Another Skye Trip!

Please click on any of the pics to see them at a decent size!

Just realised how long it's been since I updated this! Lots of beautiful weddings which I absolutely will get around to posting here......

In the meantime, I've just returned from visiting my parents in Struan, Skye, . Managed to squeeze the bike in this time - always wanted to take it, but somehow there's never been enough room, what with dogs, luggage and the wife :-)

I really fancied doing Glen Sligichan, but was told that a lot of the river crossings would be impassable, due to the huge amount of recent rain. Didn't really fancy cycling hub-deep through a bog, so turned my attention to Glen Brittle, and the Forest of Brittle instead.

I parked up at Carbost and cycled up the road a few miles (and I do mean UP!) to the start of the forest track.  Then realised I'd left the map in the car and had to go back for it.  Grand.

The pic at the top is right at the start of a nine mile circular route through the Forest of Brittle.  Not exactly hard core, but enough to whet the appetite.  Good variation in terrain and lots of routes to choose from.  Pretty hilly too, so warmed the muscles up nicely.

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Unfortunately, the route I chose led to the situation above - after a good three minute steep descent, the track was completely blocked by felled trees.  Great big fir trees at that.  No getting through them, but determination will out, and I managed to scramble above them and make my way along the treeline - even managed a few pedals!!  On the other side, three forestry workers stood with their mouths open as I attempted to climb down a muddy cliff with my bike on my back, using felled trees to hold on to.

One joker quipped, "Did ye no' see the signs?  Ye'll hae to go back"..  Ho ho, how I laughed.

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After flailing about in the forest for a while, I popped out right at the start of the trail which leads up to the fantastically named, 'Fairy Pools' - a series of pools and waterfalls overlooked by the massive bulk of the Cuillins.  The sun came out and I knew I'd have to take the trail or forever feel like a total woose.  The pic above ^ ^ shows the start of the ascent.  It was a ratio of about 20% riding to 80% pushing / carrying all the way to the top of the pass - around 360 feet (height, not distance!!).

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Looking back down into Glen Brittle from Bealach a Mhaim ^ ^  The going was pretty rough - lots of unrideable rocky sections and some hoppable drainage channels.

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The start of the descent ^ ^  I had to force myself to get off the bike to take a pic - this was the most fun I've had on a bike in years!!  Who needs trail centres?!  The same features which were unrideable on the way up the other side suddenly flowed under the tyres - the faster I went, the easier it got!

Stopped to take a quick 5 shots for stitching into a panorama later....  Shortly after this, had my one and miraculously only fall.  A crazy dog was bounding up the hill towards me with its anxious owners bellowing at it to stop.  Because I was watching the dog, I lost my line, and took a header off a three foot drop.  No lasting damage and the dog was fine too.

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Final shot of the day - I was glad to see the hotel nestled in the glen below.  Would have stopped for a pint, but had a 14 Km uphill road bash back to the car at Carbost - some of the hardest riding ever - I was pretty shattered.....

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Cameras for Pleasure....

Well, it's just gone Christmas, and everyone deserves a break, even wedding photographers.

My wife and I (still sounds wierd!) are at my Mum's house on the Isle of Skye for a few more days before heading home. It's been many a month since I've used any of my photography kit for fun - shooting weddings is a passion for me, and the creative possibilities are endless. Now and again though, it's absolutely necessary to get outdoors with a tripod and shoot stuff for fun!


I find it stops any staleness creeping in - other photographers will know the strange compulsion which sets in when let loose in wonderful scenery with a camera. Everything starts to look like an image waiting to happen - any time spent eating, drinking or sleeping feels like time wasted.....

No? Just me?! Can't believe it! Anyway, here's a few from the last few days. Click on any of the pictures to see them at a decent size.


The road from Portree coming down into Struan, sunset yesterday.




Sunset over Loch Beag




Panoramic shot near Storr



Panoramic shot taken from Mum's front garden this morning - the size of the image doesn't do the scenery justice... you can view this one large here:

http://www.ephotozine.com/photo/1086933/large

Ah well, it's been a grand week or so - New Year headaches beckon - looking forward to it!

Katy and alan

Hot on the heels of Lynne and Brian's traditional English wedding, comes Alan and Katy's Scottish wedding, held at Pollockshields Burgh Hall, Glasgow.

Alan is an old friend of mine and it was one of those weddings where it's hard to decide if you're a guest or a wedding photographer! This confusion was made worse by the fact that many of the guests were also old friends - it was a fantastic day in a great venue, surrounded by the best folk you could ever want to be wedding guests.

At the start of the day, best man Sean proves he knows what he's doing.

Katy got herself ready at the rather spectacular Mal Maison, helped by her bridesmaids.

Match day traffic didn't stop Katy from getting to the venue on time (but it nearly gave the photographer a heart attack when his sat-nav guided him into the world's biggest traffic jam!)

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Yes, she is on her way.....

You might not be able to tell, but the chap on the right hand side has on a tartan tie, so he was allowed into the 'kilt shot'.

Katy looked absolutely radiant, and the bridesmaids and flower girl seemed to have scrubbed up quite nicely too!

Straight after the best man's speech. The speeches were done in a refreshingly laid back way, and all were excellent. The emotion shown on Alan's face says it all.

Right, time to relax.

Alan and Katy had found a cracking celidgh band - they were so good that someone managed to dance their shoes to pieces - nobody claimed the shoe-heel found on the dance floor.....

The joys of rear synch / slow flash again.

Frosty grass and a midnight run!

These last two were taken towards the end of the night - the DJ was really going for it, and so were the guests! I kind of felt I'd done my job at this point, so was having fun with some 'experimental' stuff. Both of these were shot using a Sigma 10-20mm lens (super wide angle) and 'narrow flash'. This involves manually zooming the flash head into the body of the flash to achieve a 'spotlight' effect.

All in all, a great day was had - huge thanks to Alan and Katy for trusting me to shoot their wedding. It's always an honour when a couple ask you to capture their day, and especially so when the request comes from good friends.

Everyone Wants My Money!

The Underdogs of the Business World

Or, wedding photographer North East is selling his granny for food.

Small businesses always have a hard time of it. We are at the bottom of the food chain so far as cold, hard cash is concerned.

I've been quite fortunate as almost all of my customers have paid up in a timely fashion. Now, though, the tables are a wee bit skew-whiff as everyone from suppliers to the bank is screaming for my cash. Not that I have any to give them; still, this fact does not deter any of them from pursuing me like a pack of cash-strapped deerhounds, with special pointy teeth.

It's the same old problem - I have a fair whack of cash coming in but it's not here yet - a couple of wedding deposits, payment for a portrait job, a large grant courtesy of the European Development Fund (hurray for foreigners!) and revenue from ebay sales.

As a brief aside, if you are starting a business, you could do a lot worse than going to see your local Business Innovation Centre (BIC). If nothing else, they will usually manage to sort you out some free cash from somewhere.

Do Barclaycard want to hear about the lady in Vancouver who has yet to pay me for a camera body she won three weeks back on ebay? Do they b******s. I've tried but these people are so unreasonable.

The handsome chap in the picture is wearing a fine German Goretex army jacket, starting at a very reasonable £1.99, in case you fancy a bid. It can be found on ebay should you require a top notch raincoat.

Still though, at least I now know there's light at the end of the tunnel, with the grant due in my business account next Tuesday - this should keep the wolves from the door (more dog and money related terminology - is there a pattern emerging here...?)

Well, thanks for popping by - I must go and steal the slates off the neighbours roof.