Vicky's 'Degree Show' photo shoot at The Haining, Selkirk.

 

As part of Vicky's honour's degree, the undergraduates put on a 'Degree Show' which is really an exhibition of their final years work.  This year the show ran from 25th May for a week, with a private viewing for family, friends, etc on 24th May.  Vicky wanted some photographs of her Collection of hand-woven fabrics with matching trims to be done in a room in a building that is showing signs of decay so she approached the trustee's of The Haining in Selkirk and got permission to use one of the rooms.  They were very helpful and accomodating during our visit and we had a tour of the site too which is currently undergoing extensive remedial / renovation work.   

Here is a gallery showing a selection of Vicky's great work.

Please click on the link for more information on The Haining.  A map of it's location in Selkirk is below (The Haining is on the north side of Haining Loch)

                                                                                                        

 

Photo of the Month: March 2013

Point of Impact, Loch Glow, Cleish Hills

12th March 2013, above Loch Glow, Cleish Hills.

I've visited Loch Glow a few times over the winter months to study the lie of the land including a circuit of the loch itself.  It is approx. 2 miles / 3.2 km's around with the far side, Tipperton Moss, being a poorly drained marsh, making for extremely tough going.  The northern side is flanked by forestry and the craggy Cleish Hills which rise to over 350m /1150ft.  The Loch is a fishery run by Rosyth Angling Club and out of season there  are few visitors.  This evening I had the loch to myself. It was very windy and cold with sunset due at 6:10pm. The day had been overcast and the sky was dull and grey as I climbed the hill on the north side of the loch. After setting up my tripod and camera it was a case of waiting to see what, if anything, would happen. And happen, it did. Big bands of thick black cloud started moving in from the NW on strong winds.  The cloud was so black that even the weather forecasters on BBC Reporting Scotland mentioned it on the early evening broadcast.  The sun appeared, disappeared and then re-appeared as an intense orange ball as it set in the little dip in the hills. It lit up huge sections of black cloud with red light making one section of the sky look almost apocalyptic as if there had been an explosion.  Eventually the fiery sky subsided to dusky pinks and blues before settling down for the night but I had captured the moment perfectly which is why it is my photo of the month.

Technical Info:

Taken with a Canon EOS 5D mkII
Zeiss Distagon T* 21/2.8 ZE lens

EXIF: ISO-100 / 4 sec / f/13

RAW File converted to TIFF in Canon DPP, developed in Adobe PSE9

The changing sky at sunset

Website  /  Profile

Go Fife: Seafield, Kirkcaldy

Seafield beach, Kirkcaldy on a Thursday afternoon in late March.  I arrived with about an hour to go before low tide (due at 4pm) to see the waves rolling in and a bit of colour in the heavy sky so stayed for about 2 hours.  Was absolutely baltic but you tend to forget the cold when you absorb yourself in rocks and waves and cleaning filters and watching for rogue waves (above).  

An Inukshuk is a stone landmark or cairn built by the Inuit and other peoples of the Arctic regions of North America. The Inukshuk may have been used for navigation, as a point of reference, a marker for travel routes, fishing places, camps or hunting grounds as well as other uses.  Today I decided to build my own version of an Inukshuk using big boulders next to the sea.  As the tide was due to come back in it would be temporary only but would serve as a prop.  The stormy weather migrated westward and was replaced by a brief interval of blue sky before more overcast conditions signalled an end to the best light at which time I called it a day.

Seafield beach is on the south side of Kirkcaldy.  Accessed from Seafield Road, off Kinghorn Road (A921).  The gate to the car park is automatically controlled to open at 6:30am and close at 10:30pm.  There is a height restriction for cars only.  

Photo of the Month: February 2013

Loch Ard Forest, Trossachs

18th February 2013, Loch Ard Forest.

A perfect winter's day Loch Ard Forest, Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. Loch Ard was a sheet of ice with the low sun creating pockets of mist in its more sheltered bays. Some sections of the shore were completely frosted over. I walked a circuit from Milton along the forest roads on the south side of Loch Ard to coincide with sunset. On reaching a footpath which loops around a particularly rugged section of the shore, I noticed this scene which was quite magical.  Fearing the sun might at any moment drop below the hills behind I climbed to a vantage point above the path, set up my tripod and camera and worked quickly to record the scene.  It turned out to be one of the finest afternoons photography I have had.  

Technical Info:

Taken with a Canon EOS 5D mkII
Zeiss Distagon T* 21/2.8 ZE lens

EXIF: ISO-100 / 0.3 sec / f/16

RAW File converted to TIFF in Canon DPP, developed in Adobe PSE9

Shortlisted image - 'Light on the Land' category - Outdoor Photographer of the Year 2014

Featured in Outdoor Photography Magazine - Locations Guide / Viewpoints - Issue 188 / Feb 2015

Website  /  Profile

MOO Business cards

I asked Google a question on Tuesday "can you use the Flickr logo on business cards".  A list of answers came up on the screen.  One was for a company that would give you 50 FREE business cards with your Flickr Photos on the reverse so I clicked through to the moo.com site.

MOO / Flickr advert for Business cards

Sure enough, they would give you 50 business cards with your personal details on one side and a photo from your Flickr site on the reverse.  You could upload as many photos as you wanted (up to 50) and they would print them on the reverse.  They call this 'printfinity'.  Seemed to good to be true.  All they wanted was £3.50 for P&P.

Registered with them and then went through their menu system to upload photographs directly from Flickr. Decided to use 10 photo's and it took about an hour to complete the process.  MOO would print a small version of their logo on the picture side of the card to advertise their brand.  Seemed fair enough as they were FREE.  

Today they arrived.  Wow!  350gsm card with a rich matte finish!

Have now got a small portable portfolio I can carry with me.

9 of the photos I selected (click to view at full size)

Getty Images

Simon Swales on Getty Images (click for LARGER size)

Received an email yesterday from Flickr HQ with an invitation to license some of my photos for commercial use with Getty Images. 

The Getty Images team noticed my work on Flickr and offered me an invitation to enroll with them which I accepted.  Lots of form filling but I am now on the Getty program.

They initially selected 7 photos for possible inclusion in the program.  Once I uploaded them and filled in the details and credits they were sent to one of their moderators for approval.  Checked a few days later and found that they were approved and are now on their website.  By the end of February the had asked for another 21 images which have all been approved and are now for sale / licensing on the Getty Images website.

Click through to view on Getty Images

 

Photo of the Month: January 2013

Pre-sunrise light over Tewet Tarn, Lake District

To get this new series off the ground the photograph I have chosen is one from our visit to Keswick in early January 2013.

Tewet Tarn occupies a commanding position on the northern slopes of the diminutive Low Rigg.  At a height of 680ft/207m and on its own little plateau the ground slopes away on the other 3 sides giving unrestricted views across St Johns in the Vale to the east and across both the Northern and North Western Fells.

The weather forecast the previous evening for sunrise was one of doom and gloom – persistent low cloud, mist and a 70% chance of drizzle to last most of Sunday – how wrong they were. It turned out to be a stunning sunrise.  With about 15 minutes to sunrise the sky had a pink tinge to it that became orange/red just before the sun rose.  This contrasted well with the cooler blues of the banks of mist and heavy cloud moving north along St Johns in the Vale.

Technical Info:

Two frame stitch taken with a Canon EOS 5D mkII
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens @ 24mm

Lee filters: 0.9 & 0.6 GND (H)

EXIF: ISO-100 / 1.5 sec / f/11 x 2 frames

RAW File converted to TIFF in Canon DPP, stitched and developed in Adobe PSE9

Website / Profile