Category: Uncategorized

It was a very wild night last night with the prospect of more storms tonight.  What is the world coming to?

After last night’s storm, it’s a wonder there are any leafs hanging.  Saw this on a really dull January day.

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I went in to Glasgow on the bus today.  The Scottish over 60s bus pass is one of the great wonders of the modern (Scottish) world and possibly the only best thing Wee Eck Salmond did for us.  I went with the stated intention of testing out the Nikon 55-200mm zoom.  After the dire results from the 55-300mm last week, I wasn’t expecting much, but lo and behold the results were a lot better than the longer zoom.  I’d nipped along to Jessops to see if they had one in stock, but was disappointed to find they only had the longer version.  It was when I came out of Jessops, I saw this familar figure in an unfamiliar pose.  Could it be that Darth is reduced to playing the accordion on Bucky Street in Glasgow.  Such a come-down for the Dark Lord and once ruler of the universe.  Strange days indeed.

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… Chocolate Hammer perhaps?

A terrible day weather wise.  Drove to Falkirk, had tea in Tea Jennies’ Tea Shop and came home.  Drenched to the skin.  Rain and wind all day.  Tomorrow is to be better.

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For the first time in ages I managed to get my bike out this morning.  True to type, I got to my photographic target for the day and the heavens opened.  None the less, I was wet anyway, so I managed to get some photos in the sun that followed the rain.

I moved a branch today and found this ladybird underneath. This started a line of research. Do ladybirds hibernate? It wasn’t until then, I realised I had never seen ladybirds in the winter. I suppose it’s sensible because there are no aphids in the winter and aphids are the natural prey for ladybirds. So the answer is, Yes, ladybirds do hibernate. It’s not called hibernation, it’s called a big sciency word, but basically, they do. That’s what’s good about photography, it leads to other connections to investigate.

I liked the clouds in the background helping to isolate the tree. I also liked the composition. Simple rule of thirds, but sometimes simple is good.

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Another dull day when I had to get out and take some photos.  Still using the ‘newfound’ old kit lens and loving the quality it produces.  It never ceases to amaze me the great kit I have and tend to ignore.

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Dennis found that digitising old film was not as easy as he thought it would be.  However, the results were worth all the work.

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Unlike Dennis, I took the easy way out and bought a slide and neg digitiser.  So far I’ve digitised my way through about 400 slides and about 150 black and white negs.  Some tears, but lots of smiles.  Don’t know how many Dennis has done.

We went in to Glasgow today:
1. To get out the house.
2. To test out a lens

Number 1 was successful.  One of the great benefits of being over 60 is you get your bus pass and that opens up a lot of opportunities, especially because of the draconian new Scottish drink-drive laws.

Number 2 was partly successful.  Wasn’t impressed with the quality of the Nikon 55-300mm lens I was testing.  No sale I’m afraid.

It’s nice to see that City of Glasgow College has changed the new Glasgow brand.  The leader of Glasgow council said:
“GLASGOW MAKES NEDS reflects the Glaswegian character. It’s bold, confrontational, confident, all aspects of neds. The neds of Glasgow are at the heart of this brand; we have created something which presents a truly distinctive identity for the city and on behalf of Glasgow I would like to warmly thank all those neds who gave their ideas so generously.”

Beware, all is not as it seems, ‘shopping was done.  In fact there were about 15 Potatoshop layers in this.

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Texting

Seen in Sausage Roll Street in Glasgow.

This wee thistle looked a bit down today.  I couldn’t blame it.  Wind, rain, sleet and occasional sun seemed to blast it on this second day of 2015.  I was going stir crazy, so I just HAD to get out for an hour or two and chose the hour when the sun was starting to set.  Hence I got my shot of the day.  The only one worth PoD.

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Of course, all is not as it seems.  The pic started out like this

The blob above the thistle is not a dustbunny, it’s a plane on final to Glasgow airport.  I started by removing it in Lightroom.  Having cleaned it up I wanted a bit more colour in the sky so I tried using a colour grad filter in LR, but wasn’t happy with it.  Into PS then and use a colour grad layer in Overlay mode.  Still not happy, so I chose one of the sunset shots I’d taken an hour or so after the thistle shot, placed it above the grad layer and this time chose Multiply mode.  Exported back to LR and did a couple of curve adjustments and we have the sunset shot at the top of the page.

“Some ‘shopping was done.”  A bit of an understatement, similar to “Drink was taken”.

The day dawned, as 2014 did with rain battering the windows and a dryness in my mouth, due to too much Aberlour last night.  One look outside told us that there would be no New Year Day walk today.

Happy New Year everyone.  The weather can only get better.

I was digging around looking for older tech – 35mm slides and even 126 format slides if anyone remembers them.  Anyway, I came across this 32Mb, yes kiddies Mb, not Gb, Sony Memory Stick.  It fitted in my F707, possibly the most advanced camera of its age.  Sadly, it was emasculated by Sony to appease the moral minority.  Such a pity as it was a camera with enormous potential.  If none of the above makes sense, Google “F707 Infra-red” and be amazed at the petty minded, litigious minded corporations.

Never did find the 35mm or the 126 format slides, but did get my hands on a Kodak Instamatic 233.  Possible the subject of another ‘old tech’ shot.

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Why does Google or WordPress or Firefox or whoever, think that Hogmanay should be mahogany?  It was a typical 31st of December with dull, dull, dull and drizzly rain.  Spent the day browsing B&Q for a new kitchen light and then survived the crowds in Tesco.  I hadn’t realised the shop would be shut for a month and I’d need to stock up on all the provisions we’d need for the next year in one shopping expedition but that’s what everyone else seemed to be doing.

Decided on the Tio Pepe bottle as my Picture of the Day, and then thought I’d experiment with the extended ISO settings available in the D7000.  I’ve hardly gone above ISO 3200 since I got the camera, but found out tonight that ISO 10000 gives extremely useful images.

A Christmas present from my son’s in-laws, I’d forgotten all about the wee Tio Pepe man with his hat at a jaunty angle and his guitar. A blast from the past, and also a bottle of alcohol. What better image for Hogmanay? A happy and healthy new year to all my readers and viewers.

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