One Still Life - many processes.

 It's quite remarkable how many different processes you can apply to any given photograph; and that's especially true with still life subjects, where you normally have unlimited time to compose the shot, light the said composition, and then add various other dimensions such as gobe's, smoke and other 'weapons' of light.

These are a few shots I set up with a bust which has decorated our home for many decades; she doesn't often get to sit in the spotlight but, when she does, she never disappoints.

I hope you enjoy them.

From Cockleroy Hill.

 I can't recall exactly how many times I've climbed Cockleroy Hill, but I've done so at least once or twice a year for the last 40 years.

And I'll climb it again and again, because the view from the summit - no matter how many times you've stood upon it - never fails to impress and inspire. I took this image looking North to the Ochil Hills, with Grangemouth in the foreground.

My Sacred Place

The majority of these pictures were taken between the 2^nd & 3^rd of September when, alone, I visited Cobleland Camping site: a small space close to Aberfoyle. It’s a site where I used to take the boys camping and it holds great memories for me.

Lemahamish Pool is my Sacred Place; the place where – for some reason I can’t quite fathom – I feel whole, delivered, and at peace with myself.

It’s a place where nature seems to know me; almost as though it recognises and welcomes me, silently, as a fellow spirit.

For these reasons – and, I believe, many others – Lemahamish Pool is my favourite place, my special retreat.

If my family follow my last wishes, then my ashes will be added to the quiet waters of the pool. And what remains of my presence on this earth will fold into the currents of the stream and become – once again – part of nature.

Getting close up

 Getting close up to a few of my garden flowers.

Hermand Birch Wood

   Looking for something to keep me occupied closer to home following a few months which have seen me travelling both home and abroad, I was pleased to accept an invitation from one of the Photography Groups - of which I'm a member - to join them on a quest to capture images of wild mushrooms.

  And so we gathered at Hermand Birch Woods Nr. West Calder, on a bright and mild Sunday Morning.

  The weather had been a tad soggy over the last few days, but the temperature had remained mild - even as we headed into Autumn; perfect 'mushroom' weather as it turned out. We didn't have to search for our Mycelial subjects as they were sprouting everywhere through the leaf litter.

  These are a few of my own captures. I hope you enjoy them.

Borders Tour

 

It was my great pleasure, last week, to join the PPG group for an organised wander around the Scottish Borders.

Armed with our instruments of choice (I was packing my trusty old Canon 5D Mk iv) we set off from West Lothian to make the journey South at 7am on a Sunday morning.

The weather wasn’t looking great: the BBC weather app suggested a slight threat of rain for much of the day, though, in the end, we were only troubled with keeping the equipment dry on a couple of occasions as rain clouds drifted quickly through the places we’d stopped; on one of those occasions – at Scotts view - we could plainly see the clouds casting their burden over the Eildon Hills.

Our first port of call was Kelso. There we stopped for breakfast before taking a stroll through the quiet, cobbled streets before walking on to the magnificent Abbey.

Next town on our tour was Jedburgh, along with its own Abbey.

With our cards filling up, we journeyed on to the spectacular Leaderfoot Viaduct. This is a remarkable piece of Victorian engineering and offers ample forage for the myopic eyes of our cameras.

It was then on to Scott’s View. This is where I earlier mentioned watching the rain clouds unburden themselves as they passed through the valleys of the Eildon Hills.

From thence, we tucked away our gear until we reached the busy streets of Melrose. While there, we visited the Harmony Garden, with many of its cultivated gardens in full bloom. Again, wonderful images to capture – and we captured plenty.

Leaving Melrose behind, we sped off to The Haining Estate in Selkirk in order to peruse the 18^th Century Palladian Mansion House which stands in glory before Loch Haining. We also enjoyed a short woodland walk which took us down to the Lochside itself.

We ended our day at St. Mary’s Loch, settling just beside the Glen Café – though we’d arrived too late in the evening to find it still open.

Corolla’s fish and chip shop in Galashiels was still open though, and a few of the group partook of their wares before we finally packed the gear away and headed back to Livingston.

All in all though, it was a great trip, and I have since processed just a few of the near 200 images I took on the day.

I hope you enjoy them.