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Obviously I need to get myself a 400mm lens…..a lot of subjects are just
too far away for the 70-200mm. Anyway, as you may see, I’ve had a wee play
with the brush tool on Lightroom 2, adding some colour where it didn’t exist
in reality. I’m old fashioned enough still to feel I’m cheating!
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Yeah, I’ve posted a similar inverted reflection shot of this summer cottage
before, but it was taken in the summer…….this was in October, as you see
from the intense colours.
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Took this shot of Anna (www.annaguthrie.wordpress.com) for her latest
Spotlight photograph. The light wasn’t very good, and I wasn’t quite in the
mood, but she thinks it’s OK.
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Shot in Småland, Sweden on 20th September with my 130g. Canon 50mm f/1.8
cheap as chips lens on the 5D. The image is a bit soft, but I like it
because there’s a lot of stuff happening. The old farmer on the left was
looking directly into the camera, and look at the guy in the top left corner
gazing intently at the man in the leather jacket seated at the table, who
was distributing customer numbers for the auction.
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Last week, and the week before, the elk hunt was in progress. Really,
shooting an elk seems to me as challenging as shooting a horse, with no
danger whatsoever to the hunter. Such beautiful, gentle creatures - unless
you hit one in the dark with your car, in which they can definitely kill
you, as its long legs means that the very heavy body comes through your
windscreen.Anyway, here’s a painting that we bought at a farm auction in
Småland in the south of Sweden for about £3.00………..I would just LOVE
to have taken a photo of it in similar dawn light!
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Down beyond an abandoned farmstead is a a tiny lake. Someone had built a
little ‘bus shelter’ fishing hut. I sat there for a while, dreaming of
seeing an elk (moose) coming to drink. Of course it didn’t, but this shot
perhaps let you feel the tranquillity of the location.
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On Thursday the snow arrived, but here’s a shot taken 4 weeks earlier. The
autumn colours were so intense and beautiful. Dubblebo is an old summer
pasture - just 2 houses - and over the last few years a nice woman has been
keeping her cows there over the summer months. The last time we met her, she
was about to leave because her cows were ‘getting spooked by the bears’, and
so was was she!
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Bengt-Erik is an artist with a chainsaw, and of course, he shuns the need
for any protective gear, as he has been doing it since he was 16. Here he is
cutting a channel to take a sub frame for the front door.
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My last wood texture shot for a while. The securing of the hasp with a twig
sweetly symbolised the trust of country folk in those around them. And then
last Friday night, when we’d gone to visit friends in Uppsala, our barn was
broken into, and a ride-on mower and other valuable stuff was stolen. The
first theft in the village for over 50 years. I felt a mixture of anger and
sadness. Somehow it has spoiled the innocence of the place.
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Used the ‘Aged Photo’ preset on Lightroom for this - quite like the result.
And isn’t it a nice and simple way to build a fence?
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This old village of timber houses and barns dates, in parts, from the 17th
century. It’s called Norrboda, and it’s north of Rättvik, in the middle part
of Sweden. The wood textures are very beautiful.
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Where have I been? I’ve just swopped working on a Scottish roof for a
Swedish one…..and really hard going it is too, when you start at 7.30am,
and it’s minus 3 degrees!
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Tired dogs. The one on the right looked quite scary…..like the wolf in
Little Red Riding Hood
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Last night we looked at Joanna Lumley’s enjoyable programme about the
Northern Lights. When I saw her crossing the Arctic Circle on a dog sled,
it reminded me that we had taken a thrilling trip on a dog sled in Sweden a
few years ago. Not great quality, as shot on jpeg ( I didn’t know then than
the RAW setting was so much better) with my old Pentax istD. However,
perhaps it captures the atmosphere…..and how beautiful the dogs were!
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Mistakenly taken at ISO 1600 with the 5D, but even so, I’m glad we stopped
because the light was special, the heather was in bloom, and I liked the
meandering river, the curve of the little road, and the distant hills
shrouded in mist.
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Isn’t this beautiful? And think of all the creative work that got produced
in a hut or garden shed!
I seem to remember that in his ‘Outline of European Architecture’ ,
Pevsner said, ‘ ..a cathedral is architecture, a shed is merely a
building.’ Well, I disagree, I think this elegant shed certainly
qualifies as ‘architecture’.
