Found One at Last

Who Forgot the Wellies Then, originally uploaded by North Light.

If you've been following my blog you will know that I spent some time and efforts in 2008 trying to find a compact camera that I liked. I have to admit that this was initially very unsuccessful, and after a foolish purchase of a Nikon compact I eventually purchased a Nikon D60 slr in the middle of the year.
Whilst this was successful, and produced results I was happy with it still didn't meet the criteria of a pocket camera, so I was very interested when Panasonic released the DMC-LX3, after reading a few reviews I purchased one of these towards the end of the year.
The results from this compact are first class, it has it's faults, and would certainly not suit everyone, but as a landscape photographers camera I would heartily recommend one as a pocket camera.

Resolutions

13 - Going Under, originally uploaded by North Light.

So 2008 is completed, a year of photography over.

Time to look back at last years resolutions.

1. More quality time for B and I away from Hotel - Not entirely successful, but we did manage to get a few breaks away together, so I think this should be regarded as "Work in Progress", or "Must try harder".
2. More exploring of Caithness & Sutherland - Not bad, another "Work in Progress" but it would have been that even if I thought I had done really well.
3. Photo a day! Thanks to mijoli for this one - 100% success, in fact so successful that I have decided to repeat it for 2009!
4. Find a compact camera I like - Also successful although I have to admit there were a couple of false starts, I am extremely pleased with the Panasonic LX3, it's limitations of short Zoom range do not really bother me, and the quality of image for a compact camera is very good.

So, 2009, a bit late for resolutions, but better late than never!

Three carry over from last year,

1. More quality time for B and I away from Hotel.
2. More exploring of Caithness & Sutherland.
3. Photo a day.

Two new ones.

4. Too use my photography to promote the North of Scotland, with particular emphasis to Caithness & Sutherland.
5. Too improve the technical side of my photography, with particular reference to exposure control and Photoshop.

Enough to be going on with I think!

Shepherds Warning

10 - Shepherds Warning, originally uploaded by North Light.

"Like a red morn, that ever yet betoken'd wreck to the seaman - sorrow to shepherds."

Shakespeare, in Venus & Adonis, 1593

I was planning a lie in this morning, but a look out the window had me running around the house like a scalded cat!
Managed to get down to the sea front to catch some of the stunning sky we had this morning, the colours were changing quickly as dawn approached, combined with a wind gusting to 50 mph quick work was needed, so maybe not some of my best compositions but I am pleased to have caught the light.

2008 - A Year in Photographs

366 - A Bit of a Do, originally uploaded by North Light.

So, 366 days of photography completed, a photograph a day was achieved, only one day was not uploaded to Flickr on the day, the hotel we were staying in had no WiFi. I certainly didn't realise the amount of time I would be committing each day, typically 2 to 3 hours a day! The most difficult times were in the winter, our short days, only just over 6 hours of daylight at the shortest. day a certain amount of planning was required.
I have learnt an immense amount in the year, and feel that my photography has benefited. One very important thing I have learnt is that the weather has never been too bad to take a photograph and some of the best photographs have come from the days with the worst weather!
Some numbers.
Total number of photographs up-loaded to Flickr = 1035
Total number of frames = 14100
Total amount of data stored = 74 GB with back-up in a different file format (Adobe DNG) = 160 GB.

I would like to thank everyone who commented during the year for their support and encouragement.

Heilan Light

292 - Good to be Home, originally uploaded by North Light.

It has been many months since I last posted to my blog, 2008 has been a busy year for me both in terms of photography and as a hotelier.
Long shifts in the hotel in the summer meant that what little time I had for photography was devoted to my 366, a photograph a day posted to my flickr pages. As this draws to a close I have to admit that this has been a interesting experience, more about this at the end of the year.
In the last few months I have had more time to devote to photography, the main result being Heilan Light my website, this was remarkably easy to set up and even if I say it myself, I am pleased with the results.

A Few Days on the West Coast

145 Gairloch Harbour Reflections, originally uploaded by North Light.

We managed to escape for a couple of days over the weekend, despite being a Bank holiday weekend the weather was stunning and although we did quite a few miles it was a very relaxing break.

Now to the serious bit, the west coast was busy, the north coast was quiet.
So the tourists go to the west coast because it's better, no way, I think its more to do with people's perception of where to go for a holiday in Scotland.
The west coast is well known, has had a well developed tourist industry for many years, the north coast has not been promoted to the same level, people come here to go to John O'Groats, to catch the ferry to got to Orkney, for fishing, shooting and a few to tour the area, but we don't get the numbers the area deserves.
How do we change this? Should we expect VistScotland to do this for us? Do we have to do it locally? I guess there is no simple single answer, we should expect VisitScotland to promote the area, but they have a limited budget and will concentrate on areas that pull the majority of visitors, the North Highlands Scotland group is starting to make an excellent job of promoting the area, http://www.northhighlandsscotland.com/ , but this will take time, it's the long haul, should we link with Visit Orkney? It would make some sense, certainly we can learn from them as they have a well developed tourism industry.
I think the real development has to come from the area, but we should be ensuring we ask for, and get the support of VisitScotland, The Highland Council, Historic Scotland, The Scottish Government and any other agencies that we feel can assist us in promoting this beautiful part of Scotland.

Promoting the North Highlands

Unlinked, originally uploaded by North Light.

As with any business advertising is an necessary evil, the tourism industry has many firms promising to increase your sales for a slice of your hard earned profits! After nearly four years in the industry I would say that in many cases the only business to increase it's profits from this in the advertising company. But one would think that the countries national tourism agency would be worth supporting.
Scotland's national tourism agency is called VisitScotland, and along with VisitScotland.com which it part owns provides international and national marketing, booking website, quality measurement and grading, and local tourist offices.
For this we contribute by paying membership fees, quality inspection fees, advertising fees and commission on bookings.
For the last few years I have been hearing rumors that the promotion of the far north by some of these offices was a bit lacking, I would tend to discount these stories as gossip, but last weekend some guests relaid an interesting tale. They had gone to one of these offices and asked about the North Coast and the Orkneys, only to be told that they would be better going to Skye.
Now I think Skye is beautiful, but so is the far north, it's early in the season and we need every visitor we can get, so I have to say I am more than a little peeved that part of the body that is supposed to be promoting tourism for the whole of Scotland is promoting one area above another.
It's difficult enough to get tourists, we could really do without part of our national tourist agency actively trying to persuade them not to come.


Ok rant over!

The photograph is of Sandside Harbour, Reay, Caithness.