Ian decided that another night shoot was called for so after rushing around most the day and managing to shove some food down my neck I met up with him and Darryl and we headed out back of yonder to Glen and Loch Lednock at the back of Comrie. When we got there the place was deserted and the stars were out, but as there was no moon the place was pitch black, thankfully we remembered our torches. We set up cameras down by a nice falls just above the Loch with the stars shinning away happily overhead. With tripods left in there places we sat down on the grassy hillside and watched the stars disappear as clouds lazily rolled in over them. EEEK! so much for star trails.

We waited a few mins to see if they would pass and to try and figure out what the odd light moving on the other side of this remote Loch was. The light was strong and bright and bounced back off of the clouds overhead. Very odd. Then giving up on the hiding stars we went back to the car park and decided to play around with the torches and flashes with different gel colours. Using long shutter speeds and flashes or torches behind a solitary figure (Darryl) we got some good ghostly silhouettes. So the boys being boys decided to set up a light fight with Darryl blasting himself.   Using the different colours of flashes and Darryl standing for long period of times in set positions, Ian lit him up and by running back and forth and circling the lights created a light blast. Then on a 2nd shot Darryl did his being hit pose and again Ian lit him up with the various flashes. I put these 2 shots together in photoshop by cloning one into the other and fine tuning the overlaps by erasing the 2nd layer (which the cloned image was on) and also using the healing tool once the layers were flattened, to blur it a bit around some edges. Creating the finished photo (below). A bit of hard work on the computer but worth it I think!

Darryl destroying himself with a mighty blast!

Ian then went on to light up his car with the cornucopia of flash gels we had. While Darryl ate his make shift shutter release button and took very few photos, though he was a very good participating model for the light shots. As we were finishing off we saw the odd beam of light get closer and closer and for some reason I was put on guard to keep an eye on the road, typical men, leave the girl to face the unknown! Soon the light was heading up our road and straight for us where it transpired to be a local in a Land Rover with a very big spotlight who was out lamping (shooting foxes, which I have to say I don’t agree with!). He was very nice and told us that due to kids coming up and drinking etc at the Loch and causing damage at night that the gate was usually locked further down the road, and it was only open because he was out. Struggling to fathom why kids would come so far out to mess around we said we would lock the gate behind us when we went back down the road. So it was not what we had expected for our shoot and didn’t do so good on the star trails, but it was a good, fun night and we got some great abstract shots, even if we didn’t see an UFO after all!

Long shutter and a few flash gun flashes turn Darryl into a ghost

What I discovered on this shoot was how much torchlight is actually needed to bring objects into a shot when you are in complete darkness. A lot! A helluva lot!

I was shooting in bulb mode and had to drop my aperture from f10 to f4.5 just to make the light from the torch have any effect. My first frame was comletely black except for the light from Sarah’s camera which I didn’t even realise was in my frame.

I had visions of an epic photograph of the water (which would be lit by torch) and really long star trails above it, mainly as I had intended to leave the camera sitting for about 45 minutes doing its thing. After just 10 minutes, the sky had a different plan which involved a cloud coverage en-mass.

Not a lot came of this shoot from the photo side of things (from my point of view) but it was a lot of fun!

Torch lit falls

Looking over Loch Earn from St Fillans

After a little unplanned hiatus from our little trips into the unknown, PK were back in action last night armed with our cameras and flashgels for a bit of night photography.

We were joined by Mike in Perth and decided to head to the Lochearnhead area to try and capture the water with some star trails. Unfortunately the moon wasn’t playing ball and was shining WAY too much light into the night sky to attempt any proper trail shots.

On saying that, the location turned out to be full of options: The beach, treelines, the boat jettys, the moon shining through the woods, the footbridge, a steamed up phone box… plenty for 3 people to be getting on with!

As usual the shutter speed was a mixture of experience and guesswork but I was averaging around 10 minute exposures shooting at f16 and iso100 when pointing away from the moon.

I was determined to put my new flash gels into action (under £5 on Ebay) on this shoot – they have certainly paid off. Maybe a bit fiddly to set up but for the price they perform very well. I tried them out on some trees to start with and after being impressed by the amount of colour they throw out, soon moved onto a phone box and my car.

The main problem with flash gels is how much you have to open the lens up for the colour to even show up on your shots. I’m thinking about investing in a good torch to use the gels with so I can ‘paint’ the colour onto the subject rather than just a quick flash of light. Watch this space…

I’d had a long crap day with a busy day at work that started at 7am after a restless night, a steadily worsening migraine that was particularly sensitive to noise and light, migraine tablets left at home, struggle home with bags of shopping only to realise I left one at the shop and had to walk back to get it. But still I dragged myself out for a night shoot thanks to the miracle of the recovered tablets.

