Category: Uncategorized

Went in to Falkirk today to meet FAA for lunch. Went to Tea Jennies and had a great lunch. Lots of gossip about the new school and it backed up what I’d heard from other folk. It doesn’t seem like a happy place at the moment, and it looks as if it can only get worse. I’m pretty sure their results will be great this year, but wonder how they are achieved.

I came home by the long road but the lighting was so poor, I didn’t get any pics taken, so I had to scrounge a shot in the garden.

This is Little Rosie, the miniature rose continues to flower into October. Amazing little plant.

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Life’s problems solved for a while.

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Just a leaf hanging above a burn. It really shone in the morning light. I liked the simplicity of this.

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Another shot from this morning’s walk. This one took a bit of manipulation to get some detail back into the shadow area, but that’s what Lightroom’s for.

Another leaf shot. Earlier than the rest, but still with enough detail in it to keep the interest. Processed in Intensify.

I have a constant tussle with this grey heron, forever trying to get better and better shots of him. This was today’s effort. Sometimes I think he/she, let’s call him “He” because I’ve named him Mr Grey. Sometimes I think he treats it as a game too. I walked right past him today and it was only when I turned for home I noticed him standing in the reeds. He allowed me a couple of shots

then he left. We will continue the game another day.

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Not the most detailed photo of a fox, but I like the way (s)he’s watching me. Just letting me know that (s)he’s in control of the situation.

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Spiders, ladybirds (not ladybugs. Just a little hint to any Americans reading this) and coloured leafs or leaves, never sure which is which, and does it really matter? These are all symbols of autumn and the coming of winter. It’s been such a long summer, it’s hard to believe we are almost half way through October.

Peter Piper thought it would be a run of the mill assignment. All he had to do was to pick up a peck of pickled peppers.
After checking with Wikipedia he discovered that in fact he needed to pick two gallons of the things, but undeterred he donned his anti-bacterial suit and strode off into the night.
Little did he know that waiting for him were the actual Red Hot Chilli Peppers. So where’s the peck of pickled peppers, Peter Piper picked? More to the point, where’s Peter??

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Went into the toon today for a wee wander, having slipped the leash again. Really did enjoy dotting in and out of the art shops picking a selection of paints for my next monsterpiece. It’s amazing that the slashed price box sets are actually more costly than buying single tubes of paint now that colleges are back and all the art shops are trying to undercut each other. Anyway, eventually settled on four tubes of colour. Two by old faithful Galleria and two by an unknown to me, but apparently well rated new company. Will hopefully get a chance to test them out over the weekend.

Today’s picture is the bass player from a cheery wee group of singers and musicians who can be heard all around Glasgow and all across the central belt, and belt it out they do. Maybe not the most accomplished artists and their repertoire may not be the widest, but what they lack in technique they make up for in enthusiasm.

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I took a trip into Hamilton today and went for a wander round the town. I really went to see if I could get some cheap paints in the Ink Spot. Yes, they did have some good quality paints, unfortunately they were at good quality paint prices. I then resorted to taking some photos. I’ve always liked these wee dugs dotted around Hamilton and my brother has photographed them many a time. There seems to be something about burgh towns that means the council has to spend more money on them while the other towns and villages around them suffer. Such is the case with Hamilton, but I’m not complaining too much because I like these wee dugs that guard the sinusoidal seats.

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Unfortunately, he was in Inverness, not Paris.

Actually my first title as soon as I saw this was “Save the life of my child” by Paul Simon, because of the first line “Good God, don’t jump!”. By the way, Wikipedia claim that the album “Bookends” came out in 1968! Now that just can’t be true. That’s over 45 years ago and I remember buying the LP, yes, LP when it came out. It couldn’t be 45 years ago, no way!

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Caught this bloke having a fag in an alley in Inverness. Managed two shots before he clocked me. One of the problems of having a camera with a focal plane shutter, mirrorless or not.

This guy seemed to be quite deep in the river, but when I looked a bit closer, he was only ankle deep. Probably on a long shelfing gravel bed. Great colours in the trees.

An experiment using spot metering to darken down the background. It succeeded in that and also gave a bit more saturation to the subject. I must try this again.

Spent the afternoon cycling. Not a bad day with a bit of sun and an almost clear blue sky. A big change from the morning when it was really quite foggy. One of those days when you’re glad you don’t have to get up and go to work 😉

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