Family, Photography and other misc news
The purpose of this last photography trip was primary for the wonderful landscape opportunities but I also had a go at Wildlife photography.
Now I am not very good at wildlife photography but I do enjoy it. I did get a few images that I am quite proud but there certainly not good enough to show.
But I know your all dying to see them so I thought I would post just a few, please don’t judge my people and landscape photography by these!
I really should have spent today processing my photographs from our trip to the Outer Hebrides but instead we borrowed a BMW R1200RT motorcycle from our local BMW dealer and spent the day exploring the Lincolnshire backroads.
Our touring is heavily ‘B’ road biased, but we often travel hundreds of miles on major roads to get to our destinations. Currently we have a R1200GS, a bike that cannot be beaten when the going gets tough, gravel roads, unpaved roads, fords; theres not much we have not thrown at it, and its coped amazingly.
A big tourer like the Honda Pan European or the BMW is always something I have aspired to, but while a big tourer can always get you to your destination quickly, in comfort and in style there not aways as much fun at the destination as say an off road bike or a sports bike.
This was always the advantage of the GS, some off road capability, agility and speed to keep up with most sports bikes and glorious fun on any type of road.
RT’s are always highly rated as tourers and I had no doubt that is would deliver when on ‘A’ roads and motorways, but what about the tight and twisty ‘B’ roads.
Lincolnshire has a fine collection of tight and twisty back roads, so today we gave the RT a real test. For its size it handles very well, and does not feel heavy or awkward at low speed. While I would not take one off road, it can certainly handle poor roads and 98% of the types of road we would use it on.
Negatives are few. The one we tried had a touring seat and not the standard seat. While fine for me not suitable for Caroline if she was riding it. Also the large fairing while protective did interfere at first when I tried to put my feet down.
Were not thinking of replacing our GS yet but the RT will certainly go on the short list as a possible future bike.
Now its time to get back to work and carry on processing, editing photos and also sort out some bookings I have for Weddings and Model Portfolio’s.
The last two days has seen us slowly heading home. We caught the lunchtime ship, from Tarbet on the Isle of Harris on Saturday, and we had the highlight of seeing Dolphins during the crossing. As always my wildlife photography was not up to the task and all I have is a blurred fin, disappearing under the wake of the ship, but the memory will remain with me forever.
We spent Saturday night in a small Bed and Breakfast in Ballachulish called Fern Villa, in Glencoe. The owner is a keen photographer and has many photographers staying with him.
The area is very popular with walkers, climbers and photographers. I took the opportunity on the way though the previous week to shoot a few Landscapes. I thought they might work as HDR shots, so bracketed widely.
I heavily processed one, and lightly processed the other, not sure which I prefer, but Caroline hates the heavily processed photo, and I have to admit its got that HDR Look!
Sunday we travelled to the Cumbria and stopped at the delightful Yew Tree Chapel, a most wonderful place to stay and two wonderful hosts.
Today we finally headed home after almost two weeks away photographing Landscapes and Wildlife.
We took the opportunity to head over to Mount Grace Priory a English Heritage property well worth a visit. The weather was not up to much so just a few reference shots but I will definitely be heading back.
Now that we are home we have the problem of dealing with all the hundreds of images that were taken over the holiday.
For a change I did not take a laptop with me but just our new iPad. All photographs at the end of each day were imported onto the device and basic metadata and keywords were applied using the great PhotoSmith app. Now as I type this PhotoSmith is uploading all my work into my Adobe Lightroom Library.
Over the next few weeks I’ll be uploaded the odd photo from the trip for you to enjoy but now the difficult part of the trip, processing the digital and medium format film photographs from the trip.
We have been blessed with good weather but it was only natural that at some point we would have a day of rain.
With heavy rain and full rivers and streams the waterfalls were in full flow. While the light was not conductive to landscape photography I took a number of pictures for reference.
Today we crossed from Harris to the Isle of Skye. Not as much bird life present on this crossing as before but we still managed to spot Puffins, Gannet and Terns, but the highlight was two Dolphins who came to play briefly in the bow-wave of the ship.
Now we find ourselves relaxing in the bar of the Glencoe Hotel, enjoying a bottle wine while waiting for the sunset.
Today we donned our walking gear and ruck sacks and spent the day walking round the Butt of Lewis and part of the coastal footpath.
The weather was glorious, very windy but warm and sunny.
On part of the route we climbed down into one of the bays and enjoyed lunch on the pure White sandy beach, looking out over the blue-green Ocean. As we ate the Oystercatchers also wheeled overhead also looking for lunch, but as we climbed up the cliff back to the top, I turned to see two Oystercatchers mating where we had been having lunch.
The Butt of Lewis is certainly a place to return to, with a long lens and flask of tea. I could spend many a happy hour wildlife spotting.
We saw, Cormorants, Oystercatchers, Ring Plovers and Gannets. The previous day Orca’s and seals were spotted.
