Back Again!

Well, it's been a pretty unpleasant few months on a personal level, and I certainly won't bore you with all the details but suffice it to say I'm back on my feet and looking forward to moving ahead, picking up the camera and getting back into the studio! Never mind about counsellors and treatments and all that nonsense, there's no therapy quite so complete as a good dose of photography!!

It's not just the joy of looking at a photograph, or a landscape or a bonny face, but it's the whole thing. It's the thrill of the chase... wanting an image that you have in your head and working out how to make it happen, then actually making it happen!

I know that I have so much to learn still in this business, but I can honestly say that I truly don't think I will ever be bored. It fascinates me on so many levels. It satisfies the scientist in me, the artist in me, and, I'm actually proud to say... the geek in me! What else can give you a combination of educational and technical challenges alongside a perfect excuse to go birdwatching, being out in the fresh air ambling about the countryside... and combine that with a passion for people and a desire to help them feel good about themselves? I suppose there are plenty of things that can do all of that, but for me, photography is the therapy I need.

It's always held a fascintion for me, from the days when dad had his dark room in the cupboard upstairs, bewildering and astounding me as pictures emerged dripping from those baths of strange solutions. I remember when we got our first camera and took it outside to capture the fun of playing in the street. It was around the same time as we had our first pair of rollerskates... there's a picture of one of us (may be me, may be my twin sister) skating down the road with arms outstretched in a wild and rather out-of-control manner! It's also obviously one of our earlier attempts at photography (again, maybe by me, maybe by my sister or perhaps our brother);the skates look great but anything from the neck up is completely out of shot. Hey ho.

The technical side of taking a photograph fascinates me too. I always wondered about f-stops and focal lengths and shutter speeds, it was a total mystery to me... but what's a mystery apart from a riddle that has to be solved? I didn't grow up watching 'Scooby Doo' to not be excited by a mystery (or a big pile of sandwiches!!!). These questions are now answered and I have a reasonable grasp on the subject, but it still excites me and I still get fascinated by the different effects you can achieve by fiddling about with manual exposures. I'll never know enough about it and I really don't think I'll ever get tired or bored of learning and pushing forwards with it. Of course I probably won't have many friends left, but those who really know me don't seem to mind too much that I'm a complete and utter nerd.

No longer embarrassed by my penchant for cheese and pickle sandwiches, or birdwatching, or my glasses that sit sideways across my face 'cos I sat on them... all this is a part of who I am, and I'm happy with that. So, after a wee break to sort out some things away from photography, I'm back again and back in therapy... photographic therapy! Ah, that's better :))

So, do you want to see just how geeky I am? Here's a pic I took on my mobile phone while out with the dog...

The long shadows caught my eye and I played about for ages trying to make my own shadow look like a tree or a giant or whatever other shapes I could throw!!! Oh dear, how old am I? Made me chuckle anyway. The dog thought I was clearly bonkers and left me to it but I was having fun. Just using the mobile phone, but a camera is a camera and I've been having a huge amount of fun with the phone just recently! More on that later...

Rebecca, x

www.rtphotographics.co.uk

From Dawn to Ducks!

Last weekend was, of course, the weekend of love... and I loved my weekend!!



Saturday was superb. Started out nice and early as I had to take John to work; perfect timing to get up onto Moulin Moor for sunrise again. I had tried the weekend before, but the weather was miserable... dull, grey, snowy, just plain 'dreich' as they call it round here! Saturday promised to be a wee bitty better so I tried again and was rewarded with a mild, pastel-hued and dappled dawn sky above the moor. Maybe not spectacular, but prettily pink nonetheless (sorry Walter, I know you hate pink but pink it was and I had no control over that!).

I pottered about the old cottage again and started wondering about poor old Mr Soutar. I say 'old Mr Soutar' but I have no idea how old he actually was when he died. I think I mentioned last week that he lived in the cottage and died back in 1800 and something, well I found the memorial stone and wrote the inscription down for you this week because I think it's important. It's tragic and sad but also quite heartwarming at the same time. I also think it's important when I spend so much time pottering about his place that I try and find out a bit more about the man.

I want to know who Mr Soutar was and wonder if he minds me being there now. I hope he doesn't. I love the old place and feel really at home there, even though it is falling apart and ruined. Hmm, analyse that!! Anyway, what I find heartwarming about Mr Soutar's story is the last line of the inscription...

"In memory of John Soutar

who perished here in a snowstorm 3rd March 1897

Erected by a few friends"

I like that simple but telling 'Erected by a few friends'. The temperature was -4 but I never felt cold. I felt cosy and at home... ok, a few layers of tech mountain gear certainly helps, but I felt peaceful and warm on the inside. I sat by the ruins of Mr Soutar's cottage and wondered who he loved and how he lived.

