we were going out later, so it was swift home to make dinner (just for me as Scamp had been stuffing her face earlier at a friend’s house).
Went dancing at night and enjoyed the class, however, fat bob crashed the 8.00pm class, which meant there were too many guys, so I went for a walk instead. Wandered round Kelvinbridge and found evidence of an old railway line which is detailed here. Lovely sunset and great lighting on the old Lansdowne church. I even managed to get a bit of a rainbow in the left of the picture. Enjoyed the walk and the discovery that I wouldn’t have made without the intervention of fat bob. I’d thank him but he really is a vacuous dobber!
When we woke this morning it was raining. It seemed to rain on and off all day in Glasgow. It rained when we came home and it rained almost all evening. It’s not raining now. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s empty.
We decided to go in to Glasgow. We had decided during the week that it would be a good idea and Scamp suggested that we go in by train which is quite quick and convenient – I don’t have to drive, so that’s a bonus. What we forgot was that the Grand Orange Order of Scotland or whatever they call themselves were having a party in George Square in Glasgow to celebrate ….. the fact that it was raining or anything else. When we got to Queen Street Station, the party was in full swing. The banners were blowing in the wind and the marchers were having a great time, marching. I watched for a while to see if there was anything the new Oly would like to take a picture of. Eventually it chose to photograph one of the drummers trying to stick the drum sticks to his nose, to make a kind of wooden moustache. Why do these marching drummers always attempt to force the drumsticks up their nose? I’ve never understood that. The other thing I’ve never understood was the Orange Lodge. However, they seemed to be enjoying themselves today marching up and down George Square in Glasgow … in the rain! Oh, then some bloke, the Grand Poobah or something started into a long speech about something, but as he was speaking to ‘friends’ and we didn’t know him, we left. We went to see what was happening in the old fruit market. The answer was ‘not much’. It seemed that the stall holders were outnumbering the punters, so we left to go to a wee cafe Cranberry’s (I’m not sure why that apostrophe is there. Maybe the owner is Mr or Mrs Cranberry). Great coffee and jam scone. That may be unimportant to you, but to us, soaked to the skin (slight exaggeration) it was the highlight of the day so far.
We walked down a canyon leading from the affluent Merchant City to the realism of the east end of Argyle Street and around the City Centre for a while Had lunch in the quite excellent, but also very quiet Charcoals. You really have to see the number of awards this place has had. All authentic too. It is the best and most consistently good curry shop I’ve been to in Glasgow.
On the way back to the station, we passed this bloke with the guitar who was playing grungy thrash metal. The man in the hat casually walked right up to him and stared him straight in the eye. There was a standoff for a few minutes, then they both relaxed and the conversation started.
I wondered if they knew each other.
Did they have something in common?
Was the man in the hat interested in learning how to play thrash metal guitar?
Was the guitarist asking the man where he got those cream chinos?
That’s what a photograph does, it shows one microsecond of life and allows you to decide what was going on.
Deep or what, eh?
Train back and it was still raining. The fairies say it will be dry tomorrow, and the fairies always tell the truth.
Up early this morning waiting for a text from MPB in Brighton to tell me when my new toy would be delivered. Just after 9.30 I got the message that James would be delivering my new toy between 10.10 and 11.10am. So, only an hour and a bit max before I could get my hands on it. Just after 10.10, a knock at the door signalled the arrival of my new(ish) Olympus E-PL5 body. I carefully unwrapped it from its bubble wrap coating and proceeded to stick a lens on it, any lens, just to get a feel for it. My first thought was that it was much more compact and more rounded than the E-PL1 that was my introduction to micro 4/3rds cameras a few years ago. The screen resolution seemed a lot better than the E-PL1 too. I could go on for ages listing all the differences, but you have to remember that this camera is four generations newer than the E-PL1 and that’s been my go-to camera for a few years now. An easy to carry, neat camera that can provide me with 12MP images in RAW format that are so easy to manipulate in Lightroom. It’s going to be a hard act to follow and I won’t be getting rid of it any time soon, in fact I won’t be getting rid of it at all. Two camera bodies with my collection of four and a half lenses. You can’t really call the 15mm f8 bodycap lens a full lens can you? Ok then, two camera bodies with five lenses, is that better? Such a versatile collection. Perhaps the quality is not as good as the D7000 and the cantankerous Tamron zoom, but then the whole kit probably weighs less than that camera / lens combination. This new black beast is beautiful and so, so flexible. We’ll see today just what it can do.
