text:
Four years of posting a photo a day.
Four seagulls flying into the great yonder...
I See You
Life is a frail moth flying Caught in the web of the years that pass. - Sara Teasdale
A moth I found lurking in the pantry this morning.
Sail Away
A small sailing boat leaving Portpatrick harbour.
Rockery (7)
Wacke-y wiggles.
Woodland Stroll
Trees... no bluebells this time, though.
Rockery (6)
Abstract lines and gritty textures.
Rural Ayrshire
Baltersan Castle, by the A77.
And cows.
(Would you believe, this place is for sale and has planning permission to be converted into accommodation again?)
Rockery (3)
Cracks and calcified/marble lines in the wacke, Portpatrick.
Rockery (2)
Abstract rock textures: patterns in ordovician wacke, Portpatrick harbour.
A Rockery
Abstract shapes in the sunlight.
Sea of Spikes
Never sure whether these are thistles or teasels, but I'm not going to sit on it to find out.
Free-lensing again.
Stark silhouette: stationary wind-turbines against a contrasty turbulent sky.
Red-Hot Poker
(They don't like it up'em...)
That should make it go
Gratuitous product-placement. Well, I guess it needs all the power it can get...
What Kind Of Fool Do You Think I Am?
It appears to be the weekend of the now-annual scooter festival in Portpatrick. Already there are deafening noises of tinny buzzy engines pretending to fly past the door...
Title taken from the text around the middle vehicle's windscreen, such as it is.
Canopy (2)
An abstract swirl of leaves overhead.
Disreputable Bird
The hooded crows are forever crowding-out the nice birds from our feeder
Sun, sea and ... well it'll be sand when it's eroded a bit more.
Keeping the elements at bay
Wackey rockery at the edge of the harbour.
The water channel here can be traced a mile or more back along burns by the roadside.
You should see it when it's a windy day at high tide instead.
Fairlie Wet
Cascades in a small river tributary, Fairlie Glen.
A view from Portpatrick harbour across to Ireland, on another bright sunny day
Possibly a continuation of the herring-gull fiasco a few rocks to the right.
Nice bright sunny day, with just the right amount of breeze to it.
Harbour Wall
Somewhere in there, a seagull sits watching on the rockery.
Peleng 8mm fisheye, for a field of view of 228 x 156 degrees.
A Stairway to
"If you trust in yourself. . .and believe in your dreams. . .and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy."
- Terry Pratchett, The Wee Free Men
To be ashamed of one's immorality: that is a step on the staircase at whose end one is also ashamed of one's morality.
- Nietzsche
There is no 'slippery slope' toward loss of liberties, only a long staircase where each step downward must first be tolerated by the American people and their leaders.
- Alan K. Simpson
The ladder of success is best climbed by stepping on the rungs of opportunity.
- Ayn Rand
Education is not only a ladder of opportunity, but it is also an investment in our future.
- Ed Markey
Silver Calm
Seagull waiting on the edge of the harbour wall.
The sound of inevitability... *NOM*.
Favoured Noises
From the `if in doubt, stick the lens in a tree and hope' school of photography...
There's something wonderfully simple and organic about the sound of wood bouncing on concrete.
Pointy Bits
Portpatrick Parish Church as the stormclouds started to gather
In the Middle of the Village
Haven't used the ND1000 in a while.
Dunskey Castle (6)
It waited until after I'd done walking Dog to be sunny.
A Democracy
Juxtaposition strikes again.
Cloud Iridescence
...reflected in a puddle down a hole.
Still Going Strong
There are still bluebells lurking in the woods.
Light and dark by the roadside, on a lunchtime stroll through the local estate.
Roadside Geranium
Because, well, roadside geranium.
A Rainy Day
Much grey.
Shapes in the Dark
Evening stroll, sunlight, trees and shadows.
Evening Blossom
A bit of free-lensing strikes again.
One of the routes through the local woodland, now covered with a carpet of bluebells.
Growing Things (9): Cherry
Wild Garlic
Give it another month and the road will be impassable without a gas-mask...
Run for the hills
no, wait... the other hills.
Good job it looked like that toward the end of the walk with Dog.
It's a grey day again.
Dog and I are frequently to be found staring out to sea, over or between the railings dead-centre in this shot.
Somehow, platinum-toning seems to suit this place.
Picturesque meant - he decided after careful observation of the scenery that inspired Twoflower to use the word - that the landscape was horribly precipitous. Quaint, when used to describe the occasional village through which they passed, meant fever-ridden and tumbledown. Twoflower was a tourist, the first ever seen on the Discworld. Tourist, Rincewind had decided, meant 'idiot'.
- Pratchett, The Colour of Magic (1983)
Blue and green and warm and cool
Signs of spring - the local woodland has turned into a carpet of bluebells.
Growing Things (8): Magnolia
I hadn't really been intending to continue the Growing Things theme... but I found an eighth thing.
A Day
The universe has been a uniform shade of grey since yesterday evening.
Growing Things (6): Ferns
Shades of hazy green.
Growing Thing (5): Abstract
Tulips can look strange when approached from the right angle.
Growing Things (4): Pear
Today's growing thing comes with added transient protein.
Growing Things (3): Plum
A collection of new leaves on the plum tree.
Growing Thing (2): Tulip
Pretty confident it's a tulip, today.
Growing Things (1): Rose
At least I think it's a rose...
Wee Waterfall (5)
Still a significant flow, causing quite a pleasant splashdown, even after a few hot almost-summery days.
Evening light in the woods again.
First day I've noticed bluebells starting to emerge.
A padlock among some amazing old weathered wood patterns and textures.
Evening Light
Narcissi and Dutchmen's Breeches catch the evening light.
Go On, Fall In
Another of my 'microcosm' series - see the ladders, deduce the drop into the water.
Rockery, Today
Part of the harbour wall, Portpatrick, on a low-tide low-breeze day. The sea was quite a nice shade of turquoise though.
A view inside the doorway of a ruined building beside the Loch Ryan Light, Cairnryan.
Dappled Light
Can't beat patterns of light and shadow in the woods. Even on a less-than-natural stone bridge...
A Seascape
Somewhere, out there, is a fishing boat.
Edge of the World
Stones from January storm damage littering the carpark.
The seagulls know: beyond those railings, it gets wet.
Port Life
Portpatrick lighthouse and harbour
Portpatrick harbour, at lunchtime.
Odd Landscape
An unusual shot for me - in some ways I don't like the composition much, with its strange placement of rocky outcrops and headlands; but on the other hand, it speaks of a 10-minute wee-seat in the middle of a 3-hour stroll. Dog beside, this in front; it's OK.
Bollard (5)
HDR, black and white, abstract (2)
Bollard (4)
HDR, black and white, telephoto.
Bollard (3)
HDR, black and white, abstract canted composition.
Bollard (2)
HDR, black+white, distracting subjects removed. It's another way of looking at it...
Bollard (1)
Fisheye, HDR, black+white, defished, anaglyphic 3D. It's one way of looking at it...
Passing Boat
Oh go on then. I've managed to avoid having to do one of these for years; it's about time.
Beyond these Shores
Sunlight on water
No more sun, no more wind.
Only a strange feeling
leaving without moving
I'll try another world
and the sky slowly fades in my mind
just like a memory.
Herring Gull
Give us this day our daily surreality...
Where sea meets land, amongst other things
Can't beat a stroll in the woods of a morning.
Local landscape
Loups of Barnshangan
Big lump of rock sitting in the river, a bit east of New Luce, Galloway.
Pink and Green (minus pink and green)
Can't beat a good black+white tree silhouette.
more rocky coastline, on the southern edge of Portpatrick.
If only there had been some mayonnaise, life might have turned out a whole lot different. More piquant, and perhaps with a little extra cream in it.
- Pratchett, _Eric_
The quince tree is budding. Yay.
Nothing lasts forever. Forever is a lie. All we have is between hello and goodbye. (Anon)
Hi, Hello, Hola
A Rockery
Abstract patterns, cracks in lichen-covered rocks.
The Wall
Road-side dry-stone wall keeping the embankment in place, repaired by a friendly fellow from down in the village.
Ivy, found by the roadside: a ball of many balls on stalks, started out green but now turning dark almost purple-ish.
Sunny Day
OK, who said it could be so bright in March?
The Greatest Success
...is the littlest first buds on a fallen willow tree, transplanted to the designated bog to recover.
Early Morning
It still feels surreal to be up and at Friar's Crag before even the dog-walkers have emerged.
Abstract lines and curves.
Sometimes you just stumble on a tree that demands its portrait be taken... especially in the mist.
An Unusual Creeper
Found things: a discarded plastic packing tape draped around trees by the roadside.
(Experimental: free-lensing with the Pentacon 50mm.)
Stillness, Interrupted
One of these trees' friends turned into a pile of chopped logs.
Lines and Spaces
Community-in-a-box: grim architecture, rather out of keeping with the rest of the village, on a dreich day.
Dunskey Castle (5)
The old cliff-top castle ruins, from the back of the caravan site. I couldn't resist the view into the sun, with light on the water.
An HDR of 3 frames, +/-2 EV.
The entrance to Portpatrick harbour.
The skies looked different last night...
Oyster Catchers
The only bird I know to come with a built-in kazoo.
Daffodils, bushes and trees blow in the breeze. Clouds zip past in higher winds.
Dramatic Skies
Crepuscular rays. One of the Mountains of Mourne. Can only be the view from the cliffs above Portpatrick over to Ireland.
Waves lapping around rock, from the cliffs above Portpatrick harbour.
The rockery is upper Ordovician wacke (undifferentiated, whatever that might mean), so it's about 450 million years old.
16 frames at 1/15s each, aligned and stacked by averaging.
Portpatrick lighthouse, by night
Darkness reigns at the foot of the lighthouse - Japanese proverb
Metaphysics is a dark ocean without shores or lighthouse, strewn with many a philosophic wreck. - Kant
Hazy Days
Old Character
There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in. - Leonard Cohen
Ah go on then. Time for a cliché.... it's still not yet Spring, though.
(Top tip: the black+white conversion is best done with a strong blue filter to cut through the jumble of green and orange shades on the woodland floor.)
A jumble of tree trunks and branches.
'Tis a dreich and lousy day.
Do not despise the bottom rungs in the ascent to greatness. - Publilius Syrus
Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb. - Winston Churchill
Dreams are what guide us, art is what defines us, math is what makes it all possible, and love is what lights our way. - Mike Norton
I don't ask for the meaning of the song of a bird or the rising of the sun on a misty morning. There they are, and they are beautiful. - Pete Hamill
I will ride, I will fly / Chase the wind and touch the sky - Julie Fowlis
The Most Joyful Noise
These shoes could talk, but they're too busy dancing.
Clay on Wood
"Nice textures", they say, and move on, as though it came about without growing, being chopped down, being flung on a wheel by human hands and fired in a kiln...
