The sky was clear for a change and after arriving at Tayport harbour we were soon off again to find a quiet spot in the country to attempt some star trail shots.

Unfortunately I came away with no shots I was happy with, except this one from Tayport.

  OK so it was cold, very cold and it was dark, very dark, but I needed to get out and about with the camera again so I dragged Ian out. After Tayport harbour we headed into the widerness and ended up on the edge of Tentsmuir forest at the ‘Scottish Clay Shooting Centre’ , a spooky old barn in the dark. Ian may not have got much but the sky was wonderful and there were so many stars it was breath-taking and I pulled off some nice shots. Of course I was actually looking at the stars and not at a star app on a phone like the guys, who missed the shoting stars by using their ability to play with technology instead of looking at nature.

The stars put on a good show

After a wee walk through the South Inch to get the kids to sleep we ended up at the Manna House on the old high street in Perth. This is a christain run cafe which is reknowned for it’s good food and fabulous homemade cakes, as well as it’s bookstore that is attached, As it wasn’t too busy we managed to rearrange a couple of tables to make space for us all. Food wise I was a bit limited by my intolerance as most things were breadular (as in made of bread) but they did have baked potatoes and soup available in a selection of Veggie options. Me and A had a baked potato with cheese and pineapples and MS had soup and a sandwich. It was all quite simple with no fancy displays but very tastey with properly oven cooked potatoes. They also do a selection of fruit teas for those non tea and coffee drinkers, like me, who sometimes still want a hot beverage.

MS and A also had a cake each, which both looked lovely and must admit I had a wee taste. The carrot cake topping was divine and the apple pie filling excellent! In general the service was polite and friendly, though a bit slow. The young man on shift was by far the best (sorry didn’t get his name), with a good attitude, friendly and cheerful manner and very good manners (which I value highly, cost you nothing but make all the difference).

Frontage of the manna House, unfortunately was traffic on road so coudn't stand far enough away to get whole front.

Rocks in the fast flowing Braan

Photo wise i decided to keep the ISO low at 100 and use the tripod, choosing the shutter speed, leaving the aperture to be decided by the camera. The River Braan was full and fast so the shutter was kept about 1sec to capture the movement but without whiting all detail out. Main problem was getting a different shot in such a well photographed place. The main falls are so often shot, as is the viewing hall and hermits cave. So settled for some more detail shots of the smaller falls and some of the low cloud snaking through the trees of Craigvinean Forest.

Low cloud in the Craigvinean forest

Although the ground was muddy and there was a dusting of snow we continued over trees, down paths and ignoring fathers idea of direction until we passed through a clearing, where a selection of bouders overlooked a rather Scottish looking, baran, mist filled clearing. Very atmosphereic in the winter weather. Then it was on to Rumbling Bridge, which we could hear well before could see as the river was so full and fast. However didn’t get many shots as the spray from the falls was pretty intense and couldn’t get down to usual vantage points due to high river and very slippery stones. So after a wee trip along the riverside we headed back to the car, taking the main path, which was also strewn with fallen trees and debris. So although cold and covered in mud by the time we got back, it was a good outing and was very glad to be out and about with the camera again.

Boulders overlooking the Misty Clearing

We went along the riverside passed the scary, angry looking fish, which Sean seemed to like, then on to a small harbour. Where I slipped on black ice and almost went head first into the Tay, thankfully one foot was still on the grass and I manged to hold onto myself and just as importantly, the camera!

Photo wise, it wasn’t exactly inspiring, but managed to get something. No fancy tricks either, just on aperature control, ISO 100 and on tripod. Did some work in photoshop to get a bit more texture, contrast and hint of colour to decrease the flat grey a little. So not the best trip out, but at least we got out!

Sean and the Scary Fish

Slightly Icy Harbour

I was there. I got a picture of a padlock. That is all…

It's a padlock!

Star trails were always gonna happen

Sarah and I headed to Little Glenshee (not that far from my house) armed with tripods, cameras and as it turns out, not enough layers of clothing.

I was determined to shoot the stars as they appear in the sky instead of the usual long exposure star trails and there had been much Googling for advice as I could stomach beforehand.

Basic advice was to shoot at iso 1600 or more and for no more than 100 seconds as any longer starts to make trails in your stars.

Even on this exposure, the stars started to make a trail

After being a bit unwell I had cabin fever, so called Ian to request a photo shoot as it was a lovely bright day, but no, as his day went from bad to worse we didn’t get to enjoy the beautiful November Sun, instead we get the rather cold November night. Really should of put on at least 3 more layers and remembered the other one of my gloves. After listening to Ian for a change and taking in the info about star shots, I tried the offical way, thought it didn’t work well as it looked like daylight, so turned my ISO (well the cameras ISO, personally i don’t come with an ISO control!) down to 400 and shortened the shutter speed to about 2 mins. Found this worked a lot better and captured many stars and colours which you really don’t notice with the naked eye. And with the help of an app on Ian’s phone (1st app I’ve actually been impressed by) we managed to identify the constellations we could see, not that I remember any now. To finsih off before we froze over I turned down the ISO to 100, turned off the noise reduction and expanded the shutter speed to about 20 mins to take a star trail shot and got a great circle of stars in the moon bathed countryside.

Stars over the hills of Little Glen Shee

Star Trial over the Bridge

The rather scumptious Nacho starter

Although this is a chain of restaurant the one in Perth retains an independant feel, set in an old building at the Smeaton bridge, a building that predates the bridge and still has the old enterance and windows blocked up in the basement part. We shared a starter of Nachos and this was lovely, made with plenty of jack cheese and proper chucks of veg. For my main I broke my wheat free diet, again and had veg quesadillas (though tortillias don’t have yeast and that’s what I really hacve to avoid, can have a wee bit of wheat). Monie had her fave mexican dish chicken fajitas. There was also the option of a buffet for £9.99, but being an intolerant veggie that’s a nightmare as don’t know what is in anything! If I was being good i would have had the tacos which are wheat and yeast free.

Between taking sneaky photos of our food we enjoyed the meal and company. Monie said her fajitias were great and I thought my quesadillas were nice, but could of been spicer as I like a good spice kick in my mexican. The service was fast and polite and the restaurant rather quiet, but it was a Tuesday night. So we could enjoy the rustic tables and mexican hats and drawings withoutu feeling rushed or having to shout to be heard. All in all a good meal and a pleasant night, though not cheap for me as I was paying. was about £50 for us both and we both had 3 courses and Monie had a cocktail while as I was driving I stuck with soft juice.

Rancho Pancho mexican restaurant