Not much to say here really. This is beautiful Loch Ness, Scotland's largest lake. We were driving along the loch on our way out west to the Isle of Skye, and stopped to take a quick photo. I climbed down over lots of moss covered rock and found a nice spot for a photo.
While you may be tempted to pronounce this like the woman's name Eileen, it's actually Gaelic for "island". Just pronounce it "eelan" (go ahead, say it aloud) and you'll instantly see the connection.
We found that Gaelic is VERY similar to English, you just have to sound things out. I think given some time in Scotland you could actually understand the language.
This was taken on Scotland's west coast, on our way out to the Isle of Skye. This whole area speaks Gaelic fluently, and on the Isle of Skye, it's the first language.
Westminster Abbey cathedral in London was probably the most incredible man made structure I've ever been to. Simply amazing.
Not only is the church itself impressive, but there are some impressive residents. Such greats as Charles Darwin and William Shakespeare are buried here, right in the middle of the church. There were countless other historical figures buried here. Quite the experience.
Meet my new friend Harold. We named him that. They say the hairy highland cattle of Scotland are friendly, and it's no joke. This guy followed us around like a puppy and would not leave us alone.
We became quite fond of the guy, and stuck around feeding him fresh green grass he couldn't reach for about a half hour.
We found him just outside the Cardhu distillery, who makes the bulk of the whisky that goes into the Johnnie Walker blended whisky. Cardhu is in Speyside, in the north east of Scotland.
This is Scotland's smallest whisky distillery. There are three employees and they only make one barrel of whisky per week. To put this into perspective, Glenlivet distillery produces that barrel in just a few minutes.
However, these guys do it with gusto, and produce what I believe to be the finest Scotch whisky in Scotland. I plan to do MUCH more research on this though. You know, so that a can know what I'm talking about *wink*.
As an aside, I found on my tour of Scotland that nearly all the distilleries were in far out locations and were surrounded by lots of natural beauty. This is because Scotland went through a period of prohibition, and the only distilleries that survived were hidden, tucked deep into the countryside. You can see from this photo that they ended up in some beautiful locations.
More Scotland coming your way.
On our second day in the highlands of Scotland, we drove west out to the Isle of Skye. The landscape here is completely different from the rest of Scotland. Ever seen those "Aerial Tour of Scotland" type videos that show the jagged and jutting coastlines? Skye is it. I'll post more photos of Skye as I continue the tour.
This is the Skye Bridge, which connects mainland Scotland with the island. We stopped here for dinner before heading back to Loch Ness. We got a beautiful sunset the whole time we ate dinner (since sunsets last about three hours this time of year).
Of course one of the highlights of Skye for me was going to the Talisker whisky distillery, the only distillery on the island. Good whisky.
Beautiful place.
So since life has been so busy lately and I haven't been photowalking much, I thought I'd start putting up a series of shots from a recent trip to Europe.
Stops in London, Paris, and throughout Scotland. Came away with some great memories and photos.
For this shot, we pulled over to go for a walk. We never expected to find this, and I'll bet no one even knows it's there besides locals. And they probably don't care, considering this view is nothing special in Scotland.
Taken in Invermoriston, Scotland, just a few hundred yards off Loch Ness.
3 exposure hand held HDR.
OK, continuing the "Flying Around Texas" theme, here's an aerial view of my apartment when I first moved to Texas. The following month I moved into my new house, but caught this shot before I moved.
To answer Rob's question: First off, if you've always wanted to fly, then go for it! It's the coolest thing ever. You'll need a minimum of 40 hours before you can test for your certificate (though usually it's more like 60-70 hours).
Once you're licensed, renting an airplane is usually a simple process. The FBO (fixed base operator) who owns the airplane will usually want you to do a quick flight with an instructor to make sure you're okay to rent. This is for insurance purposes. They'll go up with you and just observe. You'll do a few maneuvers and a couple landings, then you're cleared to rent whenever you want from them.
Back in 2001, a Cessna 172 ran around $85-95 an hour for an older plane ($125+ for a new bird). Plane rentals are usually "wet", which means the fuel is included. Also, when you rent an airplane, you pay by the time on the Hobbs meter, which records engine running time. So you don't pay for the airplane while you're sitting in the terminal having the cheeseburger you flew in for. I don't think hourly rates have changed much from back then.
I'm going to go a little old school today and show you a photo that I took back in 2001, shortly after I moved to Texas.
I took this photo just a few weeks after I moved to Texas. I went to Circuit City and bought my first digital camera so that I could document exploring my new home state.
I went down to the nearest airport and rented a Cessna 172 and went exploring. I snagged an aerial shot of Grainger Lake just outside of Austin.
Even though these photos were nothing special, I still like seeing them, because they remind of another life changing event.
I was the official photographer for the Rocky Mountain Regional Science Bowl 2009. Before the final round began in a large hall, I decided to set up and grab a few detail shots before the people arrived.
Lighting: 430EX camera left fired through a translucent umbrella. Vivitar 275HV fired into the banner, snooted with a roll of printer paper, and gelled blue.
Next up we have Patches. Also my dad's dog. She's a sweet old girl. We have no idea what breed she is. Just mutt.
