Tamanawis » Photos

Pentlands by twilight

mike — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:42:22 +0000

A beautiful evening yesterday, after a day with 12 hours of sunshine, the first for quite some weeks. So good in fact that I tottered up along the Pentland ridge for some minutes and ported the wee camera too.

Red sky

mike — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 22:01:50 +0000

What a beautiful view a couple of nights ago as I glanced out the window at 10pm. Best guess I can come up with is a lenticular cloud. I’ve seen lots of these clouds in photos by Galen Rowell, most commonly associated with mountain areas. There are mountains not too far from here I suppose, but whatever caused it I’m glad it did. Perhaps it’s time to call in the cloud busters, aka The Cloud Appreciation Society..

Evening

mike — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:56:11 +0000

All this changeable weather we’re having is playing havoc with the river levels. I suppose it’s a good thing given the incredibly dry May/June period. It’s also a good thing because some of the evening skies over the past days have been terrifically beautiful.

Spring cleaning.. sort of

mike — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 21:57:26 +0000

I’ve been meaning to ‘upgrade’ my fishing/general pottering camera for a wee while. After much research I’ve now got a lovely Canon S90 to replace the Fuji F10 I’ve been carrying around for the past 4 years.

First impressions are outstanding. It’s low light capabilities in particular are a good stride away from what I’ve grown used to in a compact camera (the sensor is great, but even better is the f/2 lens). Only thing left to do now is replace my aging (and leaking) waterproof camera bag to protect it from inevitable dunkings.. For some bizzare reason though, the best looking one I’ve found, the Simms Dry Creek, doesn’t include a shoulder/neck strap.

If any reader has come across a well-padded, small and waterproof camera case I’d much appreciate hearing from you.

3 bits of rock

mike — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 20:32:40 +0000

For the rest of this week there’s a beautiful sight to be seen in the western sky at dusk. A heavenly triad of a waxing moon, the bright planet Venus, and the more rarely seen planet Mercury. I’ve only been able to spot Mercury using binoculars. Here’s a photo, in case it helps anyone who’s interested. Can you spot which is which? Click the picture and you’ll see my highly swish overlay to guide your attention.

As a true space geek I’ve been keeping track of the planets with the amazing (free) Stellarium planetarium software. If you are at all interested by space and the night sky it’s a must.

I can’t help but feel excited by seeing a planet like Mercury, almost hidden in the orange afterglow of sunset. Perhaps it’s the fact that without looking, you’d never know it was there.

It’s not fishing as we know it, but it does involve standing around looking at the sky (which just about sums up my fishing so far this season).

Up North

mike — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 22:02:49 +0000

Was out fishing at the weekend. Didn’t catch anything. A bit rubbish really.

So rather than post photos of a high and dirty river, stoneflies and grass (the summation of Saturday), here are a couple from the weekend before, from way Up North. And I thought the southern part of Scotland was pretty…

Glen Coe

mike — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:47:58 +0000

The new fishing season opens in less than 2 weeks on some rivers. It’s hard to image it at the moment though. Snow lying just outside the towns, with metres of it in the highlands. Somehow the thought of wading through icy spring water in driving drizzle seems less attractive at the moment that I thought it would at the end of last season.

So my attention has been drawn back to making pictures and dreaming of a warm summer evening rise.

Glen Coe is quite possibly the most (over) photographed region of Scotland outside of Edinburgh’s Old Town. The sight of the great Buachaille Etive Mor greets everyone who passes by the Glen on the way to Fort William and beyond. She really is a magnificent mountain, endlessly photogenic and wonderfully poised facing onto Rannoch Moor. Last Sunday I spent a couple of chilly hours in her company, blessedly alone, admiring the blue glow of winter sunset and trying to avoid getting stuck up to my waist in the snow drifts.

Back online

mike — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:46:09 +0000

Been offline for quite a few weeks.. But we still seem to be gripped by cold weather, with snow on the hills and icy breaths. The best solution?

Pie.

Ben Vorlich bin better

mike — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:42:05 +0000

Snow joke

mike — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 19:47:21 +0000

I can’t seem to get enough of these snowy stories. Is anybody bored by all the snow? Hardship and tragedy aside, I have to say I love the stuff, it’s great to have a proper winter. And just to cap things off, Aviemore has had to close its ski centre because….wait for it… there’s too much snow. Too much. Aparently there are 5 metre drifts over the roads near the centre. Not 5 feet, 5 metres of drifting snow. As someone who’s watched ever warmer winters develop over the last 15 years, it really is enough to warm the cockles. Or is that cool the cockles?