Although the lights of passing cars were a bit too bright the location we got to was great, dark and quiet. Heaven! though the flash guns turned me into a gremlin, bright light, bright light! Although my sense of balance was a bit askew I managed to set up the tripod (though must admit some shots were pretty squint) and with ISO 100 and F10 ish I got settled in for the 2-5 mins exposures. Did do one 10 min one but as the moon was so bright it just looked like daytime! The strong moonlight also made star trials difficult to capture. We really need to check the moon status before we go on these night trips.

Got some lovely shots over the Loch and through the tress and we disturbed the village with our calling to each other and the bodily functioning noises from the boys, sorry bout that people! But the gorgeous loch with snow capped hills and half sunken boat was not the only thing the location offered. Along with the small village which included a large hotel and great tree, there was also the telephone box. Exciting stuff I know! But add some colours of flash courtesy of 2 flash guns with coloured gels, a cold model, a full moon and some frost and you get a great Dr Whoesk shot. Must admit it was fun though the locals probably thought us a bit strange.

To finish off I kept the camera out on the way home and took slow shots from inside (5-10 secs) while we were moving, giving some odd but cool light painting shots. This worked best in the towns and city so there was some more light and movement outside of the car and also the focus light didn’t blind us all! All in all it was a good night and made up a bit for the carppy day, but once home the migraine decided it wasn’t finished yet and I was forced to sleep for about 12 hours!

Mike in the box and blue flash behind thanks to Ian

Lindores HDR. The boat was rocking during the shots.

A last minute decision at lunchtime found me heading towards Fiferland in the car with my mate Mike who just bought himself a Nikon D5000.

For a change we had completely blue skies but a very harsh sunlight coming from the east. The shadows it was casting were spot on and I knew we were going to have a good session. Mike is just learning but he is keen and I know will pick things up quickly and easily.

The ND filter made its way out of my bag for the first time in ages in order to blur the rippling water that was gently rocking the rowing boats from side to side. I combined it with the polarising filter (which badly needs glued back together – don’t ask!) to reduce the shutter speeds even further to just five seconds in broad daylight.

Once the sun had disappeared behind the hill we were left standing in the freezing cold and called it quits, but not after Mike spotted some floating orange leaves making their way around the boats – perfect for a 15 second exposure!

The leaves slowly making their way around the jetty.

Big thanks to Mike for dragging me out into the bitter Scottish winter and getting some cool shots of a very awesome location.

I’d also like to thank a very nice gentleman we met and were speaking to for some time about the ins and outs of spending everything you have on a Leica camera…

Larry211′s photostream – check it out! Some very cool stuff on there.

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!

Wee falls at Buchanty

I had the day off and the weather was mostly nice, though a bit changeable in true Scottish style. The wee one was in Nursery so we decided to try and get some good shots somewhere close to home. Ian suggested Buchanty spout which are lovely waterfalls in the Small Glen. We had been there a couple of winters ago when it was snowing so being there in spring sounded like a great idea. Once there the sun decided to come out the place looked beautiful and as not snowing or frosty I did slip around all over the place this time. I left Ian to do the main falls while I clambered down to the lower falls. Apparently Salmon leap up these falls to reach their spawning grounds , which is pretty impressive as they are pretty steep and very fast flowing. I’m sure anglers just pick them out as they go which make it even harder for them! As the slope down to the wee falls was pretty steep and slippy I left my bag at the top not really many dry places to put it at the bottom, however it did mean I had to clamber back up every time I wanted to change lenses. I again used RAW format as the light was a bit unpredictable and as usual I had forgot my tripod, really need to put it somewhere obvious in the future. So it was back to balancing the camera and me on rocks and trying to stay still to use the low shutter speeds that give the moving water that lovely smokey effect. It was great to back to the hanging off of rocks photograph, just me kinda thing.

After 15 mins or so I headed back up to the main falls to see if Ian was still alive and not in the river, though I would of seen him float passed if he wasn’t. I found him in conversation with a local artist that had turned up to paint the falls. Ian also knew the painter and as the painter didn’t even manage to acknowledge me, how rude, I went on with some photo fun, climbing and lying over the rocks to capture the rapids. Do love what I do! After Ian disengaged himself from rude painter he took our new banner shot, which was one of my safer positions. We then decided to try and access the other side of the bridge and river and after a little bit of exploring and a trip through a very spooky tunnel with an iron gate like something out of a horror movie, we found a way down to the river on the other side. Now it wasn’t exactly a path we followed down to the actual riverside but it was close enough for us. Am a little surprised we got down unharmed, but it was worth it. The water was just a fantastic colour and the lower falls were very photogenic and the big rocks totally accessible to stand on, well ok maybe not totally but good enough with a bit of courage. But time got away from us and we had to head back to pick up the wee one, so it was a scramble back up the hill, which was not easy and there was a moment when we weren’t sure if we could get back up. We made it though and after a little rally drive back and a quick cycle we got to the nursery just after the doors opened.

