Photography, is Photoshop a cheat?

This is a nice photo of a summer sunset off Loch Roag in Lewis. It is very much as I remember it but it is actually composed of 2 separate photos which were taken one after the other but with very different exposure settings. One was taken for the light in the foreground and the other was taken for the sunset. I joined them together later using Photoshop. If I had just set the camera to auto, the kayaker would have been a dark silhouette.

Simon Willis has recorded a Podcast with me talking about sea kayaking photography which should be published in the first week of December. The above photo is one that will appear on his website to accompany and illustrate the Podcast.

Some photographers do not like this type of photo, saying they look unnatural. What they really mean is they don't look like the photos they take! The human eye copes with a much greater range of light as it roves round a scene (with the iris altering its aperture as it goes) than a camera which takes a fixed exposure for the whole scene. Film and digital senors are also much less sensitive than the retina. Whatever, I like the technique and it's really just a development of dodging and burning when exposing a print in the darkroom. I did a lot of B+W photography before moving into transparencies but many photographers missed out the darkroom and have spent most of their careers using transparency film which allows for no post exposure manipulation. It was a highly skilled job getting the correct exposure on good old Kodachrome II transparency film with its 25 ASA speed and narrow exposure latitude. Those photographers take a great pride in getting exposure right first time and Photoshop must seem like the spawn of the Devil to them.

I think you can take photography far too seriously. As I said in the podcast to Simon, I am not a forensic photographer recording a crime scene. I am just trying to capture memories and memory is a fleeting and fickle thing.

Heading for Newfoundland.

The 22:00 hrs kayaks depart from Lewis for Newfoundland.

Wanted: Mink Men!

Mink on Bhacsaigh, Loch Roag.

For the attention of non vegan, unemployed sea kayakers! Scottish Natural Heritage seek persons with the following skills:

• Boat handling skills.
• Experience with firearms.
• Ability to walk over moorland between 8-20 kilometres per day.
• Good knowledge of the Western Isles.
• Experience of using working dogs.
  

Successful applicants will take part in the eradication of the mink from the Western Isles. Natives of North America, these relatives of the weasel escaped from fur farms in the 1960's and 70's. They have spread throughout the islands as they are strong swimmers and are ruthless predators of ground nesting birds. A programme of eradication was started in 2001.


Mink trap on Berneray.

I can proudly hold up my head and say that I have played a small but vital part in this public service. During 2004 we were camped on Boreray. In exchange for some fresh water, I did a favour for the island's sole resident Jerry. I transported a dead mink to North Uist so that he could claim his bounty. It was a very stinky minky.


Boreray, sea kayaking paradise.

Imagine you are at the edge of the sea on a day when it is difficult to say where the land ends and the sea begins and where the sea ends and the sky begins. Sea kayaking lets you explore these and your own boundaries and broadens your horizons. Sea kayaking is the new mountaineering.

Rocket Mail launched after 5 year countdown.

The film "Rocket Mail" was released today just 5 years after it was completed. It is based on the story of a German rocket scientist who came to the remote island of Scarp in the Outer Hebrides. In the 1930’s the first of a pair of twins was born on Scarp but there were complications and there was no phone to summon help. The second twin could not be delivered until the next day. The mother had to be transported across the Kyle of Scarp to Harris and then Stornoway in Lewis by boat, bus and car, some 72 kilometres distant.

Herr Zucher heard this story and set up a demonstration of rocket mail to allow the islanders to summon help in an emergency. Unfortunately the British would not let him use his own fuel and the rocket exploded scattering the charred remnants of the mail. Worse, the Nazi’s later imprisoned him as a British collaborator.



The BBC recreated the rocket launch for its superb series Coast.




The Sound of Scarp, across which the rocket was fired. Can sea kayaking get any better than this?

Return of the white tailed sea eagle.

This rather poor photo can only hint at the magnificence of the sight of a pair of white tailed sea eagles wheeling in the sky off the wild west coast of Harris in the Outer Hebrides. Sea eagles were persecuted in Scotland and became extinct in the 19th century. In 1975 birds from Scandinavia were reintroduced to Rum in the Inner Hebrides. They have slowly spread and this year there were 33 breeding pairs and 29 chicks were successfully fledged.

The west coast of Harris, what a place to paddle!

The Stones of Callanish

Not far from Uig on the Isle of Lewis lies mysterious Loch Roag. You can paddle your sea kayak to the shore at the edge of the moor of Callanish (Calanais). As you approach, you realise that the irregular skyline is composed of great stones raised on end.



You climb to the summit of the moor and you are dwarfed by the circles and avenues of the Callanish Stones which have stood here for over 4,000 years. No one knows what purpose lay behind the labour of our ancestors.



It is only when you get close to the stones that you realise their true beauty.

In the city I had an idea for a photograph. We would carry our kayaks up to the stones and stand them on end among them. Standing there on the moor, it seemed a crass thing to do and they remained on the beach. I am not sure whether our ancestors would have been amused.

What was once common and taken for granted.

Common blue, butterfly.

While on the machair at Uig, Isle of Lewis, I spotted lots of common blue butterflies. These were once a common sight on grasslands throughout the UK but intensive farming has greatly restricted their habitat and numbers. Thankfully the Lewis machair had remained unchanged for centuries prior to this July day. It was very windy and the grass it was perched on was waving about. This meant I could not drop the shutter speed enough to get really good depth of field for a crisp photo.

In the background, I heard the "croak croak" of the corncrake. This bird is another once common species which is just hanging on in the fringes of the country.

Sea kayaking takes us to special places. We have two responsibilities. First of all we should not harm these places and secondly we should do our best to ensure their future survival. It is encouraging to see local inhabitants developing businesses that exploit the tourism benefit of a pristine environment.

There are proposals to build two huge wind farms in Scotland. Both would be bigger than any other land wind farm in Europe. One is near where I live on the SE of Glasgow. The other is not far from Uig in Lewis. I am completely in favour of the one near Glasgow.

The Lewis one is very difficult with many pros and cons. Lewis is already self sufficient in electricity generated from hydro electricity so the power will need to be exported to the mainland. They plan a new grid to the central lowlands where the cities are but Scotland also exports electricity so this new power will need to be transmitted a long way to where it will be finally used. A lot of power will be lost through the cables. Jobs will be created during construction and crofters will be able to rent the land which otherwise generates little income. New roads and heavy construction will need to encroach on one of the last wildernesses in Europe.

In city offices we will be able to leave our computers on overnight.