jpgfotos

The Black Cuillin Peaks

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 09:06 +0000

Taken March 2012. The Black Cuillin peaks with a dusting of snow. Dawn in Glen Sligachan shooting alongside the river (Allt Dearg Beag) to the Black Cuillin peaks of Sgurr nan Gillean (left) and Sgurr Am Basteir. Unfortunately I processed this with an on-screen proofing for a paper type I don't use. Live and learn. Net result seems to be a bit of a magenta caste on the water. A snow shower had just past across the top of the mountains giving a nice dusting just before sunrise. Very scenic though I wasn't feeling to much like taking any photos with a cold coming on.

Exposed Tree

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:27 +0000

From the Isle of Skye. The clouds weren't quite what was needed, but a wide-angle helped add to the composition. I'm just about to move to a full-frame camera and trying to justify changing from this DX wide-angle to an FX wide-angle lens. Tempting but they aren't cheap and I don't use it that often... tricky to justify to myself.

The Anvil

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:17 +0000

From the Isle of Skye. Part way up the walks to the Fairy Pools in Glen Brittle is an unusual-shaped rock which looks a bit like an up-turned anvil. As water streams over the rock there is a point where it gets forced upwards and outwards in various directions. I was drawn to the junction of these various water jets and with bright sunshine creating some specular highlights, visible to the naked eye as well as a slowish shutter speed, and have tried to capture the action here. Really wish I had the forethought to capture this in a 5x4 vertical composition.

Receding hills

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 19:12 +0000

Receding hills of Skye. Taken shortly before sunset, which didn't really make a good showing, but captured at telephoto distance with a very bright sun (too bright to see through the view finder), but a nice fast exposure and a half-decent result. I was tempted to remove the brown colour cast but decided against it. I'm starting to enjoy the 4x5 image format for portrait layouts.

Moody weather over Sgurr na Stri

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 09:33 +0000

Taken 18 March 2012 from Elgol, Isle of Skye. Moody weather passing across the volcanic looking Sgurr na Stri. We had a good assortment of weather during the 3 hours spent here from being able to see the ridge with blue sky and sunshine to cloud and rain but a good westerly wind kept things moving along nicely.

Ardtrek Point Lighthouse in Black and White

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:00 +0000

Taken 22/3/2012. A little change in perspective compared to yesterday's image and it becomes a bit more moody.

Ardtrek Point Lighthouse

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 18:12 +0000

Taken 22 March 2012 shortly before sunset. Lighthouse and fishing boat at Ardtrek Point, Isle of Skye. It's a real shame about the lack of a proper lighthouse but this is definitely a case of function over form. Fortunately in Silhouette it works quite well.

Quiraing

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 19:46 +0000

Taken 17 March 2012. The Quiraing, Isle of Skye, Scotland. A day to myself so a good spot for lunch. Can't say I enjoyed the single track, road with hairpin bends to get to the car park from where you can walk along a small path to this point. Some liberty taken with the contrast in this photo - it wasn't quite that mean and moody though the weather did turn extremely wet and windy within 36 hours.

Little Owl

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:34 +0000

A somewhat bemused Little Owl looking up at his handler. Very expressive and, I think, a bit unhappy about being put on the ground. The day at the Barn Owl Centre was organised by photographer Guy Edwardes. Two things he said which were proved during the day. Firstly, eye level is always good for animal shots and secondly, shoot with manual exposure for birds. I've always shot manual for landscapes but never considered it for birds but once a ranging shot is in for the primary subject, you can pretty much stick with it as the bird moves/flies around regardless of the background which would throw most exposure systems. I think as a result I had an almost 100% hit rate for well exposed and focused photos from the day - composition, well that's another matter.

Common Buzzard

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:29 +0000

Posted 7 Feb 2012. Common Buzzard eying up an early breakfast

Koln and Turner, European Eagle Owls

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:02 +0000

Posted 6th Feb 2012. These two European Eagle owls are Koln and Turner. Taken late in the day with a low sun. Favourite food seems to be chicken heads (or voles if they were allowed to go for it... or foxes, other birds, basically anything that moves). It was wonderful to spend a few hours with them, very majestic and silent in flight, even just 3 feet away from your head, despite their 6 foot wingspan. Two very different personalities, you can clearly see them thinking and considering options before they do anything.

Little Owl

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 10:01 +0000

Posted 5 Feb 2012. A Little Owl (that is it's name) in the meadow at the Gloucester Barn Owl Centre. The colours may look a tad saturated and a little over-sharp but this is the version I've just printed and it looks spot on for paper. Very impressed with the Epson R3000 printer except for the cost of ink which is outrageous. I usually print on matt fine-art or semigloss at most, but just tried this on some cheap gloss paper and it works well. I've noticed most 'bird' posters are on a gloss medium and it does seem to work well.