This shot took me a little while to set up exactly the way I wanted it - the lighting being the most time consuming as I knew exactly what I wanted to achieve and wasn't willing to move on before getting the shot in the bag.
It's by far one of my favourite black and white shots that I've ever taken and I think the patience paid off in the end.
Wednesday 9 December 2009
Hummer
Porsche 930 Turbo Shoot
This is one image from a shoot I did in California of this modified Porsche 930 Turbo.
Image was taken at one of the old derelict buildings left over from world war 2 at the Marin Headlands not far from the Golden Gate Bridge.
Renault Clio Sport 197 Rig Shot
A recent rework of an old shot taken of the Renault Clio Sport 197 which was only just being released in the UK. I had the car for a number of days to write a test drive feature on it and shoot some pics for a UK car magazine and some local papers too.
Sunday 25 October 2009
Beached
For these poor rocks there life of fun being thrown about in the sea off the coast of Mol Foirsgeo Beach on the Isle of Lewis has ended.
They now have to live out the rest of their lives lying stranded on the beach and hope that some tourist will take the time to lift them from the sand, carry them to the water and once again set them free.
Saturday 24 October 2009
Stand Tall
On the Isle of Lewis when you are hunting for some standing stones the obvious place to visit is the more well known site at Calanais (Calanish) which always seems to draw a crowd come hail or shine, but if you drive up the North-West of the island towards Port Nis (Port Ness) you will find another set of standing stones known as Steinacleit.
They may not have the same impact to the eye that the Standing Stones of Calanish have, but when you take some time to look at just how large the stone circles are at Steincleit you get the impression that this is infact was the larger set of standing stones / stone circles on the island, but over the years has been pumelled by the weather and many of the stones have gave in along the way.
Wednesday 21 October 2009
The Long And Winding Road
One of the main highlights for myself and Mireille during our summer holidays has been that we do the entire trip in "the big chap", which is code for my 5.7 litre V8 engined Monaro.
Normal life in Germany sees Mireille driving her Corolla and me with either a company car or my 1.2 litre Corsa, so when it comes summer holiday time we like to have the little bit of extra comfort the Monaro provides.
Obviously it's great having that huge engine under the bonnet/lid too, but with us liking the highlands and islands for our normal holiday destinations there aint much point in even trying to open her up properly as there's more twists and turns than you'll find at a Friday night dance class.
I love this particular shot as you can see the road running off into the distance with the Monaro sitting there idling, just begging me to get back behind the wheel and see us disappear over the horizon in no time at all.
One other funny note is the comment that Mireille says every time she sits in the Monaro these days - "ok, so where are we going on holiday this time", it's always great fun being behind the wheel of the car and for now it remains as being the "fun" car while the others deal with the daily grind.
Tuesday 20 October 2009
Ditch of Blood
After visiting the ruined remains of the Trinity Temple on North Uist we started to make our way back to the car.
This shot was taken about half way back towards the main road (just before crossing the wooden ramp which lets you cross the Ditch of Blood) and is a perfect example of why you shouldn't only shoot pictures in the particular direction you first look - the return over the path which had been trampled into the grassy hill looked simply stunning with the blue sky and fluffy clouds overhead.
One of my favourite photographs taken on North Uist.
Sunday 18 October 2009
The Marker Posts
After arriving on North Uist from either of it's seaports you have two options for navigating your way South once you reach the outskirts of Lochmaddy, one road takes an almost direct route to the Benbecula Causeway and the other will swing you around the West Coast of the Island - choosing the more direct option will take you past Barpa Langass Memorial Cairn.
As you pull off of the main road into the small carpark you will find these awesome marker posts defining some of the parking spaces, they give you a feeling as though you're stepping out of the car and instantly being transported back several hundred years.
A short walk up the nearby hill (don't worry, there's a path to this one) will bring you to the chambered cairn itself. The cairn measures approx 72 feet in diameter and is just under 20 feet tall. It has been dated back to the Neolithic age, and it's roof is constructed of two huge slabs with a third slab added on top of these - it may look like it's been made entirely of small stones, but these are only to cover the slabs etc in line with a normal looking cairn.