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Down near the mouth of Aberdeen, there is a charming area of terraced granite
houses, called Footdee. Although I had gone there many times as a student,
I’d never noticed these lovingly decorated huts. I spoke to nice old guy and
his wife, and he put it this way, ‘ she’s got her kitchen, and I’ve got my
hut!’ Then they both laughed and walked away.
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Anette was working in the garden yesterday afternoon…..I was up the
scaffolding renewing a section of fascia. She came up to me and said, there
are loads of ducks in the Smith’s garden, why don’t you get your camera?
So I did. This is the shot I like the best…maybe because it has rather the
feel of a painting?
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Hadn’t seen him for decades, and amazingly I knew him at once. A good
feeling.
Canon 5D 1/50sec at f/4, ISO400
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At the weekend we were invited to a ‘reunion party’ in Aberdeen, where
decades ago I went to the School of Architecture. How amazingly pleasant to
meet people, both contemporary architecture and art school students, from so
long ago! Chuck Berry, blues, pretty lights and crates of beer and wines in
the garage, and suddenly 9 hours had gone by!
This shot was taken when we went for a walk along the beach on Sunday
morning….
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This is my first attempt at using Peter’s Nikon Coolscan V ED to scan some
Leica M2 shots I took at Anna’s play ( I mean Charles Nowosielski’s, or even
George Bernard Shaw’s play) on it’s opening night. The results look pretty
rubbish so far, but as the negs look good, I’m tempted to haul my ancient
Leitz Focomat 1C enlarger out the cupboard. Anyway, I’ve 2 more Tri-X films
to develop ( and what a fiddle to load the developing tank in the darkness),
so perhaps things will improve. It’s a bit of a hassle, but definitely fun!
And perhaps most important of all, I’ve got some images, thanks to the
whisper quiet shutter of the Leica, that would have been impossible to take
in such a setting with the clattering noise of an SLR. And by the way, the
play was really magnificent! So emotional! Sunday 24th is the last open
air performance at Duddingston Old Kirk, but then it will be on Friday 29th
and Saturday 30th August at the Brunton Theatre in Musselburgh, just outside
Edinburgh.
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Not had time to pick up a camera much over the last few weeks. So feeling
rather deprived. However, here’s a quickly grabbed shot of our neighbour’s
garden. Pity the dramatic light hadn’t illuminated something more special.
As you’ll see, I’m still going through a black and white phase.
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Anna’s had her hair cut short for her role of St Joan in Theatre Alba’s
production, directed by Charles Nowosielski, currently performing outdoors
at Duddingston Old Kirk gardens, Edinburgh.
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Yes, at last they’ve recognised Marcus’s contribution to the world and put
up a statue to him!
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This is a beautiful walled garden just outside Gatehouse of Fleet, Dumfries
& Galloway. Unfortunately the light was harsh, early afternoon sunshine, so
I looked for softer light.
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This is the old guy himself, standing next to what will be the front door of
our log cabin. It’s being built by Timmerman (timberman as opposed to
carpenter/joiner), Bengt-Erik Danielsson in a little hamlet above Bjursås,
in central Sweden. He’s building it in his yard, then he numbers all the
individual logs, takes it apart and re-assemblies it on site. Most of the
work is done by hand, using a chainsaw, sledgehammer (to drive in the
vertical dowel pegs between logs at windows and door openings), circular saw
etc. Then he will strart putting it together on site at Fjällgrycksbo in
October + provided there isn’t too much early snow!
Photo: Andrew Guthrie.
The next post shows a render by our other son, Peter Guthrie (
www.peterguthrie.net) of how the finished cabin might look on site.
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That’s what this grumpy little pony seemed to be saying through his body
language! Now, if I’d bought a Rolleiflex TLR, this is the sort of subject
I’d be trying first. So in the meantime, I’m faking it with the 5D.
