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

Sunday 23 November 2014

SUNNY SUNDAY. (23/11/14)

I’ve really enjoyed my fourteen day stay at Melrose. It has been very damp and dismal but today it is making up for it. I have walked down to the weir on the Tweed most days. It’s not far and it gives the dogs a run.

I wanted to get some pictures of Salmon or Sea Trout  swimming up stream but I was being a little optimistic. I can see them approaching the weir and aim for where they should be as they leap into the smooth water above it, there aren’t many of them and the little devils always appear where I’m not pointing. I met a chap whilst I was sitting on the wall and asked him when the best time of year is. He seemed to think they do it all year round but August is good. I need there to be as many as possible; ten at a time would give me a chance, fifty would be better.…………I have trouble catching a Rook in flight never mind a fish._MG_0942  Blue sky.

_MG_0935    A fisherman's boat basking in the sunshine.

_MG_0927     A Goosander.

_MG_0941       Another Goosander. They do this quite often but I suspect this one was cheating by standing on the river bed. They can do it in deep water. There must have been a dozen of them flying up and down and swimming around. A posh duck. They kept me amused whilst my hands froze.

_MG_0937

_MG_0936   Abstracts of the River Tweed. It sounds better than this is where I thought the fish was and much better than… Shit… Missed again. It is still an unstill bit of river and a pleasant place to pass an hour or two. They have Kingfishers here. They flit past. Don’t even ask. I can’t manage a Goosander or Eider in flight and they are big.

Tomorrow it’s Kinross for the van service and test. Then the Highlands for the winter. I’ll look my gloves and woolly hat out. It was a bit sharp this morning.

Have a great week.

PS. What a great result to the Formula 1 season. Well done Mr Hamilton MBE. I trust that next year you will swap the Mr for a Sir.

37 comments:

  1. If you are unable to capture salmon and rooks with your instamatic camera perhaps you should have tried the Number 8 Galashiels bus which of course runs via Langlee.

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    1. YP, the dogs have been little buggers this week. I left them outside the butchers and they climbed on the bus in my absence. They hadn't got any money so all I heard was the bus tooting. It's a big rugby club and they have training pitches all over.
      Molly likes rugby and given the chance will run rings round children whilst controlling the ball with her head and feet. Rugby is sport here and as you know it is a small town. I watched half a match yesterday with the dogs and for nothing. Felt obliged to drop a tenner in the hat. I saw thirty minutes and it was a fast open game.

      No extra time for precious folk to have a tap on the ankle attended to. The only problem was I don't know who Melrose A were playing or what the score was. Doesn't matter.

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  2. I actually like the two missed abstracts.

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    1. John. I wouldn't consider them straight out of camera but they just have curves applied at medium contrast pre-set strong.

      Straight out of camera is just another word for thick, poor or bone idle.

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  3. Love those water shots. I look forward to the highlands

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    1. R.Mac, they will be much the same. Maybe a bit higher.

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  4. It's nice to see the sun return into your neck of the woods. The images are full of life.

    Mersad
    Mersad Donko Photography

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    1. I enjoyed the sun but there was no heat in it.

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  5. Beautiful images of flowing water.

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    1. Maria, I was going to bin them. Then I was a bit short of copy so gave them a curves boost. I don't like them because they are a one click shot and I didn't plan them.

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  6. Now you see those last two pictures are art and I love them. They are not pretending to be a river.

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    1. Graham, they may be art but they are camera art. All I did was push the images within an an inch of blow or black out.
      Nowt to do with me really. I was aiming at a big fish,

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    2. They are free if you want a high resolution one. They aren't cropped so will print big.

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  7. Oh yes, the floating river, it is superb. And I love Mr Hamilton, he is a world CHAMPION.

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    1. Bob, don't go on about the bloody river with no fish in it. I was freezing.
      Great for Lewis. Absolutely fantastic.

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  8. Beautiful collection, Adrian. I quite like the way water in motion looks close up.

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    1. Hillary, it was shot at 400mm so it is close up or far away. Pity about the lack of a fish.

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  9. WOW! Adrian I love the 2 'abstract shots even though you were aiming at a fish!

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    1. Margaret, it's a good place to watch fish but it's a bit wide so they have a little too much choice.

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  10. Thanks for your comment's on my camcorder film and good luck with the M O T


    peter

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  11. As usual, stunning photos. Too bad about the salmon and kingfishers - but you should always leave something to come back to - and Perthshire is calling.
    Looking forward to your reports of winter in the Highlands, Adrian. In Winnipeg, place names of Sutherland, among them, North Kildonan, Sutherland, Ross, Golspie &c. commemorate the home places left behind by Highlanders cleared from vast holdings of Lord and Lady Selkirk for the lady's "improvements" (a.k.a. Clearances). Those first prairie settlers along the Red River eked out their existence against odds of dying from starvation and /or deadly cold, and then faced for a second time attempts to clear them from their land by the fur-traders of the Northwest (Metis and French, and "Indian"), and Hudson's Bay (English) companies. The few stoic Highlanders that survived “The Battle of Seven Oaks,” or la Victoire de la Grenouillière (“The Victory of Frog Plain”) stayed on to found the Red River Colony that grew into the city of Winnipeg. Headed north to Thurso last year on the train I passed through the remarkable and movingly uninhabited Sutherland, and experienced place names of home taking on considerable and weighty significance. I envy you your travels.
    Safe journey.
    McGregor (of Perthshire, Speyside, the North-East, and the Manitoba prairies).

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    1. McGregor, I try and seek out the remains of old settlements. I find them sad but moing places.

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  12. The abstract of the river are good despite there being no fish, can't blame you for missing not really an easy shot with so few in the river. It was rather pleasing to watch Lewis win today

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    1. Douglas, i took a polariser so I could see them under the water but it didn't help very much.
      Yes I'm glad it went his way.

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  13. It's always nice to have options. If you can't get the birds, you can get the flowing water.

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    1. Red, I'm not very good at creatures moving.

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  14. Yes....apparently they do fly. I've seen goosanders in flight. As for Kingfishers! They are so camera shy, it's not even funny. There must be fish in that water for them to be diving.....so I bet they were all below the surface not doing what they're supposed to:) You'll get 'em one of these days!

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    1. Chris Goosander fly all the time. The Kingfisher is just too fast.

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  15. Glad the weather's picked up for you Adrian and I can imagine your frustration with the Salmon. Never seen one jump myself but something I will be aiming to do next year.

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    1. Adam, it's not too frustrating as it's nice sitting by a river.

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  16. Last two pics are beautiful!!

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    1. Thanks Ruby, you will have to take my word for it that there were fish there.

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  17. Adrian I love the picture of the boat in the sunshine but the water pictures are top notch!

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    1. Gillian, a good day. It's nice to see sunshine.

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  18. Pillar los salmones saltando tiene que se muy difícil. Me gusta mucho la 4ª
    Imagen!!
    Un abrazo

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    1. Laura, que era demasiado difícil para mí

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