Author: Richard

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Exploring by Foot, Car and Horse

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Archaeological Landscapes

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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!

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Dawn on the Beach

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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.

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Lightroom – Importing Presets

Installing Lightroom presets can be a little tricky but Mat from Lightroom Killer Tips has recently found out, there is a far easy way.

Just Drag and drop the preset file on to your Lightroom icon in the dock.

Thanks Matt.

Of course that is if your a Mac user. If you’re a Windows user then double click the preset file. It will most likely say it does not understand the file type. Associate the file type with Lightroom and then double click will install it.

Have not tried it in Windows, as I do not have a Windows machine handy to test it on, only Apple Mac’s, Linux, and Solaris at present. Must rebuild that Windows 7 test machine of mine.

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Photo Tip: Sharpness 4

Sharpness.

Something all photographers worry about, this the fourth in a series of posts.  This time something a little different that you might not have thought of.

Are your shots tack sharp?

  • Do you use a heavy tripod?
  • A cable release?
  • Still not sharp?

Try using your mirror lockup, something I always use on my
Hasselblad when shooting landscapes, most digital SLR’s have
this function these days.

On lower end DSL’s it is generally buried in a sub menu, but on higher end models there may be a dedicated button or dial.

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iBird UK

I am no bird watcher and certainly no twitcher but I do enjoy a trip to the Park or Nature Reserve, either to just enjoy the view, walk or fresh air.

Often I’ll take the camera and photograph the birds.

That often leaves me with a problem. Recognising the birds. While I have books at home, sometimes you want to know there and then what it is you have spotted/photographed.

This is where your iPhone/iPod Touch comes in, together with an app called iBird UK (also available for other countries).

Download the limited free version and give it a trial. I am sure, like me after a short while you will end up buying it.

Now where is my UK iPad version!

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Happy Birthday Angela

Today was a quick trip across to Chesterfield and a family get together.

Over the course of this month it is Alan’s, Caroline’s, Angela’s, and Roberts Birthdays.

So a meet up, lots of cake, and fun and games with the Children and of course Tilly & Molly the two Labradors.

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another trip out to see the Birds

The weather is getting better and spring is definitely in the air.

I have spotted a number of birds starting their mating rituals, and now is a good time to get some great shots.

Tomorrow subject to good weather I am going to pop over to the local park and try to get a few good bird shots.

We will see how it goes.

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Amateur Models

I had an email from a model today asking for me to shoot her.

She has no experience and wanted me to cover all the costs and pay her £45 an hour for the shoot!

Models please be serious!

I sometimes do tfcd, but if I am paying you, it’s normally for a commissioned shoot, and you can provide me with the professionalism, experience and look I need with the minimum of work and direction, so I can nail the shot the client wants in minimum time.

If you have no experience then you have to start at the bottom, working tfcd or paying a photographer to build experience and a dramatic portfolio.

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Rievaulx Terrace & Abbey

Another trip out. The morning found us exploring the moors.  We then headed to Rievaulx Terrace which as well as some interesting architecture, has some dramatic views down the hill and through the trees to the ruins of Rievaulx Abbey.

We took some shots of the temples built as items of interest by Thomas Duncombe the landowner.  The sun climbed and illuminated Abbey below, so both Caroline and myself took some shots of the Abbey using our medium format gear.

We then popped down to the Abbey itself to visit their tea room for lunch and photograph the dramatic ruins from close up.

The sun had gone in but the dark clouds with some glimpse of blue had potential, so we carried on carrying the medium format gear, tripod and Nikon SLR with the 12-24mm f/4 DX (APS-C) around the Abbey ruins in hope.

At the end of our visit we walked slowly back to the car, when I saw the hills in the distance slowly becoming illuminated in light.

Looking at the clouds I guessed that in about 5 minutes the break in clouds would illuminate the Abbey.  Quickly finding a good position I had spotted early, I set the tripod and Medium format camera up.

As the golden light reached the Abbey I quickly metered the scene with my spot meter and two shots, one with Fuji Velva 50 and one Ilford FP4.

I quickly repositioned and shot two more frames before the sun when in again.

With that we packed in and headed home.