Cow-parsley stems in the morning light
A Bit Blowy
Winds around 50-70mph today. Certainly noisy, and a bit difficult strolling Dog, but no other problems encountered yet.
Angles, diagonal lines, contrasty black and white. Any idea what the subject is, 'cos I dunno?
Cambrian Explosion in Diversity
Geologically annotated steps up the Southern Upland Way out of Portpatrick.
Give it a few million years and the concrete and benches won't exist
Monster in the Glen
A waterfall burbling merrily down a gorge in Dunskey Glen, from the bridge over the top. The view compresses perspective: that's maybe a 30' drop in there..
Elements of Civilization
Afternoon tea... it makes the world go round.
Wee Waterfall (3)
This is a continuation of the same waterfall that I shot on New Year's day, lower down where the trickle forks and spreads over the rocks.
Fortunately it was still fairly low tide.
Approach Route
Waves lapping on rocks near the lighthouse at the approach to Portpatrick harbour.
The Peleng 8mm fisheye lens got a rare airing for an ultra-wide (~170-degree) field of view.
Between Realities
Fairy Glen, Portpatrick - neither natural nor urban.
Probably the greater majority of buildings in Portpatrick are listed.
The trouble with conservationism is that one still feels the artificiality of being provided-for.
It's like real glens, but ... oh wait, no it isn't.
Lines of tree branches.
Wiggly Trees
Dunskey Castle (4)
Coastal paths - part of the Southern Upland Way leading from Portpatrick to Dunksey Castle.
There's two humans out to get wet in the middle of this shot.
Friendly Fuzzball
Verily, 'tis a Doggy pawtrait.
Apparently that wee speck over there is a boat fishing for clams.
(Mutter: landscape photography is such a contrivance. If it's not take-photo-here, it's take-this-kind-of-photo. Discuss.)
Light on Water
Shadowy reflections of the lighthouse silhouette in the shimmering water, Portpatrick harbour.
I see a...
Pareidolia strikes again. Yay.
I still like to ponder the shapes, lines and angles of trees.
Mull of Galloway Lighthouse
Tracks in the grass, leading from the cliffs to the Mull of Galloway Lighthouse, right on the southernmost tip of Scotland.
...from Cairnryan.
Ooky Spooky
If you go down to the woods tonight...
...deconstructing elegance
Ursa Major
...and other asterisms
Good weather for...
a duck.
Jupiter; Milky Way; Orion; Hyades; Pleiades.
Another serendipitous discovery - a waterfall in Killantringan Bay.
A Landscape for Aliens
What's for dinner?
Landscape stillness: flag on Dorn rock, Portpatrick harbour.
I'm experimenting with different post-processing tricks. Not that you'd notice, as the finishing is still in darktable and digikam, but it now goes through a bunch of HDR processing instead of enfuse. There's enough detail here to resolve individual limpets on the rockery.
Wee Burn
Roadside gurglings.
Lines, lots of lines, lots of lines.
I've been known to see over 20 pheasants clustering around the near corner on a morning stroll.
Fallen trees: a study in complexity.
5 frames, each ISO 100, f/11, 0.5s on tripod; aligned and stitched in Hugin with enfuse; tonemapped in LuminanceHDR; sharpening (highpass and fourier-space), black+white conversion and platinum toning in Darktable for 48.5 megapixels of detailed shapes.
Drink Aware
Discarded Stella Artois can on grass by the roadside.
Wee Waterfall (2)
A different view of the same small waterfall as New Year's Day.
Good Things:
The Boots of Invincibility(TM);
Waterproof overtrousers that are;
the rain holding off until I'd taken today's photo;
stew making itself in the kitchen.
As the golden hour turns blue
Light grey days, with surprisingly good visibility 21mi across the water to Ireland.
Along the Road
Lines and shadows.
Wiggly Wednesdays (19): Dark
Weather forecast for tonight: dark.
George Carlin
We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.
Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark.
George Iles
Metaphysics is a dark ocean without shores or lighthouse, strewn with many a philosophic wreck.
Immanuel Kant
Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.
Water Feature (7)
I almost made it a week into the new year without taking a photo of the favoured water-feature...
Keep Clear
Spray crashing over the harbour railings again. High tide on a breezy day.
Method: 4 frames, processed in RawTherapee; use Hugin to align and enfuse images together (biassed mostly towards exposure and entropy); blend the aligned images together again using ImageMagick biassed toward maximum; load both in Krita and blend the sky and lack-of-car from the smoother versions; load into darktable and fix the crop, set various sharpening methods, black and white and platinum toning to taste.
Nice weather...
...for dolphins, anyway
Storm Surge at High Tide
440 days ago we sat on one of these benches on the harbour front, deciding to buy a house in the area.
A combination of factors made for easily the highest waves and most impressive spray I've seen around the harbour.
Back in the Harbour
and more crepuscular rays to play with
You must not blame me if I do talk to the clouds. ~ Henry David Thoreau
There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds. ~ G. K. Chesterton
A cloud is made of billows upon billows upon billows that look like clouds. As you come closer to a cloud you don't get something smooth, but irregularities at a smaller scale. ~ Benoit Mandelbrot
Only from the heart can you touch the sky. ~Rumi
Wee Waterfall
It's been raining a bit of late...
Splashing Around
Where mankind runs out and nature takes over; rock, wind, sunlight and sea spray beyond the edge of the carpark, Portpatrick.
Stranraer by Night
It's an improvement on Stranraer by day.
if XCweather is to be believed, it was about 10 on the Beaufort scale around here this morning.
Christmas Decapitation
Breezy rocky coastline.
Water Feature: Sparkles
Spray glinting like diamonds.
Don't Tread on the Cracks
Back-streets somewhere in the middle of Stranraer, wet paving flags glistening after the rain
The Edge of the Land
A smaller transmitter, atop cliffs just along the Southern Upland Way beyond the ruined BT radio station, Portpatrick.
Lensbaby Thursdays (116): Flayed
Happens around here too
Crepuscular Rays
Drama strikes again.
Portpatrick Free Church was formed at the Disruption, when part of the congregation adhered to the Free Church. A church was built in the same year (replaced 1887). It passed successively to the United Free Church, as Portpatrick Trinity, and to the Church of Scotland, as Portpatrick Trinity, which united with Portpatrick as Portpatrick in 1930.
(From http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/sct/WIG/Portpatrick/PortpatrickRecords.html#ChurchHistory)
With A Bobble On Top
St Patrick's Church, Portpatrick - dating from C16 or before.
Coming and Going
Slightly abstract surreal patterns for a Friday.
Choppy Weather
Waves breaking over the edges of Portpatrick harbour
Windows of the Mind
People are like stained - glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Our foreign policy needs to support our energy, economic, defense and domestic policies. It all falls within the arch of national interest. There will be windows of opportunity, but they will open and close quickly. - Chuck Hagel
The body is a house of many windows: there we all sit, showing ourselves and crying on the passers-by to come and love us. - Robert Louis Stevenson
If a window of opportunity appears, don't pull down the shade. - Tom Peters
When you say 'I wrote a program that crashed Windows,' people just stare at you blankly and say 'Hey, I got those with the system, for free.' - Linus Torvalds
Things beginning with `Sea'
Looks like a slow news day down at the harbour.
Wiggly Wednesdays (18)
Coastal abstract.
63 Years Late
The plan was originally to facilitate transport from Belfast, via a short sea crossing, through Stranraer (for goods and cattle) and Portpatrick (mail and huamns) on to London.
The economics of the port were such that the Portpatrick Harbour railway station opened and closed within the space of 3 months in 1868; the non-harbour station, however, was in service from 1862 to 1950.
Since the 1980s all that remains of the Portpatrick Railway Station is the stone house which sat at the buffers end of the track, with all the station buildings replaced with housing.
Imagining a train standing in the middle of this scene and the scale of change both to society and landscape, in one's own lifetime, bakes my noodle.
When in Stranraer... improve the outlook with a long exposure.
Beyond the End of the Line
Framing lines, Stranraer railway station
Flip-side of the Coin
The 11th Commandment (for church organists) states thou shalt not extemporize with thy foot on the bottom C pedal for more than 30s at a time.
I met this fellow on the harbour steps, looking out to sea, listening to Goa psy trance on a karaoke machine, accompanying it on his didgeridoo (in C).
We sat and talked harmoniously.
Landscape, interrupted
Spot the distant inversion-layer from afar.
Looking Up (2)
Abstract colours and shapes: trees reaching for the clear blue sky.
Crepuscular Rays
Sea and sky strike again. Literally, as there was a most wonderful hailstorm this afternoon too.
Distant Lands
That tower is about 20 miles away in Ireland. I'm not entirely sure where - probably a lighthouse somewhere between Larne, Carrickfergus, Belfast and Bangor.
Autumn Abstract
Blobs, lines and areas
Low Tide
Some rockery, some water and some more floating water.
Crepuscular Rays
Light on water... Portpatrick lighthouse
Abstract shapes of dying willow leaves
Mints of Recovery
It was good to go away and pootle around a fancy hotel for a couple of days in poncy boots.
It's also good to come back, eat mints to settle the guts, put on the old favoured boots and walk Dog again.
Wee Cauldron
A small cascade of waterfalls, just north of Comrie
Wednesday Night's Dinner
...is lurking beneath the reflections
A Disturbance in the Force
A Disturbance in the Force
A scarf, rather spontaneously encountered in the middle of the street... as one does.
Sun, Sea and Sand
Well, 3 out of 3 ain't bad.
Wiggly Wednesdays (17): Woodland
Autumn's starkness
Portpatrick By Night (2): Harbour
Boats bobbing around in the breeze; a view of the lifeboat museum across the harbour.
Stranraer railway station, such as it is
Portpatrick By Night
The flag and anchor in Portpatrick, by night.
It was fairly blowing while I was down there; waves of white foam zooming fast across the landscape in the dark, breaking on the harbour wall with spray around 15-20' high, yet with a mostly clear sky and the Milky Way overhead. Intense.
Colours (minus colour)
A day of increasing dreichness, broken by a golden 10mins in the evening.
Colours of Autumn
Leaves submerged in the burn
Pampas grass, high-key and fluffy
The Shape of Beech
Water Feature (6)
It's been raining a bit of late.
But the speed was power, and the speed was joy, and the speed was pure beauty.
moon behind clouds
Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.
- Buddha
Scientific man is already on the moon, and yet we are still living with the moral concepts of Homer.
- Michelangelo Antonioni
I've never seen a moon in the sky that, if it didn't take my breath away, at least misplaced it for a moment.
- Colin Farrell
They dined on mince, and slices of quince, Which they ate with a runcible spoon; And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand, They danced by the light of the moon.
- Edward Lear
Wet Feet
Seagull on rock
Below a Beech
Trunks and branches and twigs and leaves and air and stillness and rustling and proper red squiggles and squawking and peasants and light...
...is still a work in progress
Characteristic shapes, twigs and leaves.
