Saturday.
Fast and slow shutter speeds for different looks to the waves receding over the rocks at Seilebost Beach. Soft and dreamy looking for one and sharp and crisp for the other. I love them both.
More Water and Rocks.
First Friday – May 2024
Friday.
It’s been a bit of a month. Wet, wet and wet, which was continuing the rain from March but finally some sunny days to get the washing dry and realise that life is really, very good.
Some new bird photos, or photos of new birds whichever way you like to put it. This Brown Thornbill was one.
I’ve done some more dabbling with cyanotypes and torn paper and lots of thinking about what to do with them and how to frame or mount them. And then the month went downhill.
Flair started having real trouble jumping up onto the bed and started baulking before walking up the ramp to into the car. Then her back legs seemed to give out on her occasionally. Off to the vet, she hates going there as they stick thermometers up her bum, and feel her tummy when she’s got a tummy ache and in general are not nice. They also give her dog liver treats and are lovely people but she can’t separate the two.
Has to be arthritis that is getting worse was first visual diagnoses and X-rays will tell us how bad it is. A few hundred dollars later and shocked, we found she has virtually no arthritis at all! Next stop, the Specialists! A long story short she is now on pain killers and anti-inflammatories for a slipped disc/ maybe pinched nerve. I’m not convinced she’s pain free and it is not a cure. So she’s sleeping more and walking less. An MIR for a dog runs to $4000 to $5000 dollars! For a human in Australia it is subsidised and cost only a few hundred.
Then my 2 year old RAID system died – totally! It’s meant to be a mirror system of 2 drives so if one dies the other has my photos backed up. But no, both drives failed at the same time. Luckily I have most of my files backed up onto 2 other smaller external drives ( a third back up) but not all 😦
I’m still under the five year warranty for ‘restore or replace’ so hopefully those people will be able to recover all my photos. So a few hiccups along the way this month.
I’m still posting the trip I did to the Western Hebrides in Feb/March this year but will leave for the NSW South Coast in a week to have a few months on the beaches down south and then start posting that trip instead. So the posts might seem a little muddled at first which is how I feel at present but once I start the journey it will sort itself out I know. Do come back next month and see what I’ve been up to on my travels down to the Southern reaches of NSW (Australia) and by then I’ll be posting images of that trip and hopefully have my back up files onto a new external hard drive while I wait and see that is going to happen with my RAID system. Maybe good news!
Contrasts.
Thursday.
That view of the snow capped mountains again. The waves were large and the mountains distant but the telephoto lens makes everything seem closer and compressed so you loose some of the idea of scale.
Oystercatchers.
Wednesday.
The pied oystercatchers seemed to pay no attention to the crashing waves but when we got too close they of course flew away. This shot was taken with a 500mm telephoto lens and then cropped in tight.
Textured Tuesday – April 2024
Tuesday.
Bit of a panic here as my Lacie RAID system went belly-up two weeks ago and the files are still being recovered. At least they CAN be recovered! Anyway I’ve no access to all my textures and stuff so I scratched around on the files I have on my laptops hard drive (thank goodness my last two trips to the Western Hebrides were still on that drive) and found some images I thought might work as textures for my paddock weeds. The puddle of frog’s eggs I took on the Isle of Lewis made some really interesting effects depending on the blend mode in Photoshop.
Wind Tossed Waves – Slowed.
Monday.
I love the softness of a slow shutter speed on waves such as these. And yet, I still love a fast shutter speed that captures the waves as the wind tosses the spray high into the air as they make their final fall onto the rocky shores of Harris after travelling thousands of miles across the ocean.
Reflections.
Sunday.
A couple of large pools of water had collected in the rocks around Seilebost Beach and although the wind was blowing hard and tossing the spray from the tops of the waves these pools were still, giving lovely reflections of the surrounding algae and lichens growing on the rocks.
Mountains with Snow – Harris.
Saturday.
I can’t get enough of these mountains topped with snow surrounded by water, all in the vicinity of Luskentyre on the Isle of Harris. Harris is the Isle of mountains and rocks and lochs, a harsh environment to live in but with a wild beauty that has captivated me.
Even With the Pounding Surf . . .
Friday.
The crashing waves capture your immediate attention but if you look closely you’ll find small gems of miniature gardens growing on the rocks. There’s lichen like plants and ones of different colours and they’re not seaweeds either. Where the surf isn’t too rough these little plants can grow a few inches high.
Contrast in Shutter Speed.
Thursday.
Today, the 25th April is ANZAC Day in Australia (which stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) and was started after the First World War (have we learnt nothing in the last 100 years?) to remember those who fought overseas and those that never came home. It is now a day to remember all those who have fought in wars since with memorial services, parades and marches and is part of our national identity.
The images below have nothing to do with ANZAC Day but do show the different effect to be had on waves with just altering the shutter speed. It is personal which you prefer, with some liking one and others the other. Two were taken before the sun rose (the bluish ones) and two were taken after the sun rose enough to light up the rocks and water with a warmer glow.
LEE CLELAND 