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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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When I got to the top, I thought I’d left it too late, and that the soft
evening sun was going to remain behind heavy, dark clouds. Then it
miraculously emerged for perhaps just two minutes. Near horizontal shafts of
warm, beautiful light, like the of a beam of light coming from a lighthouse,
lit up the cairn. A special, strangely exciting, photographic moment.
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This evening, 15th April, on the way home from Powfoot.Perhaps the weirdest landscape I’ve ever taken…a strange juxstaposition of
rolling field, and almost exotic domestic architecture. And, of course, you
can’t see it, but there is also a crow sitting on the wire next the
telegraph pole. It reminds me of an illustration from a children’s book.
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Yesterday evening there was the most amazing light. The sky got so dark,
and yet the sun still got through. The loch mirrored the green fields and
the trees. The colours looked unreal in their intensity. I thought, ‘
Ansell Adams got light like this most days, but it’s the first time I’ve
seen it..’ Perhaps that’s what makes landscape photography so challenging?
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My fascination with dead trees continues! Sometimes I think their form and textures looks purer in monchrome.
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I haven’t really attempted much nature photography, but I thought these birdswere beautiful, and I was impressed how they flew in such a tight formation.Obviously I need to buy myself a longer telephoto…….the onlydisadvantage of my full frame DSLR is that 200mm means exactly that.buy a print on imagekind
I know they’re over photographed, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t stillelegantly beautiful. This family live on our loch….at least until theparents drive the young ones off to fend for themselves.buy a print on imagekind
Had just got nearly got back to the car, very cold and wet after 5 hours ofphotography (you know that feeling, ‘I’ll just take one more…’, andsuddenly you missed lunch, and it’s 3.30pm), when I saw this charmingjuxtaposition of serene river, flowing into the wild sea. Maybe the bestshot of the day.buy a print on imagekind
As often happens to me……you’re engrossed in in photographing the mainsubject (in this case, the stormy sea), then you look over your shoulder andsee something totally different, but in it’s own way, just as interesting.buy a print on imagekind
Taken today (12th March 2008) - Rascarrel Bay is a few miles south ofAuchencairn, Dumfries & Galloway. ISO 50, 26mm, f/22, 1/20 sec. I decided to try a slow shutter speed to ’soften’ the waves, and it’s turned out quite nicely. Not one of those extreme low level, ultra wide angle shots, where pebbles are made to look larger than actual size…….those shiny rocks were about 60cm in diameter, and the waves were enormous!
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Having a loch at the bottom of our garden, allows you to peep out the window, see the light is nice, and grab the camera and run. So much easier than sitting in a camper van for days (which I’ve never done!), by the side of a loch up the Highlands, waiting for beautiful light.
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Looking westward down the Solway from Criffel. Hestan Island, to the left centre of the image, is about 10miles away. I was so grateful to get this shot after struggling up 569m to the top of Criffel, because my 5D battery was dying………I switched off the image stabillisation and used the trig point as a ‘tripod’.buy a print on imagekind
Again in Lochwood. Not sure what the delicate white flower is. Anyway, I find there is something pleasantly restful about this image.
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Taken from Lochwood, looking east towards the hills south of Moffat. Therewas no snow in Lochmaben (4th March), then just a few miles to the north, itlooked like this.
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I’d spent ages trying to get a worthwhile shot of Lochmaben and its lochs,when I looked over my shoulder and this group were standing behind me.Perhaps one of my sharpest pictures……maybe the Heavy Horses & Farm Animals Group on Flickr will like it?
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Yesterday, (04 March 2008), we took a walk up a hill path passing a waterfall called the GreyMare’s Tail, inspired by the mare in Burns’ poem ‘Tam o’ Shanter’. Therewas lots of snow and beautiful views of the hills, but photographing thesewild goats was most fun. As you’ll see, I had an Ansell Adams inspired,high contrast monochrome moment.
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This is a magical place to walk around. The ancient oaks are so full ofindividual character…and you feel an intense connection with the past.Towards the end of April, the ground at the base of the trees is coveredwith bluebells. Location: a few miles south of Beattock, Dumfries &Galloway.buy a print on imagekind
They were so busy searching for something, that they totally ignored me.What beautiful colours, no wonder they strut around so proudly!
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There had been a thunderstorm, and the cows were still sensibly lying down.We were going out running, but fortunately I had my camera with me. I was reminded that beautiful clouds can fly quickly away, and lose some of their drama by the time you can find a suitable foreground. Even so, I was quite pleased with the result.
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Location: roughly halfway between Moffat and the Devil’s Beeftub, Dumfries &Galloway.
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The ‘watercolour’ quality of this image reminds me of a painting of SirPeter Scott’s. All that is missing are the geese.buy a print on imagekind
I’m working on a series of 12 framed (500 x 700mm) photographs of varioushistorical sites around Dumfries for a local hotel owner.This image of Caelaverock Castle is now hanging in his dining room.buy a print on imagekind
An early shot with my 17 - 40mm zoom………which actually gives you a17mm focal length, for massive depth of field, on the full frame Canon 5Dbuy a print on imagekind
Criffel is the hill which lies to the southwest of Dumfries, and overlooks the town. The path is extremely muddy, and difficult going. Half way up,I nearly called it a day, as the light looked so dull. However, I persevered, and was rewarded by beautiful shafts of soft evening light when I reached the top. The shot heading my home page was taken that same day. Coming back down the hill in darkness was very challenging, but somehow that didn’t matter after the excitement of the photography.buy a print on imagekind
My brother gave me a pair of Pentax 67’s (the Arnold Schwarzenegger of SLR’s!) and a bunch of very chunky lenses. After using a digital SLR, it’s aninteresting constraint to find you’ve only 10 shots on your 120 format film.So this shot of my favourite tree is just as it came out of thecamera…..no Photoshop manipulation, no nothing!buy a print on imagekind
Crows are meant to be the most intelligent of birds. Usually I can’t get close to them with the camera before they flap lazily away. This one, however, chose to stay and check out what I was up to.
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Taken just a few days ago (mid February). Fortunately dawn comes at a reasonably civilised 7.15am at this time of year. The smallness of the loch, and the soft early morning light, lent a feeling of intimacy to the atmosphere.
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My favourite dead tree. I’ve sometimes spent over an hour photographying it……it’s so beautiful! Location: Hoddam, Dumfries & Galloway.
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Dead trees have often a beautiful sculptural form. This one is located inthe Ramerscales Estate, Dumfries & Galloway.buy a print on imagekind
Something about the form of this fishing jetty on Lochmaben’s Castle Loch, has drawn me back several times with my camera. The light at dawn has a beautiful quality, especially on a frosty morning. I was so pleased when the four swans came sailing past as they inspired the composition.
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Of all my photos taken in recent years, this is the one which pleases me most. You don’t see everything there is to see in the first half second…….the mist adds atmosphere and depth, and the viewer feels a wish to follow the path themselves….well, that’s the effect it has on me! The location is near Templand, Dumfries & Galloway.
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The lighthouse’s original structure goes back to 1749, and, although disusedsince 1930, looks really distinguished - which sadly can’t be said for therest of Southerness, which is dominated by a over-large caravan park.buy a print on imagekind
This was taken on the 19th May 2007, the day before the cooling towers were demolished. It’s strange, I always thought of them as menacing, sinister objects on the local skyline, but to see them demolished was quite sad, as they are beautiful structures.
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