Early snow and a song

A bit brisk today. Out with the TNF Hedgehogs, overtrousers and fleece-lined jacket… and off to work.

Sadly the first snows have left one local fatality and a spate of accidents… so here’s a ‘transportation song’.

Seasons Greetings

Just back from holiday shopping and felt like posting something festive.

Solomon Burke RIP

After hearing the news today, I went looking on YouTube and found this clip:

After enjoying “The Blues Brothers” when it was re-released in the late 80’s, I tracked down as much of the music from it as I could. Sadly, I missed Solomon Burke until a few years ago.

So, when I’m marking this afternoon, I’ll dig out a couple of Solomon Burke CDs, and if I haven’t finished, it’ll be John Lee Hooker, Sam & Dave and some Elmore James, Aretha Franklin, Charlie Parker , The Band, Booker T, and some Motown and R&B classics (not the modern twaddle that calls itself R&B, but real Rhythm and Blues).

End of Summer

Well, that’s my Summer holidays over. Weighing myself this morning, I find that I’m now 6 kg lighter, which is 13 pounds in old money. I still need to lose it around the waist, but my belt has gone in 4 notches. And I feel better for it. A trip to Monymusk – which was always a strange name, and I had realised I had never gone there – found me in the ‘walled garden’ yesterday. I took some snaps to send to my parents, as I think they’d enjoy the place.

A trip down the road brought me to Pitfichie Forest and a short walk uphill to put things in perspective. Aberdeen became hidden and its location visible only by following the flightpath to Dyce. Two buzzards overhead were much more interesting than the mechanical sounds coming up from the road below the trees. It is nice to get some use from the suntan lotion, and to sit on a stone, snacking, watching the world go by.

A drive through Stornoway

A drive from Goat Island to the Tong Road end. Through Stornoway, Laxdale and part of Newmarket.

Filmed on HTC Desire.

Cloudy With a Chance of Stew

Cloudy with a chance of soya stew. Using sunglass lens as a filter over the HTC Desire’s lens. And the FxCamera application.

Passing Place

Sometimes we just need to pull over.

TiltShiftMaker

I got distracted by some of the cracking images at "Examples Of Tilt-Shift Photography", and re-discovered tiltshiftmaker.com 

 

I uploaded a photo from earlier in the week and started to modify the distortions. I’ll need to get some shots to specifically modify them for Tilt-Shift.

Brought to you by Wildroot Cream-Oil

Rooting around in the old garage (technically it’s the newer garage, but it’s quite old now), I found a dvd boxed set of Richard Greene’s “The adventures of Robin Hood” from 1955. Huzzah and a round of the closing theme to chase away the bad weather …

It’s good for the garden

Another FxCamera snap from "ymst"'s Android app and my HTC Desire. Text added in post'.

Sun Rise

Being able to sleep with the skylight open meant that I was awoken by the glowing yellow ball of fire in the sky this morning. A quick check on Google Sky Map identified it as "The Sun". I dusted off dSLR and clattered out of the house, negotiating doorways while tripod bag was working loose from my shoulder.

Multi-Tasking

Well, the PC is downloading various updates and running a full AV sweep. The latest TWiT podcast is playing through the netbook and Linx B-tube. The HTC Desire is being recharged, and holding text chats. Between that and emailing, I'm at a loose end, so I get the shemagh out from my bag and refresh my memory on how to tie it. Badly, I think.

Beach ‘Droid

Yesterday evening found me down at the beach with some time to kill, so I decided to compare the Polaroid-effect cameras that I have on my HTC Desire (running Android 2.1). I left the settings at Automatic White Balance, and clicked away.

RetroCamera: I like the interface, but there’s too much vignetting, and the AWB gave a blue tint in the evening’s light.

CameraZoom: takes a while to get to the ‘frameFX: (dated) Polaroid”, but there are good options there. Again, the AWB gave a blue tint in the evening’s light.

FxCamera: one click and the camera is ready to take pictures. I preferred the “aged” setting, and the frame set for “square”. The AWB setting gave a true interpretation of the colours that my eye saw.

I used the FxCamera (link) for a couple of snaps the next day. Here is one. I had to wait for the empty shot, as I really can’t be bothered with arguments over snapping the public. I wish that the resolution was higher as this is 480 x 566 pixels.

Out in the Sun

Back from spending a day out in the sun at Balmedie and then the Sands of Forvie Nature Reserve, just up the coast from Aberdeen. Multiple coatings of sun lotion, especially as it was a windy day and very deceptive.

Camera: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150, processed in Adobe Lightroom 3.

Bennachie 030710

Like a lot of people today, I went up Bennachie (Mither Tap). I promised myself (and a couple of people), that I’d do it over the weekend. I got to the peak in just under the hour, and found myself running along some of the downhill stretches. And to think that some people mocked me when I got factor 30 sunblock. A fun morning out.

Most photos taken with Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150. Some with HTC Desire and Camera Pro app. Adobe Lightroom 3 arrived yesterday, so I’ve used that for the first time today. Shiney.

Evening at the beach

Down at the beach last night as the sun disappeared into the heavy clouds.

Photo taken with HTC Desire.

British Armed Forces and Veterans Day Parade

Yesterday’s parade in some more detail. Faces, caps, badges and medals.

Some more photographs are across at Flickr.

British Armed Forces and Veterans Day Parade

Just a taster of some photos from the British Armed Forces and Veterans Day parade along Union Street in Aberdeen.

Canon 40d with Canon EF 50 mm f/1.8 II Lens. JPGs resized via Windows.