Thursday 22nd December 2011

Home grown parsnips, all ready for Christmas dinner! I'm quite proud of these, the ones on top are a little straggly but the ones on the bottom are good, strong, shapely parsnips, not as thick as the ones you get in the shops but they smell amazing.

42mm, 1/13s, f/5, ISO 400

Sunday 18th September 2011

A little apple foraging with my sister led to an unexpected haul of large hazelnuts.

20mm, 1/200s, f/6.3, ISO 800

Friday 2nd September 2011

A friend's boisterous Jack Russell, and an artificial vignette to highlight him.

4.6mm, 1/60s, f/2.8. (auto)

Friday 22nd July 2011

Home made tiger bread, yum yum yum!

250mm, 3.2s, f/8, ISO 400

Saturday 16th July 2011

The worm eaten bark of an old apple tree.

250mm, 1/1000s (auto from aperture priority), f/6.3, ISO 800

Sunday 3rd July 2011

I took my motorbike for a spin across the Peak District and stopped off at a climbing crag where I knew some friends would be. I spent a little while changing out of my biking clothes, then walked out of the layby, and right in front of the last car, fearless as anything, was this rabbit, just scratching about on the ground for food. It didn't seem at all fazed when I crouched down to take a couple of photos!

183mm, 1/100s (auto from aperture priority), f/8, ISO 800

Friday 1st July 2011

Second half of the year and I... forgot to take a photo! I meant to take one in the evening but by the time I'd done eventhing else and thought about it proplerly, it was 1am. Fortunately I did actually take one, just one, of the yummy yummy curry I made for some friends for dinner :0)

39mm, 1/8s (auto from aperture priority), f/4, ISO 400

Saturday 25th June 2011

Today was our last day on Skye so we drove around visiting a couple of final places. Unfortunately the clag was down so we didn't get many nice views, but we enjoyed a selection of wildlife - common sandpiper, a deer, and some seals. This stag was eating a branch, but I like the way that the timing of the photo makes him look startled.

250mm, 1/100s (auto from aperture priority), f/6.3, ISO 800

Wednesday 15th June 2011

Another close up of an equine nose! This one has a moustache.

250mm, 1/200s (auto from aperture priority), f/6.3, ISO 400

Wednesday 25th May 2011

"If you go down to the town today..."

42mm, 1/40s (auto from aperture priority), f/4.5, ISO 200

Sunday 11th April 2011

It's been a while since I had a double posting but I'm tied between two today. Which would you choose?

Fishes amidst reflections

250mm, 1/320s (auto from aperture priority), f/6.3, ISO 400

or

A horse munching grass

18mm, 1.6s (auto from aperture priority), f/3.5, ISO 800

Friday 1st April 2011

There are so many 'moods' associated with this photo it's hard to find the words to portray them, so I'll give a little description of the situation and hope that the photo speaks for itself. We'd driven up to the Northwest Highlands from Glasgow in the morning and spent 6 hours walking into in to a remote bothy. The weather wasn't as bad as forecast but the wind was pretty strong and we got blown off our feet a couple of times walking up the second valley. There were heavy packs, river crossings, either wet or tricky, and then a lot of bog hopping and wet feet. The bothy finally came into sight although it was another half hour to reach it. Once safely ensconced inside, sodden boots and socks removed and beds laid out, we cooked up our dinner as night fell and perused the stories of previous fellow trekkers in the visitors book. The light of the head torch highlighted the comforting steam emanating from the lamb hotpot inside the foil package, and Jen happily chewed away restoring some of her expended energy.

18mm, 1.6s (auto from aperture priority), f/3.5, ISO 800

Thursday 17th March 2011

Another black headed gull, devouring this morsel before any other birds got in on the act.

250mm, 1/500s (auto from aperture priority), f/6.3, ISO 1600

Friday 11th February 2011

Today I managed to get the shot I promised you on Wednesday. I got that one - this cute little nuthatch, and more - bullfinch, dunnock, jay, and a few others, hence the dead heat for today's post of the day. The trouble with getting a new camera, taking photos non stop, spending an inordinate of time in front of the computer post-processing them, and doing all manner of periphal research, is that you can no longer judge the quality of your shots. However even though I can't *see* how good or bad these photos are, I *know* that they're the kind of shots I dreamed of taking with my new camera, and you've got to be happy with that. I'm sure the ability to see the quality of what I'm taking will return after I've gone away and come back to them - and in the meantime at least I know I'm in seventh heaven while I'm actually taking them, excited about what I may end up with and enjoying getting out and doing it.



This nuthatch was actually a little bully, it didn't come down to feed as often as the others but when it did NO other birds were allowed at the seeds, it kept turning around and stamping towards them to scare them off. The bullfinch arrived just as I was about to reluctanty return to work - it pays to wait!

250mm, 1/400s, f/6.3, ISO 800 (both)

Saturday 29th January 2011

I had high hopes for today as I was heading out for a photography day with my knowledgable friend James. We rendezvoused in the Peak District and sauntered off down a riverside footpath, enjoying having all the time in the world to stop and snap away, without having anywhere else we needed to be. I valued having the opportunity to talk non stop about various tips and tricks and pick James' brains. Towards the end of the day we crossed some stepping stones and got some lovely photos of the streaming textured water with various hues within it, and I thought that would be my photo of the day. However just as we were approaching the road to return to our cars, James alerted me to 'something interesting' over to my left and there was a whole flock of Waxwings, which aren't particularly common in this part of the world. I've never seen one before and here were dozens! Gorgeous creatures. I fired off a couple of shots then we approached them from the road instead thinking that would be less likely to spook them and it worked. Just as I was shooting photos of them in high a tree one popped up in the hedge to my right greedily eating berries, and thankfully my camera already had the correct settings (spot metering, ISO off 100 and on to automatic, as fast a shutter speed as I could get given the light) to record the moment before it flew off.

If my capture is anywhere near as good as this one I'm overjoyed!

250mm, 1/125s, f/6.5 (auto from shutter priority), ISO 400 (auto)

Saturday 22nd January 2011

"Walking on water"

I walked down to a nature reserve near my house today and arrived just at the same time as a chap who had leftover chips from the fish shop to feed the ducks. This bunch was waiting eagerly for some to be thrown their way, then waddled eagerly towards it, skidding all over the shop on the ice.

129mm, 1/60s (auto from aperture priority), f/11.0, ISO 160

Sunday 16th January 2011

Whilst walking in the Cairngorms today we were gifted with a sight of a pair of Ptarmigan, peacefully pecking about in the snow just close enough to grab a photo of. I'm glad I didn't settle with my first few photos as the computer revealed them to be blurred, thankfully I thought to creep a bit closer.

250mm, 1/500, f/6.3 (auto from shutter priority), ISO 200 (auto)

Tuesday 11th January 2011

I had some friends over for dinner today and intended to take a picture of the food, both courses, in an arty way with a blurred all-white or all-black background. But I was so hungry and eager to chow down that I completely forgot, and instead had to settle with a snap of the half eaten cake, representing the mood "no longer quite so hungry" ;-)

18mm, 1/25s, f/3.5, ISO 400 (auto)