A lunchtime wander exploring the walkway on the North side of the River Clyde with some of my work colleagues.
With the unpromising weather forecast this weekend, we changed our minds and took a wander across Muirhouse Muir instead of venturing further afield as intended. We started off at the lay-by on the A81, about a mile South of Strathblane, and headed through the delightful little Nature Reserve and along Loch Ardinning to the Muir.
The circular walk over the Muir is on of my favourite walks in and around Glasgow and always makes for a great afternoon walk with superb scenery all around from the Kilpatrick Hills to the West, the Arrochar Alps and Ben Lomond to the North and Drumgoyne, the Campsies and Kilsyth Hills to the North and East. To top it all, the walk circles not just through a varied mixtures of moorland, but also through Scots pine and broad leaf forests with little lochs, pools and peat black streams in abundance.
The afternoon turned out to be dreich, lacking the scattered showers and spells of sunshine as predicted. It stayed dry all afternoon, with a very heavy and often very dark and brooding cloud base. The sun was notable for it’s absence with only two extremely brief, very localised appearances. So much for the weather forecast!
Thankfully, we were in the right location coming down from the Muir to Loch Ardinning when a spot of sunshine travelled swiftly from West to East, providing a brief opportunity to capture the spot hitting the Campsies above Dunblane and below the Slackdhu Crags under a very dark and brooding sky.
I am very pleased with the unexpected photo, warranting an framed enlargement or even a print on canvas.
It had been quite a while since we had a wander out over Muirhouse Muir, but on Sunday we decided to head there instead of going further afield due to the weather forecast as you may already have read in my previous post: Spot of sunlight on Slackdhu Crags.
We did not just venture out on the Muir, but took time to get to one of my favourite photographic spots on the Muir, located in the dip behind the rise from Loch Ardinning and flanked by the central heights with the cairn to the East and the forest at Craigmaddie burn to the South.
When following the path circling round the dip, through the forest and up to the cairn, this Scots pine (and it’s substantial neighbouring bushy tree) will look boring and unpromising, but venturing of the path into the dip and closer to the two trees presents wonderful opportunities.
The Scots pine can easily be singled out from varying angles (to get rid of the uninspiring bush) with fantastic backdrops of Drumgoyne, the Campsies and/or Ben Lomond. On Sunday, it was overcast with dark skies and limited visibility, so it proved to be a great opportunity for a monochrome image with a backdrop of Drumgoyne and brooding skies above.
These are some of the images from my archive showing the same location at varying angles at different times of the year throughout the past 11 years.
The first shot was taken on Sunday.
The second shot, taken on film in 2003 shows the absolutely wonderful tree stump as well as the ‘lonely’ Scots pine with the adjacent bush.
The third shot taken in 2008 shows the same view, with the bush now doubled in height and the ‘long gone’ tree stump. Today this bush is doubled in height again.
The last three shots show the Scots pine isolated from the uninspiring bush from different angles and at different times of the year taken between 2009 and 2013.
These delightful ruined houses on the harbour side in Harani have been empty for decades.
However, with the progression and increasing tourism on Symi, these ruins have now been renovated to house a thriving little shop, conveniently located on the day trippers route from town to the beech.
A visit to my mum and dad’s alway provides great opportunities to shoot the great spotted woodpecker that frequents their garden. Two images of the woodpecker taken during a brief visit on a very dull Sunday morning, taken in-between catching up over a couple of coffees with cake and chatting to my mum, dad and sister. Shot at high iso, so very chuffed with the results.
This is the second year in a row that we have baby robins in the garden. Inquisitive and less shy than their parents, the baby robins sit around long enough to let me go inside, grab my camera and go back out to take a few shots from different angles while he watched my from his perch, before he flew away, following his mum in search of more food rather than being deterred by my presence.
This year’s fledgling is aptly christened Wee ‘Rocky’ Robin in view of his attitude and wonderful expressions.
On our regular walk at Mugdock, Lola and I decided to divert and go through the woods up the hill along a very narrow trail rather than our usual walk along the loch. And a good choice it was, as the wooded area, completely out of view from the main path below was carpeted with bluebells.
The coast at Dunure castle is one of my favourite locations for a Sunday afternoon, wandering round the old harbour, exploring the castle, scrambling along the rocky shore and admiring the views across the water to Ailsa Craig. In winter time, the Sunday afternoon’s wander becomes even more rewarding with the sun setting well before it is time to head back to the city for a Sunday night roast.
On the afternoon of the second Sunday in November, I took a large amount of photos round the harbour and the castle, but these two sunset photos are my favourite.
The island of Ailsa Craig is a prominent feature visible from nearly everywhere along the Airshire coast. The dome shaped island is a volcanic plug left behind by an extinct volcano in the Irish Sea and is nick named Paddy’s milestone because is is halfway between Glasgow and Belfast, as the crow flies.
If you like solitude, the 220 acre island with a ruined castle, a small cottage, a lighthouse and a granite quarry is for sale for a mere £1.5m.
In my previous post Casa Bencomo from 2010, I showed a set of images of the derelict traditional townhouse taken in 2006 and the start of the renovations in 2010. The renovations have now been completed, and the townhouse now houses San Sebatian’s tourist information as well as an exhibition of the history of the island.
When we walked into the restored building, our first impression was that the restorations had been done unsympathetically. However, when comparing the photos taken with those from the derelict courtyard in 2006 that evening, we realised that that judgement had been a bit rash. Granted, the property is fairly empty and a bit too sparsely furnished with a drab colour scheme compared to the look of an original inhabited townhouse. But a few large green plants in the empty pots would go a long way to make the courtyard look less bare.
Please have a close look at the two photos above taken in January with the three photos of the derelict court yard taken in 2006 below. These clearly show that a lot of the original features, especially the woodwork and balcony, have been very well restored. The main differences are that the original three storey East side has been converted in two storeys with less windows, and there is a well that was not visible under the rubble in 2006.
A serie of six abstracts of the Indian Ocean taken at Kalutara on the East coast of Sri Lanka. The abstract nature has been created ‘in camera’ by moving the camera while shooting with a slow shutter speed, a technique known as ICM (Intentional Camera Movement).
I am finally getting round to add some posts to my photo blog from our trip to Symi last July. In this first post, two night shots (taken a few days apart) of the wonderful view to Hinari from our balcony. A wonderful view that we enjoyed with a glass of wine every night before heading out for dinner during our two weeks stay.