When Scamp came in from work we went to the gym for our second workout this week. Had a swim after, but what are all these people doing here? This is our pool. Don’t they know that?
Swift dinner after the gym and then the sun was starting to warm the place up – did I fail to mention that it had been one lousy morning. Driving at 2.00pm with the headlights on is not what we signed up to for June weather. So, with the excellent 14-42mm kit lens in the bag and the Pana 45-200mm on the black beast, it was off to St Mo’s to see just exactly what it could do. Don’t be silly, of course I’d taken a few – around 100 – ‘test’ shots in the house just to make sure it was working. Walked down to the pond and found Mr Grey preening in the shallows. In case you don’t know, Mr Grey is a Grey Heron who lives in St Mo’s pond. Switched on the Oly motordrive and waited for him to lift off. Unfortunately for him, this time I was ready. He didn’t really stand a chance considering I had 8FPS to make sure I got some good shots of him.
Mr Grey Triptych
As I walked around the pond I spotted a single damselfly, a common blue, but A DAMSELFLY! Yes, it is June, and damsels are usually around about this time of year, but I wasn’t expecting any because it’s been so cold. Got a few pics, then fitted a couple of extension tubes and got a few more detailed shots.
Hoped to see some deer, but they were hiding from the Black Beast. I did find another damsel near a small, possibly man-made pond near the road an took more time framing the shot and trimming back the loose grass stems. It didn’t matter, there were a few shots in the bag – or on the card – so the pressure was off.
Got home, fired up Lightroom and did some pixel peeping. Everything seemed ok, if not earth shattering, but that was more the fault of the Pana zoom than the Black Beast. Tomorrow I will hopefully take it to Glasgow to give it a chance to show its mettle in town. For today, I’m a happy bunny.
My apologies to my three readers. I thought I’d posted this blog last night, but WordPress thought differently. I hope it’s fixed now.
I couldn’t sleep this morning so got up to see Scamp off to work, read for a while, finished off a painting and settled down to wait for the gas man to come to service the boiler. You can’t say I don’t lead a busy and active life. What I don’t do is turn on the TV as soon as I get up. I don’t know if I’ve ever turned on TV in the morning unless it was to watch the (few) live Formula one Grands Prix on a Sunday morning – that’s different though. I did get a chance to watch the birds teaching their young to feed and that was a laugh. Didn’t even have to go far, just watched them from the kitchen window.
In the afternoon after the gas man had been and gone, I went in to Stirling by myself so I could window shop without interruption. Wasn’t really looking for anything in particular, just browsing. I knew I had some shots in the bag for today’s POD, so the pressure was off. Just as well, as I didn’t see anything that caught my eye. It was surprisingly warm and almost dry. I think that was the extent of my exciting day. Some days are like that now. Being retired can be such hard work 😉
These young sparrows are learning the secret of hacking into peanutsI know these sparrows are hungry, but this one seems intent on getting that whole peanut into it’s beak. Perhaps it was watching the pigeons earlier when they hoovered up almost a whole bag of peanuts. 365/155Too late, too late. All the peanuts have gone my friend! Come again tomorrow for more.
It actually started out quite clear and not all that windy – no rain at all. Looks like the weather folk got it wrong again. Got up and did some washing – yes, I can work the washing machine, I just can’t or won’t grasp the technique of ironing. Breeze was getting up, so I hung out the washing to dry. My talents are almost endless these days. The sun came out for a while and I took the opportunity to grab some shots of the azellia’s that are in full bloom just now. The red ones are Scamp’s favourite flowers in all the garden. The blue one is a new plant for this year. Not many flowers, but it’s early days.
