The Serenity of Scotland (Mull and beyond)
schmoo
Registered Users Posts: 8,468 Major grins
OK, my turn to bite.
As the entire forum has surely heard by now, the workshop to Scotland was a huge success. We've all come and gone, had so many waking hours and belly-tiring laughs, and more inside jokes than you can shake several large gorse bushes at.
We were fortunate that the weather was so calm. Scotland seemed to be holding its breath while we crawled along the hills and the shoreline, so many well-equipped ants searching for that morsel of beauty to bring back home to share with the rest.
The first day we set out to travel from the big city to our pristine little island. The journey was fractured by the occasional pit stop for photos. Little did we know what marvelous sights would be waiting for us on Mull!
Reaching for the star (but not quite fast enough!) This huge, ancient tree huddled over the inlet like a weary old woman. I tried to make her look a little taller, a little younger.
At the edge of the deep sea, waiting for the ferry in the vibrant town of Oban.
We became fast friends with these triplets of yore, the three sleeping ships that never seemed to notice the blanket of the tide rising and falling along their hips. (There is a third ship between these that you cannot see here)
A theme for the week. There will be many more of these floating around the galleries with an extensive cast of characters and locations.
Our first sunset was glorious. Emerald green hills, snowy white sheep and a celestial show of emotions in the skies:
(There were also very loud and intoxicated castle residents and a dire need to use the facilities)
Each night found us all in the lounge: chimping, poring, laughing, drinking. We took over the lodge as though it was our own home, shuffling between our rooms and our laptops as comfy as could be. The staff certainly made it easy for us.
However, late nights don't stop the coming of early mornings. At least, they didn't early on in the week when we still had some energy left.
I loved the hike out to this lighthouse although I cursed it at the time. So very tired so early in the game! Had I known that I would never make it out there a second time over the course of the week I would have taken greater care to look at the details around me. The path was dark but sheltered. I remember smelling the wild garlic on the damp air, mixed with flowers and brine and rich black earth and that sweet forest scent that, in my home, never exists by the ocean.
I was frustrated by the lack of light this morning, not yet knowing that this was not always something to curse. We had plenty of light that week - no rain! - and an important lesson to learn was to work with what you've got. Don't fight it. And don't be lazy.
More later, to be appended here.
As the entire forum has surely heard by now, the workshop to Scotland was a huge success. We've all come and gone, had so many waking hours and belly-tiring laughs, and more inside jokes than you can shake several large gorse bushes at.
We were fortunate that the weather was so calm. Scotland seemed to be holding its breath while we crawled along the hills and the shoreline, so many well-equipped ants searching for that morsel of beauty to bring back home to share with the rest.
The first day we set out to travel from the big city to our pristine little island. The journey was fractured by the occasional pit stop for photos. Little did we know what marvelous sights would be waiting for us on Mull!
Reaching for the star (but not quite fast enough!) This huge, ancient tree huddled over the inlet like a weary old woman. I tried to make her look a little taller, a little younger.
At the edge of the deep sea, waiting for the ferry in the vibrant town of Oban.
We became fast friends with these triplets of yore, the three sleeping ships that never seemed to notice the blanket of the tide rising and falling along their hips. (There is a third ship between these that you cannot see here)
A theme for the week. There will be many more of these floating around the galleries with an extensive cast of characters and locations.
Our first sunset was glorious. Emerald green hills, snowy white sheep and a celestial show of emotions in the skies:
(There were also very loud and intoxicated castle residents and a dire need to use the facilities)
Each night found us all in the lounge: chimping, poring, laughing, drinking. We took over the lodge as though it was our own home, shuffling between our rooms and our laptops as comfy as could be. The staff certainly made it easy for us.
However, late nights don't stop the coming of early mornings. At least, they didn't early on in the week when we still had some energy left.
I loved the hike out to this lighthouse although I cursed it at the time. So very tired so early in the game! Had I known that I would never make it out there a second time over the course of the week I would have taken greater care to look at the details around me. The path was dark but sheltered. I remember smelling the wild garlic on the damp air, mixed with flowers and brine and rich black earth and that sweet forest scent that, in my home, never exists by the ocean.
I was frustrated by the lack of light this morning, not yet knowing that this was not always something to curse. We had plenty of light that week - no rain! - and an important lesson to learn was to work with what you've got. Don't fight it. And don't be lazy.
More later, to be appended here.
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Comments
Titanic scene? My heart will go on!!!!
More sheep!! Do they paint the coat of the sheep to mark ownership??
www.tednghiem.com
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
i really like the sheep shot!
Aaron, we shot tons of sheep and goats
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
Wonderful stuff Schmoo, great photos and commentary, I love it!
Charlie
I have to say I’m probably the only one of the group that would have enjoyed some real Scottish weather with strong winds and some rain.<o:p></o:p>
"Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons and daughters of the Earth. We did not weave the web of life; We are merely a strand in it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselvs.." Chief Seattle
No not at all! I packed rain gear all week, not warm gear. I would have really liked to see the moody, drippy shots that one expects from Scotland, much like you have in your galleries.
Many thanks, guys!
Photos that don't suck / 365 / Film & Lomography
This shot is simply awesome!!
Looks like a fantastic time
Aaron Newman
Website:www.CapturingLightandEmotion.com
Facebook: Capturing Light and Emotion
Love it.....
www.edhughesphoto.com
Amazing how diff Andy looks when he doesnot shave for several days
Schmoo,
Wonderful post
You never fail to provide a good read and unusual imagery. I am happy you now see the light, in the clouds:ivar
Muench Workshops
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peace, gail
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
See, Schmoo is really short, this went over her head... luckily I'm tall enough to get these things for her. You should have seen the look on her face when she got it :smo
You should have her make the face again and make that her daily.
