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A bright start to the day in London.  However, later in the day the temperature dropped quite a bit.  Went for  walk with Hazel and then sat and dug deeper into the mystery that is my blog and its surroundings.  Later I faced the cold to get a couple of pics of the minifigs on their visit to the big smoke.

Fred the Fisherman managed a bit of fishing in Hazel’s pond.  Didn’t catch much, but it’s the being there that counts isn’t it?  Dennis was on hand to record the event of course.

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Kings Cross station gets ready for Armistice Day.

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Dennis and Fred prepare for the long journey down to London.

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Our long (six hour) journey home began in glorious sunshine which partly made up for the challenging photographic conditions we had had for most of the few days we had been on Skye, but the whisky was good!

This is the sight that met me at the front door of the croft, as I was packing the car and of course, the camera was in the boot. I new I wouldn’t have time to get the camera out because the light would have changed (did I mention it’s all about the light)t, so I grabbed the shot using my iPhone and then backed it up with shots from the Oly. It was only when I got home and checked the shots on the computer, I realised the iPhone shot had better colour balance than the Oly, and this from an old iPhone 4. The good weather didn’t last!

By the time we had reached Sligahan, the light had changed a lot and the rain didn’t look far away. I took quite a few shots of this, trying to make the most of the dramatic lighting. It took quite a bit of post processing in Lightroom and then Intensify to get some detail out of the shadow area without losing it in the highlights. In the end, I was pleased with the effect. The rest of the run down was the usual driving drag. One day they will make a motorway, all the way to Kyle.

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Life on Skye is just one busy day after another.

Loch Cil Chriosd
I like this long loch with its reeds and shallow water. It’s on the road to Elgol, but it was much too dull to travel all the way from Broadford to Elgol so we stopped at the loch to take some photos. Processed in Intensify.

The Rangers Boatshed
Down at the slip at Staffin there is one solitary boatshed left standing. The rest are just rubble walls. The one boatshed with a roof has bright orange doors and an RFC badge drawn into the the cement wash above them. A reminder of happier times perhaps?

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Two shot on the theme of “On the …”
It was a dull, rainy day but it brightened up late in the afternoon, so I took the opportunity of an hour’s decent light, because it’s all about the light, you know.

On the Beach.
Staffin shore, looking towards Flodigarry. There wasn’t much colour in the scene to start with, so I decided mono was the way to go.

On the Rocks

Looking out towards Staffin Bay. There is still a surprising amount of green in the grass here, given the time of year. I set out with the intention of doing a low ISO, long exposure on a tripod. This was just the grab shot to get a feel for the scene and it turned out better than the tripod shot. The quality and sharpness are not as good here, but the compo is better IMO.

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Up and off fairly early and with little traffic, we made good time on to Skye.

I’m not sure what made me take this shot. The title would be Turkey’s Off.  Taken at Kyleakin.  It’s ages since we stopped here and now I know why.  It’s like a ghost town since the bridge was built.  A town with no reason to exist.

This shot was taken with my old Nikon 70-210 and it still provides better images than the Tamron 18-200.  I think there’s more contrast and sharpness in the lens, despite the fact there’s so much dirt inside it.  Unfortunately, I’d wreck it if I tried to clean it and it’d cost more than its worth to have it cleaned professionally.  Still gets the title of photo of the day.

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I’ve been meaning to take this shot at Broadford for years but never quite had time to stop.  Today I did and I’m still not happy with it.  Must try again next time I’m on the island, DV

Thankfully S had the foresight to book a night at the Letterfinlay Lodge on the banks of Loch Lochy.  It made a welcome break on the journey up to Skye.  Not a bad run up really.  Only stopped once at Loch Tulla for a couple of shots and to laugh at a photog complete with tripod and Nikon getting in a terrible fankle trying to work out how to take a photo for a group of Indian boys using their iPhone.  Some folk shouldn’t be allowed Nikons.  He was probably quite famous.

Sirloin steak burger at Letterfinlay was the best I’ve ever tasted.

Looking out over Loch Tulla.

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Loch Lochy sunset.  Taken from Letterfinlay Lodge Hotel.

Both pics processed in Lightroom and McPhun Intensify.

Acrylic on card.
From a photograph taken at Trumpan on Skye. About an hour.
I am so glad the joiner convinced us to put in LED lighting when we upgraded the bathroom. The daylight LEDs make it so much easier to photograph things without worrying about colour casts and mired values.
Maybe they can be used to combat SAD too.

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