Pink, Pink ,Sunshine - Skywatch

A river usually runs through it

Skywatch

Following on from the image earlier this week of the golden mud (well it is when the sun hits the right spot) another from the same day, this time shooting towards the sun. That would be that circle of white light struggling to be viewed behind the clouds. You can see how the mud really looks now, dull flat brown with a little dingy green growth of some kind. Yes the camera lies all the time, you just need to know how to make it lie best for you. Same with the pink tinged sky. Just have your setting that apply turned way down low, manual of course) and shoot. The illusion of a pink/lilac light emanating from the clouds whilst retaining the natural blue of the sky is thus achieved with a little manipulation of the camera. Auto would just bleach that sky and lighten the mud and you would get a nasty sun flare quite central. Sunflares can be useful but only under certain conditions. There you go, not so much smoke, mirrors and Photoshop but lens magic. Of course it could be Manx Magic again as it is the month of Halloween. I'll let you decide.


That usu sally is a river, The Sulby. Sure the other images will pop up at some point for you to compare. That's it short and sweet. For other skies around the world click here.

N is for new

New dawn, new day, and I'm feeling good


Get well soon Wilma! Wilma is Mrs Nesbitt's dog the creator of ABC

Click on image to see larger.No Manx words to day. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a simple study of seasonal growth. Yes it's Autumn and all the leaves are turning brown. Not just brown, golds reds, yellows and the new berries are bursting onto the scene with rich ripe succulent colours. Time to get the camera out down the bridle path and wander the woods looking for the gorgeous Autumn tones and misty dawn mornings. So it's all about new. New dawn, new day, new season, new growth, new housing development, new regeneration of the high street, and at time of taking new lens. Lovely portrait lens to create the clarity on the focal point of the central berry and soften to fade of the day dawning.


I'm slowly getting back into blogging but the real world still needs a little more attention. For more Abc's see here and do check in with Mrs Nesbitt and poor Wilma the dog.

Sunlit river bed - My World

Mud glorious mud!

My World

This is typical. I had this image planned for Blog Action Day, something I very much wanted to be part of. You were all going to get a rant about looking after the place you live re Climate change but of course Blogger was not being at all cooperative and decided my scheduled post just wouldn't get published. However many times I tried to re submit it get kicking the image out. Never mind you get the image of the Sulby River, riverbed at it's lowest I've seen it for a very long time. Go back over my previous image and you will see this is usually quite a swollen river. Well will do get more than our fair share of rain here. Normally I wouldn't be able to actually walk this far down and sink into the mud but I just couldn't resist those delicious golden golden and bronze tones bouncing around off the sunlight, leaving that tiny patch of blue in the centre puddle. That's how you can tell this is afternoon, not evening, the blue sky. Trick is shoot with your back to the sun, and the image will naturally darken and you can just bounce the light around in those watery puddles. Image is a little bigger than normal so you can have a better view. Who say mud isn't pretty? A pain to clean off thought. Photography dirty job, but someone has to do it.


For more images from the globe click here for My World.

Manx Money Laundering Monkey Business - ABC

Abc- M

Whose been a naughty Manx boy then?

Trevor Baines Tycoon infamous Tycoon of the Isle Of Man has today been convicted of a multi-million dollar money laundering scam. He was so shocked at the verdict he actually collapsed and was taken to the local hospital. The image above, by my partner Gary, you know the Political cartoonist depicts this scene with a little gag. That's what a topical illustrator does. Clever boy.

Baines was accused of transferring $175 million to bank accounts in the Isle of Man,(just like Tony Soprano did) knowing or at least suspecting that the money was from the proceeds of ill gotten(are there any other type?) of crimes. Tut Tut!

The funds had been accrued dishonestly by Roys Poyiadjis, who just happened to be the bent senior executive of American software firm AremisSoft. He fooled many Wall Street investors by inflating the share price, thus inflating the companies overall wealth. Or what we call a nice little earner in these pasts which found it's way here, via Trevor Baines and the Isle of Man Banking Industry. Oh dear. Obama was right after all. Those rules and regs do need tightening.