There is one single entrance to the cairn which is found on the East side, and surprisingly you can still enter one of the chambers even though the structure has partially collapsed over the years.
Friday 16 October 2009
Home of The Fairy
Even before I processed this image it was one of my favourite shots from the Isle of Skye where we spent a little over three days during our 2 week trip to the Western Isles.
The crag (rock) itself was a sight to behold - seemingly having been thrust through the ground which lay beneath it with extreme force, the landscape which surrounded the entire location and that awesome little path which will have seen hundreds or even thousands of shoes pass over it's dirt and stones each and every day during the summer months.
The area is known as Fairy Glen, but it's somewhere you have to visit for yourself to fully feel the magic that seems to eminate from every part of this famous spot.
Nature Will Always Find A Way
When you first look at this picture you're no doubt seeing a random twig with some leaves, but in reality this small tree is growing out the side of a cliff face, where you wouldn't expect the tree to grow - it's the sort of location where you will normally find moss and such plantlife, but not a tree - it's definitely one of those times where nature managed to find a way to make something happen that you normally wouldn't believe possible.
Yours Truly
It's not all that often that you'll find me uploading pictures of myself, after all I'm normally to be found behind the camera rather than in front of it, but I took this shot of myself after climbing to the very top of the hills which surround Fairy Glen on the Isle of Skye (I would have asked Mireille to take one but she was off exploring another part of this amazing location which is often referred to as "the highlands in miniature").
Road Through Nature
Deep in the heart of the Isle of Skye lays a road which winds its way through the amazing landscape from the Port of Uig on the West coast of the Trotternish peninsula all the way to Staffin on the East coast, with the Eastward bound skyline being dominated by the mighty cliffs of the Quiraing.
The Ascent
While taking the ferry from Uig on the Isle of Skye to Tarbert on the Isle of Lewis it gave us plenty of time to explore the small ferry and shoot some random pics (not always easy to get a nice clean shot without any people standing in the frame), but patience was the key most of the time as after a few minutes you would normally get a window of a few seconds to shoot the shot you wanted.
Sunday 20 September 2009
Panoramic Isle of Skye Sunset
As we drove back from Score Bay on the Isle of Skye darkness had started to envelope most of the island and only traces of light were left in the balmy summer sky from the sun which had dropped over the horizon about 10 minutes earlier.
As we drew nearer to Flodigarry I could see the sky exploding with colour in the rear view mirrors, so I pulled over into a small parking area and took this shot looking West towards Score Bay with some of the hills on Skye providing an amazing silhouette in front of the colourful sky.
Hardly even touched in post-processing, the image was only cropped into a panoramic style and the silhouette darkened a little for more dramatic effect.
Old House, Isle of Barra
After arriving on the Isle of Barra and taking a quick look at the beach which doubles as the Islands Airport we turned the car around and began to drive South, via the East side of the Island.
This old abandoned house grabbed my attention straight away, obviously I like shooting old run down and decaying places but set against the amazing colours of the Barra landscape it made the old house jump out of the photo even more.
Friday 18 September 2009
Bird Footprints in Tolstadh Sand, Isle of Lewis
I had been shooting pictures of the beach and out across the sea at Tolstadh beach on the Isle of Lewis when all of a sudden a brave little seagull decided to walk right towards me and continue right on past only a few inches from my toes.
He left these awesome footprints in the sand in his wake.
Mireille on Mangurstadh Beach, Isle of Lewis
When we got down to the sandy beach at Mangurstadh there were little to no footprints to be found anywhere, so Mireille duly asked for a nice picture to be taken of her with the untouched sands behind.
Thursday 17 September 2009
Flodigarry, Isle of Skye
One of my favourite landscape shots from the Isle of Skye during our few weeks on the islands of Scotland.
This image is taken in the Flodigarry area of Skye and in the background you can see the rear of the famous Quiraing.
Reflections of Dropping Light, Isle of Lewis
As we drove back from Stornoway on the East Coast of the Isle of Lewis using a small single track road the water of the small lakes was perfectly still, glass-like in appearance.
We initially thought about stopping the car and getting the tripods out to shoot the scene perfectly, but with the glass-like water comes millions of midgies which were all after our blood.