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Found a very inspiring book of black and white photos by Jane Bowen entitled
‘Unknown Bown 1947-1967′. Might be partly a nostalgia trip of my mostly
forgotten childhood, but still I found the photographs so excellent, so
restful……you just want to gaze at them. In 1947 she borrowed £50 from
her aunt and bought a secondhand Rolleiflex with a Tessar lens. The skin
tones in her photos are so beautiful, it left me wondering if digital can
ever achieve the same wonderful quality. In some ways hope the answer is
‘no’, because it would be nice to think that the overwhelming convenience of
digital can still be surpassed by film in some areas.Her very first
photograph which pleased her professor at Guilford School of Art was of a
cow’s eye. So I thought I’d try something similar with the eye of my recent
pony shot. Jane Bowen worked for the Observer, doing mostly portraits for
many years. However, one can’t help feeling she regarded this as ‘work’,
whereas of the photos in her book, she says, ‘These pictures are the real
me.’
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Typical show off guy, this one seemed to be saying to the adjoining female,
‘ Sunbathe? Look honey, this is how you do it!’ Just as well the local cat
wasn’t lurking nearby. I’ve never seen a bird doing this before!
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Ever since I hired the scaffolding, it seems to have rained every day. But
on Monday the shone shone warmly for a couple of hours, and I spotted this
fledging female blackbird fluffing out her feathers. She was still looking
to someone to feed her too!
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Was up in the loft last week fixing a ballvalve on the water tank, when I
came across this. I had printed it out to 16′ x 20″ and mounted it on card.
It was taken decades ago, when I was 19 and on a college trip to Orkney,
using my Leica M2 and Ilford FP3 (RENamed FP4) 125ASA film. Just as vinyl
has got a warmth about it that CDs lack, so has film over digital. So how
did I reproduce this in 2 minutes flat? Just sat in a chair and shot it with
the 5D!
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For years I’ve been meaning to do some repairs to our house. renew fascias,
bargeboards…stuff like that. This morning Norman, a good friend from my
former office which I left almost 2 years ago, rang me to ask what I’d been
up to. I told him I’d just brought a load of hire scaffolding home in our
estate car. At lunchtime, he and another friend, Marc, turned up to say
hello. then decided to help me. When things like that happen, it gives me
such a good feeling!
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Last night we walked round the route we usually run behind Templand. You
walk past a smallholding, perhaps 400 yards from the track. For some reason
the dogs didn’t bark, but this pony came running up to fence to take a look
at us. It’s funny, I took perhaps 6 shots, all on autofocus, f/4, 1/250mm at
200mm with the image stabilisation switched on, but this was the only one
which was absolutely sharp. I suppose if I’d taken it with a film camera,
I’d be more pleased….like hitting the target with a rifle must be more
satisfying that with a machine gun. Anyway, I quite like it.
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Take a look at your present camera. Is it beautiful? Or just functional?
And will you still be using it in 5 years time, or will it be as desirable
as an old computer? Yeah, forgive the rhetorical questions, but my point is,
look at my Leica M2……it was built in 1964, and still functions
perfectly, and, apart from some scuffing of the baseplate, it looks and
works like it was just out the box. It’s beautiful to hold, and to use.
And it doesn’t die because the battery has, because it doesn’t need one!
And you can take photos of people so discreetly, because the shutter makes
a whisper quiet ‘click’. They used to be the absolute coolest thing to
have…..even Queenie had to have one, though she, of of course, opted for
the posher M3. And, the best thing of all? Nowadays you can own one for a
fairly modest amount, but best get one recently serviced from a pukka Leica
dealer. Then you’ll keep it forever!
P.S. The other camera is a Pentax 67 (as in 6×7cm negative size), with 300mm
Super Takumar . My professional photographer brother gave me 2 bodies plus a
bunch of chunky lenses. Well, it’s got a sort of brutish charm about it, if
you don’t mind getting a sore shoulder carrying it!
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After drinking the strong ale the little men gave me, (well, don’t you
remember the story?), I woke to find the nightmare was over, and I was no
longer working as an architect for the Council!
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I’ve alway loved this yellow rose. For a change I tried using the tripod in
combination with the 100mm macro. I’ve dispensed with the centre column and
pistol grip head to save weight for longer trips, though the lighter, 3-way
head takes a lot of fiddling with to set it up. One day will I be able to
afford a carbon fibre Gitzo Explorer? (And yes, Santa, with an Arca Swiss
ball head!)
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Last night I noticed some beautifully lit clouds from the kitchen window.