This year has been the first time that we have not spotted seals and Otters in Scotland, but to make up for that we have seen Puffins a first for us, but there is still time.
The last few days we have been exploring Harris & Lewis on foot, by car and by horseback.
Tuesday saw us exploring Stornaway, on the Isle of Lewis. First we set out on foot for a short walk round the harbour and bay of Stornaway. The majority of the walk was inside the grounds of Stornaway castle, so an easy walk but that’s not to say it was without stunning scenery.
We had a few heavy rain showers at the start, always a test when you have not been walking for a while, but the sun soon came out to leave us bathed in wonderful warm sunshine.
Wednesday we jumped in the car and went down to the Isle of Harris, the home of the famous Harris Tweed.
The beaches were fantastic, Luskentyre beach looking over the Sound of Taransay has to be one of the finest beaches I have ever seen. We also heard our first Cuckoo.
We took a few snaps and in one of the better spots, I saw another photographer setup with tripod, waiting for the sun to emerge.
We drove to the other side of the Sound and stopped briefly at an Art Gallery called Hebridean Art. Some lovely paintings and we indulged in some retail therapy, buying a book of prints and a pretty ceramic dish.
They also served food and drink, and we had one of the best soups I had ever tasted. I had the vegetable and Caroline the Mushroom; served with fresh coffee and some lovely hot and fresh focaccia bread.
We carried on travelling round the Isle and reached a lovely little church called St Clement’s in Roghadal. We carried in the cameras and tripod, and I took the opportunity to practiced my HDR.
We ended the day treating ourselves to some classic Harris Tweed Jackets, while on Harris and a meal out in a lovely restaurant called Digby Chicks back on Lewis. The food was lovely, much better then the name of the restaurant suggests. I can recommend the Lamb and the Duck.
Thursday. Exploring the bay on horse back.
Today was a new experience for us both. We hired a couple of horses from the Hebridean Equestrian Centre, and after a quick lesson for me, as Caroline is the experienced horse rider not me, we headed through the country side. After a river crossing we headed for a large bay and spent the morning riding through the surf, an unforgettable experience for us both.
Thanks goes to Paddy (my steed), Jinty (Caroline’s steed), and Lucy our guide Carol’s steed.
Taken on my iPhone.
The Isle of Lewis has some wonderful archaeological sites. In particular there are a number of fine prehistoric stone circles.
By midmorning we had visited four stone circles. The weather was, shall we say interesting. Dark storm clouds kept whipping, by but glimpses of blue kept appearing in the distance, illuminating patches of hillside.
I set up the camera and waited for the light to appear. Oh so very briefly a shaft of sunlight appeared, but by the time I had metered the scene, and set the mirror lock-up, just before I tripped the cable release the sun disappeared.
We waited a while but then a few drops of rain started to fall. So with that we packed up and walked back to the car over the peat bog.
By the time we had reached the car the rain had blown over and the stone circle was again illuminated in a shaft of bright sunlight. A lesson in patience I think.
The next two circles while warranting a visit did not get blessed with the light.
The last circle was the most impressive, and the visitors centre made a most impressive Latte. Now the dark clouds had blown over and we were blessed with golden sunlight which lasted the rest of the day. Unfortunately brilliant sunshine while chocolate box pretty does not evoke the drama that dark clouds and shafts of brilliant sunshine can evoke.
Maybe better luck next time. Landscape photography is certainly not an easy art!
Photographed on my iPhone and Edited in Adobe Photoshop Express.
My Landscape Photography definitely has a manmade influence. Most of my Landscapes are of manmade structures, old Bridges, Piers, Abbey ruins and Churches.
For your true Landscapes, then an early start is essential. Up here in the Outer Hebrides Dawn today was about 04:00am and Sunrise at 05:10.
At 04:30am this morning, I could be found down at the bay setting up the medium format camera gear. Early starts is not something I find easy, but when in a location like this, a Sunrise is hard to resist.
Very busy day today, spent the first part of the early morning on Isle of Skye, then the rest of the morning on board ship.
Lots of Herring Gulls, but also Guillemots swimming and flying by. Also incredibly lucky to see lots of Puffin’s, not just swimming and diving, but also flying past.
You would not believe how fast they can move. A 200mm f/2.8 lens with a 1.7 teleconverter, is not really long enough to catch them but I managed to get a few shots I am pleased with.
I was hoping to post a few pictures but Photoshop Express on the iPad cannot edit RAW files so I am afraid you will all have to wait.
Shooting from the ship was a major challenge, I was using a monopod to save my arms as a tripod was not really practical but the vibration from the engines was a problem. I had the VR (Vibration Reduction) mode of my lens set to active and kept my shutter speeds high, this meant shooting wide open most of the time, meaning depth of field was limited.
Restful day for us tomorrow, maybe some landscape scouting but not much else.