So there you go. That's my Abc Money Laundering, and you thought I lived on a sleepy little island. Thanks to Gary for doing the illustration in record time today for this post. Now that is real talent. You can see more of his work here. For other Abc's of a less fraudulent type here.

It's raining again - My World

Wet, Wet, Wet

My World

This is what you call an unplanned post. Bear with me as they all too frequently say in customer (non) services. Having a little camera trouble. I know what a nightmare. Just my favourite telephoto lens seems to be unwell. Now I do of course have a collection of lenses but it's the big guns lens I need to shoot distances at close range( you know perspective, zoom images, sport etc) and non distorted building. So you may be getting lots of landscapes for the time being. Ah well, every day will be a skywatch day then. What about today though?


Nothing special in the scenery here. This is Shoprite (our local supermarket) car park on a very dreary wet and windy grey day. A very real down to earth day. Taken with the point and shoot Olympus. Remember Big Nikon baby is not allowed out in the rain. Still it does the job. Does get you to think about the composition more, taking in that bike and of course it helps catching the red coat in the optimum part of the image too. I admit to waiting for them to get into position. You see the shot before you take it. Of course this is an image that is also made a little more interesting by those watery reflections. See even the most appalling weather, light and point and shoot photography in a boring supermarket car park can be a little bit of magic. Of course being a witch and hanging out with Manx fairies helps too.


For other My World contributions click here

Poyll Dooey - Attack of the Killer JCB - My World

Look at what has happened to The Poyll Dooey Nature Reserve

A Killer JCB is on the loose in Ramsey...

In the name of Progress!

Let the images do most of the talking tonight. I have many more be warned. I did warn you last week that the beautiful nature reserve is being torn and apart, for what we don't know? Housing supposedly. We need houses in the town. We need a wildlife haven here. Not that complicated an idea to grasp is it? Even heard a suggestion it could be a Supermarket. What next paving paradise for a car park? So if you know what the hell is happening to this heavenly area, apart from the land being savagely destroyed let us all know, as the people ripping it up don't seem to know either. Just "doing their job." Now where have I heard that before. MHK's, anyone in charge, anyone know anything- answers here. Now! You know I won't shut up about it until you do, and neither will my readers.

For less belligerent images from My World click here

Frankly my dears I do give a damn - Skywatch

Gone with wind, no a JCB

See that scene. Gorgeous or what. Well that might be one of the last times you see it. You know my favourite place. The place I always bang on about. You know the one with the rabbits, and fairy folk
(well I am stretching the truth maybe with the fairy folk but I wanna believe) and birds and dog poo (not white though since the 70's) and the river blah, blah. The one place where I can wander with my camera and not have little old ladies thinking I'm stealing their soul (they should be so lucky) by shooting them for the blog, yes that place. Yes the Poyll Dooey nature reserve. As if you didn't know by now. Well it's being ripped up by a JCB.


Well so far this is all I can tell you. Land has been levelled off one of the fields. This I'm told is for site access. For what you ask? The new house building going on. Ok so far, but not this. Diggers have ploughed a track over to the picnic site. Why? To make access to the picnic area. Trees are being hacked down. Large segments of the cultivated nature trail as well as the fields which have deliberately been left to fallow (for nature's sake, obvioulsy) are being ripped up too. Why? Likely for laying of pipes, possibly sewage outlets for the new houses.


May I suggest instead of ripping up the place that is a haven for wildlife, the powers that be actually look to the town to renovate existing derelict buildings and relevant plots. We need affordable accommodation in the town centre, not in the middle of a out of town fallow field at over inflated prices. I hope the fairy folk and Ginnie the Witch and of course myself curse your powers that be sorry asses.


Talk about can't see the wood for the trees! For less belligerent skywatch skies see here