My head was not in a good place this morning for some reason. Just felt a bit down. Later I remembered why. Tomorrow is a fasting blood test, so that means nothing to eat after 9.00pm and only water to drink. How is a man supposed to exist on that? I just keep thinking that after 9.10 tomorrow morning, I’ll be back to a sensible diet. Where I can eat anything I like – in moderation. Moderation being a country I’m usually a stranger in. I hate the fasting for the blood test. I always feel hungry just after the curfew time, no matter what I eat before it. However, it has to be done I suppose. I did a small preparatory sketch for a painting of Trumpan. It’s a view I’ve done before, but in acrylic, not watercolour. Still impressed with the water brushes and the new artist’s quality paints.
Today being Monday, Scamp had her ladies round for a practise, so I vamoosed in the general direction of the gym for an hour. That sounds really good, but it’s half an hour in the gym and half an hour in the steam room and the sauna, with maybe a splash in the pool to loosen up in between. When I came home I just had time to bring in the washing before the heavens opened. By the time we were going out to Glasgow for tonight’s classes, the rain was torrential. Black clouds clogged up the sky and the breeze had strengthened to a gale. Maybe the weather folk weren’t so daft after all. To cap it all, two hours later, when we were driving home there was a beautiful blue sky. Still a bit cool, but dry and the wind had disappeared again. It really is crazy weather these days, but it’s Scotland – Four season’s in one day.
When we got to the house, I saw this big giant snail. I don’t know where this guy overwinters, but he arrives on our doorstep – literally – every year around this time. He’s quite a big fella now and he usually has a tryst with a lady snail in the flowerbed. Unless this is the lady snail …
Just as I am finishing off this blog, the wind is getting up again and the rain is starting to hammer on the windows. I really should listen to these weather folk. They do know what they are talking about. Off to bed now to dream of steak pies and pints of beer and other stuff I can’t have until tomorrow!
Yesterday, Scamp was my taxi driver. Today I was her driver. Seems fair. She was going in to town for a ‘witches day out’. That would take too long to explain, so I won’t bother. Enough to say that she had a great day and I had a day to do what I wanted. what is known as a Win-Win situation, I believe.
As it happened, without trying too hard, I got a lot of stuff done. Painting, grass cutting (gasp!), meeting friends for coffee and a natter, organising appointments. I could almost do with a secretary these days. Where did I find time to work?
I was thinking I would go out cycling today, but the weather just kept getting in the way, as weather sometimes does. I took some photos as I usually do, instead of cycling. The lavender flowers were interesting in terms of colour and of texture. The pigeon just happened to be there and was interesting because of the contrast between the feathers and the dark background.
Hopefully more generally interesting stuff tomorrow.
It was one of those days when you can’t settle down to anything.
Started off making a mat for one of my first acrylic paintings, in fact
it might have been my first since I retired. Selected some photos from
Skye to use for painting and sent them to Dropbox to share on the
Samsung Note. So much easier to paint from the 10″ screen than from the
7″ screen of the Nexus. Dropbox is one of my favourite apps of the
moment. It was good before the Note appeared, but with the extra 48GB
for connecting the Note, it’s much more interesting. Only for 2 years, but we’ll deal with that when the time comes.
So, I decided to go in to Glasgow for a wander – Stravaigin’. Nothing to go for, but I thought I might get some photos in the sunny spells, or even if I was daring, in the showers too. Scamp offered to drive me to the station so I could get the train in and be there in 15mins rather than in the 45 boring mins it takes on the bus. Sorted. I pay her back tomorrow by driving her to the station.
Walked through the town down to the Clyde and got some shots on the Clyde Walkway. Wandered round the centre of town for a while, window shopping, then got the train home.
