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PHOTOempt

Jul-02-2008, 02:44 AM

"Last to bus", also last to discover (yesterday) everyone's wonderful thread links (I was looking at the end of the Mull thread, not the beginning!) and now "last to post".... Everybody's photos are wonderful - it was a real pleasure to look at all of them, and see the same places through different eyes. This workshop was an amazing experience for me - the first workshop I'd ever been on, having relied purely on reading and trial/error up till now. What did I learn? So much, and also how much there is to learn. Curves - and learning curves. The learning curves of life. I will never die of boredom.I wanted to find "wow" in my photos and hopefully, I am starting the process of finding "wow" as I process my photos. Learning Photoshop in a month...? No, but certainly finding some tools that are making a big difference - I hope - I'll let you be the judges. Learning blending and stitching. My RSS pano gear and 24 mmT/S arrive this evening with some friends visiting. Another huge learning curve to tackle before Sierras in 7 weeks:clap .
I learned that having a point and shoot to take candids of the lovely people I travelled with, is too important to miss, as well as always having a camera handy for anything and everything. G9 next month - another learning curve, not just in studying the manual, but another way of seeing the world around me and capturing the moment. Photography is a wonderful, wonderful addiction. I learn to see the world, to document its beauty, I learn to learn, and I learn to appreciate the great people that I have met, who are involved in the same journey. So here are a few of the images that I have worked on since I came home, (via London for a few rainy days) and the rest are in my SmugMug gallery in Mull, London and Flowers (Chelsea Flower show). Thank you to everyone on the trip - it was a precious experience, and I hope to meet you all again and share another amazing experience together. I will welcome any comments on the images below.

http://photoempt.smugmug.com/photos/324053191_qSYUD-M.jpg

Our first stop - the boats near Salen

http://photoempt.smugmug.com/photos/324053258_4CpTb-M-1.jpg

landscape view at Ardmore Point at sunset, with the inevitable sheep that we got to know and love:

http://photoempt.smugmug.com/photos/324053311_nNje7-M-1.jpg

http://photoempt.smugmug.com/photos/317069359_v7F2R-M-1.jpg

My first stitching effort - Calgary bay on the cliffs where we all perched precariously - and some of us misplaced a lens...

http://photoempt.smugmug.com/photos/324054503_nZtUe-M-1.jpg

Oh that beautiful lighthouse, and that 4 am start to the day - so light before sunrise that I really wondered whether the sun had risen and hidden itself to taunt me as I stumbled sleepily through the silent woods.

http://photoempt.smugmug.com/photos/324053690_4Xk2J-M-1.jpg

Flavour of Scotland - Duart castle with "road runner" way down the road for that one

http://photoempt.smugmug.com/photos/324053761_6L4nL-M-1.jpg

Arolainish Bay - I think that was the name. Lovely to see all the different ways that we circled this beauty, and how amazed we all were to find her floating happily when the tide came in. I think we all forgot that the sea does go in and out in this part of the world!

http://photoempt.smugmug.com/photos/317051458_HQQkP-M-1.jpg

Sunset over Kintra bay, with moon rise behind:

http://photoempt.smugmug.com/photos/317051756_FNnNf-M-1.jpg

http://photoempt.smugmug.com/photos/317052684_gQTCJ-M-1.jpg

Kintra bay - just when you think the light show is over for the day.

http://photoempt.smugmug.com/photos/317068454_wRg8j-M-1.jpg

Another stitch at Croag, where the tide raced in or was it out?

http://photoempt.smugmug.com/photos/317064481_rwSSH-M-1.jpg

And yet here, all was still: the incredible tranquillity of Mull - Croag at sunset

http://photoempt.smugmug.com/photos/317067130_yq7Po-M-1.jpg

Emmanuel's lonely tree - briefly surrounded by friends, then solitude again.

http://photoempt.smugmug.com/photos/317460230_6dXUs-M-1.jpg

From the sublime to the ridiculous - culture shock in London

http://photoempt.smugmug.com/photos/317461320_952jP-M-1.jpg

Tower Bridge....

http://photoempt.smugmug.com/photos/324052519_BNfjW-M-1.jpg

http://photoempt.smugmug.com/photos/317480726_mrHtN-M-1.jpg

.....and Ted

schmoo

Jul-02-2008, 09:30 AM

Hi Sarah! :barb

You have no ide ahow happy I am to see your shots. It was so wonderful meeting someone who came with such a fresh set of eyes - not only to the land but to the group of Dgrinners and pros alike. I also appreciated your approach to photography and I know that I am not the only one.