New Loch
Hints of water through the trees - a different stroll at lunchtime.
(A 7-frame HDR, blended in enfuse, toned in darktable as usual.)
Conker on sycamore leaf.
A stroll in the woods
Portpatrick Lighthouse
An alternative composition from around the back of the lighthouse, with the rest of the village in the background.
Serenity (2)
Dramatic skies: light on the water, looking across to mountains in Ireland
Minimalist landscape: sea, sky and a bit of light.
The Edge of the World
Rocks, sea, sky, blethers with dog-owners, ... not bad for a lynchtime stroll.
Distant Haar
The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass. And then you see it: White shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise.
A bit abstract today.
Waves and rocks
13 frames superimposed on top of each other
Waves breaking over and around rocks (upper ordovician wacke), Portpatrick.
Needs Modernising (2)
A study in materials and textures: uPVC windows, paint flaking off a wooden door, copious pebble-dashing and slate tiles: details of the disused BT radio transmitter station, Portpatrick.
Lonesome Tree
The hawthorn is missing its friends, the beeches.
Sunlight and trees
Crepuscular rays and all that.
Fall, Interrupted
Detail of a fallen sycamore leaf caught on barbed-wire fence.
If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?
- John Wooden
Who has time? Who has time? But then if we never *take* time, how can we have time?
The Merovingian, The Matrix (2)
Time makes heroes but dissolves celebrities.
- Daniel J. Boorstin
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
- JRRT, via Gandalf
"Nothing endures but change."
- Heraclitus
Rocks, water and a dash of time to taste.
There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.
- Denis Waitley
The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.
- Leo Tolstoy
There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.
- Ansel Adams
Lensbaby Thursdays (115): Fruitful
Detail of an apple fallen on the grass
Sunlight on the water
Our House
needs modernising
Focussing optional extra.
Windy days, choppy seas.
The head learns new things, but the heart forever practices old experiences.
- Henry Ward Beecher
I wanted to do new things with dance, adapt it to the motion picture medium.
- Gene Kelly
You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
- C. S. Lewis
An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful.
- Dalai Lama
The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.
- Marcel Proust
The old Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 lens wore out after 4 years in my camera bag. The new Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 lens came with a lenscap.
Water Feature (5)
More flowing patterns.
Lensbaby Thursdays (114): Treason much?
This isn't http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17610820
This probably should be http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24058989
Wiggly Wednesdays (16): Infinity
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.
- Albert Einstein
It seemed like forever ago, like we've had this brief but still infinite forever. Some infinities are bigger than other infinities.
- John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.
- Robert Wilensky
For every fact there is an infinity of hypotheses.
- Robert M Pirsig
Light, shadow, and the onsets of meteorological autumn.
Cow-parsley / Dog-wood seeds.
Patterns of light on leaves on the woodland floor.
Water Feature (4)
The burn is happier for last night's rain. The bonfire, not so much.
There was more wildlife today.
Wiggly Wednesdays (15): Stuff
A superposition of wiggly lines.
This Way Up
Looking Down
For just a moment, the light passed over the fly.
Looking Up
Always a good thing to do. That way, one might see the light.
Sunlight on water, Portpatrick harbour
Lensbaby Thursdays (113): Droopy Flag Days
When dealing with politicians, remember the phrase "that's not the point".
Well that's the local bird-life exhausted then.
Over the Sea
A view from the cliffs above Portpatrick, looking across to Ireland in the distance.
(6 frames, two HDR sets +/-1EV processed in photivo blended with enfuse, tonemapped and toned in Darktable.)
Big Sky Days
Fluffy clouds, taken on a longer Saturday stroll with Dog along the coast.
Yay for more tasty harvest!
Lensbaby Thursdays (112): Honeysuckle
There's a chain
It binds us all in lives of wonder
There's a chain, hold it closely as you go
(_Chain_, Band from Rockall.)
don't mention the...
Why does Beningbrough Hall have to have a display of wartime activities? How about celebrating a positive achievement instead?
Every garden needs a mahonia.
Wiggly Wednesdays 14: Explode (2)
Art is about play and about transcendent meanings, not reducible to politics.
Rachel Kushner
What can a pencil do for all of us? Amazing things. It can write transcendent poetry, uplifting music, or life-changing equations; it can sketch the future, give life to untold beauty, and communicate the full-force of our love and aspirations.
Adam Braun
Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.
John Milton
The consciousness of the human brain is a wonderful thing - it allows us to rationalize views of the one world from two frames of reference.
Quotation, n: The act of repeating erroneously the words of another.
Ambrose Bierce
One day I shall understand whether Hofstadter understands Hofstadter.
Wiggly Wednesdays 13: Explode
Taste of Success
That's it, I've officially taken a photo of my lunch. But boy, did our first ever home-grown tomato taste good.
The Remains
I had wondered what the increasing pile of wood was doing on the harbour...
Yesterday evening was spent chez friends from the village, watching the end-of-Lifeboat-Week celebrations - a good bonfire and fireworks, both very watchable over a glass of white.
Microcosm (4)
Abstract angles: mooring rope
Time and Tide
Waves splashing against the edges of the harbour wall, Portpatrick.
Still elegant.
British Telecom Radio Station, Portpatrick.
"Like vanishing dew,
a passing apparition
or the sudden flash
of lightning - already gone -
thus should one regard one's self."
- Ikkyu
You can't step into the same river twice.
- Heraclitus
History proves that all dictatorships, all authoritarian forms of government are transient. Only democratic systems are not transient. Whatever the shortcomings, mankind has not devised anything superior.
- Vladimir Putin
Would that life were like the shadow cast by a wall or a tree, but it is like the shadow of a bird in flight.
- The Talmud
Oops. Wasn't intending doing a fencepost series just yet... oh well.
Bricks amongst the rocks - above Portpatrick Harbour.
The fence/gate/separation theme resurfaces temporarily.
A Walk in the Woods (5)
Empty, hot, still.
Deduce the whole harbour.
When in need of inspiration...
A 164-degree field of view panorama from the middle of Portpatrick Harbour.
A bit early in the season for them, perhaps?
Wee Flower
More rocky coastline
Feeling a little abstract
See the rusty mooring-ring and chain, see the whole harbour.
...is fuzzy. And enjoying a rhododendron.
Rocks, water, time, sky and not a lot else.
With a long enough exposure, an entire sailing boat can pass through the frame and leave no impression.
These are unquestionably the most comfortable boots I've ever owned, although after more than a year at over 3mi/day on tarmac the soles are completely shot...
...and fly.
...in shades of cool blue.
Another day of rejoicing in the cool shade of the woods.
Minimalism strikes again.
It's like Some Trees, only something's gone AWOL.
When taking Dog for a longer Saturday morning stroll through the village, take a photo of the flag, anchor and rockery.
A seagull flying around the cliffs at Portpatrick.
So that's 3 years of me on Blip, is it? Ta for sticking around and stuff.
After spending 6 hours sitting in a Vauxhall discourtesy car, it was high time to pull over and admire sunlight on rolling hills, from Lendalfoot on the Ayrshire coast.
Best seen from 3 hours, 10ft and less caffeine away.
A yummy asiatic lily, even. And yes it's one of those days where nature acts the photographer's assistant, supplying the sprinkler.
The things one finds on the woodland floor...
Dog & I discovered another nice long route for a cliff-top stroll.
The Old Lighthouse on the South Pier in Portpatrick Harbour.
A study in composition, texture and slight tweaking...
It exists... so I shot it. Whatever it is (some kind of iris, perhaps?).
If you see a whole thing - it seems that it's always beautiful. Planets, lives... But up close a world's all dirt and rocks. And day to day, life's a hard job, you get tired, you lose the pattern. - Ursula K. Le Guin
The great struggle which now rocks the whole earth more and more takes on the character of a struggle of the individual versus the state. - J. Reuben Clark
Study how water flows in a valley stream, smoothly and freely between the rocks. Also learn from holy books and wise people. Everything - even mountains, rivers, plants and trees - should be your teacher. - Morihei Ueshiba
Just as houses are made of stones, so is science made of facts. - Henri Poincare
If it weren't for the rocks in its bed, the stream would have no song. - Carl Perkins
Some or other kind of conifer, discovered whilst mowing the lawn the other day.
The economics of photography say that when you've spent 20mins freezing your paws off in the wind trying to get just the right multi-minute long-exposure landscape and can't quite get the post-processing right after an hour, when nature gives you lenticular clouds you cut losses and make that the shot of the day instead.
Waves passing by
Hotel evolving
Rocks taking it all in their stride
(10 frames superimposed)
Not a bad route for the lunchtime walkies.
A couple of these showed up in the garden as well.
(A proto-foxglove, perhaps?)
We're not entirely sure what yet...
On 31 January, 1953, the ro-ro ferry Princess Victoria sank in the North Channel en route from Stranraer to Ireland, with the then-greatest loss of life in a maritime disaster since WW2. The distress signals were received by radio operators at Portpatrick, where this memorial can be found among the harbour rocks.
...and some trees again.
Someone came along and chopped all the wild garlic from beside the road. This is probably no bad thing, as the stench was getting enough to make me choke...
Geraniums, I think?
Can sumptuous velvetty dark glow?
Enoch Hill transmitter station disappearing in the mist.
It's been one of those strange days where all is grey and wet and misty out; time passes in a haze and suddenly Dog's dinner's 20 minutes late and there's still plenty to do and only the evening left.
Very faint noctilucent clouds on the northern horizon, around 1am. 16 frames at 10,13,15s (total 202s) processed in RawTherapee, stacked (python+OpenCV) and toned in Darktable.
On some or other kind of tree
Dog and I went for a 2.5-hour walk and found this standing stone in the grounds of the Dunskey estate gardens.
Dance evolved a bit too much.
Can't beat a walk in the woods to stay cool of a hot summery morning.
Welcomed 27 onions to the garden.
This is not them, though.
Drama bubbling-up
A long-exposure vertorama/panorama from the foot of the Southern Upland Way looking across to the village of Portpatrick nestling around its harbour.
Rocks, water and time
Water and rocks. Go much further right and they start putting acutes on their gaelic instead of graves.
15 frames superimposed, as one does.
New growth on an old tree, tendril-like branches silhouetted against the sky.
It's been a 380-mile round-trip weekend involving humans, chickens, a flash gun, buildings, chablis, champagne, manual-mode, cake and a small norfolk terrier. An early night is called for.
An Average Day
...or not
Patterns of sunlight and shadow on the road
Sunlight through sycamore leaves.
Life's a blur.
Damaged tarmac
...that's quite close enough too.
Simple stuff: bluebell and bokeh. Lots of bokeh.
It's fine for the house to be above quite a water-feature capable of draining significant amounts of water; it's not so fine when the road is above the house, complete with a gutter-load of water entirely overflowing a drain, dislodging enough gravel in the drive to render opening the gate difficult and flood the garage floor - with under an hour's rainfall.
