Category: Uncategorized

Yesterday started out well and got worse.  Today started out worse and got better weather wise.

After a dreary morning and early afternoon having spent hours repairing the depredations Itunes had dealt to my music library, the sky suddenly cleared and I set off in search of good light.  This was the shot I intended taking.  With the glancing light it looked good.  Good colour in the grass and a bit of texture in the land and sky.

This was the first shot I got and it looked better than I had hoped for.  The warm light from the low sun lit up the land perfectly IMO.  I even managed to capture a homeward bound crow silhouetted against the far hills.  And you thought it was a dust bunny – shame on you!

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It looked like a decent morning, so I decided to get up and out fairly early. By the time I had dragged myself out, it had dulled down a bit, but at least it was dry. Wen along the path from Auchinstarry to Twechar and got some autumnal photos.

Queenzieburn and the Campsies

Another Scottish pronunciation anomaly. Although it is spelled Queenzieburn, it is pronounced Queenieburn.

Red and yellow and pink and green

Bramble leaves showing off their autumn colours. These are probably the most colourful leaves in this country at this time of year.

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Little umbrellas are everywhere found

Mushrooms/toadstools growing on a fallen hawthorn tree.

Not the shiniest day.  Went in to Falkirk to pick up the tickets and have lunch at the tea shop.  Then the clouds came over and the rain came down.

The little flower looked startled at being a star for a day.

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One of the great things about being retired is that you can do more or less what you want, when you want without someone telling you there’s work that needs doing.  So with that in mind, I took myself into Glasgow this morning with nothing more to do than buy some oil paint and my lunch – though not on the same plate, thank you very much.  I had a fine day, too.  Just wandering, or as someone else put it, a flaneur.  An aimless wander.  Ye cannie beat it!

No Exit

Don’t try to use this as a fire escape.  You’ll just be disappointed.

To Infinity and Beyond

Under the M8 In Glasgow there are wonderful vistas to behold.
It’s the leading lines that impressed me along with the painted “trompe-l’œil” painting at the end.  The figure in the mid-distance was a ‘lucky’!

Symmetry

Under the M8 In Glasgow there are wonderful vistas to behold.
I liked the fact that the only colour here was from the leaves and the yellow stair guards.

Glasgow’s Flat Iron Building

Every time I pass this building on the M8, I promise myself I’ll photograph it some day.  Today was that day.  It’s actually Shamrock Street and I really like this isolated tusk of a sandstone building.  I’ll be back on a day with better light DV.

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Acrylic on card.

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Remarkably clear sky and little mist today which was a great change from yesterday’s rain. After spending most of my day wrestling with Lightroom, trying unsuccessfully to produce a more subtle solarization effect than yesterday’s, I decided to go out.

I drove up to Fannyside and saw this vista. It looked quite good in colour, but so much better in mono.

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Having said there was little mist around, turn 90º and it looks like there is  mist lying over the loch at Fannside.  Yes, there was a very little mist there, but really this is the effect of using the clarity slider in Lightroom.  It seems to increase the contrast local to tonal differences, much the same as the acutance I used to get when developing B&W film in Paterson Acutol.  This shot looked terrible in colour and it was a relief to see it looking so much better in mono.  It’s still a little dark, but I think it looks ok, especially on a black ground.

Troon might have had weather for the ducks today (Saturday), but it looks like it was also suitable for starlings. These birds were having a great time.

The bird second from the left wasn’t actually in this shot, he/she was cloned in from another shot.  Also, the DOF was faked using McPhun Focus, a free download from McPhun (Legally Free, that is!).  It’s not absolutely true, but what is in photography.

It was comforting on the drive home to see the CITRAC signs through torrential rain informing us “Heavy rain expected”. Without that information I’d never have noticed!

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Saw these on a walk along the Forth & Clyde canal today. Parked at the Stables near Kirky and walked along the towpath, then back to the Stables for a spot of lunch. Most enjoyable.

Mushrooms or toadstools? I don’t know what they are, but I’m not taking any risks, only taking photos.

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My last day in London. Up early and getting packed, I saw this spider web shining in the morning sun. I was surprised to see frost on the roofs in London, but it came with a bright blue sky. On the train travelling north to Edinburgh, the bright blue sky gradually disappeared to be replaced by rain. Now there’s a surprise ;-|.
Back to “Auld claes and purrich” as my dad would say.

Spider webs at my daughter’s house tie the fig tree to the wall. They looked very good illuminated by morning light.

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