In the garden, the pot of lavender is just coming into bloom, I didn’t have the inclination or the heart to ‘fade’ this one, so bright colour remains…

This technique is called ‘through the viewfinder’ or ‘ttv’, and typically uses an old camera such as the Kodak Duaflex from the 1950’s (plenty on ebay) with the image taken by a digital camera peering throught the bubble viewfinder on the top.  Whether the camera works or not doesn’t matter, if it’s dirty and dusty then all the better for your ‘aged’ photos.  Here’s the hound who needs no introduction… I’ve given her a little ‘grunge’ around the edges to add interest…

And the last photo is a new technique I’ve developed called ‘through the cheap sunglasses’ or ‘ttcs’ :-) I’ve kept this one real fade-y as increasing the colour somehow lost the integrity of the ‘older’ ambiance I was after.  Possibly one that only the photographer can appreciate due to it’s washed out browniness: 

I’ve added lens distortion and the frame layer is just a kind of ghost image (a colour burn layer in photoshop).  Yeah, just the trees, just the day to day view, very ordinary.

I’ve been having a relaxing time doing the almost opposite of what I normally do to ‘improve’ my photos.  Looking around the web, I’m quite taken by the vintage effect and so decided to try a few out myself.  Still on the north west wilds of Scotland, I think I’ve managed to erase a good 30 years of improvement in photographic imaging…

Above, the lighthouse at… is this Scourie? or Kylesku? - (mum, you will have to advise…) “Update* Thankyou to commenter Joolz for advising this distinctive lighthouse is actually ‘Rhue Lighthouse’ near to Ullapool  :-D

Next up, faded colours, wonky horizons, lens distortion, odd blurry patches, grime and an old fashioned lens layer will all change a perfectly nice sharp colourful photo into this: 

Heh heh - caravanning a la 1970’s style….

And below, the photographer (me) on a dune in Achiltibuie snapping away the sunset hour…

…please note - none of those birds or dirt are real!

Last up today - the brine.  It almost looks like the view through an old telescope:

Check out the blown out highlights and the low key colours!  Lovely.  It just shows there is new life for all those ’so-so’ shots which are all but destined for the delete button.  The more blurred and hurried, the better!

If you have been to the NW of Scotland, you will know how great it is for the soul.  Majestic peaks, glittering water, quiet sandy beaches, mucho sheep a wandering and generally natural eye candy everywhere.  This shot is taken from the bay at Poolewe overlooking Loch Ewe, a sheltered sea loch.  People come to the campsite here for sailing, visiting the famous Inverewe Gardens and for slowly making their way to the pebbly shore to watch the sunset.  I wasn’t lucky enough to witness one here this time around, but the sky always has something to say even if it’s not orange…

Next up, the ‘postcard’ shot… another day and a bright blue blustery sky, there are lobster (pots?) and fishing paraphenalia to be found in all the little harbours and docking points round these parts.

The next one taken from the car, you might be able to make out the little white caravans and moter homes that have pitched up on this impromptu campsite at Firemore, for a few pounds you can marvel at the bay all day, listen to the waves at night.  No facilities here! The only luxury is a brisk wind to keep away the midge.

The Sash was on her holidays too of course! Much frolicking in the sea, and some confused drinking (she can’t get over the lack of freshwater at the beach generally…) All the new sights and sounds cause a dog to become very tired indeed… below is the hound involved in some much needed recuperation time a la ‘van… You’ll know that one eyebrow didn’t actually sleep - a dog just can’t resist keeping the neighbours under surveillance!

While walking a few days ago, I noticed the peaty waters of the loch were reflecting the sky beautifully.  It was getting towards the end of the afternoon and by the time we walked around and back to the car park, the other visitors had left for home.  You could hear a pine needle drop.  We sat for a while and enjoyed the sound of nothing. 

