Location – Page 3 – Selkie’s Photography

Barrhead Colour Run

I’m a bit late in posting these….. They have been all over the social media though.

So I’m slightly cautious with these as a got some cracking shots involving people I don’t know, mostly children. Although as a public event in a public place it’s not as problematic as say a private kids party. I’m also not selling these for commercial gain. I would need model releases for an awful lot of people.

If only my back wasn’t hurting so bad (I toppled over 6 days before) I would have liked to arrive earlier and work for longer. Maybe next year.

Friends of mine – Elaine and Anne, nearing the finish line.

So I wasn’t willing to risk destroying the shiny new camera body on the powder paint… the night before I fitted it into an OpTec rain sleeve (cos they are 2 for £5 and I wasn’t gonna cry over that. They do also work well in the rain. No I’m not sponsored by them.) I sealed it in with duck tape (tie dye cos colour run obviously) round the lens hood, viewfinder and the neck straps. The sleeve doesn’t normally accommodate the straps but I popped holes in so it wouldn’t accidentally turn upside down when I wasn’t using it. (I’m more guarded in the rain but figured that I would need to volunteer occasionally. The other Girlguiding leaders were throwing the green powder around.)

It did inhibit the autofocus at the extreme ends of the lens’ ability so I’d move the sleeve further down the hood before taping it off. It was successful though. The strap is still green in places but no green inside the lens mount or on the mirror/sensor. I’d call that a success.

Summerlee

So this one took me two visits to get all the way round. I seriously underestimated the amount of glorious things there were for me to snap. Also the cafe is brilliant.

Out in Coatbridge, Summerlee is an old iron works now home to an almost endless display of the industrial heritage of Lanarkshire. Even up into my youth still a source of steel, Lanarkshire was home to many coal mines, weavers, engineering plants, steel and iron works. Summerlee is the child and photographer friendly home to a collection of social and industrial history exhibits. There’s a working tram service, coal mine (recreation), canal barge, miners’ cottages, trains…. you can see why it took me so long with my rust problem (I have a lot of rust photos).

So you have the iron Vulcan barge in the post feature image and the the beautiful entrance way now for a few more…

The tram leaving the miners’ row cottages

The old iron work foundations and their residents.

Regatta

Let’s take the socially inept photographer out to take photos of people! Well it almost worked…..

Falkirk Wheel

I’ve had a little go at editing a set of photos I took at the Falkirk Wheel, making it a little more dynamic….

Falkirk

The sights of Falkirk and the Forth and Clyde canal….. the feat of engineering that is the Falkirk Wheel and the biggest horse statues in the world the Kelpies. Glorious Scottish weather as usual.

Inside a Kelpie

Brig O’Doon

So I went to the Wex Glasgow open day yesterday and came home with a lonely, ignored, locked in a dark cupboard camera….. Yes, ok…. I bought a Canon EOS 77D. I feel slightly better about flat lining my credit card for it if I believe I rescued it. Although the 1300D is still a great camera, I wanted something faster and better in low light and it’s time for a new challenge. So today I took it out for a spin at Robert Burn’s birthplace.

Verdant Works, Dundee

So I made one last stop before leaving Dundee a week and a bit ago. I’ve been slow in writing this because I wanted to do it justice as it was the the shortest visit but one of the best. So the Verdant Works was once one of the many jute mills in Dundee. And I have a special place in my heart as I’m from a community when the cotton mill was the centre of the village. It’s now a visitor attraction where people can learn about the processes and history. Again photography is encouraged but some areas can be quite dark so bump the ISO up. The staff are amazing too.

Yardworks

Some of the best street artists descended on Glasgow this weekend and their work is fabulous. There was a great atmosphere as the artists have a sort of social meet-up at the same time. There were a fair few photographers out there not just the group I’m part of.

Dundee

So I spent a brilliant weekend in Dundee… I started shooting when it was getting dark on Friday evening then went on to visit the V&A Dundee, RRS Discovery and the best statue I’ve visited in a long time.

The V&A is brilliant inside and out and of course they have a specially commissioned item in the shop that shares its name with me. A Selkie cushion. Yes, I brought one home with me. You can take photos in some of the exhibits just be careful of flash. So from there it was all aboard the RRS Discovery which lives next door.

Photography is actively encouraged and its a great exhibition and place to learn about how we finally made it to the South Pole and Antarctica. Amazing to think this ship was frozen in ice for 2 years while they investigated and made all sorts of scientific discoveries.