When I got home the light in the garden was wonderful for a short while, so I made the most of it and managed another set of flower shots, but more carefully taken than some of my “stop-gap” last minute shots … I hope!
As usual on the day after a long drive, it was a lazy day where Scamp did most of the driving. Lazy morning then off to the gym for half an hour and after that, a swim to relax the muscles, not that we did very much. When we came out the rain had started, so we went local for lunch and watched the rain in the afternoon. I also struggled with the vagaries of off-line blogging progs – apps. Still not settled, but either Ecto or MarsEdit are the front runners at present. Kizomba and Salsa at night. Who says we don’t have an active life style?
Today’s shots are grab shots from the garden. Both taken in the rain. Both taken with the 70-300mm lens which behaved perfectly. What is its problem?
It was a typical Skye day. It started out clear, but by early afternoon when we were leaving Portree, the first drops of rain were falling. By the time we got to Staffin Slip, the rain was being battered down by a blustery west wind. Sat for an hour and watched the gulls diving for fish or crabs, not sure which. Came back myself later to get at least one painting done. Took some photos of the river and attempted to catch the swallows or swifts or housemartins – birds at least – unsuccessfully. By this time the wind had really picked up and was reaching gale force IMO and it was soon time to leave.
When I returned to the croft, I was mobbed by Bernie – afterBernie Ecklestone apparently! Bernie is a quite vociferous pet lamb on the croft. Bernie was rejected by his mother at birth, then developed an infection, but after some care and attention by Murd, he is now well on the way to a noisy recovery. Seems to think every man is his adopted father!
I spent a pleasant half hour or so watching the swallows (or swifts, or housemartins) catching insects, just inches above the waters of the River Brogaig in the rain.365/143
Out early and in to Glasgow for a daunder. Stopped at Staples to look for some printable CDs. Hmm, not at that price, thank you very much. Saw a phone cover that looked just like the Venom one I’d just bought for the princely sum of £2.95 from Amazon! Phone, where’s my phone? It’s not in my pocket! Dived out and found the phone lying on the ground, untouched, beside the car where it had fallen from my pocket! Oh lucky day 1.
Walked down to Merchant City Cameras and picked up a pair of 10×25 binoculars for £15. Cheaper than Amazon, but don’t rush down to MCC, because these were the last pair. Got some arty stuff too. A set of watercolour pens and best of all, new blades for my Logan mat cutter. For making watercolour mounts. Not very exciting to most people, but essential for those without a steady enough hand to do it unaided. Oh lucky day 2.
For tidying up the PC laptop, I decided to give up on Belvedere as it was more like Belvedire most of the time. Opted for File Juggler which showed so much more potential. Decided to to the decent thing and buy it. Big mistake. My previous attempts at making rules for this prog had proved more than successful. Ever since I purchased it, it’s been going wrong. It may be teething problems with the syntax, or it could be … Oh unlucky day 1.
Still, two up and one down is still a result.
The green distorted shoots that extend from the boulders in the rainforest of Tattiland reach constantly to the watery sun. Potatoes chitting on a ledge in the bathroom (cool and light) 365/141
Panasonic zoom and an extension tube to reduce the camera to subject distance and of course to enlarge the image of the damselflies. Really difficult to get enough DOF with this setup, but this was one of the good shots. At first I wasn’t happy with the IQ, but now that I’ve looked again, done some pixel peeping and settled myself down, it’s producing some decent shots. Much better with the EVF on to make sure focus is in the right place.
Wandered round Kelvinbridge and found evidence of an old railway line which is detailed here. Lovely sunset and great lighting on the old Lansdowne church. I even managed to get a bit of a rainbow in the left of the picture. Enjoyed the walk and the discovery that I wouldn’t have made without the intervention of fat bob. I’d thank him but he really is a vacuous dobber!
even if I was daring, in the showers too. Scamp offered to drive me to the station so I could get the train in and be there in 15mins rather than in the 45 boring mins it takes on the bus. Sorted. I pay her back
tomorrow by driving her to the station.
