Great Britain
So I ended up in Glencoe twice in the one week, first trip I didn't bother coming here as I knew when I came up on the Sunday my friends would want to stop here. That became an absolute definite after we ran into a snow storm on the way in which gave a nice fresh dusting of snow everywhere and was a total transformation from my trip on Wednesday, which was a beautiful Spring day.
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I'd pretty much given up there being any kind of sunset here today as it was very overcast and raining on/off, just driving about I ended up near to here and decided to shoot the pier on Derwentwater, as I got there over the wall there were already 2 photographers there waiting for a break in the weather so with 3 being more than a crowd I decided scrap that idea and come up here instead hoping there wasn't anyone else about, and just chance waiting it out for just a bit of decent evening light.
Amazingly there wasn't another soul about here, which is pretty rare, and after setting up and waiting for a while I even got a decent break in the weather as well, it usually doesn't work out like that but if you don't try you don't get.... about 10 minutes after this image a huge storm blew over with torrential rain, which I took great pleasure in watching from the comfort of the car :-)
I've been wanting to come here for ages to Finnich Glen, so after shooting a (very dissapointing) sunrise at Ullswater while heading out to the West Coast I decided to divert to here.
The weather was (as is usual for me in these parts) pretty horrible, overcast, and raining on and off so I didn't know if I'd be able to get anything but at least I could recce the site out if not...
It's not an easy place to get to without specific instructions, and even then on this day it was like an absolute bog getting to the top of the glen before dropping down the most awkward set of 'steps' I have ever come across with the aid of a few ropes tied to some nearby trees.... once safely at the bottom in the gorge mouth though it is completely worth getting covered in the red mud that seemingly gets everywhere, absolute stunning place and like something from another world, a secret location tucked away from everything, truly amazing place.
The rain didn't seem to be getting through the tree cover above, or it had stopped so with decent light falling into the glen I was good to shoot, spent a good hour or so here and got quite a few images from the visit, this being the first I've uploaded, becuase the light is so low in the glen so dont need much filtration apart from a polariser as was the case here, the most important bit of kit needed for here is wellies or waders.... and a big bag to put them in back at the car as you will be carrying a few more pounds of mud than when you set off !
That said, totally worth it.
An apparently simple staircase allowed me to realize this splendid shoot which perfectly expresses my continued research of an ideal photo composition: a beautiful abstract form (an eye) extracted from a daily life object (staircase).
Spent the day clearing out the computer and came across this shot and decided to give it the b&w treatment and a reprieve, others were not so lucky!
St. Abbs Head light house early on Sunday morning as the sun rises off to the right over St. Abbs itself. Wish I'd got here an hour earlier if I'm honest but still happy with this as it is.
Soon after taking the photo I showed here yesterday I had to run for cover. The dramatic light turned into a short but heavy downpour. The next dry place was right under the Westminster bridge in this passage underground. As I turned around after the short spring and saw this view I didn't hesitate to take another couple of photos. If it wasn't for the rain I might never have gone down there and found this gem of a perspective.
Was out on Sunday witha group of friends for a day of photography. Started off in the Hermitage in Perthshire
Last time I was here I had no wide angle or tripod, so decided to come back when I was better equipped, it also should double as a great little place to shelter from the rain, apart from the fact that the brick lined roof let loads of water in so infact I wasn't much better off, except out of the wind... I liked the old paving stones and brickwork down here leading into the well known scene in front. 93 seconds @ f11.
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The Lowry is a theatre and gallery complex at Salford Quays, Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It is named after the early 20th-century painter L. S. Lowry, known for his paintings of industrial scenes in North West England
Southport Pier is a pleasure pier in Southport, Merseyside, England. Opened in August 1860, it is the oldest iron pier in the country. Its length of 1,108 m (3,635 ft) makes it the second-longest in Great Britain, after Southend Pier. Although at one time spanning 1,340 m (4,380 ft), a succession of storms and fires during the late 19th and early 20th centuries reduced its length to that of the present day.
The pier has been host to famous entertainers, including Charlie Chaplin in the early 20th century, and was formerly visited by steamliners in its heyday, but channel silting meant this ceased in the 1920s. The pier fell into disrepair throughout the late 20th century, and by 1990 it was operating at a significant annual loss with rising maintenance costs. The local council sought to have the pier demolished, but were defeated in their attempt by a single vote. Wikipedia
The continuation of my London series. Here's another famous perspective of Westminster and the Houses of Parliament. I went for a long time exposure to give this photo something special.
I also wrote a few new articles on my blog about tripod and filters I use for example.
My website: Deep Mono Photography
I was recently asked why the skies are always so ominous in my photos. The only answer that I can think of is this...
"And as he drove on, the rainclouds dragged down the sky after him, for, though he did not know it, Rob McKenna was a Rain God. All he knew was that his working days were miserable and he had a succession of lousy holidays. All the clouds knew was that they loved him and wanted to be near him, to cherish him, and to water him."Douglas Adams So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
This will be the last posting for a little while, but I will still be around to view and comment.
A (very) slightly different shot from an earlier posting but i'll probably never take one as good as this again so apologies for the repeat!
This small light is one of two at the mouth of the River Coquet at Amble in Northumberland.
Amble, Northumberland
Thanks a lot for your visits, comments and faves - very much appreciated.
Or the Riverside Museum to give its proper name!
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This was a 5am alarm clock to get to Roker this morning . Great morning watching the mackerel chasing the sprats about & the curious seal seeing what was going on . Thanks to my good mate www.flickr.com/photos/steven_peachey/ for the company Canon 5dmk4 16-35 lens Benro tripod Nisifilters . 60 sec exposure.
