Taking a break

                                     Nikon D90, Nikon 35mm f1.8 AFD


The snow had been pretty and relentless at the same time. For a number of days we got regular snow showers and just when we thought things had cleared we got a continuous 8 hour blizzard which brought Scotland to a standstill. The boys had a fantastic time and because we were limited in where we could go we went the same park each day for sledging. They made friends with a kid up the road and they spent most of the time out on their sledges. Apart from this short break they kept moving so they weren't feeling the cold. Being the chief toffee dispenser and general pack horse, I did.

A Walk in the Woods (Part 1)

I took a quiet walk with the dog through Wemyss Firs on Saturday. Apart from the Scouts and a few joyriding motorbike scramblers there is rarely anyone else around. I saw two huge Buzzards in the fields beyond the woods, and a deer (a photo of which I will post soon). Chestnuts were falling from huge trees along by the river, and the remains of many open, half-eaten ones lay on the ground. I had taken quite a few pictures of the sun coming through big, old, gnarled trees - Oak, Chestnut, Beech - but none of them seemed to work out. All a bit cliched and poor quality (note to self - make more use of tripod) but I like the effect of the layers in this 'puddle picture'.

Deia, Mallorca

There are those occasional moments in your life where you find a place that you just know, or rather feel, could be the place for you. The drive from Andratx, heading north east along the coast to Deia was stunning. And Deia itself was beautiful too so I took a few photos. I was envious of the few riders out on their road bikes in the gentle winter sun.

Bramcote Park

I've been re-energised by some lovely comments about my previous post so I've been working on some images that I took in Bramcote Park in Nottingham. My friend Simon took me foraging for mushrooms and the morning's autumn sunlight was breaking through the woods - it was one of those beautiful days that you feel lucky just to witness. Going out of doors was the right thing to do. As a mushroom hunter in autumnal undergrowth, I found myself limited by my red/green colour blindness - at one point I was excitedly poiting at something that turned out to be half of a rotting, dog bitten tennis ball. I decided my talents were better spent on taking photos.

Hear The Wind Sing

We took the boys out on a red squirrel hunt on Saturday. The weather was foul, but the afternoon was great and they just loved it. There were no guns involved - when I say 'hunt' I really mean more of an educational expedition to look at red squirrel habitats and learn more about their behaviour. It was run by http://www.fifecoastandcountrysidetrust.co.uk/ - we were the only 4 people on it which seemed a bit sad but it meant we had the countryside rangers all to ourselves. Anyway, as I was wandering through the forest I noticed the way that the wind was blowing certain trees around - Norwegian Spruces, Rowans - so I put the camera on the ground and pointed it up. Using a slow shutter speed I hoped to capture the feeling of the wind. I'll be pursuing this in more detail but thought I'd kick off this year's winterlens with a couple of images on this theme. Coinidentally, a colleague lent me What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami so I took the liberty of using the title of one of his other books as a title. Sensibly, the red squirrels kept themselves indoors.

Sandscapes

I took a few images at Pettycur Bay this afternoon. This is a place I keep returning to as I always find interesting views and I love just being by the sea. My only concern in that my dog doesn't charge across the area I'm showing an interest in and ruin the ground. He nearly always does, so I've developed an elaborate play of encouraging him elsewhere with biscuits and other treats. If that fails I pretend to be interested in some other part of the beach and he just goes and digs there.

(Night)

The space between things

Winter Trees

I think the golf course is an under-represented area in the pantheon of the photographic landscape and could lend itself to all sorts of interpretation (apart from self-deprecating humour). This was Aberdour Golf Club on January 12th, taking a traditional landscape viewpoint.

Edinburgh Blues

finding the mini parked here made me smile.

Penplannau

Our boys were so excited to wake up to some snow. They were both at the bedroom window in the early dawn light and I eventually dragged myself out of bed and went over to see what the snowfall was like. I just wish for a real heavy dumping of snow, but they enjoyed what was there.

Winter Woods

chickenshed

the low winter sun gave this most basic piece of countryside architecture an eerie presence

feeling tents

here is an image from a scene that I keep returning to. I've got about 5 or 6 photos from other visits and have tried different compositions, areas of focus, colour and black and white. I felt that I was getting closer to what I was after with this visit- a sense of mystery and suggestion of fairy tale.

Recycle your shopping bags

or if you're anything like me I get to the checkout and then curse myself for leaving my eco-friendly bags at home and have a(nother) minor guilt trip about not helping to save the planet

autumn leaves

also one of my favourite jazz songs

a day at tentsmuir

If you're ever up in Fife, or St Andrew's, and you like the open sea air then try and visit Tentsmuir just out of Leuchars. It is a beautiful haven of pine woodland bordering the north sea. The woodland shelters you from the cold sea wind (you need it) but the beach is a huge open expanse of sand and offers a bracing walk, although to be fair my kids went swimming there in August on one of the sunny days we had.