Thursday, November 27, 2014

Scotland 3

 
 
Fluffed up Robin
ISO1250, 400mm, f/8, 1/320s, -0.6ev

Heron - Japanese style .. but on Arran
ISO125, 420mm, f/8, 1/500s

Dreamy Waterfall
ISO100, 100mm, f/29, 2s, +0.3ev, 8ND filter, tripod, cable release

Sunray lit lighthouse in the mist
Taken in misty conditions, a ray of Sun hit the lighthouse and the distance haze adds very subtle layers to the backdrop. 
ISO100, 320mm, f/5.6, 1/1000s, -0.3ev, cropped

Jack Daniels bourbon barrels at a Scottish whisky distillery
ISO100, 27mm, f/14, 1/40s, -0.6ev

Monday, November 24, 2014

Scotland Panoramic

 
Five panoramic photos from our Scotland tour.
 
#1 is Langdale valley in England on the way up.  Riding through the lakes on a motorcycle on a sunny day is fantastic, we were tempted to just stay .. and if the midges were too annoying in Scotland, three weeks in the Lake district was a very satisfactory plan B!  With a bit of a mechanical glitch on the way through, it almost happened too..
 

 
#2 is a sunset at Loch Morlich in the Cairngorms.  Sunlight setting the mountains alight over a perfectly still lake on yet another glorious day.  Midges turned out to be ok and not too much of a bother .. and were soon forgotten with a couple of beers in the near by ski chalet style bar anyway.



 
#3 is the Harry Potter train viaduct at Glenfinnan, complete with steam train.  As you can see, the weather in Scotland really is terrible in September!  We sunbathed for a bit and had a picnic while we waited for the train.  Not a bad spot!


 
#4 the mainland from the Isle of Skye.  Another sunset taken with my 100-400mm from across the channel between Skye and Scotland main.  We crossed on the last ferry with a fellow motorcyclist from South Africa and were running late, the advantage of which is that we were still riding when the Sun set catching the far mountains.  The distance haze adding a surreal tone to the image that I like.



#5 is a double rainbow on Skye.  We had our only half day of rain on Skye that day, which made for a great excuse to spend a half day at the Talisker distillery!  Happy days.



Monday, November 10, 2014

Wasting time!

 
Well.. it's been a while!  Since I last posted I've toured Scotland on my motorcycle, got a place on the 2015 London Marathon, turned 40 years old, spent 4 days in Amsterdam, passed my PADI Open Water scuba diver certification and luckily enough I took some photos along the way! 
 
Here are some landscapes and scenic photos I took around Scotland to get us going ...
 
 
 
Some maps & tokens and our tour sticker as a reminder of our trip. 
Note: The inner tube is just in case I forget that I had a rear wheel blow out on a 50mph corner along the way!  

Just one of the roads that made riding 800 miles to get there absolutely worth it
ISO100, 135mm, f/5, 1/640s, -0.7ev


Glen Coe
ISO100, 16mm, f/22, 1/30s, -1.7ev, circular polariser, tripod, cable release, ND8 filter, levels, curves

Glen Coe
ISO100, 16mm, f/22, composite of bracketed exposures, circular polariser, tripod, cable release, ND8 filter, levels, curves 

Fairy glade
ISO100, 35mm, f/16, 5s, circular polariser, ND8 filter, tripod, cable release, levels, blur 

Rustic highland bridge
ISO100, 18mm, f/22, 1/2s, -2ev, circular polariser, ND8 filter, tripod, cables release, levels, curves


The very cool old bridge at Carrbridge
ISO100, 35mm, f/22, 1s, circular polariser, ND8 filter, tripod, cable release, levels, curves