Scotland, Loch Eil, Fort William, from the top gondola station Nevis Range. What better way and place to spend a late June evening than sitting with a cool beer at the top of a Scottish mountain watching the sun sink into the lochs and hills to the west. A truly peaceful and inspiring experience Canon EOS 1D mark II N / Canon 70-200 f2.8 L lens / f8 / 1/200 sec / ISO-400
A much photographed Scottish dwelling on the edge of Rannoch Moor on the road to Glencoe, Scotland. Not a Scottish native, I’ve always loved the history, the scenary, and the wild ruggedness of the Highlands and Western Isles, plus the warm welcome I’ve always found when visiting. Such diverse attractions of mountains, lochs, wildlife , and lively communities draw me back as often as possible, despite now living the opposite end of the UK. “My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here, / My heart’s in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer; / Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe, / My heart’s in the Highlands, wherever I go.” / Robbie Burns, 1789
Its not very often I have got conditions like this in Assynt and Coigach so I was pleased with this image / And of course its not a timorous wee beastie / canon Eos400D CulBeag Stamps Available
Taken from Faraid Head looking towards Durness, the sky turned black the heavens opened and then the rainbow appeared. One of Scotland’s most beautiful places, with ever changing light.
FEATURED in The Scots are Coming, April ‘09 / and Highlands and Islands, April ‘09 with many thanks. The beautiful water falls coming down Glen Brittle from the Cuillin Isle of Skye on a cold winters afternoon. Canon EOS 400D 18-55mm lens. Only a very slight tweek on the contrast.
Another of the secret loch in Dumfries & Galloway – Loch Skeen / Best Viewed Larger
A wee tribute tae Rabbie Burns oan his birthday / He wrote this after bein inspired by the heroics o Bruce an Wallace durin the wars o independance . this is whit he imagined Bruce would huv said tae his men before the battle o Bannockburn whaur we won oor freedom. thought the photy matched the words a bit scots wha hae wi wallace bled / scots wham bruce has aften led / welcome tae yer gorie bed / or tae victory nows the day an nows the hour / see the front o battle lour / see approach proud edwards power / chains an slaverie wha will be a traitor knave / wha wid fill a cowards grave / wha sae base as be a slave / let him turn an flee wha for scotlands king an law / freedoms sword will strongly draw / freeman stand an freeman fa / let him oan wi me by oppressions woes an pains / by yer sons in servile chains / we wil draw oor dearest veins / but we shall be free lay the proud usurpers low / tyrants fall in every foe / libertys in every blow / let us do or die is that no enogh tae make ye greet! magic stuff..hope ye aw ken that is the saltire ..the flag o scotland on the spear
Glenfinnan, where “Bonnie Prince Charlie” raised his standard. It would seem Scotland loves “lost causes”, from the Darien project to Culloden. I feel the same inspiration those men must have had in 1745 at this site, despite the odds.
Culbin near Forres, Morayshire. I love this place. It is so peaceful and is a spot I go to regularly to get away from it all and to think! converted to B&W with Paint Shop Pro Photo X2, slight crop. NIKON D60 / AF-S NIKKOR 18-55 DX VR Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/800) / Aperture: f/5.6 / Focal Length: 18 mm / ISO Speed: 100 TOP TEN placing in the MY WEE SCOTTISH INSPIRATION challenge – MARCH 2009 FEATURED WORK – FLOTSAM AND JETSAM – APRIL 2009 FEATURED WORK – THE SCOTS ARE COMING – APRIL 2009 COPYRIGHT
/ Robert Burns, born 250 years ago, wrote these famous lines, so appropriate for Valentine’s day, an Anniversary or a card to say I Love You: My love is like a red red rose / That’s newly sprung in June; / My love is like the melodie / That’s sweetly played in tune. So fair art thou, my bonnie lass, / So deep in love am I; / And I will love thee still, my dear, / Till a’ the seas gang dry. Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear, / And the rocks melt wi’ the sun; / And I will love thee still, my dear, / While the sands o’ life shall run. And fare thee weel, my only love, / And fare thee weel awhile! / And I will come again, my love, / Tho’ it were ten thousand mile.