Old mill ruins at the back of Blairgowrie

After this little adventure, my father came to meet me and we headed up to Blairgowrie where the rain that had been threatening all day and had been rushing over in showers had decided to show us its fury. Wow we got wet. Strangely as we headed out to the local Lochs, which until recently we didn’t know existed, the rain eased up a bit just as we passed Blairgowrie town limits. We walked through the Ardblair woods and down to the Bluebell woods, which are aptly named and are ancient oak woods according to the sign. We talked philosophy and religion and put humanity to rights as well as agreeing on what a farce the recent election had been. As usual we got a little lost and went the long way around. I got a little worried when we came across of little clearing with loads of small boxes sitting together with stones on top of them. As in each box had one large stone on top of it. We considered investigating but decided that maybe we didn’t want to know what was in them, it was Blairgowrie after all! We walked a bit faster though out of the damp deserted woodland. After walking through a very rural looking farm we found deserted building, unfortunately the light was pretty miserable so I couldn’t get a good shot. There was however an old mill with its lade system  and the water was rushing over the missing wheel and I managed to get a shot of this by lying on the ground and balancing the camera on the edge of the bridge over the lade. We also found 2 anglers Lochs where you are not allowed to feed the ducks off of the pier, though it didn’t state you couldn’t feed them from anywhere else. We decided that it was time to head back and as we walked back into rainy Blair we agreed that it would be a good place to return to when the weather was a bit more on our side. By the time I got home I was shattered as I had climbed, cycled and walked most of the day away but must admit it was well worth it.

Another sunny day in Luncarty! Sarah brought the tank (volvo) and picked me up to go somewhere nearby for a photoshoot and I remembered about a wee place called Buchanty Spout. We have shot their before but the weather was a bit on the terrible side so I was hoping for better results this time.

Square rock with the water tumbling over it

After setting up the tripod and assembling my various filters into the Cokin holder, the sun finally made an appearance from behind the various shades of grey clouds. It had been snowing near Edinburgh in the morning (had been to South Queensferry to pick up a new skid lid from Forth Gear).

I got quickly down to business as the good weather doesn’t seem to last very long here anymore. Aperture priority mode at f22 was giving me shutter speeds of between two and five seconds – exactly what I was looking at to blur the water! This was only achievable by using both my polarising filter and my 8x ND filter to block out as much light as possible. The side effect of all those filters is the amount of lens flare from the sun reflecting between the filter gaps, but a well placed hand/towel/whatever will soon prevent that issue.

Ian: I had spotted snow on the hills all around us yesterday and had already made a decision that we were going to hunt some down. In the spur of the moment we headed north towards the Highlands and after a quick deek at the map I spotted Rannoch which was surrounded by tall hills and of course, Schiehalllion!

After what felt like an eternity of driving on thin roads and black ice, we stopped on the shores of North Loch Rannoch and set up a wee picnic on the beach. The sun was putting out some fantastic light but a very large cloud was about to spoil all that. I ended up cramming my sandwich in my mouth to grab the camera and fire off some shots before the sky changed the entire setting.

Looking over at the south shore of Loch Rannoch

The trip took us up to Rannoch Station and back down to the Hydro station just before it. The platform was deserted as you would expect on a cold December afternoon so we took the tourist-less opportunity to have a quiet donder around. It’s a bit like going back in time with all the old style buildings that have obviously had four-too-many-coats of paint put on them over the years and despite the crossing bridge looking quite fresh from a distance, a closer look reveals a rusty structure which needs some TLC.

When i’m in the area I always stare at the sign that suggests that the path ahead is a footway to Glencoe… are you NUTZ?

Sarah: So I had the day off work and the sun was out and I had the car for a change…What better to do than pick up Ian and his little ray of sunshine and take a trip into the middle of nowhere in search for some snow. Ian suggested Rannoch which was an interesting drive on winding, icy back roads. Just my kind of driving. After an extraordinary long time to do not that many miles we arrived at Loch Rannoch and the sun was low, the sky blue and the water like glass, beautiful. So we stopped and had a picnic, as you do when it is only 1 degree above freezing!  Was worth every bit of chill though as we got some lovely shots before a cloud moved over.

Loch Rannoch looking lovely

Then it was on to Rannoch Station which really is in the middle of nowhere and a DHL van almost took us out on the way.  It was a little like walking into a time warp into the Victorian era, could almost hear a steam engine pulling up to take us to magic school! The place was deserted, which wasn’t really surprising as only 3 trains a day stop there and there is basically nothing to visit except some   spectacular countryside and apparently a walk to Glencoe, which must be a very long and cold walk over the moor! needless to say we didn’t go to Glencoe! Instead me and Katie tried every door on the platform looking for the time warp or worm hole that led us back to the 21st century, but every one was locked.