I’m back!

I am sorry that I have been neglecting my own website for several years, favouring the simplicity and reach of my Facebook page to share my photos with family, friends, Facebook groups and anyone interested instead.

However, the recent Facebook issue when all photos published from Lightroom disappeared from Facebook overnight came as a bit of a shock. Yes, you read that correctly, every photo published by anyone in the world from Lightroom to Facebook ever had gone. That meant every photo I had published to Facebook going back some five years, with all it’s social history (comments) had simply vanished.

Of course I have the (original and published) photos with the Facebook comments and likes still in my own Lightroom catalogue, but the thought of republishing five years worth of work online is daunting.

The issue was thankfully resolved within a couple of days following the outcry of those affected, and all photos and associated comments were thankfully back. I must admit that Adobe’s support and keeping the community up to date was superb, and in complete contrast to Facebook’s non-existent acknowledgement and communications.

An event like this makes you take a step back and re-think your online publishing.

Placing your prime reliance on a multi billion company’s social media product is perhaps not a good idea.

So I have made the decision to restart my own photo blog and share any publications to this through social media.

Over the next couple of weeks, I will need to bring my website up to date as well as investigating how to best publish my posts to Facebook and, if possible, import the social history (comments) from Facebook to my own domain.

So please bear with me.

Kastellorizo sunrise

It is always worth getting up early at least one day while on holiday to see the sun rise, and tuck into bed afterwards again (of course). The view across the water had been spectacular, with blue skies during the day, pink skies at sunset and dark blue skies at twilight. But the sunrise tops them all.

Hoogender Pijp

The Hoogendsterpijp is one of the ‘prestige’ Waterpoorts (water gates) in defensive wall around Sneek (or Snits in the local dialect) dating from 1613.

Pink and blue Kavos skies

One of the highlights of our two week stay in Kastellorizo was undoubtedly the view from our terrace across to Kavos. Nothing beats watching the end of a great day when the pink glow of the sunset appears and very slowly turns into the deep blue skies of the early evening with a glass of wine (or three) before heading out for a bite to eat on the quay side in the harbour.

Loggerhead turtles

The wildlife highlight of our two week stay in kastellorizo was, without a doubt, the loggerhead turtles frequenting the harbour.

It was just wonderful watching the loggerhead turtles swim in the harbour, both during the day while wandering the quay, or at night while having dinner on the quay side. At one point we could see three heads coming up for air, so the locals are probably right that there are four loggerheads frequenting the harbour.

What is surprising is how territorial these turtles are. When another one comes anywhere near them when there is food involved, the speed with which they chase each other through the water is just unbelievable.

A wander along the Clydeside

A lunchtime wander exploring the walkway on the North side of the River Clyde with some of my work colleagues.

Spot of sunlight on Slackdhu Crags

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.

Lonely Scots pine on the muir

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.

Harani ruins

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.

Great spotted woodpecker

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.

Are you looking at me punk?

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.

Mugdock bluebells

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.