Oh for a Longer Lens!

63 - End of the Run, originally uploaded by North Light.

We've had some excellent surf over the last few days, but yesterday was the first time I've been in the right place with the right lens, with the O'Neill Highland Open, a Men's World Qualifying Series event here Apr 29-May 6, and the Quicksilver Scottish Open Oct 27th - 28th, I need to get some practice in, my longest lens is a little short for this work, but fortunately you can get quite close at the two sites normally used for this event.
If we are lucky this year the majority of the competition will be held at Thurso East, which is very close to us.
This is what the UK Pro Surf Tour has to say about Thurso East, "Takes place at one of the best venues in the world. Thurso East is a world class reef break consistently producing good wave".

Sittin' On The Dock of the Bay

59 - Sittin' On The Dock of the Bay, originally uploaded by North Light.

The end of February and two months into the year already, my plans for a more relaxed year have not really worked so far, the difficult days, where inspiration is difficult to find leave me frustrated, and I get depressed with my work if it drops below my standards. Ironically this is all good for my photography, keeps me pushing myself and hence continues to improve my photography.
Today's quick trip to the east coast was good, much better light than on the north coast and working in an area I don't know as well, a moral in this I guess so there will be a little more exploration as time allows.

Wick in White

41 - Wick in White, originally uploaded by North Light.

So, we finally got some real snow, but I would have to admit that compared to much of the country we have been very lucky.

When I look back on last year's "Photo a Day", I can see that there is still a huge amount of Caithness that has not featured in my images, let alone Sutherland! So for this year I will, as far is practical and within the constraints of my working life, start to put this right.
Oh there's nothing like making life difficult for yourself!

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.