Oh flower of Scotland...

A far cry from the Fens indeed... we have nipped up to Scotland for a week's holiday... when I say nipped we actually drove from Ely to Kinlochbevie in a day... If you don't know where this is we are pretty close to Cape Wrath, far north west of Scotland... The drive - most of it in steady drizzle became eventful come nightfall with still 2 hours or so to go... The single track road from Inverness via Lairg became more and more worrying as rutting red deer stags appeared out of the darkness and tried to stare down the car... But we arrived to be greeted by dear friends and large chili...

The following morning, once the sun came up we opened the curtains to this...

The view from the house over Loch Inchard with clearing skies...

The first day has been spent wandering and capturing some initial thoughts...

Ferns and old wooden fence post

Lichens on a gate post with wire..

Seaweed on a small cove beach

Granite block wall...

Darker images also presented themselves... especially for Halloween..

The house on the hill...

...and when you explore the strand-line...

flotsam boot...

bird skeleton...

one wonders just what this bird saw before its demise...

I'm not sure what the rest of the week will hold, but I shall keep posting HERE...

Earlier in the week we visited the Henry Moore Foundation and I was blown away by the scale of the sculptures and their setting in the countryside... The light played on the surfaces and their appearance changed with the day...

I want to own this one...

...and I love the sheer scale of this one...

So that about wraps it for another week - I have just had to race out to look in vain for a lost pair of glasses but now am sitting with a glass of scotch at my elbow and a game stew being cooked in the kitchen... the light is changing over the loch and we have tomorrow to look forward to...

TTFN...

So the days they turn into years...

Happily the client at the health club likes the pictures - "brilliant" is the word used in his email; which is always a bonus... With that in mind I shall post a few of the images I took... just so you can see the sort of thing I can do and what people pay me to produce... A far cry from the wildlife/nature images of recent posts.

I arrived at the club at the agreed time and fortunately was given a free hand to shoot when and where I liked. Club members and staff had been warned before hand so there were no problems.  I had several locations to cover but had allowed enough time to ensure I captured them all.

I started in the creche - mainly because it was empty at the time and I could just get it done and move on. I liked this room as the colours and subdued light gave it a pleasing feel...

Next was a spinning class - I have never heard of this but it looked hard work... some of the clients thought so too...

I then moved onto the main room with the equipment and set about capturing the feel of the room and people using the gear.. I wanted to make the room look inviting, sporty, well equipped and accessible...

Slow sync flash showed the movement of this runner...

I like the low angle of this shot... gives the room height and space...

 This has an industrial feel to it...

After that I moved down to the Spa - when I arrived it was empty, however a young lady came in and very kindly agreed to be a model for the shots... Thanks Carol...

I chose the letterbox crop to emphasis the size of the room and give the space room to breath...

I also had some help from a guy using the gym...

Thanks for that who ever you are...

So the whole shoot was fun to do and I like the pictures that resulted...

By mid week I was then to be found standing in the pouring rain n a country park helping to supervise some school children doing some orienteering... Luckily close-by were some nice autumnal leaves...

I find it hard to resist autumn colours... their subtlety and variety never cease to delight...

Beech mast...

Rainy weather is a good time to photograph this sort of thing as the colours become more saturated... if you want good colours in plants, shoot under leaden skies...  If, however, the sun is out, get out early, make use of the golden time and look for this sort of thing...

Back lighting... brings out great detail on the worn and weary alder leaf...

So, that brings us to today... cloudy, dull and misty... (song by Cole Porter I believe) and I have a child's Halloween party to enjoy tomorrow... joy...

Follow my postings HERE and hope you all have a good week...

TTFN...

behold... the eye of the fish...

And so Autumn arrives... chilly nights, some sunny days but mainly cloud and some rain... Yep, we left the sunny Gulf for this and I don't regret it one bit. It is great to feel the seasons changing around me... waiting for the winter migrant birds to arrive, watching for the colours in the hedgerows to change... waiting for the first frost.  UK seasons - you can't beat them.

The week started OK - I finally got round to shooting my pack-shot... this is an image for the portfolio that basically shows prospective clients that I can set up a product shot, light it and produce an image that could be used to sell that product.  I chose (wait for it) a cooking block from a well known superstore...