Great stuff as usual Steph. You know I love the ram.
SmugMug Technical Account Manager
Travel = good. Woo, shooting!
nickwphoto
.... and hours later I'm still laughing!
Sid, sorry to hear that you caught rain. If it had been on us I wouldn't have been able to return all my gear to REI
Thanks, all. I'm trying to accomplish enough Real Life Work to get to the next few shots so I can post 'em.
Photos that don't suck / 365 / Film & Lomography
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The next morning was an early one for nearly all of us. After the sunrise we headed to the beach. It's a funny thing considering 99% of our locations were beaches.
They were such lovely beaches, suited more for the Caribbean than this far north. White and blue, sometimes deep turquoise out beyond the shallow areas. The rocks varied from red to white to black all in one glance. The lichens were kisses of color: yellow and white and green. A most unexpected dirt path wound from the road around the coast. We didn't have time to follow to see where it ended.
Hanging on for dear life
I actually don't even remember taking this shot but I do know that the lack of horizontals threw me for a loop:
This second beach had sheep. They skittered across the sand between the tourists in search of (literally) greener pastures.
I think that's Sid?
While we enjoyed lunch and the view, itineraries were planned and details were ironed:
This one was taken in the heat of a sheepy moment - No time to run back to the car and get a real lens!
We spent some hours here under the harsh midday sun. The purple flowers grasped the deep-rooted vitality of the wild earth and exploded into chromatic giggles at every opportunity:
The cliffs were... impressive (like Sarah's tenacity!)
Last beach of the day. We hoped to catch a sunset at Kintra - which labeled on the map as a town but is really a handful of houses perched at the westernmost edge of civilization. Exploring the hills here was educational, expansive and in some ways very rewarding.
I know that there are many shots from this evening floating around here. We witnessed a beautiful moonrise and a clear sunset over the water.
More custom floral arrangements:
Some were slightly more subtle. I did have a good time holding Scotland's chin in my fingers and scrutinizing some of the "vertically challenged" sights. We relate on that level (no pun intended!)
Skipping ahead to the following day, we were introduced again to the World of Midges. A beautiful grove of trees caught Marc's attention and we stopped to shoot. While peaceful and seemingly very old, the light was tricky:
And since I'm completely losing track of time, the sunset shortly after. I distinctly remember that Sarah was to my left as I shot this, making me look like a slacker. She had her tripod all set up and was taking measurements I'm sure. But I'm sloppy and shoot handheld.
Andy had said to get uncomfortable (meaning: get outside of your comfort zone and try something new) but while I tried that, sometimes the race against light was a pure battle of wills: WILL I try to learn something and risk the shot or WILL I capture the moment as I'm accustomed to doing it? Hmmm.....
And this last shot for good measure. Sid and Kevin at the Glen Coe mountains. This was an exceptionally breathtaking place and I think we all wished we'd had more time to spend here. We got acquainted with Emmanuel's tree a short while later, but there were no Hogwarts-esque mountains there.
Again, more as I get the images processed. I've left some big gaps to fill in the story... :uhoh
Feedback welcome, as always.
Photos that don't suck / 365 / Film & Lomography
Another fantastic series Schmoo, I particularly like this one, it's beautiful
I've been struggling with processing the images I took at this spot, you've nailed it here, would you share your process?
Charlie
For the record sheep outnumber people in Sctoland at somewhere around a ratio of like 30 to 1. How easy would it be for them to take over?
I cropped a portion of this shot out because it was the 8mm fisheye and my feet were actually in the shot, but mostly....
.... Curves, curves, curves. I had a bunch of adjustment layers: one for the rocks, one for the water, and a couple for the sky. Of course, I mask out the sections on each layer that I don't want affected. I brought up the overall brightness of the rocks because in my original shot it was pretty underexposed. Once I have those in place, I tweak them to various opacities and in some cases change the layer property to "Luminosity" rather than "Normal," particularly if the saturation gets too fake in the process.
I also tend to use the Selective Color adjustment layer to bring out individual tones such as reds, yellows and blues. For this I often play with the black slider to darken each one slightly but I run the risk of things looking a bit contrasty (or as Kerry calls it: "overcooked"
Then if I step away for a while and make a pot of tea, come back and I still don't like it I bring up a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer and fine-tune the intensity of a specific color.
I hit it once with USM and upload. Most of the trip i was shooting at ISO 100 or 200 which of course gives flexibility in playing with the exposure but it's not perfect. Some of my shots are pretty noisy because I tend to underexpose, even when looking at the histogram. The next time I'm on a workshop I'll have to really remember to work on that.
While I like it overalll, I still think this shot looks a bit "underdeveloped" to me. I know that Marc took a similar shot with his fisheye (since he was standing about 5 feet to my right) and I would very much like to see how he processed his version.
Photos that don't suck / 365 / Film & Lomography
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Wow, Andy. +1 thanks!
Photos that don't suck / 365 / Film & Lomography
While that is true, the sheep can just troop out and sit on the roads and tie up traffic for hours while the rest of them take over the world.
What a beautiful place and photos
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Hey Schmoo.... These are great... #1 is excellent but #6 (the sheep) is OUTSTANDING! Very well done... thanks for sharing...
Cheers,
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