Favourite things (Days 274 - 284)

Day 274 - Scowling cow

Most young animals are quite cute and fall into the category of my favourite things. This little calf has lost one of its ear tags - I bet that must have stung a bit.  Maybe that's why it's scowling.

Day 275 - Stunning sunset

 A calm evening with a stunning sunset that lasted over an hour as the sky turned through pinks to yellows - neither of which can be shown in monochrome.  But it was a pleasant way to spend and hour or two - sat on the beach having a natter and taking the odd snap.

Day 276 - Evening clouds

I am strangely fascinated by clouds and the wonderful shapes they make, especially when several different types have formed in the sky.  Dusk provides lovely light to photograph them, catching the detail without worrying too much about exposures.

Day 277 - Evening outside the Glenisle

Monday evening and it's the evening class group.  The nights are now dark enough to practice their night time photography skills. This evenings challenge was to block items, such as people or cars from the picture on long exposures. A useful trick as it's frustrating to have to start again if the bus goes passed.

Day 278 - Not a favourite

Today picture does not fall into favourites, in fact it's an irritation.  Dumping.  I'm sure someone will have salvaged it by now as it only needed a bit of TLC.

Day 279 - Sheep

A circle of sheep.  Why is this a favourite thing?  Because they looked up instead of turning away.

Day 280 - Ailsa though the drum

This old oil drum provided a challenge for today's workshop students as I asked them to photo Ailsa Craig through it.  The easy way is to bend over and shoot backwards between your legs!

Day 281 - Dull dyemill

Today I got totally carried away with the autumn colours and forgot to select an image that was more suited for black and white. But I just love this time of year.

Day 282 - Leaf

Again I'm swept away with the colours of autumn but I did manage to remember (just) to take a leaf that stood out and this yellow sycamore leaf was clinging on to the dark branch.  I don't thing it will still be there after the wind of the last couple of days.

Day 283 - Bramble leaves

Why do leaves of different trees go different colours in autumn?  Beach trees go yellow and brambles go red. Some trees seem to go straight to brown.  I'm sure someone knows the answer.

Day 284 - Guilty pleasure

Oh dear, clearing out the cupboard and I came across a stash of 'Gu' pots. I use these for loads of things but it was embarrassing the amount that had collected in the back of the cupboard.So if anyone wants one I took them all to ARCAS in the hope that someone will be able to use them.  I now I have an excuse to go and buy my favourite pud.

Resorting to nepholography on Arran

Getting inspiration for photography can be a challenge for anyone doing it on a regular basis, and never more so on those dull dreary days when it never quite gets light and the wildlife goes to ground.  But I was taught that there is always a photo opportunity, so despite the dullness of the day my camera accompanied me on the daily dog walk. Not being very optimistic I decided to travel light with just one lens (attached to the camera) tucked under my coat and no tripod. 

Now I should probably let you know at this point that I decided when I started a blog that I would not let it run me and that any photo’s would have to be taken in the usual course of my week.  So if nothing exciting has been happening, or I've been doing work for clients, the daily dog walk is the best opportunity. Now it would be easy to resort to presenting doggy photographs and I'm sure at some point I will, but not today.

Travelling light also makes me really work the camera settings – I hate spending time on the computer making adjustments – trying to capture the atmosphere of the day.  Luckily for me the clouds occasionally broke and glimmers of light burst through.

And a seat that would normally be walked past suddenly looked worthy of a stop.

A touch of monochrome can also work well for clouds making them the subject of the photograph.

Did you know that someone who studies clouds is called a nepholologist and someone who photographs them a nepholographer!