Stockinish – Harris
A typical croft i encountered while cycling the ‘Golden Road’ to the Esst of the Isle of Harris, Outer Hebrides – Scotland. Looks the perfect writers retreat….
The Ruined West Pier aka testing my Fuji x10
So far I’ve been more than Impressed with the jpegs coming straight out my new Fuji x10 compact camera. I’m able to stretch them alot in post without ruining them but moreover the colours and exposure is wonderful. Using the auto settings on this fuji it just gets the shot nearly every time, using a very clever mode called EXR which is far too complex to explain here – Fuji have really nailed it and I’m thoroughly impressed. You should have seen the faces of the DSLR tripod-filter-long exposure-timer-weighed-down-with-gear-freezing-t&$S-off crew lined up on Brighton Beach when they saw me rock up, whip the little retro Fuji out my messenger bag, peel off a couple of shots on a gorilla pod, then return to the warmth of the rub a dub – priceless! If you are hunting a new camera during the post-Christmas sales, I would recommend the Fuji x10 as one of the best current compact cameras on the market. there’s lots of detailed reviews via the hyperlink above, Steve Huff’s is worth a read.
Crossing the Minch to Lewis
Its been a while! Sorry for the silence. Wedding preparations for September have been taking up my time, along with lots of beautiful British summer to see and have fun in. So its raining cats and dogs today in London, and talking of dogs, well I am ‘Dog tired’ having just travelled 15 hours yesterday to get back home from my retreat for the past week in the Western Isles of Scotland. I spent the most incredible week exploring the Isles of Lewis and Harris by bicycle, just me, my camera and my fishing gear. I have to say I have utterly seduced by the Hebridean way. Its always easy to rave about a destination having just returned from holiday and being full of ‘holiday hype’ – in this case though, I feel I really found a calling among the wild highlands. The changing light, the scenery, the people and nature were all wonderful, and its amazing to think we have one of the worlds most pristine and spectacular environments right here in the UK (I was going to say right on our doorstep, although getting to the more remote parts of the Outer Hebrides is a bit of a mission, especially if you arrive late on a Saturday like me).
Anyway, lots of shots to come – this one was taking from the deck of the wonderful Calmac ferry as I crossed the Minch from Ullapool to Stornoway last Saturday evening. The Haddock and chips on board was fantastic, and I enjoyed my time in the bar meeting Stornoway FC having a few drinks to console themselves after losing their game that afternoon.
Deal Pier, Supermoon Saturday
ND500 (10 stop) filter love during a recent family weekend. Very happy with this photo, though I forgot my step down filter ring. This meant I had to handhold the filter over the lens for what felt like forever on a surprisingly chilly March evening.
Processing this image, was like a return to being in the darkroom at Westminster college, six years ago. By which I mean I was happy with the shot straight out the camera, and there are lots of toning variations that I feel would work quite well with this image – black and white, sepias, cold blue tones, split ones etc. etc. I’ve already done a few of these on Lightroom, may post some in the future to share. Meanwhile, any CC on this image would be welcome as ever. In other news – busy busy work busy and having a plumbing nightmare at home this week with the toilet that refuses not to leak!