Patterned green:

and shadow green:

Infinite green:

These are all photos of a small(ish) tree in the driveway.  Now at the height of it’s summery powers, every leaf is luminous, perfect and virtually unblemished.  Aside from providing great leaf patterns, this tree also has the job of telling me when autumn starts as it’s the first tree in the immediate area to drop a ruddy leaf - we’re still a long way off… what date will that be this year I wonder?

Within a very short distance of my front door, (and yours too I have no doubt) there is a bounty of little picture pearls to discover:

Each image is usually taken with minimal contemplation, usually the dog is more interested in pressing on to the ‘off lead area’ than watching me take photographs - pulling her lead to reach the best sniffs, chasing a passing moth… her excitement generally wobbling the shots…  The side of the welly becomes an impromtu tripod, I press the shutter without looking at what will be recorded, the flies harrass.  The ’looking’ part doesn’t begin until I sit down at the laptop, the coffee is made and I start to trawl through the ‘catch’ searching for what visual gems there may be hidden amonst the plain.  Hours can pass easily, surprises are common, sometimes the pictorial haul turns out to be paltry and I have to leave it for another day when the eye might see something I don’t today.

The finished pictures often emerge from a very unlikely starting point as I crop down, rotate and discard most of any image.  This way of working suits my camera which takes a large 12 mega pixel image - with that advantage, the image quality doesn’t turn to dust as I mine away for a satisfactory composition.

dried leaves tangled in some abandoned fence wire in the forest:

The much knitted Shedir:

Yarn used :: 70gms

Needles used :: 3.25mm circ & dpns

I used my own dk silky wool which I overdyed to give it this ‘texturey’ look.  I used only four rows of the pattern before starting the crown decreases (i.e. I omitted rows 45-53), I would change that to knitting only three if I did another shedir in this yarn, but I’m sure when winter comes I will be as happy as Larry with such well covered ears.  I was quite content nibbling away at this pattern, nothing hard going on, just a knit to linger over.  Just one little oddity with the pattern, row 63 should have a star after it and you need to move the starting marker back one stitch as with the other rows. 

And no sooner do I turn my back from the ’shedda-shoot’ in the garden, but check out the dog moving in quietly to dismantle the props…

And, the photographer has had to pose here because the sash just doesn’t have the right shape of head for this sort of work…

You can see I’m expressing my elvish side here, but on the plus side, plenty of room left in the crown incase I take to wearing my hair up in a bun.  I’ve donned a wintry wrap here and tinged the photo with blue to get the chilled air effect going on.  But don’t believe all you see here…

The truth is today the sky was as blue as the first summer cornflower and down in the marsh the bog cotton was beautiful, I was blissfully snapping away and getting eaten alive by a zillion flying beings at the same time.

A final shot, the dog eating the props:

I seem to have inadvertantly found my calling as a book cover designer.

‘Piece of Beauty’ - the new novel from first time novelist Sashie Houndiedog

And below must be the cover for the United States and Canada version - why are they always different I wonder? 

So if you’ve just finished writing that novel and it involved dogs, beauty and um…. nature, feel free to enquire

Sasha dog has got to stay in position for the great laundry shoot! :

But, she’s not for complying, so I make do with the abstract…

The billowing sheets call to mind sails in the sun. I add some suitable textures:

Later I get some secret snaps when the dog thinks she’s off camera… and have fashioned her image into the cover of a romantic/poetic novel I might some day easily read, I name it ’The Hound Whisperer’ heh heh.

The scene below as it is.  Dye shed in background. 

…and I add some suitable texture, naturally.  

While one picture can be good, two can sometimes be even better…

I’ve been mixing up my photo’s of late with great creative delight - below we have a cone I collected attached to its swirly branch.  Placed on a picnic table with a rusty bracken filled vista in the background, I merged it with a flat shot of the pale grey granite stone that decorated the forest path.  I like the result, the disparate elements brought together in a single image, each affecting the other with its special qualities.

And yes, the houndy doesn’t escape the decorating spree either

She sure does blend in with the furniture…

And finally, the bright!  Take a bunch of striking blue flowers… add some crushed thick drawing paper and bring the two together in a tasty photoshop sandwich…

Yum!