The trick is to arrange piles of gravel 9" or more deep to fork the flow, diverting half into the flower-bed instead.
A walk in the woods at lunchtime...
Abstract wiggly shapes in the light
OK, so you weren't quite the view I had in mind for staring out the window whilst brewing a cup of tea, but welcome to the world, it's downhill from here.
A temporary return of the lines and angles theme
Flourishing happens
Flow happens
Well after the last two plant-diagnoses failed I hate to try a third time, but I suspect it might be Allium / ramsons / wild garlic. Maybe. Either way it's quite pretty.
...is blowing in the wind
There I was, happily pruning away, thinking it was a dry bit of a rhody or similar... when it went and bit me. Ouch.
This is a rather strange bush: a bit taller and wider than me, mostly lichen-covered dry branches about an inch in diameter (near ground-level) but sometimes, where a branch has forked, one of the stems is more like rope a centimeter in diameter, covered in vast numbers of fine spines.
It is definitely not merely two things intertwined, although there are a few shoots of the rope-like tendrils growing straight up from the mud nearby as well. At a guess, it might be some nasty weed capable of grafting itself onto old wood and growing therefrom.
The pattern of dense yet fine spines does not resemble bramble, and I've yet to see what flowers, if any, the young green leaves will produce.
Meanwhile, it is officially considered both deceptive and antisocial.
From what I've heard it might be a tree-fern, but I could be wrong. Either way, since there's also two large instances in the garden, I hope it's friendly...
shapely and yellow.
Can't wait for the undergrowth to sprout forth.
Luminance HDR, Mantiuk08 operator.
Some impressive structure.
Abstract blobby wiggliness.
It's that time of year again: detail of a juicy field-maple/sycamore bud.
(At least, I think it is...)
Dramatic coastline on quite a windy afternoon.
A long exposure made with a Wanderlust Pinwide not-lens in honour of Worldwide Pinhole Day.
Dunskey Castle
no prizes for guessing which bit of extreme home-improvement was on the agenda today
Detail of ivy growing over a roadside barrier.
As if spending 6 months studying the artistic merits of fenceposts wasn't mundane enough...
A blurry walk in the woods
A moss-covered tree-trunk lying by the path, basking in the sunlight.
Detail of a sawn-off treestump found in the woods.
Incomprehensible juxtaposition.
...lots of beech.
I was quite surprised how fast the clouds were zipping past, so went down to Portpatrick Harbour to find some impressive waves breaking.
Please excuse the monstrous hotel.
Yay for trees... recent rain's making the path rather boggy & muddy though.
Looking a bit past their best.
'Tis a photo of two halves.
Abstract something again
Can't go wrong with the odd beech and hawthorn of a morning.
Still seem to have some of the snow lurking around as well, even on such a sunny day.
I find it interesting how one's perception of the presence of snow changes from the initial love/hate duality to acceptance as a mere feature of the landscape.
Where land (upper ordovician wacke) meets water
Morning sunshine in the woods.
We have broadband at last!
Sooner or later there'll probably be a windfarm over the left of this hill.
One of these houses was ours for 7 of the last 6 months. Fortunately, I no longer have to wallow through semi-frozzen inch-deep liquid cow-poo to walk Dog any more, or tolerate faulty plumbing and sluggardly letting-agents, or drag the dustbin quarter of a mile early every Friday morning to be collected - and proper non-mobile landline broadband should be sorted in the next day or two as well.
Yay for migration and civilisation at last!
a morning of pale spring still clinging to winter's chill (JRRT)
With veg yesterday, balti today.
The sun behind clouds
This roadside Titanic-killer was looking a little lonely.
...it's a seagull-lemma!
Two states of water, again
Abstract minimalism again.
Nature provided some calligraphy.
With a longer stroll than usual for a morning
I gained more exercise,
Dog gained more exercise and a new friend without peeing on anyone,
the driver of a small van regained access to the main road again,
the farmers had great fun trying to convert an assault-course of a road into 6'-high snow-men and gained easier access to their beasties.
Everyone's a winner apart from the snow and a borked shovel.
Funny idea, this co-operation malarky.
States of water
Minimalism descended (horizontally in gusts over 40mph) overnight.
Some landscape... and some little fluffy clouds as well.
A search for meaning... abstract wafty textures.
Baaaa (in a contented snoozy fashion)
Can't beat silvery water reflections...
Black Loch or Loch of Crindil, Castle Kennedy gardens
Snow happened again :)
Landscape, with a Pinwide pinhole lens.
Minimalist cow-parsley weed stems.
Ice halos and stone tile.
I am more than just a proto-burger: in the right places, I'm a way to save the planet: http://www.ted.com/talks/allan_savory_how_to_green_the_world_s_deserts_and_reverse_climate_change.html
Minimal sky.
An old weathered fencepost and stone wall
It's raining. Again. Inevitably.
The same willow tree as yesterday, albeit a bit different.
Buds beginning to sprout. Yay early Spring.
Lines and stuff.
A notable landmark at the Isle of Whithorn, apparently used as a navigational aid for centuries.
We discovered an oak forest.
Whatever it was, it isn't much now...
Nice light. Shame about the biodegradability
Wiggly Wednesdays (1): Wall
A tale of two fenceposts
...not much landscape.
Cowparsley and lots of bokeh.
A defining feature of one's formative years was K-9's companions being Peter Davison and Tom Baker.
Turbulent skies
Wooden lump.
Pareidolia (n): the imagined perception of a pattern or meaning where it does not actually exist,
Sunlight, in Scotland?
Morning Contrast
An abstract assortment of blocky shapes - rope on a wooden pallet in the sun.
Two hawthorn berries, remaining from last year.
Sun and cloud
It's seen better days too.
Minimalism descended overnight.
Apparently my hiking boots are watertight.
Young buds in the hedgerow.
Another day, another fencepost...
(Part of) A strange submerged contraption of poles and knotted rope.
Lilac bud, down south.
...is not a horse.
More discarded farmyard junk.
The sun is new each day. - Heraclitus
The use of solar energy has not been opened up because the oil industry does not own the sun. - Ralph Nader
The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do. - Galileo Galilei
This was early this morning; by lunchtime it was all melted.
It happens around here too.
A suffusion of texture.
The closeup+4 filter strikes again.
I don't often repeat a blip, but the light on the stile this morning was rather appealing.
Clamber over?
It's a tad breezy out there.
Candles (and a mirror)
It was quite a nice hedgerow
Cold, wet, windy, chilly, rain. This gate's seen 'em all.
'Tis a scene of 6 elements...
Heather making a spectacle of itself.
...is a warm nose by the oven.
Yup, it's a fencepost again.
The snow's receding, but at least the fields are still white.
Snow appeared. Yay, and indeed, wahey :)
It's one of those days where one doesn't use the real camera.
The Martyrs' Stake, Wigtown.
(Peleng 8mm fisheye, defished in Photivo, panorama stitched in Hugin, sharpened in Darktable, manipulated like nobody's in the Gimp.)
It doesn't get much further south than this, at least not without hitting Englandshire...
A rather optimistically early snowdrop.
Lensbaby Thursdays (95): BSAU144b
Two states of water.
No comment.
So there can be snow in Galloway after all - just selectively on top of the Merrick.
Yay fenceposts.
(Not often one favours the results of the Mantiuk06 operator in LuminanceHDR, but this seems to have come out OK, rather like a pencil sketch drawing.)
Cow-parsley covered in frost, first thing in the morning.
Playing with bokeh: as well as the hints of structure there's tarmac texture blended into the background.
Detail of a barbed wire fence covered in frost.
(The barb falls on where a golden-ratio logarithmic spiral converges.)
Definitely willow: detail of a blob of sap hanging from a branch.
The closeup filter strikes again.
I'm not entirely sure what kind of a tree this is from - wild cherry, perhaps?
Pentacon 50mm, f/1.8.
Lots of balls.
Hop over?
Luminance HDR, Reinhard05 operator.
Dilapidation (n):
to fall into ruin or decay; from Mediaeval Latin dīlapidātus, dīlapidāre, to squander (cf dīlapidātiō, disrepair); Latin: lapidate, to pelt with stones.
He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery. - Harold Wilson
In a decaying society, art, if it is truthful, must also reflect decay. And unless it wants to break faith with its social function, art must show the world as changeable. And help to change it. - Ernst Fischer
Age is not all decay; it is the ripening, the swelling, of the fresh life within, that withers and bursts the husk. - George MacDonald
Elegant lines strike again.
A basically grey start to the year.
Well, it *is* still Christmas.
Scrub grass taking over a discarded tractor's tyre.
Broom seed pod, anticipating the spring...
Weather happens, on average.
...home for some.
If you'd told me, about 5yr ago, that life would involve spending Christmas Day walking Dog through misty hills in Galloway while the lasagna herself(TM) made defrosts back at home, I'd've been a bit surprised. It's a funny old universe.
Morning mist in Glen Trool (Gleann an-t'sruthail).
Recycling happens, after a fashion.
Some Light
A Sunday afternoon stroll.
Yeah... it's that time of year when you have to write cheques to the oil fuel company.
...a novel form of sensor dust, perhaps?
Minimalist lines and tones.
...magic smoke.
I suppose most of it'll biodegrade eventually.
Luminance HDR, Reinhard05 operator
(and a lot of darktable, digiKam and Gimp into the bargain).
Left-over remains of knapweed.
Water and rocks.
Luminance HDR 2.3.0, Mantiuk08 operator
Luminance HDR, Reinhard05 operator
Multiple long exposures of a tree blowing in the breeze.
Hugin, enfuse.
Practising abstract style in advance of winter.
Lensbaby Thursdays (93): Hello
S'not Christmas yet. Humbug.
Luminance HDR, Reinhard05 operator.
Frost-covered weed flower-heads basking in the morning sunlight.
More frost: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfKdSgq1h54
It's hard getting sheep to pose just where you want in the frame.
Slight crepuscular rays
...from a reasonable distance.
A Countryside.
A raindrop among many.
Abstract fuzziness.
Stark ash, at that.
The view out the window...
What makes me think I'll be on walking the dog later?
Water, rocks, time and not a lot else - Isle of Whithorn.
We like clouds.
Elegance, of a fashion: detail of early morning frost on a wilting bramble.
Even by late-lunchtime there was still significant frost visible all the way along the walkies route.
A jumble of areas, lines and light.
An ash twig and bud, enjoying the morning light.
A windswept tree in a rolling landscape.
Sometimes light does make the landscape, after all.
Luminance HDR, Mantiuk08 operator.
Sandyhills Bay
Quite a nice sunny day today.
Luminance HDR, Mantiuk06 operator
It's a bit damp for shades today...
...and not much else.
Patterns of light and shadow as the road wends into the distance
Perhaps not the greatest shot I've ever produced, but I wasn't even going to take the proper camera out in this weather.