We had to think fast - how to capture the scene with minimum exposure to the midgies...so we then drove at around 5mph along the road which runs at the edge of the lake, shooting out of the window as we drove along.
Well worth the extra hassle to get images like the above.
Monday 14 September 2009
Highland Cow, Isle of Lewis
This guy was so photogenic and unlike many of the other highland cows I've tried to shoot in the past he seemed to actually pose for the shots.
When I would point the camera in his direction he'd stop eating the grass etc, lift his head up into the position you see it in above - the only thing missing was a big cheesy smile!
Sunset at Calanish Standing Stones, Isle of Lewis
I've been using some of the various beach and sunset pictures taken during our summer holiday as desktop images both at home and at work, but this is one of my favourites.
Taken with the silhouette of the Standing Stones at Calanish on the Isle of Lewis it has the sun below the level of the clouds but also just about to head over the horizon too, giving some cool little flares to the photograph which all emminate from the bright evening sun itself.
Mireille on rocks at Port Ness, Isle of Lewis
When you've colours such as those found in the water at Port Ness there's no ifs or buts about getting your picture taken beside them, so here's a shot of Mireille standing out on the rocks with the awesome colours of the Atlantic Ocean behind her.
Gallan Head Communication Tower, Isle of Lewis
We wanted to check out the cliffs around the Mangurstadh Beach and Gallan Head area on the Isle of Lewis, but didn't expect the area to be so barren.
There was one single track road which led to the Communication Tower and Building at Gallan Head, for which you had to pass through a couple of gates etc, Mireille even asked at the last gate if we were allowed to go through it or if it was private property
Sunday 13 September 2009
Mol Foirs Geodha, Isle of Lewis
Having already visited the beach at Mhangurstadh earlier in the day we never expected to find any other beach to top it (at least during this day).
The final location on our list for the day was what I had named "St Kilda View - Isle of Lewis", the thinking was that if the sky was clear out in the direction of St Kilda we could maybe catch a glimpse of it from the coastline at Mealasta....
...now what we found at this location was so much more than a simple viewpoint from where to look out in the direction of St Kilda - we stumbled upon THE beach of Lewis in our opinion, namely Mol Foirs Goedha which I believe means Gods Head Beach when translated from Gaelic.
The place was stunning, sure we had seen relatively clear water already at some of the other locations we visited, but here the whole experience was on a completely different level - we easily blew 2-3hrs just soaking the whole place in before heading back to our hotel for the night.
Bench at Tolstadh Beach, Isle of Lewis
From this bench which sits overlooking Tolstadh Beach on the Isle of Lewis you get a perfect vantage point from which to watch the day pass by, kids playing in the sand etc, while relaxing and not having to worry about getting sand out of your shoes before you return to the car again.
Kitesurfing at Bagh Siar, Isle of Vatersay
A couple of surfers were in the water of Bagh Siar when we first arrived on the beach but were gone within 10 minutes or so. We were left on the beach ourselves for a while until a couple of people came down with kitesurfing kit.
A second border collie (not the one we had been throwing stones for it to fetch) had spontaneously appeared on the beach and instead of seeking attention from us it decided it would be much more fun chasing the kitesurfing up and down the beach whilst barking it's head off - really funny to watch.
Saturday 12 September 2009
Purple "Daisy-like" Flower at Dunvegan Castle Gardens, Isle of Skye
Purple "Daisy-like" Flower at Dunvegan Castle Gardens, Isle of Skye, originally uploaded by www.bazpics.com.
While wandering around the gardens of Dunvegan Castle I spotted this interesting flower which was almost shouting at me from metres away to come over and shoot it.
The colour of it (sort of purpley-blue) was awesome and with the centre being yellow and the green behind it helped it to really stand out in the shot.
Dunvegan Castle, Isle of Skye
We had planned to try and get to Dunvegan Castle when we were up on the Isle of Skye in May of this year but by the time we arrived there was only 30 minutes until it closed for the day, so while back on the Island in August we made a point of visiting it during normal opening hours.
I must admit the castle itself was pretty dissappointing and it would leave you wondering what exactly you paid the entrance fee for, but the gardens are a different ballgame with all sorts of exotica growing amongst every colour of the rainbow.