I got a new lens, the Canon 85mm f/1.8 USM. Wow, I really love this lens. This is one of the first photos I took with it.
This is Chloe, my dad's yellow labrador. Easily the most beautiful lab I've ever seen, and she'll have puppies soon. And I get one!
Got a new AlienBees B400 and a giant softbox. Just testing it out quickly in the living room after taking it out of the box.
It's really too bad that the day I went to RMNP to shoot fall colors turned out to be really cold and overcast. We took a ride up Trail Ridge Road (12,500 feet high!) and it was snowing on us.
Still, the colors were amazing!
A male elk defends his ladies from a rival male. Taken in Rocky Mountain National Park.
I shot this tree in the early morning hours on my way to work a while back. What you see in the foreground is a hay field, crops surrounding me on all sides. If you're from to the area, Ted's Place is just to the right of the frame.
I made this photo in the early morning hours in Poudre Canyon a couple weeks ago. I really love this time of year.
Taken at Sprague Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.
The trip to RMNP was mostly shot thanks to the weather. I really wanted gold trees with blue skies, but the heavy clouds and rain wasn't all bad.
A couple of days ago I walked outside to go to work and found this really cool patch of fog nestled in an offshoot from Poudre Canyon.
The house you see is our next door neighbor, a few hundred yards away. They supposedly only visit this cabin once a year for a week while on vacation. In the ten months I've been living here, I've yet to see them.
This is the road in front of my home. It was raining and the sun came out, causing steam to rise above the road. Unfortunately, the photo doesn't do justice to how it really looked.
Back in June we started making sushi at home. Pictured here is a plate of salmon and tuna nigiri.
YUM
A young bull, high up in State Forest State Park, CO. Notice the fluffy fur on him. That's thanks to our 10,000 foot elevation.
I'm excited to be making plans to head into Rocky Mountain National Park tomorrow. I've been meaning to head into the park to view and photograph the "Gold Rush". At this time of year, all the aspen trees are bright gold before losing their leaves.
Life keeps getting in the way though, and this is my last chance to see and photograph the trees before the leaves fall and the snow starts dumping in a few weeks.
The shot above was taken in the park one year ago this week. We were here on an exploration trip, deciding whether we wanted to move here from Texas or not. A year later, we're glad we did.
There is a proposal to open a uranium mine in northern Colorado. Lots of residents are up in arms, and I see these bumper stickers all over.
With winter looming near, I've been finding my mind drifting off, thinking about the upcoming snow and all the wonderful photographic opportunities that await. Not to mention the snowshoeing.
I took this shot of the Poudre River last winter, shortly after moving to Colorado. This was shortly after the river unfroze and started flowing again.
I happened upon this field back in June and thought the hay bales looked cool spotted in the field.
Lots of angles in this shot. Taken in the alleyway behind Enzios Restaurant on the Fort Collins group photowalk.
A sign for Odell Brewery's Easy Street Wheat, one of Fort Collins' finest.
From the Fort Collins group photowalk Sept. 13th, 2008.
This is an abstract shot of one of Coopersmith's Pub & Brewery's big metal conical fermenters. It's placed outside for all to view.
On Saturday, I led the Fort Collins Flickr group on a group photowalk. We had a blast! About two dozen people showed up, and the photos are starting to trickle in from the day.
This is a shot I got in a back alley. I warmed up the tones slightly to make it look a little more "magic houry".
Captured in State Forest State Park, CO, near Cameron Pass. All the cows up here are really fluffy, as we're at about 10,000 feet elevation.
A few nights ago, I decided to take a couple photos of my wife and son in front of our home, a really great log cabin.
But I didn't want to just do any old photo, I wanted it to be a sunset photo, taken during "magic hour". The trouble was, by the time dinner was done, it was dark outside.
So what to do? Why not just make it sunset using flashes. I took my Canon 430EX speedlight, strapped on a full CTO gel, and put it out in the yard about 30 feet. This washed the whole front of the house in hard, orange light. That's pretty much it. Instant sunset.
Funny thing, I'm about as unserious a guy as they come. But boy do I look serious in this self portrait. Red too :-)
Lit with a Canon 430EX camera left, gelled full CTO. A Vivitar 285HV, snooted, ungelled camera right, pointing just at my face.
This was mommy and baby moose, hanging out about 20 feet behind daddy moose (see below).
Click the photo to go to Flickr and see notes where baby is hiding.
A bull moose in State Forest State Park at Cameron Pass.
Seen from the road with his lady moose and their baby. They were about 100 yards out, and I caught this with a 300mm focal length. Tried to get mom and baby, but they were hiding pretty well in the brush.
Spring Canyon Park in Fort Collins has to be the coolest park ever! I wish I had something like this when I was a kid. This is my son's favorite place to go.
Included at the playground is a really cool splash park. One hot summer afternoon a few weeks ago, we took our son to the splash park. I saw this colorful fountain and had to get a shot of it against the blue sky.
I'm really into rundown, abandoned structures. This farm in Bellvue has caught my eye many times, and I finally got a chance to stop off and snag a photo.
We did a family portrait session on Friday afternoon. The two kids were just too cute.
We had never done a session at Gateway Park in Poudre Canyon. It was an awesome place to do family portraits.