I grabbed the 5D (which happened to have the 70-200mm lens fitted), and
walked up the drive. I knew the gorgeous light would probably last only a
few minutes, so there was no time to find the tripod. About 40 metres from
our gate there is a defunct railway bridge which makes a good viewpoint. So
this is one of 10 or so quite interesting shots I took, ISO400, 70mm 1/250
sec. at F/10 (I suspect my 24-105mm has more depth of field at 70mm?).
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At the bottom of our garden. It’s not the most beautiful loch in the world,
but still it provides me with lots to photograph and birds to watch.
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Apparently this flower will only last a day or two, so I suppose that makes
it all the more precious. So last night, around midnight, I took a few shots
of it. Really I’d have been better with a tripod and better lighting, but
somehow that would taken away the fun.
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The reflection of the tree across the loch, cropped and inverted. Almost
like a painting? This could be my new thing, so remember, you saw it here
first!
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This house has been empty for 30 years, so why do the windows stay so clean?
Such photogenic windows too, with their 90 year old, hand made glass.
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Well, their outfits may well look a bit silly, but remember they own a major
chunk of New York City, including B & H Photo!
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There is something quiet and restful about this image that I find appealing.
And also it reminds me of a fun golf outing with the guys from my former
office - most of us couldn’t play, so it was quite hilarious, and a
beautiful evening too by the River Annan. Location:Hoddam Golf Course,
Dumfries & Galloway
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We had been at an exhibition of Ted Leeming’s work (www.tedleeming.com),
and been impressed by the immense sharpness of his 1200 x 450mm landscape
prints, from a Canon EOS 1DS MK 2. Probably this image was my attempt at a of woodland shot, with a similar level of sharpness.
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Dean Village. Maybe men talk even more than women….or just to avoid
working? I know, they were waiting for materials to arrive!
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This nice man was out walking his dog along the side of the river, and I
asked if I could take some photos of him. Turned out his daughter was a
professional photographer.
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Volvos, Alfas, even classic 911’s, Tom can fix anything. Canon 5D,
24-105mm ISO 1600, F/4 at 1/8th sec. Impossible, for me at least, without the
the clever image stabilisation!
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Shot on my old Pentax, and not great quality, but still I like it as it
feels strangely like a painting..
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‘Grey squirrels?, nah, you don’t get ‘em round these parts. Too damn cold!’
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Without the handrail and the figure, you would have no idea of the immense
scale of these smooth, beautiful rocks.
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Steve was one of the 3 guys who put up the windfarm test masts. They had a
cool fire engine red Unimog 4000. Very macho looking machine!
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Coming home on a cargo ship from Gothenburg was certainly different. But we
met some nice guys who’d been erecting 90m test masts for wind farms in the
south of Sweden.
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Marstrand Island. An elderly lady struggles up the hill with her shopping
trolley. Taken 17th May, before the streets are thronged with the yachty
people.
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The ferry is named ‘Lasse Maja’ after a prisoner who was escaped from the
fortress by dressing up in women’s clothes. Yes, really! And yeah, I’ve got
dust on my sensor, but not too bad otherwise.
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I suppose the bokeh is better on the f/2.8, but so much heavier, and costly.
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The summer people haven’t arrived at the lakeside yet, so it’s beautiful to
wander around with only birdsong breaking the silence.
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Sometimes when I was sorting out the firewood, I found myself pausing, and
thinking, ‘this is too beautiful to burn.’
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Taken with the 5D and the 24-105mmf/4L, the verticals corrected with
Lens-fix CI. When viewed on a Imac 24″ you can see that the stonework on
the church is amazingly sharp. ISO 400 at f/10, 1/400sec at 24mm. My
nephew, Iain Guthrie, who recommended I buy a 5D, and who uses his for
professional aerial photography, was quite right in saying that in decent
light, the 5D gives as good quality at ISO 400 than at anything lower.
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He’s 88 and he can still drink me under the table! He, and his wife, Hildur Krantz+Jensen, were both very successful journalists in Stockholm, in the 70’s and 80’s.
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Can’t decide whether reflections are going to take over from misty lakes as
my most desirable type of landscape shot!
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It looked so beautiful against the night sky, though I found focussing
tricky in such low light.
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Part of the same view from the previous shot. If you think you can see a
tree house…..it’s actually an elk shooting platform.
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Driving up from Skavsta on the 4th May. Beautiful light. Lovely countryside.
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