There's 4 fords from flooded fields crossing the road within about a mile of each other - 3 up the way on morning walkies route and this one on the longer lunchtime stroll. For a sense of scale, the road's about 4" deep and the verge is 8"-2' underwater and the nearest town is seriously soggy...
Low water level revealed the river bed, warped convoluted shapes of rocks scoured by passsing pebbles and debris.
Eight images each of 2s duration blended for a total equivalent to a 16s exposure.
Prints available via my photo site: http://www.shinyphoto.co.uk/pictures/falls-of-bruar-striation
November is being quite wintry up here...
Yesterday's hay/silage bales make a reappearance.
Right, Dog, round we go, and back again...
at least Dog is friendly and appreciative.
A decaying painted wooden window-frame, Newton Stewart.
Sky, inverted
Minimalism strikes again.There is no horse.
High on a hill stood a lonely horse...
A rocky outcrop in the harbour, beneath a colourful post-sunset sky.
I was wondering what had this funny pattern of tiny brown proto-buds, but the sloe found dangling on a twig kind of gave it away.
Leather boots would be preferred.
Luminance HDR, Mantiuk06 operator
I'm hoping it's just normal end-of-season decay for these ash leaves.
Life is full of nails.
Characteristic alternating pattern of buds along a willow twig.
Pine trees silhouetted against faint wisps of cloud, Tebay.
Luminance HDR, Reinhard05 operator
...is in need of some updating and would benefit from modernization.
Fireplace and window frame, Monk Bretton Priory - built in 1150 and now looking a bit wonky.
We're a bit lacking for trees around here, relatively speaking... but I found some sycamore leaves with which to make something abstract... or just something...
Metal and wood: warped wire fencing wrapped around a fencepost.
I spent 4 hours driving up to Kilmarnock and back; for some reason, despite having been otherwise entirely dreary and wet, the descent into Turnberry still produced its lovely seascape.
Luminance HDR, Reinhard05 operator.
As if Sunday's ash tree buds weren't exciting enough, I just noticed the willow trees around here putting forth their characteristic alternating-string buds.
Luminance HDR, Mantiuk08 operator.
Layers of cloud above the Merrick.
I'm not up early enough to catch the autumn morning mists yet :p
In their infinite wisdom, the Forestry Commission's idea of identifying an ash tree shows photos of spring and summer foliage. At this time of year, ash trees look like this - with buds on the end.
Sedimentary rocks - a mixture of slate and mud- and sandstones - on the shores at Carrick, looking across to the Islands of Fleet.
Luminance HDR, Mantiuk08 operator
A fencepost in a stone wall.
More experimentation with the so-called "Brenizer method".
Empty spaces... what are we living for?
Layers of cloud over the Merrick, Dumfries and Galloway.
Interwebs are courtesy of a transmitter a bit beyond the left of this view.
Luminance HDR, Mantiuk06 operator.
There's a willow tree in there somewhere...
Detail of weeds growing around a metal gate.
Countryside "grim", anyone?
My favoured RawTherapee seems to have turned unstable after recent upgrades - resulting in the whole notebook crashing quite spectacularly - so I'm experimenting with RawStudio for a while instead; results aren't quite so great but it's an awful lot quicker...
Sunny Sunday afternoon...
Receding tide, Lendalfoot, Ayrshire
A quince tree, recently planted in the garden. Can't wait to try them again.
New lens (a Hanimex 28mm f/2.8 - far from the sharpest, but gives a very film-y feel); new places (Kirkcolm).
The wind's been kicking-up gusts around 40mph all day, causing some impressive waves in the harbour.
Lensbaby Thursdays (111): Angles
A return to my subject-matter from up the road in Argyll.
Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it.
- Lao Tzu
We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one. - Jacques Yves Cousteau
Truth will rise above falsehood as oil above water. - Miguel de Cervantes
[Nature] invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain. - Henry David Thoreau
Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf. - Rabindranath Tagore
Leaf on a pebble, as one does.
More dandelions.
stones and rocks at the edge of the harbour wall, Portpatrick
The landscape's changed in the last month or so...
They seem to have been brewing for quite a while, given the snows a few weeks ago...
...just 'cos.
One of the nearby farms' horses enjoying the scenery.
I've shot a similar photo here before... but it seems the Lensbaby did a better job of separating from a confusing background than my favoured prime lens so here we are again...
At least I think that's what they are... nice to discover them in the garden, anyway
The Beginnings of Success
I say tomato.
A 5-frame HDR, just because.
There's a lot to be said for walking around the garden in the cool of the evening, remains of a glass of red in hand, surveying the bonfire of one's labours.
RNLI 16-21, the RNLB John Buchannan Barr, Portpatrick.
Crop is more than just a photo-manipulation tool
Portpatrick Harbour
Flag and Anchor on Dorn Rock.
Bamboo is a pyromaniac's dream.
The View Beyond
Pondering the relationship between sacred and secular.
A view from what used to be the sanctuary in St Patrick's Church, across the roof-tops to what used to be the Free Church.
I'd rate that as a strong breeze, then...
Silver Shimmer
Water and rocks
Cygnus olor
Swans being sedate, as usual
Merry Christmas all :)
I was amused at the interplay of a creeper wrapping itself around hawthorn trees - on a quick check, I think it's wild honeysuckle.
Luminance HDR, Reinhard05 operator.
An old, dilapidated warped gate and fencepost.
An attempt to use a pallet as part of a stone wall.
Luminance HDR, Reinhard05 operator. Also, this is an experiment in the so-called "Brenizer method" aka bokeh-panorama, where one takes many photos at longer focal-length and wider aperture in a panorama, to simulate the feel of medium- or large-format film. I'd be more impressed if (a) the chap was some deceased old master(TM) rather than one of my flickr and G+ contacts, and (b) I hadn't independently invented the technique a couple of years ago on blipfoto myself...
More undulating landscape and nice clouds - a hawthorn tree that's already featured, this time from the other side of the wall.
Luminance HDR, Mantiuk06 operator.
Bracken silhouetted sharp against a sea of willow.
Here, have a crab-apple.
Distant rain, Turnberry.
Feeling abstract today.
The Interwebs have gone away again too :(
LuminanceHDR, Reinhard05 operator.
Rusty gateposts against dry stone walls - definitely texture-licious.
Then the wee Clydesdale foal came and poked its nose in.
There's something funny about getting to know a totally new alien species - a quite conscious learning to read the mood as best one can. The extrapolation from Dog to doggie-kind to BIG!-FANGS!-ALERT! is like dipping one's paw into the edge of the diving pool...
"Save your breath, Sid, humans can't talk" - Diego the sabre-tooth tiger, Ice Age.
Towards the top-right, the Pleiades cluster; the big white blob to the left of the Hyades is Jupiter; Orion is rising just above the horizon. The background glow is not city lights, but orange (pre-moonrise) and green auroral activity.
A bit of an arty experiment - layer and texture-blending in the Gimp.
Appreciating clouds is as good a way to spend an afternoon as any...
Juxtaposition: a disused church spire and foreground weeds, Queen's Park, Glasgow
Lensbaby Thursdays (84): Fern in morning light
...are about to get rained-on.
Luminance HDR. Reinhard05 operator.
Look up and appreciate.
Luminance HDR, Reinhard05 operator
Things that catch one's eye: brambles growing around a fencepost catching the morning light.
Luminance HDR 2.3.0, Reinhard05 operator
Arty still life: reflections of submerged grass in silvery black water, Whitefield Loch.
I was well impressed the first time I saw this fellow, the local Charolais bull, lying in the field - he's huuuuuuge, with a chiselled appearance, like the sculptor left most of the stone lump in place...
More of the neighbours.
(The right sheep's face is precisely where a golden-mean logarithmic spiral would fall.)
Wild flowers and grasses blowing about in the breeze, with a jumble of willow branches behind.
A solitary white flower amongst leaves.
It's raining, copiously, so today's landscape has been seen before, albeit not with this pattern of clouds over the top.
Long-exposure coastline: an interplay of water and rock (silurian wacke) as waves passed by; Whithorn Isle, Galloway.
Luminance HDR, Mantiuk06 operator.
A large, turbulent cumulus cloud over the landscape.
Luminance HDR, Mantiuk06 operator
Morning landscape.
Portrait fail is not my fault...
Ailsa Craig from outside Girvan on the A714.
Luminance HDR, Mantiuk06 operator
It's a crazy old world.
More minimalism: a solitary hawthorn berry.
Minimal landscape: trees on a distant hill.
A test of my Vivitar 135mm lens (M42-mount): the same grain silo thing as yesterday.
Funny how hard it is both to gauge the contrast of light at a distance, and to fix lens sharpness-versus-contrast.
Luminance HDR, Reinhard02 operator.
Environmental interaction.
Thick clouds overhanging a stark silhouette of a tree against distant light.
A jumbled tangle of tree branches in the morning light.
7 shots converted in Photivo, blended in enfuse, tonemapped in LuminanceHDR (Reinhard05 operator), processed in darktable and digiKam.
Schroedinger on the A9
Dreams at mph of thought
lie on mud, come to naught
To stop and help? Crowds already abound, pass by
feel like the Pharisee
void of expression
Pillars of strength circled round
guard standing watch
their steeds quiescent on side-stands.
This is life uncossetted, raw
never belittle or abuse the phrase "I'll pray for you".
Soles of boots was the end I saw
Woman kneeling talking to the helmet
The soul between caught 'twixt heaven and hell.
Many clouds, across the Beauly Firth
Detail of a rotten bleached branch.
Job done. Can't keep the grass out any longer. Time to put hinges up and enjoy the sun.
I do like it when the means of separation decay.
Rolling hills.
Æthereal morning light.
Out of frame, Dog relieved himself before breakfast.
Lines in the landscape
Clatteringshaws Loch, Galloway Forest Park.
Luminance HDR 2.3.0, Mantiuk06 operator.
Detail of slow (blackthorn) berries in the hedgerow.
Luminance HDR 2.3.0, Mantiuk06 operator.
One of my favourite themes is mankind-versus-nature, or our imposition on it.
Minimal landscape, with sense of scale.
Ideal weather for moving house in - absolutely lobbing it down incessantly all day for about 6hrs non-stop.
Another large branch on the beach.
A dead tree branch on the beach.
Ben Cruachan from the Inverawe Estate, above the smokery carpark.
One of my favourite old willow trees around the estate - and source of a few blips over the years.
Woodland lines and angles.
Knapweed weeds backlit in the morning sun.
Tonemapped in LuminanceHDR, Mantiuk08 operator.
Detail of a cow-parsley stem.
Loch Oich.
A small leaf floating in a puddle.
LuminanceHDR, Fattal operator
Uninspiring sky today, but the tree looks friendly enough...
Clouds and light. What more does one need?
(No Lensbaby today; with ongoing lack of internet, I'm just not in the mood.)
...is inherently beautiful
Apparently they also have knapweed down here.