Bagh Bhatarsaigh, Isle of Vatersay
This is the view from the sandy beach at Bagh Bhatarsaigh on the Isle of Vatersay.
The white sandy beach, the blue and green colours showing through the perfectly clear water in the bay, and our little Border Collie friend.
Friday 11 September 2009
24hrs Nurburgring Pitlane Light Trails
Taken at the famous 24hr race which was held at the Nurburgring in Germany, this is a 20 second exposure taken looking down the pitlane as the night rolled in.
Border Collie on Bagh Bhatarsaigh Beach, Isle of Vatersay
This Border Collie approached us while we were strolling along the sands at Bagh Bhatarsaigh on the Isle of Vatersay (one of the islands which make up the Western Isles off the North West coast of Scotland), we looked around and couldn't see any owner in sight so we can only assume that they were out in a fishing boat or that he came from one of the houses beyond the beach.
He kept bringing stones over to us and dropping them in the sand, myself and Mireille joked at first that he maybe wanted us to throw them for him to fetch instead of using a stick - so for fun I picked one of the stones up and threw it - off he went like a bat out of hell after the stone, picked it up and brought it back.
The next couple of hours on both main beaches of Vatersay involved playing fetch with our new friend.
He kept bringing stones over to us and dropping them in the sand, myself and Mireille joked at first that he maybe wanted us to throw them for him to fetch instead of using a stick - so for fun I picked one of the stones up and threw it - off he went like a bat out of hell after the stone, picked it up and brought it back.
The next couple of hours on both main beaches of Vatersay involved playing fetch with our new friend.
Thursday 10 September 2009
Renault Clio 197 Sport Shoot
An image taken over a period of 3 days where Renault UK had handed me the keys to a brand new Renault Clio 197 Sport to shoot a magazine feature for Fast & Modified magazine based in Scotland.
A small selection of these images were later used by Renault in Northern Ireland as part of a newspaper test drive article which was also written by myself.
Total images shot over these 3 days was approximately 600, so this is only a selection of them.
A small selection of these images were later used by Renault in Northern Ireland as part of a newspaper test drive article which was also written by myself.
Total images shot over these 3 days was approximately 600, so this is only a selection of them.
Wednesday 9 September 2009
Norse Mill Blackhouse, Isle of Lewis
After passing several "blackhouse" exhibitions and museums by the time we reached the Norse Mill on the Isle of Lewis we were half expecting to find a little booth charging a zillion bucks to get through a little gate into the old mill houses.
When we arrived at the small car park that the path to the 2 old Norse Millhouses runs from we were glad to see no booth, and no other people around either, which gave us plenty of space and time to shoot the location at our own pace.
Eventually a few other people (Dutch, who I currently don't like as they helped to eject Scotland from the World Cup qualifiers last night at Hampden park back in my homeland), but by then we had seen and shot everything we wanted to anyway.
When we arrived at the small car park that the path to the 2 old Norse Millhouses runs from we were glad to see no booth, and no other people around either, which gave us plenty of space and time to shoot the location at our own pace.
Eventually a few other people (Dutch, who I currently don't like as they helped to eject Scotland from the World Cup qualifiers last night at Hampden park back in my homeland), but by then we had seen and shot everything we wanted to anyway.
Tuesday 8 September 2009
House with a view, Isle of Vatersay - [Explored]
I wonder how many times I will be able to post up pictures of this "partial" house on the Isle of Vatersay before someone spills the beans on what the story behind it is, as I don't seem to be able to dig up the info myself.
Monday 7 September 2009
Calanish Standing Stones, Isle of Lewis
The standing stones at Calanish were a very impressive sight in the daylight, even moreso when the sun was shining and gave off great blues and greens to help the stones stand out even moreso.
Fergie's Modified VW Golf Mk IV
Most people who are into taking shots of cars in the Londonderry/Derry area of Northern Ireland will know this location well, and you can see why it's used to much as it helps to make the car POP right out of the picture.
Sunday 6 September 2009
Bench at Halaman Bay, Isle of Barra
Where better to plant your bum and enjoy the seascape at Halaman Bay on the Isle of Barra (one of the Southern Islands in Scotlands Outer Hebrides).
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