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One from a couple of weeks ago at Burrow Mump, looking west into the setting sun.
I had experimented with the in-camera HDR (High Dynamic Range) feature on my 5Diii and rather liked the results. Unfortunately, I had set my camera to shoot RAW and small jpgs, as I wanted to save some space on my hard drives, without doing away with jpegs completely.
As a result the in-camera processing combines the small jpegs into an equally small HDR jpeg. That wasn't much use to me, so processed this from a single RAW, lifting the shadows.
One odd quirk that I've noticed when using the in-camera HDR is that the exposure simulation on live view no longer works. I have no idea why.
The wonky and ancient bridge over the river Usk at Crickhowell as taken from the beer garden of the Bridge End Inn - where you can get a very decent pint of Pale Ale (which tastes even better after a near fight to the death with a bracken forest....).
Looking back to the Rock on the way out of the beach area at Seacliff. Liked the leading line of the path and the framing by the archway and trees behind it.
Mono shot from the Kelpies art installation in Falkirk. They really are something else up close and when lit up.
Title was inspired by the UB40 song which just seemed to fit for me : youtu.be/lNIRBvZugTM
Explore #10 28/08/16
I was about to post up some stuff from Skye, as is always the way your latest trip seems to eclipse the last one as it is fresh in the memory and certain things get lost for a while. An email regarding this image jogged my memory as I wanted to post this on here, this was another shot just before a sea storm at St Monans in Fife, the irregular shaped breakwater standing up to absolutely everything that is thrown at it by nature, hence the title.
B/W to my mind is perfectly suited to this sort of stuff to accentuate shape and is normally something I'd go for here but the colours were appealing at the time of shooting this so this (sadly) became a bit of an afterthought, however the more I look at it I think I prefer this one for many different reasons, the stormy skies being absolutely ideal for this type of shot.
Had big plans for this week, with a week off work and 2 or 3 trips planned, starting off with a visit to Loch Lomond and Millarochy Bay and also to climb up Conic Hill for the views across the loch. Unfortunately I seem to have came down with some form of nasty virus and have spent the whole week from the moment I got home until now, in my bed! Thats now 2 visits north and now twice came back with something other than what I bargained for, hope I've not become allergic to the Highlands!
Slightly different take from my recent trip to the Kelpies. This view hid one of the pylons but still had to remove the power lines.
It seems a good while since I've done anything meaningful in Scotland, the first location in Aberdour was a total washout with the rain appearing from nowhere, in fact in 4 days in Fife I must have seen about 7 or 8 unpredictable sea storms just come rolling in. This was early evening and another is making it's way towards the East Neuk of Fife so I had to really rush to get here and set up before it hit, in the end I managed about 20 minutes of shooting here before yet again the entire area went black and the rains came, this would be the only day where I could do this location due to the weather and tides combining so I was made up to come away with some images of it at last, this time the storms working in my favour instead of against me.
Anyone who's shot this location will know how tricky it is balancing yourself and all your stuff on the narrow wall in the wind, with a concrete floor behind you and the sea in front it isn't somewhere you want to be falling off....
The famous Tower Bridge in London during the blue hour.
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This is the Clyde Auditorium, familiarly known as "The Armadillo", I'm sure you can see why! The weather in Glasgow today was mostly Black and White Long Exposure with scattered showers of colour.
Tucked away in the grounds of Rydal Hall and it's huge gardens, right at the bottom is this great little waterfall and viewing building, it's no secret where it is but it does feel like a secret area by the time you've walked through all the sections of the gardens to get to this spot, a nice dry cool morning was the ideal time to visit on this Autumn day and there was hardly anybody about.
I've posted an image from here already stood right below in the water with a really low perspective, I couldn't decide which one I liked better so I thought I'd share this one too taken from a lot higher up on the bridge which runs over the beck.
Bit of waiting involved with this one as I wanted water movement but didn't want the trees blurring through the exposure so I just had to wait for breaks in the breeze, hardly a problem as just sat here on the bridge waiting with this scene in front of me was hardly making me want to rush anything, a truly beautiful place made even more so by the warm Autumn colours.
The Helical Staircase can be found within the Tower of the "Lighthouse Centre" in Mitchell Lane Glasgow. The Tower was designed by Rennie Mackintosh and used to hold some 8000 Gallons of water for fire protecttion. Climbing the staircase takes you to the viewing platform where excellent panaramas of the City can be had. Well worth the visit.!!
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I getting seriously sick of the amount of dog poo and poo bags on my travels lately....However the human variety complete with used bog roll in the lay-by really annoyed me..........
A shot from the beginning of the year, just after sunrise but still very early morning, amidst the latest snowfall a lone gnarly tree stands within the vast Limestone pavement at Near Twistleton Scar, the tree remains in position despite it's isolated location it has withstood everything the weather has thrown at it. This was an absolute nightmare to walk out to, it's bad enough hopping on and off the pavement over the grikes normally but in snow / ice conditions it seemed to take forever, better to be slow and safe than disappear up there....
You can view my most interesting shots on Flickriver here: www.flickriver.com/photos/pete37038/popular-interesting/
Another from the archives, a magical moment on the Malvern Hills looking out across the Severn Valley shrouded in a light mist and lit up by the rising sun.
Thanks to all Phoide contributors to Great Britain!
Most notably Dee Eff, Lenis Las, Pete Rowbottom, Clive Griffiths, Graham Morris, Andrey Sulitskiy, The Jacobite and Alan Taylor.