This particular place is likely my favourite place on earth. Of course I haven’t seen it all yet. Eshaness brings me peace. I’ve been here a few times in our two trips to Shetland and I’ve gotten to see it under a few different conditions. There is something to be said for familiarity.
Guillemot Pair
While in Shetland in the summer you must go to the Isle of Noss where Thousands of pairs of seabirds nest. They have Guillemots, Shags, Gannets and likely lots that I’m not remembering too. You can get into the island via a boat between Noss and Bressay if you want to walk the island but we took a boat tour that takes you directly to the nesting site. It’s hard in a situation like that yo isolate birds in a frame but I manages this shot of a pair of Guillemots. Amazing how much they resemble small penguins. I like the environmental composition in this. Who says we have to fill the frame?
Photo of the Week #243
We just returned from our second trip to Shetland. Awhile back I wrote about comparing an organized photo tour with a self-guided trip and you know what? My original feelings were only reinforced. We really like the idea of setting up a home base and working from there. This flight was our first ever time that our luggage got misplaced. I’m willing to bet it went to Bergen without us as there was a plane from the same airline loading for there when we arrived.
We had to purchase a few things to get us going but the horrendous weather was the real issue. It was so windy and cold we really didn’t have the clothing to do very much. Our luggage caught up to us by day 4 and we were set with our rain gear and some more layers to deal with the low teens temperatures we were experiencing. All things considered, I would rather be in some northern destination than sitting on a Caribbean beach any day.
One of my favourite images came from a hike we did in the rain. There is no bad weather, just poor choices in clothing they say.
Photo of the Week # 223
A photographer I follow on YouTube has an interesting approach on new gear. He doesn’t push the newest and most expensive gear at you, nor does he even condone you buying it. He is a high end commercial photographer yet he uses equipment that most of us consider obsolete. Why? Because it does the job well and it is inexpensive.
I recently observed a conversation in a Facebook group where a person asked opinions regarding a quite high end PC he was considering for photo editing. He immediately began getting bombarded with opinions on why he should buy MAC and not that PC.
I’m so tired of the whole scene, I’m tired of the snobbery among photographers. I do follow YouTube photographers as I love to learn the craft but honestly, it’s like watching commercials for new and gear that I can’t afford and frankly, don’t need. They can’t even talk about their camera without rhyming off the brand and model of it.
In the real world, not all of us can afford the newest and greatest gear and that’s fine because it’s the photographer not the camera, right? I don’t have one of the new mirrorless bodies and to tell you the truth, I doubt I ever will. Picture quality hasn’t improved really, it’s mostly features that have changed and mostly to do with video, which I don’t do.
Another interesting observation Scott (Tin House Studio) made a point of the fact that if he troubles himself too much with the technical aspect of photography, it can kill the creative part of the job which is what he gets paid for in the first place. I immediately thought of myself as I worry far too much about the technical aspect and not enough about the creativity part.
Photo of the Week #199
The Limestone City Blues Festival has long been a favourite of mine. Not only because it’s local for me, but it is also a great festival. Over the years, they have brought us some of the greatest names in blues music and this year was no exception. This was their 25th Anniversary edition and I have the shirt too. The festival takes place each year on the last weekend of August and I look forward to it all summer. This year, the main stage saw two great shows, not to mention Confederation Park stage and all the local bars featuring the greatest music in the world!
