Gordonmac Dot Com

This weekend was something different, a weekend where Kirsty and I had nothing planned and were able to do what we pleased. Coming near to Christmas, weekends like this are few and far between, what-with nights out, work and various other commitments.

On Saturday morning we went for a wander round the town, lots of people out picking up bits and pieces of shopping. There were also a few Christmas fayres in the town, so the place had a bit of a buzz to it.

After coming home from the town centre I decided to go for a little wander down to the shore with the camera (surprise!) and bumped into a friend and his wife whilst walking through Argyle Square. I stopped to take a few photos of his kids for him, and told him I’d send them on to him later.

Photographing kids seems to be quite enjoyable, for someone who rarely photographs people. Posing them seems almost pointless, so catching them whilst they run around crazy seems to be the way to go – in my limited experience!

The picture of Robyn was a very quick snap. I ramped the ISO up to 400 to make sure I got a sharp shot under the shade of the trees with a fast enough shutter speed… he was moving around a lot – as children do :)

I can’t help but be amazed by the lovely bokeh (background blur) you get with the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM when zoomed-in tight!

Sunday morning was time for a walk. Lying in bed we could see there was some sunshine on the go, something that was missing on Saturday! A plan to go to the old stomping ground of Loch More was hatched… a quick shower – sandwiches made, and we were off.

Part of the way along the road towards Watten the ominous gloom of sleet-laden clouds appeared above, followed shortly after by miserable showers. It’s so disappointing when you end up driving towards the part of the county where the weather seems to be worse than where you set off from!

Arriving at Loch More we set off along the track and continued along the section that goes to Loch Thulachan. I stopped to take some photos of a tree – they’re not too common in Caithness – and then turned around to see the most impressive rainbow, in front of the bleakest looking sky filled with lots of wet misery! I knew it would make a great photo though!  :)

I quickly changed lenses from the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM to the  Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM, held the ND Grad in front of it and fired off the following shot:

Seconds after this picture was taken the heavens opened. We just turned our backs to it as there’s nothing much else you can do out there, there is absolutely zero shelter, well, apart from that tree – which would’ve been as good as standing in the open anyway!

Once we got home it was then time to decorate the Christmas tree. An annual ritual that I quite enjoy. Kirsty fired up Spotify with Bing Crosby’s “Do You Hear What I Hear?”  – half an hour of deliberation over potential bald spots on the tree and we were there… in awe of our creation…

However, I have a confession to make – it wasn’t until after I took this picture that I noticed a few bald spots – Adobe Photoshop to the rescue!