Tag: light

The Bonny (x2) Banks – 25 November 2015

Posted on by Zogman

DSC_4429-Edit- blog--329On paper, this looked like the best day of the week. I thought it would be good to go to Lomond Shores which, although it’s really just a collection of expensive tacky touristy shops, does have Loch Lomond as a backdrop. Today it also had, what must have been the slowest workforce in creation apparently laying down a new pedestrian walkway. This must be a new definition of ‘work‘ and ‘force‘. There was very little work being done and with the minimum of force. The shops seemed to be overloaded with Christlefridge tat. I really can’t stand this nonsense. Buy in cheap crap, stack it high, sell it dear and then sell off what’s left as ‘bargain’ items after the celebrations are over. Bah Humbug.

The upside of the visit was the scenery around the loch itself. With clouds scudding across the sky, the constantly changing light on the hills was fascinating. It was also good to see the seaplane landing on the loch. It must have been a beautiful flight today. One lucky day with the light just right.

The evening was spent trying once again to fix the Finder problem on the Mac. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before. If I have, you won’t want to hear about the lack of progress and if I haven’t, I won’t bore you with it. Suffice to say that the search continues.

A leaf from my book – 19 May 2015

Posted on by Zogman

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It was up, breakfast and out to the gym!  Yes, you read it right, the gym.  We’d signed up a couple of weeks ago and I was interested to see how exhausting it would be.  It wasn’t all that bad, in fact it was quite enjoyable.  I don’t think I’ll become a gym-bunny any time soon, but I might buy myself a new pair of trainers and a new rucksack.

The next task, and one I was certainly NOT looking forward to was replacing a power socket just below the kitchen cabinets.  These things are a nightmare to access, and this was no exception.  I felt I should be wearing those close-up glasses surgeons wear.  Why are these things put in such inaccessible places?  Anyway, after a lot of
DSC 2208 blog 139swearing and a bloody finger, the thing is in place.  I’ve used it twice and it hasn’t gone bang yet.

As a release after the tension of the electrical work, I went for a walk to St Mo’s.  For once, it wasn’t deer I was seeking, but simply good light.  Also for once it was there in abundance.  Lovely directional light with intense darks behind.  For once, all I had to do was crop and sharpen slightly.  No real tonal adjustment.  No use of Photoshop.  Just nice to use almost the whole frame

 

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As soon as I saw the trio of leaves, I knew it just had to be the photo of the day. Again, it was all about the light and the fact the leaves were bounded by the columns of the tree trunks on either side. 365/139

 

 

Glasgow Flaneur – 18 May 2015

Posted on by Zogman

I decided to go in to Glasgow today to pick up my monsterpiece  and Fred’s masterpiece from yesterday.  Weather was very mixed with bright sunshine one minute and torrential rain the next.  Bought myself a couple of watercolour marker pens from yesterday’s demo – yes, I know I was scathing about them, but maybe I should be more open to new innovations.  Anyway, for whatever reason, I decided to give it a try.  I also got one of the reservoir brushes at Fred’s recommendation.  To round it off I got a trio of fine line black markers.  £20 spent, just like that!

Alley Glasgow

After yesterday’s investigation of the wee alleys, I extended it to include one taken from just off Exchange Square looking towards Buchanan Street.  I’d decided not to take  formal camera, so relied on my trusty iPhone 4.  The best camera you can have is the one in your pocket!  So true.  I liked the effect of sunlight after the rain shining on the street and the white tiled bricks.

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The other pic is from Exchange Square and, because I was shooting into bright light, the highlights were blown out, so I dumped the shot into Photoshop and copied a sky picture into the blown out area.  I used Darken mode and then filtered the street pic so that the sky only affected the light area and not the buildings.  Photoshop is not my favourite editor, that accolade must go to Lightroom, but it’s useful for simple trickery like this.