The optimum time of sunset seems to have got half an hour earlier in just the past week....
Minimalism strikes again: 3 small knapweed buds.
A tree's a tree. How many more do you need to look at?
Ronald Reagan
I don't think her tree goes all the way to the top branch.
Manny the Mammoth, Ice Age 2
A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.
Saint Basil
An ungrateful man is like a hog under a tree eating acorns, but never looking up to see where they come from.
Timothy Dexter
A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees.
William Blake
Friendship is a sheltering tree.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Reflections in the surface of a pudle.
Luminance HDR, Mantiuk06 operator
Morning Light (2)
Given the amount of red berries on display, there's an awful lot more rowan trees around the estate than I'd counted previously...
Detail of a small flower growing in the roadside verge.
Standing more or less on top of a waste pipe at Ganavan Sands, aka a posh attempt at a housing estate. Rocks, ripples, seaweed and the mountains of Ardnamurchan in the distance.
Pond Apocalypse
Conceptual art: the last remnant of the lilypond
Jaffa-cake on a plate.
Luminance HDR, Mantiuk08 operator (again)
What were the skies like when you were young?
Luminance HDR, Mantiuk'06 operator.
Detail of the underside of a field maple / sycamore leaf.
Texture-blended with a photo of tarmac also taken this morning.
Remaining objects: a collection of wooden posts and metal beams forming a disused decaying jetty at Dores, Loch Ness.
Some kind of geranium, perhaps?
Luminance HDR - Reinhard05 operator
...very wet. Thank you Inverary for producing the most impressive rainstorm of the year, coupled with some impressive rumblings. Maybe next time I won't be stuck in the forest at the time?
They're gradually turning redder by the day...
Broom seedpods in the morning light.
Must be a rainy day then.
I don't think I've ever seen cloud-turbulence on this kind of scale before.
Luminance HDR, Reinhard02 operator
Detail of a foxglove
Ferns, silver birch and sunlight.
Obligatory cliche: Urquhart Castle, from a layby on the A82 north of Drumnadrochit.
Closeup of a misplaced flower.
Tonemapped in Luminance HDR 2.3.0: Drago, bias: 0.94.
Detail of new berries on a rowan tree
Detail of a discarded plastic bottle on the roadside verge
The wet stuff returns.
Detail of a partially grass stem partially submerged in a small burn.
Cow standing in a field
Marsh grass in the shallows of Lochan Urr, a cloudy sky reflecting gold and silver off the water; Glen Etive.
The last remaining flower bell on a foxglove plant, wondering where its friends have gone.
Soft and hazy.
I've had my eye on this tree for a while, occasionally seeing if I can pull out the best of the wavy branch lines against the sea of leaves. Being a lousy rainy day, today seems as good a day as any to show it off.
Detail of meadow-soft grass
The same honeysuckle frond as a few days ago, still as elegant a creeper as before.
Long exposure: water, rocks and sky patterns at Ganavan Sands.
More welding glass.
A rock on the shore of Loch Ness at Dores.
A view down Loch Ness from the beach at Dores.
A triptych, montage of scenes taken with the Lensbaby Composer
1) airy-fairy grass
2) trees and plasma contrasty sky
3) fencepost and ferns
Remaining leaves on a chopped willow branch.
Crouching worm, hidden ribbet.
I found a toad making a living in the compost bin. At least he seems content with life, especially since he was given a bag of frozen drowned midges as reward for posing for me.
Big Pine
Tall hazy grass
I'm still quite glad this fence is falling apart, gradually disappearing in the bracken.
Down among the birches...
Closeup of a misplaced flower.
Detail of lichen-covered birch bark falling off a branch.
Late in June and there's still snow on Sgurr na Lapaich.
Somehow, despite being battered by the Forestry Commission, the soul of the place lives on.
Out of scene to my right are two of my favourite trees anywhere, tall gnarly old Scots Pines.
It's that time of year again. If in doubt, stick a Lensbaby into an oak tree and see what comes out.
Summer mornings: birch trees swaying in the breeze, beneath a sky of (alto-)cumulus clouds.
Detail of a small wayside flower (Scabious?)
Old Industries: a decrepit old pier at Bonawe - lines of concrete leading into the landscape around Taynuilt beyond.
A pattern of colourful rhododendron leaves.
This was an experiment - I dug out my old Centon 500mm lens and a couple of adapters, Canon AF -> Canon EF -> micro4/3rds, giving the equivalent of 1000mm at f/8. Optical quality is not the greatest, although that's more due to the window in the way ...
More astute viewers will recognize the two silver birches in the far top-left. I'm glad I managed to take a photo of that foxglove when I did...
A flower, smashed: http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/417163/a-flower-smashed-alternate-version
Milky-hazy distant clouds, framed by field maple tree foliage.
An HDR panorama made with the Lensbaby Composer.
There's something authoritative about the large trunks and branches of a beech tree.
Closeup of two pine-cones on a wooden table.
Flowers, grass and morning sunlight.
Vertical things: a fairly well developed foxglove with birch trees in the background.
I've been trying to nail this scene for a couple of weeks - getting the right balance of DoF, lighting, black&white conversion, etc. This'll have to do.
...is cute and fuzzy.
There used to be a tree here
It stood both proud and tall
Now there are no branches any more
They used to dig for nuts here
They used to scrape and crawl
Now no home to squirrels any more
Chainsaws, hacksaws, fuel for the fire
Chainsaws, hacksaws, fuel for the fire
We'll never see the like again
No more / blackbirds
It's gone the way of all good things.
Sunday morning
Walk dog
again, Crack
rending asunder
the rest, after a sudden thud, was silence
Maybe not quite up to Weston's standards, but it'll have to do for a rainy day...
Detail of one of a cluster of many cairns beside the A87, looking across Loch Loyne to the mountains around Glen Quoich beyond.
Detail of a fuzzy dandelion head amongst blades of grass.
A young foxglove shoot.
every day, one day at a time...
Detail of a fly's wing hiding behind a grass seed-head.
The wild honeysuckle seems to be thriving at the moment.
It's like watching paint dry except somewhat more productive (from the grass's point of view).
Dramatic crepuscular rays on Strathearn mountains, from near the Crieff Hydro.
Stuff: the remains of bluebells amongst deep grass and cow-parsley.
An interplay of sunlight on birch trees, Inverawe.
Specifically, Hamilton services, south of Glasgow.
hired van upside-down
police, fire, ambulance
A new discovery: Fairies' Chapel in Healey Dell.
Detail of a decaying beech tree leaf fallen on park railings.
I took a bit of a detour around some country lanes in Dumfries & Galloway - flat, but affording an excellent view of the turbulent contrasty clouds.
When in Glencoe... shoot clouds over bits of Am Bodach.
These seem to be popping up around the place this past week or two.
The Lensbaby caught what it feels like before the coffee kicks in...
Detail of a chopped field-maple/sycamore branch lying around, becoming lost in the surrounding fern bracken and bluebells.
A rather spooky form - closeup of lichen growing on an old willow tree.
My favourite old willow tree enjoying the morning light.
Bluebells in full spring bloom.
The layering Yew tree at Broich near Kippen
There's forestry, and there's woodland. The latter looks particularly nice in the sun.
Detail of a young bracken/fern frond catching the early morning sunlight
One of many bluebells in the grass.
Small trees basking in the morning sun, by the roadside
Sunny Morning
Wispy white cloud in a pure blue sky.
Trees wafting in the breeze.
Dog by one's side.
Cloud appreciation
Undisturbed symmetry.
Water flowing around a submerged rock
Small globules of raindrops on a honeysuckle leaf, like other worlds in space.
Detail of water flowing around rocks in a small burn.
Early morning light: tree shadows in the grass
Detail of fallen beech leaves submerged in a puddle.
When life gives you wind and rain storms, take a photo of fallen beech leaves submerged in a puddle.
Optimum Spring
Rather a lot of green leaves blowing around in the breeze.
To be contrasted with Optimum Autumn a while ago.
An old wreck of a boat at Ardfern.
The Forestry Commission are no friends of mine.
At least there's snow on the top of Cruachan again, though - even in the middle of May.
Nature's at it again.
Detail of three blades of grass grown up through a rotting beech leaf.
Detail of an ash tree twig, buds erupting into leaf
Water flowing around pebbles in a small burn. A texure-blend with trees in the background.
Detail of fuzzy willow catkins
Water lillies in the lily pond, Inverawe
Taken on a street in Inverness.
Detail of a fuzzy danelion head in the sunlight.
They're finally beginning to emerge: a closeup of a bluebell flower in the sun.
A triptych of a very fuzzy dandelion head and a random array of grass stems glowing in the morning light.
More chromosomes than me
Treated as a vegetable in Japan and Korea
Meet the humble bracken http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bracken
'twas a cold and windy morning
An interesting gnarled tree trunk fallen by the road on the way to Portsonachan.
Taken in honour of Worldwide Pinhole Day http://www.blipfoto.com/blog/2012/04/26/pinhole-photography-the-honest-art-of-photography
Just to show there's no such thing as the wrong time to take landscape photos: Fluffy clouds in a pure blue sky above Ben Cruachan, from the road through Taynuilt.
Shot around 1pm, bright sunny day, through the car windscreen using a Canon G9 baby-camera.
An experimental texture-blending: in the foreground, a beech tree twig; the background was a mess of light and young leaves, taken and superimposed on itself rotated 90 degrees around, twice.
Dog found a stick to be friends with.
Sunlight on water; rocks off the shores at Rhu, looking toward Rum and Eigg
Detail of a very small spider lurking between two blades of grass.
Abstract minimalism: two blades of grass, one curve, one straight line.
Low sunlight: patterns of trees and shadows in grass.
There's still a bit of snow on top of Ben Cruachan.
I'm not entirely sure what kind of tree this is, but it's pretty, with nice creamy bokeh behind...
Not necessarily the wisest evolutionary decision, a young fern frond tries to grow in thin moss on a dry stone wall.
Every silver lining has its cloud
An overnight raindrop against oodles of flowery bokeh.
An overnight raindrop against oodles of flowery bokeh.
Spring growth on a thorny bramble stem.
Detail of a rather spiky hawthorn stem
Light and willow catkins
Pure bokeh
Lensbaby Thursdays (62): Abstract Bokeh
Just light and trees
Detail of backlit young buds
Milky bokeh: plant stems reaching up, seeking to optimise exposure to light.
White clouds floating around Ben Nevis
Fence and a handful of trees, Strathnairn
Detail of raindrops on blades of grass
Closeup of blades of grass poking through icy water
Seasons change with the scenery / Weaving time like a tapestry
Transitions: closeup detail of grass submerged under icy water.
A tall birch tree catching the morning sunlight
Detail of a maple bud ready to blossom.
Closeup of a tulip bud.
I wonder what industries flourished from this pile of stakes.
A ruined jetty on the shores of Loch Ness at Dores.