... yeah I know it isn't very rock 'n' roll and a million miles from the Robert Capa stuff I dreamed of doing 20 plus years ago but hey... This was taken in my kitchen using my trusty Nikon D2Xs with a Nikkor 85mm f1.8 AF-S lens. Setting this to the largest aperture I was able to get the nice creamy bokeh which helps to isolate the subject. Lighting was by 2 separate speedlights placed on either side of the subject and shot though white umbrellas. These lights were controlled remotely by a third speedlight mounted on the camera. I quite like the result and it makes a decent addition to the portfolio.

Following on from this I had to prepare for the shoot I had booked on Thursday. I had decided to rent a lens for this job - a Nikkor 10.5mm AF fisheye to be precise.  The reason I chose this was basically because I wanted to give some of the pictures a different feel, a bit of pizzazz as it were. The lens arrived on Tuesday and I took it to the Mill to give it a go...

 
As you can see, the extreme wide angle give dynamic images... images that zing... I love the effect and when there is a good sky... well the last one in this group has impact...  The final shot here has been adjusted to lose the curve, just to give a really wide view...
Incidently, I hired the lens from Lenses For Hire and can recommend them should any of you need a lens for a one off...

So, the shoot came and went and was really enjoyable... Can't post any pictures as yet as the client needs to see them first but the staff and members of the club were helpful and the time spent there was productive. 300 or shots were taken and we have 50 odd to submit for approval, which is a pretty good return, w usually work on a 10% return so I am in credit here...:)

A future project is to shoot some film... again... I have dusted off a lovely old Nikon FE film camera that has been sat in a bag for several years, found some batteries (hearing aid types and he won't need them), slipped on a 50mm lens and loaded some Pro B&W film... It feels like the 1980's again and I can't wait to see what the results will be when I get out and about. I have to remember that every shot costs money so there is no scope for shooting and hoping... I hope I get a decent return... 10%? 3.6 usable images from a 36-Exp film... Ha! Ha!

Finally, I took some plant shots in our garden... basically because we have a lovely mix of arable weeds coming up in the drive... I can't face digging them up so have had joy in watching them grow.  In addition we have a lovely honeysuckle still in bloom...

Petty spurge - Euphorbia peplus

Honeysuckle in bloom...

Both shots taken with Nikon D2Xs + Nikkor 60mm f2.8 AFD...

So that about wraps it up... adverts need to be written this week and more promotions done... Christmas is coming as is my Wedding Anniversary... Keep up with me HERE, HERE or check out my WEBSITE. I hope to see you all next week with maybe some shots from the shoot this week...

In the mean time

TTFN

...village green preservation society...

Well, I woke up on Friday morning and suddenly realised that not only had I not taken any pictures for a few days, but I hadn't got a clue what to do for this weeks blog... No pictures, no idea... Hummm I thought what to do? But then more paper work and mundane things like that loomed so another day passed...

This morning (Saturday) I had to face the fact that I still hadn't got a topic or pictures. Then it occurred to me that although I had done a piece on Ely, I hadn't introduced my new village to you all... So, once Saturday morning chores were out of the way I walked out from my front door to see what the village of Wicken had to offer...

Well, you have all seen the shots of the Fen and some of the wildlife in these blogs during the past few weeks, but the village itself is a delight... If you escape the busy road that runs past my front door, you pass into a lovely mix of old houses set around typical village greens (yep it has at least three greens). It also has a pond...

Village pond with some of the residents...

Picture book houses reflected in the murky waters...

Village green... this is the one directly across the road from my house - my office looks directly at the red car. In the distance is the local...

White picket fences and thatched roof... archetypal Englishness...

House with a duck pond view... or duck house with a cottage view... The weeping willows add some majesty to the surrounds...

Re-thatch...

Once autumn gets a hold this house should turn red as the creeper reveals its true colours...

Outside my window... hey guess what, the mill is open!

Village notice board... somethings never change...The  butterfly is a recurring theme throughout the village and can be found on notice boards and village signs...

Unfortunately there isn't a theatre down here...

Tonight... the village will be rocking...

So that's the village... picturesque and a a delight to be here. I will repeat this with different shots in the depths of winter...

So, what have I been doing all week? Well sorting out the business, drawing up accounts, deciding to change my phone and then deciding against so by cancelling that... and booking a new shoot for next week... The Atrium Club in Ely has booked me to shoot some promotional images for them to use in literature and on their website. First job since coming back and hopefully the first of many. Also I have been invited to join a group of businesses in Cambridge; this could also lead to more work... Bring it on that's what I say...

And that is about it... hopefully next week will be more productive.. calendar has an hours shoot scheduled for every day - need to do a pack shot...

Updates HERE more information HERE and you can follow me HERE.

So for this week...

TTFN