The PK Perspective

Campsie Linn:  Thurs 12th August 2100 ish

I was minding my own business and having a good dance along to my wii game when Ian texted, suggesting we do a twilight shoot, like right then. So it was off with old combats and on with some warmer clothes and out the door to a proper photo trip. Yieahy! The sun was just starting to set so we headed west along the river in the hope of catching it set over the water. After a small trip down a odd back road we ended up at Campsie Linn. This is usually a quiet area as is not the easiest place to get to and many don’t know of it, but this night the small car park was full and the road packed with parked cars. Very Odd. We decided not to investigate and headed down the other road to the fishing area close by. A short walk brought us out at the river side and we set up to capture what light there was.

I had remembered my tripod for a change which is a good thing as slow shutter speeds were needed to capture the light and movement in the water and clouds. So with low ISO and high aperture the shutter was about 15-20 secs. My wide-angled lens is too big for my filters so I was unable to block out more light for lower speeds. I did however get some fabulous shots with it due the nature of the all encompassing lens. As the light started to fade we could see flaming lanterns exist the trees at the Linn itself and rising on thermals to grant their wishes, which was maybe a little odd for a summers evening in Scotland. Unfortunately with the wide lens they were just blips on the horizon. As the light got more and more dim the shutter speeds got lower and with a bit of experiment we found that with my camera on “bulb” mode I could use the remote shutter release to get longer exposures by pressing the button once to open the shutter and then pressing it again to shut it. This meant very long shutter speeds with no holding down shutter buttons or cables, very handy. However there is nothing like long shutter speeds to let you see how dirty your lens actually is.

Just after darkness really stared to settle in, the bats came down and the Linn camp had ended their night in a fiery water display, no idea what they were up to. Our shutter speeds were down to 10 mins and the batteries were starting to complain, but i did get a lovely shot before my battery gave up entirely. However the lens and sensor weren’t very happy with such long shutters and it took a lot of photoshop work to pull out the impurities. After the battery went we decided to call it a night as we could hardly see our way back, so we packed up our stuff and hiked carefully back down the river to the car. The low shutter speeds meant that we didn’t get as many shots as usual as each shot took longer and there was no postponing the sunset, but I am happy with the shots I did get and it was excellent to be out on a proper photo trip again.

10min Exposure, Lovely but left impurities.

Perth City Wednesday 21st July

I had been aware that it had been raining heavy all night and when I got up in the morning, running late as usual, I didn’t think about the rain beating down on the roof. I couldn’t find my boots quickly enough so just shoved on my trainers and ducked out the door. The city centre was very wet but just had a few big puddles littering the streets. I got to the bus stop, thankful for my storm proof jacket, and had to jump over a rather large puddle to get on the bus. The driver advised me that the Crieff road was a bit flooded but he would try and pull into a drier part for me. I thanked him and took my seat not thinking it could be that bad. How wrong I was! We came over the railway bridge and into a biblical storm. The rain was lashing and the road was under a foot or so of water. The mini roundabout was barely visible at the edge of the flood and the other 2 roads leading off it were closed and I could see what looked like a river or mini loch happily expanding over Feus Road. The bus driver dropped me off a bit further up the road than usual as the bus stop was under ankle deep water (and that was on the pavement). Hood up tight I walked the 100 yards or so to work which thankfully was on slightly higher ground and not flooded, once there I called my mum who lives down the road and at the worse of the flooding and found she already knew as she had went into her kitchen and found it full of water and when she opened the back door the patio was nowhere to be seen under the new pond. Luckily for her the kitchen is sunken and has a step of a few inches to get into the dinning room or hall and this probably saved the rest of the ground floor.

The rain calmed as the day went on and I supported a service user into town which wasn’t really affected by the flood with the roads and pavements clear with only a few basements needing pumped out. On the way back we noticed a police sign on the Crieff road and were worried that the road was closed but it was just a danger sign as a manhole cover had blown when the flood hit in the morning and the pressure not only moved the cover but also a fair chunk of road and the area was littered with large chunks of tarmac, am very glad I hadn’t been there when that happened.