They say having odd numbers of things in a photo is better than even; this is no exception.
Abstract, based on freshly budding young tree stalks.
There's something incredibly appealing about the sight of a wet and glossy sheet of black+white film hanging up to dry. This isn't anything of the sort, but it does prompt me to try presenting the negative image as primary.
Detail of a moss-covered dry stone wall, inverted to show the abstract shapes.
Closeup detail of willow tree buds erupting.
Contrasty light on a dry stone wall.
Detail of water flowing over a rock in a small burn.
Timelessness: the favoured view strikes again.
Litter: a dictionary amongst the trees
Nature's violence: it's there if you see it.
Detail of a fallen beech leaf punctured by a blade of grass.
Fuzzy grass and moss growing on a dry stone wall.
Detail of raindrops on a tulip leaf.
Carn na Dreamaig, across Loch Tarff.
The first fuzzy goat-willow tree catkins I've noticed this spring.
Last oak leaf
The same as it was a year ago...
Detail of buds on a spiky (hawthorn?) tree.
A favourite old willow and a birch tree, at rakish angles.
A view from near Pole Moor, overlooking Scammonden Water
Another garden.
Pure light.
Hardraw Force waterfall, North Yorkshire Dales
Closeup of a hazel bud.
A rippling wake of water flowing over pebbles in a small burn.
Contrasty clouds and precipitation over distant mountains.
Wisps of cirrus cloud
A solitary dried-out knapweed flower-head.
Closeup of a frog/toad on the forest floor.
Ling heather.
Abstract simplicity: three blades of grass in a sea of bokeh.
Primordial landscape: rocky coastline along the road to Mallaig.
Kessock Bridge, Inverness, from Allturlie.
Detail of silver birch catkins (male).
A small burn flowing in Glen Nant.
Detail of a seed-pod blowing in the wind
Closeup of a honeysuckle bud starting to flower.
A disused rope-swing hanging from a tree.
Loch Tarff, above Fort Augustus.
Closeup of raindrops on blades of grass.
Remnants of last year's leaves on a birch tree twig
Burghead from Hopeman.
Closeup of buds on an Oak tree twig.
Detail of a very spiky bramble stem
Detail of stalks of grass in a pure rainwater pool by the roadside.
Honeysuckle optimism
Distant mountains from the Suidhe viewpoint on the B862.
An Teallach, from Little Loch Broom.
Birch tree twig filigree silhouetted against the sky.
A layering beech tree in the grounds of Kilravock Castle, Inverness.
A knot in a wooden fence.
Closeup silhouette of a beech tree frond and bud.
Detail of a frozen leaf and twig.
A young deer watching in the woods.
Abstract patterns
Part of the Falls of Avich, Dalavich.
A small pebble on ice
Grass poking through, and submerged under, a layer of ice on the pond.
Reflections of trees in the fish pond, Inverawe.
A view across the pond, Inverawe, looking to Ben Cruachan beyond.
Simple cloud-appreciation.
A fallen fence on the shores of Loch Tarff.
A view across the mouth of the river Ness at South Kessock.
Pine and birch tree twig-filligree silhouetted against the sky.
Closeup of a discarded plastic water bottle on grass by the roadside.
A very abstract closeup of a conker.
Motion-panned birch trees turned into an abstract flowing pattern like brushed chrome.
A goat willow (Salix caprea) tree, old and characterful
The Buachaille Etive Mor from the River Coupall.
A small collection of coffee beans (focus-stacked).
The first snowdrops of spring, in the garden.
High-key rendering of a (rose?) bud, taken with the Lensbaby Composer.
Closeup of a wrinkled goat-willow (Salix caprea) leaf and twig in bright sunlight flare.
A gentle breeze stirring in the trees.
It's in the eyes.
Receding layers of mountains: a view from above Loch Tarff toward Ben Tee.
Long exposure, Cullen.
Frost crystals on grass with lashings of bokeh.
Dead cow-parsley stems.
A dead cow-parsley stem by the roadside.
Closeup of a dead plant stem.
Paper had fallen, paper on paper
He ain't heavy.
Loch Etive from Aird's Bay near Taynuilt, looking towards Bonawe quarry.
The opposite of bifurcation: http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/759493
Nature happened.
Water flowing around a rock in a small burn.
When it's not been blowing a gale or sleeting, it's been raining.
Wind-blown spray (spindrift?) on Loch Restil, at the top of the Rest and Be Thankful. It was quite hard standing in the breeze to take this photo.
Winter minimalism: two clumps of grass surrounded by snow on ice.
Three distant trees silhouetted against the sky, blowing in the wind.
*blink* Anyone see where 2011 went to?
After this, there is void... emptiness... oblivion... absolute nothing. Except, of course, for the sweet trolley and our fine selection of Aldebaran liqueurs - Max Quordlepleen, Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
A long exposure of car red light trails at night.
Detail of a kapputt bramble stem.
Detail of globules of sap on a goat willow tree (Salix caprea)
Water lapping around rocks (mostly slate) at Easdale.
Two bits of keyring, on paper.
We thought Dog had better only play with the box, not the contents of the bottle therein.
Have a very merry Christmas :)
Oban in the mist, from Pulpit Hill
Closeup of a small red (willow?) bud.
A silver birch tree, stark against the sky; with paper texture background.
Two blades of grass on paper.
Minimalist purity: a thorny bramble stem on paper.
Well, by the weather it's no longer autumn, anyway. All the slush and ice seems to be melting / rained away.
Transpires the shiny car drives *much* better for having a couple of bags of rock-salt across the back axle.
It's dreich and I've got a headache.
Sunlight, snow and trees: a perfect winter wonderland.
Long exposure of a waterfall in the Fairy Glen by Rosemarkie.
Moon over minimal landscape.
"I am not eating any sprouts."
Nature does baubles of its own, on a larch tree.
Minimalism: detail of buds on the end of a twig.
Hazy view of a burn running through a stand of birch trees
Closeup detail of a small tree bud against a sea of bokeh.
Symmetrical reflections in Loch Awe
An attempt at wildlife: a red squirrel chomping on a peanut in the snow.
A view of forestry landscape up beyond the Inverawe estate.
Today's photo is proably crap, but I wasn't going to take the camera out to record the wind. Give it another day and it'll be May all over again around here.
However, you do get a video of it, too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBRcG16qESU
Snowy hills: A view from Inverawe looking west
I love snow-covered tree branches, and this old willow is one of my favourites on the estate.
Closeup of an old oak leaf with snow falling in the background.
A light covering of snow in the forest
A waterfall flowing in the woods near Dubh Loch, Inverary
Water flowing in a small burn.
The Forestry Commission are still clear-felling the hillside to the left of this scene, driving their lumbering logging-lorries along the road at dawdling pace (refusing to give way to those who would like to pass), going beyond the edge of the road kicking-up this muddy mess that used to be a pile of grit left in readiness for the winter.
This past January I slipped on the ice and came round to find the dogs staring down their noses at me.
Think about this, the next time you buy cheap spruce/pine furniture from Ikea.
Detail of small buds on a twig.
I'm still trying to work out what kind of tree this might be: a few days ago these buds were bright yellow/green in colour, but are now turning red. The tree's main trunk has long since fallen over, but there's a strong young branch growing from the remains - a peculiar gunmetal grey ultra-blotchy affair.
Top contenders are still willow or maybe alder, depending...
A tabletop study of three conkers.
This tree's young buds are a particularly vibrant shade of yellow/green, running along alternate sides of its twigs; I'm not sure what kind it might be, although I'm guessing some kind of willow or alder. Maybe...
A small road leading its way into the distance.
Tarbat Ness, near Portmahomack.
Closeup of a spray of dead plant heads
Dilapidated fence falling apart amongst ferns
A small wave in rainwater flowing in a culvert.
Abstract patterns, strong lines of shadow and sunlight on grass
Detail of a rake left lying in a golfing bunker.
Symmetrical patterns around a sundial.
So today is my 500th consecutive blip, then. Clouds, hillsides, and the dog ran off.
I'm away for a few days as it coincides with other fun celebrations.
I support Trees for Life.
It's raining again.
Detail of water flowing round a small stone in a culvert.
Detail of leaves in a puddle.
Detail of water flowing over pebbles and fallen leaves in a small burn.
A 3d anaglyph of a characterful old tree amongst birches.
A characterful old Ash tree
Always use a lens-hood
A very long exposure (20s): fallen twigs and small branches in the shallows of Loch Garten.
Detail of a leaf fallen on grass.
Detail of fallen tree branches by the roadside.
Yup... this beech branch was knocked off (a few weeks ago) by a passing logging lorry. Irony wins. At least it'll biodegrade unlike other litter around here.
A goat willow tree by the roadside, bare in autumn.
Three weeks from now, I will be harvesting my crops. Imagine where you will be, and it will be so. Hold the line! Stay with me! If you find yourself alone, riding in the green fields with the sun on your face, do not be troubled. For you are in Elysium, and you're already dead!
Funny that a Roman soldier/Gladiator should use a Greek term for the afterlife. Still.
Some nice grass wafting around in the early morning non-light.
I took the dog out for a longer walk this morning, up through Inverawe to the view over Loch Etive. This scene of mist and trees and bog struck me as appealing on the way back.
Lichen growing on a twig; a sign of clean air.
A collection of tree branches and moss-covered stones lying on a bed of fallen autumn beech leaves.
Clouds passing overhead, above the trees.
Detail of a young ash tree sapling bud.
Detail of grass blowing around in the wind.
Early morning skies
A Harvest display at church.
The trees seem to be at their peak of colourfulness around here at the moment.
A spider and web on a young Ash sapling.
Flower and berry detail
Autumn beech tree: this year's old leaves contrasting with buds for new growth
A birch tree, starkly losing its leaves in autumn, part-silhouetted against a light grey sky.
Fallen spruce trees at the edge of clear-felled forest, Inverawe
Fishtail rays of sunlight streaming through clouds, Strathnairn.
Sad sight: a concrete path right through a tree's roots; part of the desecration of Glen Affric.
Detail of leaves submerged in a puddle, one floating on top.
A closeup view of two beech leaves in autumn.
A triptych of a birch, an oak and a rowan tree.
First snow of the winter on Ben Cruachan
Willow tree branches silhouetted against the sky.
Another of my favourite views: staring across the pond in Inverawe, on a (very) rainy autumn day.
(15 images stacked, for fun)
A stand of willow trees growing in a bog, fairly heavily manipulated.
Abstract minimalism: a frond of leaves (rowan or ash?) silhouetted against a cold grey sky.
Detail of three remaining leaves clinging to a thin stem.
A red squirrel clinging to a beech tree.
Substitute Leaf
Detail of water flowing around a submerged rock.
A long exposure at Dores beach, Loch Ness
Detail of a Shaggy Inkcap mushroom aka Coprinus comatus: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaggy_inkcap
Detail of a discarded can thrown amongst the moss.
