Passenger: M8

While I was the passenger in a car tonight, on my way home from work, I thought I would try to take some of my bokeh shots as it's been a while.

Thank you, K, for my many lifts home!!

Lanzarote

I knew I would regret not taking my DSLR or even my film SLR with me on holiday. It's very hard to force an automatic compact to do what you want it to do when it's not already a function of the camera.

However, I did my best to achieve a bokeh shot of Correlejo, Fuerteventura and also to get the lovely colours of the volcanos of the island, showing in amazing layers under the pink sky.

I also attempted some sunset shots, which didn't work out as good as I would have liked.

I also have specs of sand on the lens that I can't seem to remove and they show up in a lot of the photos that I took (meaning it was probably a good thing I didn't take my DSLR).

I had bought an underwater camera for the trip away but I didn't really get an opportunity to use it. When I did use it there were people in it who don't wish the photos to be published so I will leave you with my rubbish first attempts at using it.

I had tried an image of half-in-half-out the sea but the swell was moving too fast for the camera so it either took the photo in or out of the sea. I then tried the camera having the waves splash up to the lens, as you can see.

The flash could either be on auto or off and, for some reason, even though it was a bit murky under the water the flash would not go off.

I felt a bit bad because the fish kept swimming around me no problem but as soon as I put the camera in the water they swam away. I could put my hand in and they didn't mind, put the snorkel mask in and they wouldn't mind but they didn't like the camera.

And lastly, my poor attempt at some aerial photography. I could see the Forth Rail Bridge but the plane was juddering and turning fast and my camera couldn't cope with how dark it was outside the plane window and light inside. Hugest sighs. However, as it was probably the only time I will get to photograph the bridge from above, here it is for you to see.

Lomography

I was doing a bit of photography research today and I happened across a German Lomography site.

Some of the images are excellent and it just goes to show that if you are really a good photographer then it doesn't matter what kind of equipment you use.

But don't take my word for it, have a look at these sample links for yourself.

Alison Scarpulla - very evocative, just as the site says.

Frank Machalowski - wonderful collection of black and white images.

And just for something extra, here is a fairly famous 'lomographer' from Brighton Lomokev - aka Kevin Meridith

Enjoy!

Heron or Cormorant

It was a very grey and rainy day on my visit to North Kessock and very near to the end of daylight hours.

I was determined to get a few photos regardless and I spotted a heron in the water (the Beauly Firth) that was making a good silhouette and reflection.

Or WAS it a heron?

There has been some debate over the bird but I'm fairly sure it's a heron in the photograph. The argument was based upon the legs being shorter and that herons are not normally out in such an open space to do their fishing. Plus, cormorants stretch their neck out when they are about to grab their meal.

However, I say that the legs look shorter because it is in the water and it's neck is long because....well, because it is a heron.

A silhouette photo from a distance is not much to go on but what do you think?

Scottish Reptiles

During a trip to Culloden I almost trod on a lizard whilst walking around the battlefield. Yes, a Scottish lizard, about 3 inches long.

In my Scottish Wildlife challenge (that failed and fell by the wayside) I had obtained a list of all Scotland's indigenous species from Visit Scotland but after finding the lizard I couldn't remember any reptiles being on the list.

However, here is a site with information on Scotland's 3 reptile species - Scottish National Heritage

Here are a couple of photos of the little creature.

The red stone is a bit unfortunate as it looks like a giant tongue. The lizard would not move, though, and I didn't want to frighten him any more. A couple of quick shots taken then I moved on to give him time to recover and hide before anyone else came along.