Sweeping the water under the fence

After work I walked around to mums place to see her and my sister and her family who had flown up from London for a visit. I went round the back as I had no boat to get down the main road which was still flooded and was now full of firemen and pumps. The back street and pavement were clear, as was the main part of garden but the patio was only passable with wellies or by jumping between sandbags. The drains were spewing up water and the vent under the house was throwing out water too. The neighbours daughter was standing sweeping the water under the fence to her garden where a industrial pump was pumping it out to the back street where the drains were still functioning. I jumped the bags and into a slightly sodden Kitchen, the water had dropped enough that at least it was no longer filled with water. Not sure how they got the kids and stuff into house, but they did, but unfortunately without luggage as the airline had misplaced it! Between us we kept sweeping the patio water under the fence until it levels dropped enough that we could move the pump between the gardens without the other one rising dangerously high again. Eventually we could actually see the paving slabs and could take the lino off the kitchen floor and give the floor a sweep and clean.

Out the fr0nt the water levels were high and it was like walking out the front door at a loch side. Fortunately for us the water reached the front garden but not the door, guess the old Victorian drains and foundations aren’t all bad, the people over the street were not so lucky. I got some shots as the water receded a little and I felt a bit safer standing on the sandbags at the front gate. There were pumps and firemen everywhere, all working hard to uncover the street again. It was well into the evening before the street was anywhere near passable but it still had open drains as the manhole covers were missing. We found out from a neighbour that the problem was that the old drain had been slowly blocking with silt and were now 70% Silt, the local councilor who lives in the street had been campaigning to get it fixed and had won and the work was to start next week. Too late unfortunately for the residents.  The old blocked drain could not deal with the quantity and speed of the rainfall and panicked!

The worse of the flooding at the front of the house

Today though is a warm and bright day and it seems impossible that yesterday was so wet, the center is all dry and sunny like nothing ever happened. However for those in the flooded areas there are ruined kitchens and wet foundations and floors to remind them of yesterdays weather tantrum. Thanks and praise have to be given to the fire brigade  and the people in the neighbourhood (especially my mums lovely neighbours) who all chipped in to clear the flood and save as much of the houses as possible.

Location: Loch Turret    Sun 4th July 1400 ish

As my photo bud is working lots and looking after 2 kids when he’s not working I dragged my mother out for photo trip instead. The advantage of going out with mother is that she supplies lunch too, we originally said we would have a picnic but when Sunday morning came it was dull and wet and windy so we agreed to to Gloagburn farm instead, YUM! Gloagburn is between Perth and Crieff at Timbermore and does wonderful home cooking using organic ingredients off of their farm. As we munched on our lovely food and discussed the weeks ongoings the heavens opened and to say it poured down is an understatement. It was rain of a more biblical nature and just as we considered making us an arc it calmed down and left behind it a lovely sunny and warm day. So after lunch we decided to venture out into the world and headed away from the dark bruised clouds that were fleeing to Perth. The sun was shining over Crieff so we went that way instead and on the spur of a moment went to Loch Turret just beyond. I have been there I few times but always in the autumn and winter and have been met with snow, mist and a very full loch. But this time, in summer, it was very different. The glen was lush with greenery and the loch itself was somewhat shrunken revealing little stony beaches underneath its edges. It was beautiful with the sun shining over the hills and sparkling blue water.

Legoesk hydro building

The whole place was maybe a bit too perfect and had an unreal feel about it like someone had painted it on . The colours were bright and harsh in the Scottish light, but the most unreal thing is the Hydro building. The loch is a dammed river and is looked after by Scottish water. At the base of the Dam which looks like a steep green hill is a building which home the pumps and on this day had an alarm going off. It is a stone building of grey and red and with the steep hill behind it and the blue sky above it looks like it is made of lego or some child had painted it on. Very odd! After deciding that the alarm was not a signal that the dam was going to burst open we headed up to the loch and a view point which was sign posted but we never actually found.

