Voices echo from the opposite loft...

It's been one of those weeks when it would be good to rewind it and start again...things have just happened rather than planned and photo opportunities have been few and far between...consequently I have been looking back in the archives again and reprocessing images that could have been managed better in the past. This is actually a great idea...creativity changes through time and new techniques are developed...an old image can be changed and turned into something worthwhile...

If you followed my work from the UAE then you may recognise some of the following...this time revisited in my new monochrome conversion...

I really am liking this conversion at the moment...really pleased with the contrast and tones...blacks that are black and whites that are white...

I have also looked at different crops for old images...

In particular I have always been drawn to the square format - in the film days I loved to shoot with an old Rolleicord 6x6 medium format camera - the slides looked stunning on a light box and even better blown up...looking back on that I created the two images above...The girl meditating was originally posted as a long panorama, which I liked but not as much as the square version above...The portrait of Lucy really works as a square image...look out for more of this type here... or here... as I work though my archive...

I did manage to get out briefly onto my local walk this week...one sunny, late summer day...

peacock butterfly - a bit tattered and sluggish after a chilly night...

brown lipped snail...such a delicate colour...

migrant hawker dragonfly enjoying the sun...

wild carrot - still can't resist them...it's the shape...

comma butterfly...fresh and bright - late second generation...

...these two images are of dock bug - above is the adult, below is a nymph preparing to change into the above...

I have also been doing a bit of experimenting on my iPad - although I wouldn't use it for a commercial shoot it is fun to play around on...any camera is useful regardless of the type...I have already said I will happily use my phone to capture family moments etc...
What I like about this particular app on the iPad are the patterns that can be created out of everyday objects...

...a fireplace...

...my guitar...

...one of my cameras...

..Lucy's running jacket...

...off-cuts of material...

I may even try some more during the week...they usually get posted here...

And that is about it for this week...I continue to sell images via the Dreamstime Picture Agency and shoot insurance images when commissioned...more stock to shoot this week I think...let's get some more uploaded...

Hope you all have a good week and I shall see you back here next time...

TTFN...

No need for anger; no need for blame...

Well you won't get me I'm part of the Union... yep a week is a long time in politics - this time last week there was a great chance that Scotland would vote to leave the United Kingdom and break off on their own as an independent nation...unfortunately when it came down to it the scaremongers in Westminster managed to put the frighteners on enough people to win the day...does this mean every election from now on will be fought using fear and threats (I mean more than it is now) rather than positives...I wonder why they don't try saying "...vote for us because we will be good for the country..." rather than "vote for us because the other lot will be bad for the country" just a thought...

As for photography it has been another frustrating week and mainly due to the weather...as autumn approaches the countryside changes...plants enter senescence, invertebrates start to vanish, fungi appears and all that...and as a wildlife photographer I look to record these things. However, the unseasonal warmth had held the plants back and restricted the growth of fungi (at least around Ely). There are still butterflies about of course but I have photographed many this year and repeating shots already taken is a waste of time and pixels...so I wait for some cool weather...early morning dew...chilly weather...let's see some fungi coming through the lawn and populating dead wood...I want to see slime molds...and most of all colourful foliage...

What I have managed to shoot this week includes...

chicory...such a lovely colour...

bracket fungi...

snail...off to look for some food no doubt...

speckled wood butterfly - enjoying the late summer sun...

The first dewy spider's web...they do make great pictures don't they...although one does tend to look very much like another...

I have been practicing various techniques in Lightroom this week - mainly black and white conversions...this next selection will be unpopular with my mother as she likes the world to be in colour (I suppose that's a result of living through the 1950's where everything was in monochrome!) but that aside...here are a selection of monochrome landscapes created this week from older images from my library...

Malham, North Yorkshire.

Morris dancer...

Scottish croft, Kinlochbervie...

glowering skies - North-West Scotland...

seascape...

Staithes, North Yorkshire...

Staithes...

Staithes again...

I'm pleased with the conversions of these images, particularly the ones of Staithes - I feel the view lends itself to monochrome...Lightroom is so good for this sort of work; it just takes a little time...

And now the equinox is upon us...for all you sun worshipers out there that means that it's influence is starting to diminish; nights will be drawing in and maybe, just maybe we will get some seasonal weather. Now don't get me wrong I love the long summer nights, warm, balmy days and all that...BUT I also like the winter...in fact I like all the seasons - let's have some mists, frosts, gales now and then some snow in a few months time...then we appreciate the vernal equinox even more and all that that promises...

To finish this week...here are a couple of autumnal images to welcome the Equinox...

I hope you all have a good week...you can keep up with me here as always... or failing that here on Flickr...

TTFN

My heart's in the Highlands...

Possibly the last one as part of the Union - the referendum on Scottish independence is fast approaching. With all things Scottish in mind I started to have a look back at pictures I have taken there in the past...I love Scotland - probably my favourite place on Earth and I have worked and holidayed up there many times...looking back on images it's easy to see why...it's beautiful. On top of that I have several good friends up there and always look forward to a visit...I feel my soul weakening the longer I stay away...the pictures help, but they can't replicate the air...the tranquility...the sense of inner peace. Which ever way the Scots vote next week I hope it is the right one for them as a Nation...

Bonny Scotland...

So my selection starts in 1984 and my first holiday with a proper camera...Nikon FG. This was the trip that fired me for photography...from then on it was a never ending quest to get better... and obviously to acquire more and more gear!!!

The images above were taken using a 50mm lens and on Kodachrome slide film. They are not well scanned but they are dear to me...

This one is from a trip in 2001 - still working with film but the cameras had changed to a Nikon F90X probably using a Nikkor 18-35mm lens and this time on Velvia 50 slide film. This is Loch Malachie in the Dell of Rothiemurchus in the glorious Caledonian Pine Forest at Abernethy - just the names send a tingle up my spine...if you have never been please do...it is a glorious place...

This final selection are from my last trip up there - last October/November - this time to the very far north...Caithness and Sutherland... and the wonderful coast on the North West...storm battered and windy maybe...but you won't get better scenery anywhere...

Whatever you do Scotland I wish you all the best and I will be coming home soon...!

So...all things Scotland aside, what else have I been doing? Well with the schools back I have managed to get out and about - along the golf course, down the path near Quinn's school...being autumn the subjects change...

feverfew...nice little plant...often overlooked

giant horsetail...

greenbottle...on ivy...

honey bee...on ivy...

hoverfly...on poppy...

wax cap fungus growing in the lawn...

marble gall on oak tree...

not too sure about this one...could be white dappling - one of the edible mushrooms...

shepherd's purse seed heads...a common arable weed...(weed?)

two fungi in the lawn appearing like a pagoda...

So the flowers slowly vanish and the fungi start to appear...insects slowly disappear...fruit ripens...

London Plane tree fruits...

common wasp...on ivy...

migrant hawker dragonfly with dew...

All pictures taken on my Nikon D2Xs with a Tokina 100mm f2.8 AT-X Pro macro lens..my go to gear for wildlife...

The image below...Nikon D200 + Nikkor 20-35mm f2.8 AFD...

Quinn... doing what he does...

I have been working on trying to produce images that mimic old film types...below are two images...the colour is supposed to be like Kodachrome 64 the monochrome like Tri-X

...And that about wraps it up for this week...weather has been kind...and some of the images I am pleased with...I will keep working on it and lets see what happens next week... You can keep up with me here... or if you don't Facebook then have a look here... - hope you all have a good week...

Good luck Scotland...

TTFN