I sat for quite a while watching the clouds, wondering about a stranger's life, took photos from where I sat but never, at any point, noticed the heart-shaped stone on the wall beside me!!



As soon as I started editing the files there it was, as clear as anything! How on earth did I miss it in real life? On Love Weekend of all weekends!!!

Anyway, totally unaware of the nearby heart of stone, my heart was light as I set off up the hill behind the cottage. It doesn't look much from there, but by 'eck, my heart was ready to explode by the time I got to the top, I'm so unfit! It's one of those hills that has false peaks... just when you think you're getting to the top, yikes, there's even more to climb!

It is worth the climb though, the view is beautiful. Not the craggy in-your-face high peaks you get in the West, but just as beautiful in their own understated way.



I had the famous grouse for company... The 'Famous Grouse' is only a few miles and wing flaps away (by Crieff), so I do like to believe that he was strutting his stuff in the snow just ahead of me :-)



A couple flew off as I neared the top so maybe he was entertaining a lady grouse friend on this lover's weekend. Oops, never was very subtle... how rude of me, barging in on his cosy tryst!! Sorry fella!

Having got to the top it only then dawned on me that a bowl of 'Red Berries Special K' just isn't man enough for this job. A bacon roll was calling, but that was back in Blair and I was 1089 foot up the top of a hill. Time for my lardy waterproofed arse to come into action.

Wooooo, that's the way to get down!!!

Oh my word, how much fun was that? Sliding down near-vertical slopes on my backside at speeds far too fast to be sensible! Sensible? Who needs sensible? I may be rapidly approaching 43, I may be Great Aunt Becca, but who said I have to be sensible? I laughed out loud all the way down, totally alone, not a soul for miles around... apart from Mr Grouse and his bird of course ;-) and it was so funny. I tried taking a photo but it didn't really work. Added some effects in PS to try and give an impression but hey ho, you'll just have to use your imagination there.



When I got to the bottom it occurred to me that I could have video'd the slide on my phone and it would have been pretty funny, but the bacon roll was more appealing than the thought of climbing back up the hill just so I could film the trip down!! Maybe another time if the snow is still there ;-)

So, bacon roll mission accomplished, it was on to the next stop, Restenneth Priory at Forfar.



An ancient site dating back to the Picts, Restenneth Priory as it stands (in ruins) today really formed from around 1100AD. Obviously there have been extensive builds and re-builds along the way, but there is still very much an ancient feel to the place.

I went with Niaesha, my friend and assistant,



and we were amazed at the transformation to the stones when the sun broke through the clouds. The late afternoon sun painted the stone in a gorgeous warm golden light, and cast a beautiful shadow from the large tree at the perimeter wall onto the face of the tower. A door in the perimeter wall laid a path of light up to the main chapel, totally transforming the scene and rather taking our breath away!

As the sun sank lower towards the horizon, we decided that Restenneth was done and Forfar Loch would be a lovely end to a fantastic day. The sunset was fairly muted, and the loch isn't the most picturesque in Scotland, but it was a most pleasant end to what had been an extremely pleasant day.



From dawn to ducks, a day well spent indeed :-D

Rebecca,x

http://www.rtphotographics.co.uk/
e-mail rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk

Take Control!

Digital cameras are amazing. All that technical wizardry and genius in a little box you can hold in your hands. Auto settings mean you just need to pick up the camera, point it at your subject and fire away... but that's not always a good thing. It's fine if you want quick snaps and aren't interested in photography or taking photos that make people go "WOW!!!", but what if you do want stunning photos? What if you don't want snaps, you want photographs? Learning to take control of your camera is the first step.

Learn how to take the photos yourself, manually... not letting the camera make all the decisions for you. I had a wonderful day out on Saturday showing a lovely lady how to do just that.

Having just bought a new DSLR camera, she wanted to know how to actually use it to get more creative photos... to get photos that make people say "wow!!!" We spent a few hours at Drummond Castle Gardens, where she learned all sorts of new tricks with the camera, before heading down to the river in Crieff for more fun and learning in a totally different environment.

Blurry backgrounds, sharp backgrounds, low light, lots of light, close-ups or far-reaching views, these digital photography tutorials are designed to get you started in photography in a way that you can understand.

If you want to learn about photography in plain English, with no need for a degree in maths or physics, I can help you. Split over three sessions, we go out and learn how to use the manual settings on your camera, how to get great pictures, and how to work on the computer to enhance your images and give them the extra 'wow' factor!

If you are interested in one-to-one digital photography tutorials for beginners, either for yourself or for someone you know, get in touch by e-mail rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk and we'll discuss all the options to suit you.

Rebecca, x

www.rtphotographics.co.uk

rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk