ABOUT ME

I live in a camper van with a West Highland Terrier for company.
My passion is creating images but it is a work in progress.
I am always willing to share what knowledge I have and can be contacted through the comments on this post or e-mail ADRIAN
ALL IMAGES WILL ENLARGE WITH A LEFT CLICK

Tuesday 24 May 2011

A FEW WILD DAYS (24/05/11)

I’ve been up on the moor getting my head around my future. It was a little rough up there both mentally and physically. The weather was pretty horrendous as were my deliberations. I’m little further forward but am still here and fighting.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA The road to Kaber Moor. Not at it’s brightest and best.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Nine Standards Stones………Not a misprint, by me anyway, possibly by Ordnance Survey.

 OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAA Meadow Pipit.

I’ll be back full time as soon as possible. I’ll leave you with a quick joke.

A Mathematical Joke

Two mathematicians in a hotel bar are arguing about how much maths the ordinary person knows. One thinks they are hopelessly ignorant; the other believes that quite a few people actually know a lot about the subject.

‘Bet you twenty pounds I’m right .’ says the first, as he heads of for the gents.

Whilst he’s gone, his colleague calls the waitress over.

‘Listen, there’s ten pounds in it for you if you come over when my friend gets back and answer a question. The answer is “One third x cubed.” Got that?’

‘Ten pounds for saying “One thirdex cue?”

‘No. One-Third x Cubed.’

‘One thir ex cubed?’

‘Yeah, that’ll do.’

The other mathematician comes back and the waitress comes over.

‘Excuse me- What’s the integral of x squared?’

‘One third x cubed.’ Said the waitress.

As she walked away, she adds, over her shoulder.

‘Plus a constant!’

This is from Professor Stewart’s Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities.

Friday 20 May 2011

THE LAST POST (20/05/11)

I’m sorry I've been missing for a few days but I’ve fallen on straightened circumstances, that means I’ve run out of money. I'm trying to resolve the situation but it is not easy in the short term. So this could well be the last post.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA  We are back on the moor………..it’s a beautiful evening. In the distance are the English Lakes.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI’m up here looking for the Merlin. I found the Golden Plover.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA                 A Buzzard…………………………

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA               A Wheatear and finally…………………

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAA Skylark in silhouette. An Idle Skylark, it’s far easier to sing from the top of a tree than fly for miles up in the air.

I’ll be back as soon as I can. Have a good weekend and have fun.

Monday 16 May 2011

STIR CRAZY (16/05/11)

The dogs have had a good run in forty mile per hour mist and rain…………..lovely it was! I fell in a bog. A nightmare of an outing. I never found the remains of Kings Pit Colliery. I did take a compass, I did take a map, I didn’t take the GPS because I really couldn’t be bothered to enter the grid reference. I also neglected to put thermals on……………was frozen when I got back from a two mile wade. The cloud cleared as we returned. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA      A retrospective panorama of the wonderfully named Arkengarthdale Moor. I even framed it for you today. It didn’t last long……………………….

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA     So wet and horrible my emulsion has run.

Sorry ……I should have written down the numbers for the sepia conversion, it’s the difference between the incompetent and the competent……..I hate PS one hit sepia so do it with colourize. I also hate not getting what I go out to find but it is horrid up here at the moment…….I’m away down the hill tomorrow. See what life is like in the valleys.

Have fun. I do.

ST VITUS (16/05/11)

It’s difficult getting pictures in this weather, drizzle, mist, half a gale blowing. This little bird was having a far worse time than I.

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA           That’s better………..I have no idea what it was up to. it did it twice though.

A nut case is this Pied Wagtail. I am off out looking for some old mine ruins……….in the rain.

Have a good day.

Sunday 15 May 2011

CONTRAST (15/05/11)

Yesterday was a busy day. The weather was much better but unfortunately I couldn’t take advantage of it. There is a cycle race passing Tan Hill today and I was pressed into helping fill baps…………five hundred of the blasted things! It will be a while before I can eat a sandwich.

Yesterday evening the light was quite magical………not as magical as these but I sat and admired it for an hour.

_5144177_78_79_80_81_tonemapped_edited-1

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_5144192_3_4_5_6_tonemapped_edited-1

_5144187_88_89_90_91_tonemapped_edited-2   Then gave them a good whack in Photomatix.

I’m still looking for a good Curlew shot but I did manage a bad one this morning……..worse than Woodpeckers are Curlews.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA                     The Curlew………….

Have a grand Sunday. It’s raining here!

Friday 13 May 2011

NOTHING TO POST (13/05/11)

I have nothing to post today……….Except I would like to thank all the blogger staff for sorting the problem. Despite what folk are posting of a negative nature. That must have been one hell of a crash…………Thanks for getting things back to normal or near normal. It’s a great and free service so thank you one and all. I wish you all every success in the future.

I have trouble doing this………………………………………………..

kalied1           Or this…………………………………………….

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA         As you can see

Sorry for these …………..it’s been diabolical has the weather.

I hope readers will raise their glasses in a toast to Blogger.

Have a grand weekend.

STRETCHING A POINT (12/05/11)

Continuous rain today, so far anyway. Todays post has a bird theme. After yesterdays Tomfoolery and your comments I thought I’d better get my sensible head on.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA     This hen and what remains of her brood are safe in a corner of the Tan Hill Inn. The chicks hatched about a week ago but unfortunately some got blown away. These two were caught bowling down the road in the wind..poor mites.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA  They should be fine now.

A bird of a different feather……………………………………

_5124128_29_30_31_32_tonemapped_edited-1  A Riley Gamecock……………I hope!!

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_5124138_39_40_41_42_tonemapped_edited-1

_5124148_49_50_51_52_tonemapped_edited-1Sorry about that. At least it kept me out of Photoshop.

I’ll get out later if it stops raining and see what I can find.

Have a good day.

Wednesday 11 May 2011

FROM BAD TO WORSE (11/05/11)

We are back at Tan Hill primarily to look for Curlew. The weather is not conducive. Heavy showers, windy and sunny periods…………..not many of the latter.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA  The camper and Tan Hill Inn basking in a sunny period.

Now I’m not totally to blame for what follows. George Mahoney at MOORLANDS AND PEAK Left a link in my comments bit to a friend of his who does all sorts of amazing things. You can see what can be achieved by going to GRAHAM JEFFREY. He’s a real artist. So am I but it has little to do with visual arts.

Here we go……………I start with some computer generated smoke.

smoke2                                                Then I made a simple kaleidoscope……………………………………..

Untitled-1_edited-1       Then a more difficulter one……………………………………….

sixteen       Finally…………..the final straw…………………………………….

thirtytwo     It’s not quite symmetrical but it’s hard to get exact in Photoshop Elements…….one can only nudge vertically and horizontally not rotationally………….if anyone knows a way then please let me know.

As I say, it’s not my fault. It’s the weather, George and Graham.

Have a good day whatever you are up to.

.

Monday 9 May 2011

WHAT I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR (09/05/11)

It’s a glorious morning, barely a cloud in the sky, cool and fresh after the rain………hard to better it.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASee………perfect!

I was up at just turned five…………made sure the camera was all Dippity Doo, the window was open, and a new element, a towel hanging up to shield me from view……………………..and……………..BINGO!!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA     The female Great Spotted Woodpecker………….you can tell because the male has a wee red cap on his head….like the Pope or is his white? No matter!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA       She appeared more interested in the feeder lid than the peanuts…………..were those cheap peanuts I wonder?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA       Isn’t she just drop dead gorgeous?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA     What’s that clicking I can hear?…………She was on the feeder twice for a few minutes at a time. The dogs towel did the trick………plus cable release………….Whey Hey! I’m brighter than a Woodpecker.

By now the dogs had decided to join in the fun………….not at all helpful so out we went for a walk.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA       We walked a different route this morning and found this grand little spiders web it’s on a fungus called Dryads Saddle. Polyporus squamosas…………it’s growing right at the base of what I hope is a Sycamore. The largest one is about eighteen inches across and in perfect condition.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAHere’s another view standing up…….it’s me standing up you understand………..the Dryads Saddles can’t move.

Now I should really stop whilst ahead but ……………………………………………….

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAA two second exposure vertically panned in the woods…………..it’s been done thousands of times but not by me………..I was a virgin perpendicular panner.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA I decided to get ambitious and add a little squiggle………….hope you like it.

Thunder storms are forecast for later so I’ll have a go at those………….I've not done thunder storms before either. I should have said lightening………..thunder doesn’t register on cameras.

Tomorrow we are off up into the high country………….where I was going several days ago but this is an interesting place, pity there are no Red Squirrels but one can’t have everything.

All this before seven thirty……..I can feel a siesta coming on.

Have a good week.

Sunday 8 May 2011

DOWN AND DIRTY (08/05/11)

Another wet and humid night. I was up at dawn and the rain was still teeming down. The skies are wonderful to behold, unfortunately I’m stuck in a wood so it’s difficult to illustrate just how wonderful………I could always climb a tree………..NO! I couldn’t.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA                    I had just begun to open the blinds when I noticed Mr Woody. Gently does it, I was even slower opening the window achieved that but didn’t dare zoom in.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA   I managed just two frames whilst sliding the window open………..those are my fingers on the right………..called keeping my hand in. The feeder took another beating during the night. It’s all straight again now. I leave the camera set up when I’m in the van but had zoomed out . Bother, bother, blow!

We were out at six but it was still raining, warm though and today, after yesterday, I took a jacket, I may be a slow learner but learn I do….. eventually!

Back out after breakfast to get some macro shots.

_5084019_20_21_tonemapped_edited-1 A grand morning. I did compose this with the tree on the right……..I now think it is distracting. This is a three shot exposure blend with the distracting tree selected and lightened a bit. Don’t ask me!………… I’m only the photographist.

We got to the site of the Bog Beacons……..many, many thanks to Phil at CABINET OF CURIOSITIES for yet again educating the ignorant.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Bog Beacon…………Mitrula paludosa. These are around an inch tall and grow in a bog. it’s a matter of getting dressed for the job, or undressed and lying down with the camera tripod mounted and the tripod flat to the ground. My tripod is a pain in this respect and I’ll change it for one with a reversible centre column. Christmas next I suspect.

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Grand little fungi.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA   Interesting and varied wee things. All images will enlarge with a click.

In retrospect I would have done less damage had I just collected half a dozen and brought them back to the van to have their pictures taken. I would also be considerably cleaner! So would the camera, lens and tripod.

I have a map reference for the location of these……..if you would like it then just e-mail.

Have a good week.