The loch looking lovely before the storm

As the day was now so wonderful, though still a bit breezy we walked along the path at the side of the loch, a path which turned in to a small river at times due to the mornings rain. We got about a mile down it when it gave up being a path and turned into a grassy track and eventually into nothing but heather on a hillside. We did find a stream tumbling down to the loch and a little waterfall which I at a couple of shots of with a low ISO and  Shutter speed  although they were a bit blurry as in order to get them with the wide angle (I didn’t have another lens with me) I had to lean over a very slippy stone which was too slippy to stand on and balance the camera on the edge of it at arms length, surprising I managed to get any good ones really! After this stream we thought we should head back as the path was no longer obvious and the sky was darkening. Back up through the heather we went to the path/ river which we had followed up and after passing a few tourists in t shirts and no jackets (fools they are, do they not know about Scottish weather) the sky turned a deep dark navy and the sun disappeared behind some very heavy clouds which closed in around the hills and cried their woes to us. Like someone had ripped them open the clouds threw their contents at us and I was very glad I had brought my waterproof jacket which is big enough to zip up over me and my camera. It seems we did not beat the storm after all.

With thunder rumbling in the distance we speed back around the loch and over the dam to the car and reached it well and truly drenched. And although the scene was pretty spectacular with a moody sky over loch and glen I was not getting my camera out of my jacket and subjecting it to the buckets of water that were being hurled at us. The drive back down the one track road was interesting with the rain bouncing off of its uneven surface and obscuring our view. At the bottom of the glen is the glen Turret distillery and we sought sanctuary there with it’s giant Grouse until the rain eased and revealed yet again a beautiful sunny day with a blue sky and cheerful white, fluffy clouds. If it wasn’t for the soaked ground and drenched people you would think it had always been a lovely day. Good old Scottish weather, just like its people and a bit on the unpredictable side and often full of surprises!

Perthshire – Campsie Linn and Dunning:   Sun 20th June 2010

Our poor Groucho

Although last Sunday was fathers day I actually spent the day with mother. Firstly because Father was not actually available and secondly as mother had had a really bad week that ended in her cat Groucho (named after Groucho Marx as both had a little black tash) having to be put down due to kidney failure. Poor Grouch! She was getting on a bit, that’s the cat and not mum, but none of us expected her to go so early as our previous cats have lived to around 20 and Groucho was only about 11. She was a very noisy cat possibly due to my sister talking and singing to her when she was a kitten (though my sister had no excuse as she was in her 20s!) and she was a little feisty to put it politely, but all in all she was a good cat and loyal when it suited her.  May she rest in peace in little cat heaven where she can eat Paris buns to her hearts content and sit on Indie (our old cat) whenever she wants.

Anyway to order to cheer up mother we went for a picnic at Campsie Linn which is the other side of the river Tay than Stanley Linn. As the Tay was so low we walked easily over to the island which was littered with smashed sandstone on the grey and white riverbed, like a big rock monster had come along and pooed across it! I assume in actuality the force of the river in full flow had dragged the sandstone down and into the harder pebbles. The day was hot but not bright and I only got a few shots but we had a nice lunch which included fresh raspberries from the Strawberry Shop just outside Old Scone. Yum Yum! After a wee explore of the island we headed across country to Dunning.

