Monarch of the Glen

Fall foliage

Italian Chapel

“The Italian Chapel is a highly ornate Catholic chapel on Lamb Holm in Orkney, Scotland. It was built by Italian prisoners of war during World War II, who were housed on the previously uninhabited island while they constructed the Churchill Barriers to the east of Scapa Flow. Only the concrete foundations of the other buildings of the prisoner-of-war camp survive. It was not completed until after the end of the war, and was restored in the 1960s and again in the 1990s. It is now a popular tourist attraction, and a category A listed building ”(taken from wikipedia)

What is remarkable about this building is that it was a tin hut converted by hand using materials that were being thrown away.  It has to be seen to appreciate the achievement of the men who built it as a reminder of their religion and home at a time of imprisonment.

For views of the ornate inside that is hand painted on plaster see this previous post http://gaelphotography.wordpress.com/2010/12/18/italian-chapel-in-orkney/

Chanory Lighthouse

This is an old favourite redone using my new workflow.  I think this one is much better.

Nikon D80
Nikon 18-135mm at 18mm
ISO 100
3 bracketted shots
Manfrotto 190 tripod

3 shots opened in ACR and coverted to TIFFs
3 TIFFs opened in CS3 and Topaz DeNoise and Topaz InFocus filters applied
3 TIFFs tonemapped in Photomatix
Tonemapped TIFF into CS3 and Topaz Adjust filter applied
Sky layer  to boost blues saturation boosted
blues bosted in saturation layer
Then adjustment layer to boost saturation overall

 

Been playing with Topaz Black and White Effects and really happy with the results.  Here is an old favourite reprocessed with this new plug in.

first light in the winter forest

These magificent onions took the prizes at the Inverness Flower show at the weekend.  So much care and nurturing goes into producing them perfect for show day.

Prize winning yellow and red onions

A soldier from a previous century reenacts battles of his time at Fort George, Inverness.

Ready for Action

WW2 Army Jeep

This Jeep was part of the activities at Fort George today.  It is a WW2 Jeep with two Black Watch soldiers behind it.  The Black Watch go of to Afghanistan again soon and these two young men will be putting their lives on the line once again.

 

The shot:

Hand held
Nikon D80
Nikon 18-`35mm lens

3 autobracketted RAW files at + and -  2

Pre Tonemapping:

In ACR extra 2 shots created at +.4 and – 4
All 5 RAW files converted to 16 bit Tiffs (not sure how to do 32 bit but probably easy)
All 5 Tiffs individually given noise reduction using Topaz De Noise
All 5 Tiffs individually run through Topaz Infocus

Tone Mapping:

All 5 Tiffs tonemapped in photomatix to creat 16 bit HDR Tiff
Detail enhancer used

Post Tonemapping processing:

Into CS3
Topaz Adjust filter applied
 

 

If this beach was in the South of England it would be wall to wall people.  The beaches up in the North of Scotland are stunning and usually empty.  Met this lady having a feed and just could not resist taking her picture.

Lunch on the beach

Been a while since I posted.  This a photograph from a day out in Northern Sutherland.  It was a beautiful day and I am sure you can see that there is no where better when we get weather like this.

Rispond Beach

There are people on the beach but they are like ants.  It is a huge beach and shot from the hill above it.