Pen and Ink Drawing inspired by Robert Burns (the Baird)xxxx / Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim’rous beastie, / O, what a panic’s in thy breastie! / Thou need na start awa sae hasty / Wi bickering brattle! / I wad be laith to rin an’ chase thee, / Wi’ murdering pattle. I’m truly sorry man’s dominion / Has broken Nature’s social union, / An’ justifies that ill opinion / Which makes thee startle / At me, thy poor, earth born companion / An’ fellow mortal! I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve; / What then? poor beastie, thou maun live! / A daimen icker in a thrave / ‘S a sma’ request; / I’ll get a blessin wi’ the lave, / An’ never miss’t. Thy wee-bit housie, too, in ruin! / It’s silly wa’s the win’s are strewin! / An’ naething, now, to big a new ane, / O’ foggage green! / An’ bleak December’s win’s ensuin, / Baith snell an’ keen! Thou saw the fields laid bare an’ waste, / An’ weary winter comin fast, / An’ cozie here, beneath the blast, / Thou thought to dwell, / Till crash! the cruel coulter past / Out thro’ thy cell. That wee bit heap o’ leaves an’ stibble, / Has cost thee monie a weary nibble! / Now thou’s turned out, for a’ thy trouble, / But house or hald, / To thole the winter’s sleety dribble, / An’ cranreuch cauld. But Mousie, thou art no thy lane, / In proving foresight may be vain: / The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft agley, / An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, / For promis’d joy! ORIGINAL SOLD 2008 / WINNER OF THE “CELEBRATION OF THE BAIRD” Challenge in “THE SCOTS ARE COMING” FEB 2009 (with many thanks) xxxxxxx / FEATURED IN THE SCOTS ARE COMING MARCH 2009 xx Products at Zazzle including this cute mousemat….....
I bring to mankind, from God, / the Gift of Mirth. / I Am the Archangel Raphael… / I counsel you to / take pleasure in small things / and to laugh easily. / For laughter is / wine for the soul and a barrier / between man and madness. / Life is worth living. / Enjoy life! / ...am feeling joyful today with Raphaels good counsel eh? lol! a first experimental digital painting using graphics/text/Apophysis & a painting of the Archangel Raphael…Don’t worry B happy ..100% proceeds to the charity “Wateraid.org”;http://www.wateraid.org/uk/donate/default.asp?cartId=42900,RA/WB,0809Cld_Web,RA/WB/01 .....
Not done a loyt with the camera the last few weeks as i have been rather busy working on my new bike. should hopefully get out and about soon though and spend more time again with my friends here on RB
A bore hole through solid rock, eroded by the power of the swirling water over decades. Gleann Dubh Lighe, Scottish Highlands
High in the Lowther Hills to the west of the M74 in Dumfries and Galloway, is Wanlockhead, Scotland’s highest village at 467m (1531 ft). It owes its existence to the lead, gold and other minerals found under the surrounding countryside. These mineral deposits were probably first exploited by the Romans and from the 1200s they were being worked again by groups of miners who gathered here each summer. The first permanent settlement appeared in about 1680, when the Duke of Buccleuch built a lead smelting plant and workers’ cottages that could be occupied all year round. Although lead was for many centuries the mainstay of the village’s economy, it was not the only mineral found here. What became known as “God’s Treasure House” also produced zinc, copper, silver and gold. Some of the world’s purest gold, at 22.8 carats, was found locally and used in the Regalia of the Scottish Crown. Today’s Wanlockhead depends primarily on tourism. The Southern Upland Way long distance footpath passes through the village, but the main attraction for the motoring tourist revolves around the village’s industrial past. Information from Undiscovered Scotland. Three bracketed JPGs converted to HDR in Photomatix. BEST VIEWED LARGER Related shots can be found at: Lowland Scotland. Click here for a random page of photographs
High in the Lowther Hills to the west of the M74 in Dumfries and Galloway, is Wanlockhead, Scotland’s highest village at 467m (1531 ft). It owes its existence to the lead, gold and other minerals found under the surrounding countryside. These mineral deposits were probably first exploited by the Romans and from the 1200s they were being worked again by groups of miners who gathered here each summer. The first permanent settlement appeared in about 1680, when the Duke of Buccleuch built a lead smelting plant and workers’ cottages that could be occupied all year round. Although lead was for many centuries the mainstay of the village’s economy, it was not the only mineral found here. What became known as “God’s Treasure House” also produced zinc, copper, silver and gold. Some of the world’s purest gold, at 22.8 carats, was found locally and used in the Regalia of the Scottish Crown. Today’s Wanlockhead depends primarily on tourism. The Southern Upland Way long distance footpath passes through the village, but the main attraction for the motoring tourist revolves around the village’s industrial past. Information from Undiscovered Scotland. Three bracketed JPGs converted to HDR in Photomatix. BEST VIEWED LARGER Related shots can be found at: Lowland Scotland. Click here for a random page of photographs
Trying out my new tripod while waiting for sailing pals..yes it is bigger than usual pocket ones.. Taken at the wonderfully scenic St Mary’s Loch in the scottish borders… Nikon D60 / Nikkor VR 18-200 lens / UV filter / Monfrotto tripod.. L plates needed.. f/22 / 1/30sec / ISO-200 / 26mm
Normally I simply delete T-shirt designs to make way fow newer designs but I decided there’s a better way. I have reduced my mark up by 15% all the way down to just 5%. That’s correct a saving of 15% before I delete selected designs to make way for new designs. / I could simply list which designs have been reduced but a better option is to get people into the shop for a good rumage through looking for a bargain. / All the reduced designs will be deleted in a few weeks & the designs will be deleted from my computer. Now is the time to buy the old stock before its too late. / Hurry folks this offer wont last for ever!!