Ancient Pictish Cross with amazing carvings

In the middle of Dunning and at the heart of its random road system stands St Serfs church which dates back to the 13th Century, though most the building you can see now is somewhat newer than that. This beautiful church with some of the most amazing stained glass windows I’ve seen (especially as the church is so small) also houses the Dupplin Cross which is a very impressive Pictish carved cross which dates from 800AD. It was originally sited a few miles along the road at Forteviot but the local land owner there got fed up of people walking on his land to see it and got it removed, lovely man!!!! The cross is dedicated in latin to the local Pictish King Caustantin, and is one of the best examples of Pictish engraving there is. It’s panels are engraved with legends, biblical stories and signs of unity and considering it is made of sandstone and has spent 1200 years  standing on a Scottish hillside has aged very well indeed, with most of the panel designs being easily seen and identified. It symbolises a great king who united the Picts and the Scots and overcame the Nordic Vikings and ruled justly over the land. It also has various Christian beliefs on it including the celtic triangle of the holy trinity and references to King David. Thankfully Historic Scotland, who’s care  the cross is in, do not mind photographs being taken of the cross or the church. So camera out for me then. The cross is lit by dim lights but I found the flash took out a lot of detail and made it look very flat so I turned the camera to Raw and manual and took the shots with a shutter of about 60th as I had no tripod for lower and an ISO 1600 with a low aperture. This gave me a few good moody shots. I also got some shots of the stained glass windows using a lower ISO as by now the sun was streaming in. And although Jesus had odd feet on one pane (all a bit De Vinci  code with hidden meanings) I got some  lovely shots of the patterns on the glass and the light they shed on the old walls.

Both Church and cross are incredibly interesting places and quite photogenic and the Historic Scotland man very helpful and informative and I would highly recommend a visit. But if that is not your cup of tea then the town of Dunning is quite lovely too and although most of it was burnt down in raids a few 100 years ago along with the church there is one other older building, a cottage. It is said that when the raiders came and set fire to the village the woman who lived in this cottage set a torch burning at the window and the raiders thought they had already torched the house so left it alone, clever girl!!! Also there is the monument to Maggie Wall who is believed to be the last woman to be burnt at the stake for being a witch. There is no record of this but I’m lead to believe that her skull was excavated and the story holds. The painted inscription on this monument which is interestingly topped with a cross  tells us she was burnt in 1657. Mother and I visited this little witch sanctuary before we headed back to Perth and after talking to a very chatty sheep we added our coin of respect and a daisy to the various other items left in memory of a woman unjustly treated in a turbulent time. Poor girl was probably just a normal clever woman and hence must have been a witch in the eyes of a male dominated society.

Once we got back in to Perth it was unfortunately time for me to go to work so I had to leave mum to her own means, but I had managed to cheer her up a bit and distract her from memories of poor Groucho.

De’ils Cauldron, Comrie

As little baby potter has not decided to come along yet, me and Ian took advantage of the nice weather and went on an adventure after dropping my dodgy electrics car off for its service (once we got it out of the very tight garage). We had no plans and just headed of towards the sun, assuming we could pick up something to eat on the way. Fools we were! we ended up in Comrie and hungry.

With Comrie being a little tourist place we thought it would have somewhere to eat even though it was in the middle of nowhere, we were wrong. Half the place had no electricity and was in candle light and the other half was shut! we were forced to return to nearby Crieff instead where we Read More

I have been wanting to attempt the technique of star trails for a long time now and always seemed to find an excuse to not stand out in the cold at stupid-o-clock in a field for 3 hours. Last nights sky went from being very overcast to incredibly clear in the matter of an hour so I grabbed my mate Darryl straight after work and headed out to an area we had checked out the week before.

Star trails above Perth

Darryl shoots with an old 35mm Olympus OM10 (brilliant piece of kit) and I was out with the D200. He borrowed my old tripod with one wonky leg but it still works a treat.

We were both using BULB mode in order to keep the shutter open as long as we wanted and used my watch to keep tabs on the length of the exposures. The major benefit of Darryl’s camera is that it doesn’t need battery power to operate, and after an hour my 1st battery had died on me.

The hardest part of this whole affair is composing a shot in complete darkness so it’s best to let your eyes adjust to your surroundings before starting.

For me the most surprising factor was how little noise my camera gave off considering the lack of light and the length of time the shutter was open. This almost makes up for how crap the D200 is at Infrared shots (grrrr @ Nikon).

Camera settings (pic on right):
ISO: 100
Aperture: F11
Shutter: 15mins
Manual focus

There is a great guide to taking these shot at THIS WEBSITE.

We will be going out again when we get the opportunity with a better foreground setting – watch this space!