Happily Ever After

Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running

Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.

A Day With The Talented Lenses

by admin - 23:13 on 04 September 2011

At last – some decent weather. So it's a shame that Matchgirl and I spent two hours on the A9 this morning, much of the day in a darkened room, then another two hours in Mr Ford to get home just before the rain.

However, the trip was worth it. The reason for our jaunt was the annual Scottish Nature Photography Fair, near Perth, at which five Talented Lenses gave illustrated talks on their work and what drives them to do it.

The highlight for me was the first speaker, Peter Cairns, who showed some inspirational wildlife images. I was so impressed I bought one of his books, Tooth & Claw. Fantastic. Almost as impressive was gannet enthusiast Andy Parkinson, whose images will appear in National Geographic in January.

What both proved is that there's no substitute for getting up at 5am every day for two months after a night in a tent then walking three miles to get close to your subject. I'll never be a real wildlife snapper.

Also memorable was Sandra Bartocha who produces some amazingly impressionistic images without the use of Photoshop – just in-camera trickery and quirky choice of lenses. Definitely something else to try; shame I'm back in GNoME HQ tomorrow.

Also in attendance was Squirrel James (and Mrs Squirrel) who won the audience photo competition with one of his martens. My submission, a portrait of Mrs Marten, failed to trouble the judges. I'm not jealous (much) but Mrs Marten might be sulking. The Bushnell's caught her without fail at around 9.30pm for the last few nights. Tonight she'd still not visited at 11pm.

Website Update: The online presence I've created for Mr Gardener has proved popular with his customers, he tells me, and the sales pages that went live yesterday have already proved their worth. Take a look at Newmills Plant Centre.

Don't forget, I could create a site for you at a surprisingly affordable price. With Mr Ford's tax and insurance due at the end of the month, and his tyres nearing the end of their legal life, I'll be happy to hear from you.

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