All things Scottish, Scottish born, Scottish people, Scottish places, Scottish words and Scottish thoughts..anything or anyone with a Scottish connection and is open to Scots and non Scots alike..
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“THE SCOTS ARE COMING” INTERVIEW
Our third interviewee is our last challenge winner David Sargent
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1. Firstly, tell us more about your winning image and why it was this one that inspired you to enter it for the challenge?
The photo was taken at the top Gondola station on the Nevis range as the sun went down on an early June evening. You won’t normally find me at the top of Scottish mountains no matter the time of year! My old knees wouldn’t normally stand the climb. I was up there to accompany my wife who had gone to register for the ‘10 Under the Ben’ mountain bike event taking place the next day and had taken advantage of the ‘free’ gondola ride to the top offered by the organisers. As she stood in a very long queue to register, I bought myself a beer and sat down outside to enjoy the sunset. I snapped off twenty or thirty shots of the landscape, the chairlifts, and the gondolas climbing the hillside. When I got them on my computer the next day most looked pretty ordinary – I don’t have the patience or the artistic eye for landscapes. I prefer my subjects to move – sports and wildlife ideally. However, on a second look at the ‘Sunset on Loch Eil’ shot I was drawn to the softness of the light and how it reminded me of the types of shot I used to love to try to capture when we lived on the Island of Bute some 20 years ago. You cannot beat Scotland’s west coast for spectacular sunsets.
2. Everyone can see your RB profile, but tell us a bit more about DSargent and his art?
I get a bit anxious when people refer to my work as ‘art’. I’m a scientist to training and occupation and have always tried to make my photos ‘tell it as it is’. I think that is why I’m happier snapping events that move at some pace. I have always been envious of folk who can see the line and form in a scene and can compose a great looking image from a landscape or and abstract scene. It’s something I don’t think I possess and so hesitate to label my work ‘art’.
3. How did you start your artistic journey and what inspires to continue?
I have carried a camera for as long as I can remember. Starting with an old Kodak 120 roll film camera and progressing through various innovations in 126, 110 and eventually graduating to 35mm. My first 35mm cameras were old Russian Zenit B’s. They were extremely cheap and the bodies could be replaced for about £18 in the early 1970’s. Being manual cameras they forced me into learning the basic principals – something I think that has stood me in good stead ever since. I flirted with developing and printing my own black and white prints for a while too. When I left school and started working I saved some money and bought a Pentax M series 35mm camera which went everywhere with me until I discovered digital only fairly recently. Sports and wildlife photography has been my special interests for a long time and I like nothing better on a Saturday afternoon than being trackside at a sports event, preferably involving my beloved Ayr United!
4. What do you think is your greatest accomplishment as an artist to date?
I have always enjoyed photographing sports, especially football. In the last four or five years I have been the (unpaid) club photographer for Ayr United in the Scottish Football League. This has led to many of my images reaching publications as diverse as football books, match-day programmes, local and national press, publicity shots and even a range of calendars. Seeing my first image in newsprint at the age of ‘forty something’ was a great thrill and I’m still like a big kid rushing to buy the paper if I think one of my images is going to be used.
5. Tell us a bit more about the aspirations and goals for you in the future as an artist?
I would love to cover a ‘national’ sports event. Pure and simple. I have taken photographs trackside at Hampden Park, the Scottish national stadium, but only covering a Scottish Division 2 football match between Queens Park and Ayr United. I would love to be there, or the likes of Murrayfield, to shoot during an international match.
6. As this is group has a wee bit of the Scots about it, what single-most thing do you think of when asked about “Scotland”?
I was born and brought up in Ayr on the west coast of Scotland and having lived now in the Scottish Borders for some 20 years I still miss the sea. There is nothing that says ‘Scotland’ to me more than the sea views of Scotland’s west coast.
7. If there was only one choice of location in Scotland where you could go and visit to capture images or paint a scene, where would this be and why?
See my answer to question 5 above. It would have to be Hampden Park, Glasgow, during a Scotland international match – preferably against England! I could never tire of capturing the scenes and the passion of such an occasion.
8. Lastly, as this is your time in the “The Scots Are Coming” spotlight, is there any messages (inspirational, gratitude or otherwise) that you would like to share with the group?
I would just like to thank all members of the group and the Red Bubble community for the appreciation they have shown my work. The thrill I still get just to see a single new comment on one of my photos makes my day. Thank you.
Thanks to David for taking part and agreeing to do the interview. There will a forum thread for this interview so when it is up and running, please leave a comment for David to say how much you liked about what he had to say.
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