Detail of a few fallen maple leaves submerged in a puddle.
Detail of a partially metamorphosed rock I found by the road, Inverawe.
Detail of lichen growing on a falling fencepost, Inverawe.
Detail of a solitary honeysuckle leaf against a blurry bokeh background.
Detail of old hole-filled leaves silhouetted against a rushing waterfall.
Old Red Sandstone, off the Arran coast between Corrie and Brodick.
There are barely 300 Arran Whitebeams (Sorbus arranensis, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arran_Whitebeam) on the planet, all in the UK, all on Arran, all within a few miles of this place.
This is the steep valley of Gleann Diomhan, off Glen Catacol, a National Nature Reserve - and don't I know it: after hiking for two miles, fording the river and slipping around on more-bog-than-heather to find the one gate in the big fence they've put all around it, I was not about to fall 50ft down into the gorge to check on the leaves myself. I'll leave whether I've achieved getting any actual whitebeams in this shot as a matter for debate, but this location of clinging to rock for survival is exactly the right habitat.
This is barely the top third of the Eas a' Chrannaig, aka Glenashdale Falls.
Hutton's Unconformity, North Newton, Arran
First full day on Arran: I climbed Goat Fell.
Even the seagull wondered why they parked this checkpoint in the *middle* of lane 5 for folks to have to drive around.
Detail of a tiny fragment of broken dangling cow-parsley stem.
Abstract patterns, submerged pebbles.
Detail of a snapped birch tree-trunk in the woods.
A pebble of banded blue Lewisian Gneiss.
Abstract patterns: a study of fine tiny details, the shapes water makes flowing over and around pebbles in a small culvert.
A closeup of two birch catkins dangling from a fallen tree, with lashings of copious bokeh in the background.
A fantastic double rainbow over Loch Laggan.
Badachro reminded me of Plockton, only without all the pretentious blazer-wearing sailing types.
Detail of a willow stalk with leaves drying out.
A test of my new Pentax Sirius 28mm f/2.8 M42-fit lens.
Sometimes, you just have to go where the light is. Time for some more Scabious.
Detail of leaves on a very small tree sapling.
Lumix GH2, Minolta Rokkor 55mm f/1.8 wide open, various tricks to stack and platinum-tone to taste.
Dried birch leaves and catkins dangling from a fallen branch.
One of my favourite trees on the estate - all trunk and branches making strong angles.
Detail of a ruined long-house at the township museum of Auchindrain, with reflections of a corrugated iron roof and window behind.
A view of Oban from up Pulpit Hill - the ferry terminal to the right, leading across the bay to the town centre, restaurants (yummy fish!), and McCaig's tower up the opposite hill.
A clump of grass growing on the moss-covered stone wall, covered in shiny specular water droplets, rain falling in the background.
Abstract forms: a pussy/goat-willow tree's lichen-covered falling branches making contorted shapes.
I'm not quite sure what's happened during this tree's growth to make it adopt quite such a strange shape, but it's welcome anyway. :)
It's one of those days in the forest - wind blowing a fair gale, rain coming down sideways. Walkies was a spooky experience with trees whooshing, phantom engine-roarings and reversing beeps carrying on the breeze from the main road a mile away...
Photo-club committee meeting this evening, in advance of the new season starting in October.
Non-centred composition: check.
Use lens hood to prevent flare: check.
Strong leading lines into the distance: check.
Focus a third of the way into the shot, that's hyperfocussing, which gets you everything in sharp: check.
Use symmetry: check.
Choose your viewpoint: check.
Use diagonals: check.
Span the histogram: check.
Clear single subject: check.
No highlights, shadows or contrasty bits on the edges: check.
Find a natural frame for it: check.
Aye right.
Please don't wake me, /
No, don't shake me /
Leave me where I am /
I'm only sleeping...
I wasn't the only person to have stopped in a layby to admire the cloud formations today...
There is hope for the world yet.
Closeup of a small Fly agaric toadstool in the road-side verge.
School of Ecognomics
As simple and abstract as it comes: a fork in the stem of a (cow-parsley?) weed.
There's a larger world beyond.
A closeup of blinds and knotted string, taken on the Lensbaby Composer.
Closeup of a scabious flower-head.
Taken using a Minolta Rokkor 55mm f/2.8 (around f/4) with 2x teleconverter as an experiment.
Early morning, before coffee... the best time to experiment with a new Soligor (minolta fit) lens. I don't rate the image-quality very highly at the best of times...
One of my favourite flowers - nature's gorgeous saturated greens and purples are just beginning to appear around the estate.
A new experiment: a 3d anaglyph (red/cyan) made in photoshop.
The foreground tree on the right is one of my favourite willows.
A simple blade of grass curving away whence it grew.
A smooth white cloud flowing up from the Argyll forests over the peak of Ben Donich, near the Rest And Be Thankful.
The snake-bark maple tree hasn't done too well this year; leaves have been few and far between, although such as there are are turning most amazing shades of orange and green.
Today is a nice day.
A classic landscape scene: the waterfalls in West Burton.
Widescreen 16:9 aspect-ratio, 6 frames (2 * 3-shot HDR) of several seconds' exposure each using ND8 filter, black-and-white toning in DxO.
Early morning haziness: grass seeds and a young scabious flower head.
I'm not sure if this is a knapweed or a scabious yet to bloom.
Abstract detail of a pattern of fallen broken twigs and seed-cones around the foot of a Scots Pine tree.
Every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver. ~Martin Luther
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~Minnie Aumonier
One of these trees is Dughall Mor, which used to be the tallest tree in Britain up until 2009..
Ambition and love wearing boxing gloves
And singing hearts and flowers
First photo made using my "new" Minolta Rokkor 55mm f/1.7 lens.
Moody, moody, moody.
I quite often pass this patch of birch trees backlit by the sun rising over Ben Cruachan.
There's 10 types of people who'd appreciate this knapweed...
This is the same twig as in my photograph from yesterday, except that I couldn't find it at first: it's no longer hovering above the road and verge, but some blighter's bent and snapped the whole branch wedging it into the rest of the tree.
At least the squiggles only take what they need.
Abstract angles: detail of a rotting twig dangling by the roadside.
The same view as yesterday, but processed with various arty filters in Photoshop for different feeling.
Detail of dying rust-coloured beech leaves dangling from a fallen tree.
If in doubt, grab a nice prime lens and shove it in a spray of oak leaves.
Two images processed using RawTherapee (first experiment), stacked and aligned in Photoshop, retoned in ACR.
Water flowing over submerged pebbles in a small culvert.
(Three images merged using PS's HDR algorithm.)
Closeup detail of 3 knapweed flower-heads in a square composition
A stained-glass window at St Andrew's Cathedral, Inverness.
Congregation: from Latin congregātiō, from congregare "to herd together", itself from com- "together" + gregare "to collect into a flock, gather" (from grex "a flock, herd").
(Two images stacked and aligned in PS to reduce noise; perspective fix and selective toning for fun.)
Well it's too late
To drag the past out into the light
We're one, but we're not the same
We get to carry each other
Carry each other
- U2, `One'
Look closer. Care more.
Seasons change with the scenery
Weaving time in a tapestry.
Won't you stop and remember me?


text:
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Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Halloween Hop
23 comments:
Cute lunch and the pumpkin chocolate chip muffin looks delicious!ReplyDelete
Super cute and fun! :)ReplyDelete
So cute, love it. :)ReplyDelete
The sprinkles are a great touch, I should try thatReplyDelete
Love it, it is so cute Bobbi!:)ReplyDelete
I love that you put sprinkles on the kiwi! Totally stealing that idea :)ReplyDelete
Love the ghost on the muffin!ReplyDelete
I love your ghost ring cupcake topper! Super cute! :)ReplyDelete
Super cute lunch!ReplyDelete
Yum :) simple, healthy, and delicious! Love.ReplyDelete
What a cute lunch!ReplyDelete
Great use of color!ReplyDelete
Oooh, never thought of putting choco chips in the pumpkin muffins, yummo!ReplyDelete
Super cute!! I love that ghost!ReplyDelete
Love it! So simple and sweet! I'm sure it was a hit with the kids!ReplyDelete
That cat looks so fluffy and yummy! ;DReplyDelete
The muffin sounds delicious! What a fun lunch!ReplyDelete
Cute lunch! And so healthy too! The colors are just awesome. :)ReplyDelete
Cute and healthy! Love it!ReplyDelete
healthy and fun. That's a great comboReplyDelete


text:
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text:
By Mr. Rick Scavetta (IMCOM)January 27, 2010
Col. Scott Gordon is the commander of U.S. Army Medical Research Unit-Kenya. He sat down recently with Rick Scavetta of U.S. Army Africa to discuss malaria vaccine research in western Kenya.
How do people get malaria'
Malaria is a parasitic disease that occurs one to two weeks following the bite of infected female anopheles mosquitos, which often strike at night. Of the four types of malaria, falciparum is the worst-the one that kills people. Roughly 30 percent of anopheles mosquitoes carry malaria. As the mosquito feeds, malaria parasites are injected into the bloodstream. They migrate to the liver, multiply, then invade red bloods cells. What follows is a cycle of severe fevers. Kids are more vulnerable. They haven't had the disease before and haven't developed any immunity to it.
What is USAMRU-K doing in Kisumu in the fight against malaria'
At this time, our major focus in Kisumu is malaria vaccine research, work that has been in progress for more than 20 years with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research being a major partner. In August 2009, USAMRU-K began research in Kisumu for the "RTS,S" vaccine in a study known to researchers as MAL-55.
How do vaccine trials develop to the point where they are available to the public'
Research often begins with "phase one" studies, which are small safety trials, where just a couple dozen participants take part. Phase two research expands the safety aspect to a larger group-maybe 100 or so-but begins to test the vaccine's efficacy. Phase three research, such as the MAL-55 study underway, looks directly at a drug's effectiveness in a certain population. It's the final step in research before publicly offering the vaccine. This is the first malaria vaccine to reach phase three. But this is a three-year study, so we may still be four to five years out from having a vaccine on the market.
What happens during the MAL-55 study'
The study takes place at 11 sites in seven African countries. In all, 16,000 children will be enrolled-10 percent will be at USAMRU-K's Kisumu site. By November 2009, the Kisumu site had enrolled more than half of the 1,600 participants expected. Two-thirds of the children taking part receive the RTS,S vaccine for three consecutive months. The other third gets a placebo-actually a rabies or meningitis vaccine, depending on the child's age. After 15 months, those who got the vaccine get a booster. One of the benefits to the children is that we provide health care during the three years-free health care for three years is a great benefit.
Why is vaccine research important'
Our mission is to pursue clinical trials of emerging infectious disease studies, research and develop vaccines and also use WRAIR's scientific mandate and resources to improve the capacity and capabilities of the local Kenyan health care system. The information we collect protects Soldiers and is also a key mission within U.S. Army Africa's partnership strategy for the continent.