Pics from Scotland

Hi all,

We're in Scotland for a few weeks on vacation, so thought I'd share some of the sights. A beautiful country, and very nice people. These are pretty much from the camera, with just a bit of tweaking in Lightroom. Will save the editing until returning home.



Castles are a prime target:

http://shazza53.smugmug.com/photos/6...20_MyqWB-M.jpg




http://shazza53.smugmug.com/photos/6...98_499dS-M.jpg




http://shazza53.smugmug.com/photos/6...47_cq4fU-M.jpg




http://shazza53.smugmug.com/photos/6...47_zDY9v-M.jpg




A few landscapes:

http://shazza53.smugmug.com/photos/6...62_zXoQz-M.jpg




http://shazza53.smugmug.com/photos/6...49_C7k4A-M.jpg




http://shazza53.smugmug.com/photos/6...86_d2a9R-M.jpg





Some local wildlife:

http://shazza53.smugmug.com/photos/6...34_wPJoU-M.jpg




http://shazza53.smugmug.com/photos/6...91_rtknf-M.jpg




http://shazza53.smugmug.com/photos/6...84_uB2eZ-L.jpg
(one of 7 adorable spaniel-lab pups at the B&B in Aberdeen)



Off to see more castles and in search of some Highland Cattle! Please feel free to criticize and give me hints to take some better photos - always trying to learn.

That's some nice HDR you've got going there! I like everything except the fourth castle photo and the one of the solitary sheep - subjective lighting is a little off, but I think you already knew that so there's no real criticism.

Camera? Lens?

Great HDR for sure,and not the pukey over-saturated sort either.
Scotland has amazing landscape,and the only place in the UK i haven't been to yet.
Enjoy your stay,if you pass England,drop by and we'll go out for a pint.:p:

Thanks, guys. Actually - no HDR in these. A polarizer used in some, so may need to tone down the blue in the sky on a couple of them (although it was quite blue, in between the rainstorms).

Yea - the lighting was not good for the lonely sheep, so I messed around a tad and cut the clarity/sharpness way down to give it a bit of a surreal look :p: The fourth castle needs some work - it appears over-sharpened to me, even though I didn't sharpen it - probably an issue with the jpeg conversion. Will give it another go.

Camera = Canon 5D MII with the 24-105 f/4 lens.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shazza

Camera = Canon 5D MII with the 24-105 f/4 lens.

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You're making my little 50D jealous :p:

All beautiful shots. Some exposure issues that you can tweak up in LR. I was wondering where these people came up with the idea that these were HDR shots.

Again, nice caps. A country I hope I get to visit one day.

beautiful photography and scenery!! Looks like a lovely place to visit :)

Looks like real nice countryside.
Try to get out there one day myself.

Yeah aberdeens not to bad i guess

nice pics though :)

Cool pics :)

Where else are you travelling in Scotland.? Perth as a whole is breathtaking and the M90 between Kinross and Dunfirmline is beautiful too.

shazza have you tried the 1080p recording ? do you like it?

Beautiful pix shazza... I know ive not been active lately but you got 5D MII?? thought you were shooting with a nikon

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shazza

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Camera = Canon 5D MII with the 24-105 f/4 lens.

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Beautiful photos Shazza, niiiiice camera too:) I have to start visiting those places now, after seeing your photos. I've never been there and I lived here for 5 years!:)
How come you get so nice sun, when here in Glasgow is pouring like hell?;)

...ive just noticed you can see that puppies ding-dong...

Thanks for the comments! Still working on getting exposures right in the camera, so I can minimize processing.

I haven't tried the recording mode yet ... hope to play around with that sometime soon. Got the camera for my b'day in May - no Nikon here, mainly because my husband has a pretty full set of Canon lenses already so made sense to go stay with Canon. I do prefer the ergonomics of the Nikons.

@ phinix_mike - sorry the weather hasn't cleared in Glasgow. It was rotten when we flew in as well. We've had spurts of sunshine - but lots of wind and some rain in central Scotland.

@ berk - I think it's okay, he's just a baby ;)

We are currently in Ullapool - planning to spend a week or so in the islands to the West. Here is a shot outside the B&B we're staying at (this one is HDR - just for fun. I'm not a huge fan of the overdone skies, but enjoy playing around with HDR):

http://shazza53.smugmug.com/photos/6...65_QG9nx-M.jpg





A snapshot of Urguhart Castle - only place we've been where there have been many tourists. These castle ruins sit on the shore of Loch Ness (no monster sightings for us, unfortunately!)
http://shazza53.smugmug.com/photos/6...05_xR4Zi-M.jpg




And, a waterfall outside Ullapool called Corrieshalloch Gorge
http://shazza53.smugmug.com/photos/6...22_Tm24K-L.jpg