winter | PK PERSPECTIVE

Myself, Father and my eldest sister, decided to go for a wee walk on the last day of 2011. As the weather left a bit to be desired we decided to not go too far and agreed to have a wee trip up to the Hermitage and walk through to the Rumbling Bridge. Ian had been up there recently and he was rght about the mess the place was in. There were blown down trees all over the place, and not little trees, but big muckle ones. Most had been sawn up and moved out of the way, but the further you moved away from the car park, the more the fallen giants were left where they fell and a little bit of climbing was needed.

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

Perth City- Lunchtime 9th January 2011

After Perth being frozen solid for weeks with pavements packed with inches of ice making it very hard to walk anywhere outside the city centre, the Weather decided to give us a break and get more mild. Mad that mild is -2 these days! But is wasn’t to last, after a slow but steady start to the thaw the sky opened once again and dropped another load of snow on us.

As I was working a late and the sun was teasing me with its lovely rays I decided to head out with the camera, but due to the hard going of walking through inches of snow I stayed pretty close to the city. Unfortunately the Sun decided to hide and skirt around the City so i had to improvise. I turned the camera to Black and White mode and used the wonderful fullness of the wide angle lens to distarct from the lack of sun. As the snow was fresh it still projected quite a bit of light so I could keep the ISO pretty low and still get a good depth of field.

As it was a chilly, snowy Sunday the town was pretty quite so I did what I rarely do and photograhed the main part of the centre as well as the North Inch parklands, which a few days ago where flooded and it was interesting walking over it with varying levels and ice under the snow. Didn’t venture too far in just in case I disappeared into flood water lying in wait. Did do the tourist bits though with the impressive museum building, the Horsecross area at the corner of George steet, and the old Victorian town hall which is no longer used, and really quite ugly in its bulk and over the top design, especially the huge cherubs on top. Though it does have a hidden beauty of its own in its imposingness, even if it does hide the old Kirk which Perth was originally built around.

After about an hour and my hands getting cold and legs sore from the trekking I headed back home for Lunch before going to work. Of course when I set out to walk to work the sky was blue and the sun was shinning uninterrupted in its glory. Typical!!!

Big Bulky disused City Hall, but great for the wide lens

Tag Archives: winter

Winter Walk, last day of 2011

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