Sure, we may have made jokes about how you're always the first one out of the car and the last one to come back (angry bulls or no angry bulls!) but seeing what resulted from that energy of yours is so satisfying.

That said I love your shots. Now that it's been almost 2 months since we saw these places it is magical seeing them again through your eyes.

I haven't finished my own processing yet so don't worry about being the last one.

I truly hope to be able to go on a workshop with you again. I have so much to learn not just from Marc but from all the shooters like you who bring something unique to the trip. :thumb

Andy

Jul-02-2008, 09:48 AM

Wow nice Sarah - it's great to see your stuff in the raw, at Mull, then here in finished form - well done, and it seems you learned a lot as well :thumb

W000p! :smo

cmorganphotography

Jul-02-2008, 12:10 PM

PHOTOempt

Jul-02-2008, 02:24 PM

Thank you so much Andy and Schmoo for your generous comments - I can't tell you how much it means to me. Schmoo - I really hope we meet again. I so enjoyed meeting you and I love your work. I gather there are still places in the Sierras workshop, and David just let me know that we will have a real toilet seat at the camp with tarp for privacy on at least 3 sides!! Doesn't that make you really want to come - specially just to see which side is open...! Thank you Andy - your comments are really special.

PHOTOempt

Jul-02-2008, 02:29 PM

SHEEP.
Such contemplative shots. They don't make me want to jump in the water and swim, instead they make me want to sit down, drink some tea, and relax. From all the stress of life nowadays, what a delicious feast for the eyes. One thing I would steal from you is your superpower to have straight horizons. I use my grid but epic fail half tha time.
Thank you for sharings these, I'd pick a favourite but I'll just change my mind anyway.:rofl
Thank you for viewing and commenting. I am well known for my "crooked leg" with right leg being at least 2 inches shorter judging from the sloping world through my viewfinder, so using a tripod really helps. For those that still slip through the grid, correcting in Photoshop works like a charm...Mull was such a beautiful place - tranquil views everywhere, and a feeling that we could step out of the van, and someone flicked a switch for another stunning opportunity to capture the landscape laid out before us.

pathfinder

Jul-02-2008, 02:31 PM

Wow, great work Sarah. Lovely rendering of each image.

I like them all.:thumb

schmoo

Jul-02-2008, 02:36 PM

T I gather there are still places in the Sierras workshop, and David just let me know that we will have a real toilet seat at the camp with tarp for privacy on at least 3 sides!! Doesn't that make you really want to come - specially just to see which side is open...!
:lol4

Marc Muench

Jul-02-2008, 02:50 PM

Llywellyn

Jul-02-2008, 07:23 PM

Yay! :clap Really nice shots, Sarah. I particularly love that Croag shot of the boat on water that could be glass. Just beautiful. :thumb

Hope to meet you again at a future workshop!

PHOTOempt

Jul-02-2008, 10:14 PM

Sarah,

I am thrilled you have posted these images:thumb Great job post processing:barbmy favorite is Kintra Bay with the fishing traps in the FG:deal

Regarding the three sided toilet, the main reason for this is so you can see the bear when it's coming:rofl
I look forward to seeing you in the Sierras

Hi Marc - thank you for both your comments now, and for all the great teaching and inspiration at the workshop. I felt that I learned so much and I'm so happy that I'm getting some good feedback. I'm so looking forward to the Sierras trip, and I'm going to be sure to take that G9 everywhere with me - including the toilet!!

PHOTOempt

Jul-02-2008, 10:28 PM

Yay! :clap Really nice shots, Sarah. I particularly love that Croag shot of the boat on water that could be glass. Just beautiful. :thumb

Hope to meet you again at a future workshop!

Hi Kerry, Hi Jim,
Great to hear from you both, and thanks for coming along so quickly to see. One of the wonderful things about discovering SmugMug/DGrin and going on the workshop was, not only finding that my photographic knowledge boomed in a mushroom shape, but also discovering a network of super knowledgeable and very generous comrades. I was frankly terrified when Ross suggested that I sign up for the workshop - I had seen photographic blogs where people ripped each other to shreds - and not having a great sense of confidence (British understatement at play, here!) about my work, I was pretty scared. I have so much enjoyed meeting you both, and everyone else on the trip, as I really appreciated the generosity of spirit, support, and comraderie, which now continues through our threads. I so hope we meet up again. Perhaps we need a Mull reunion....

thebigsky

Jul-03-2008, 05:38 AM

PHOTOempt

Jul-03-2008, 08:57 AM

Hi Sarah,

What a great series of shots :clap:clap

They're all very good but I particularly like the ones at Croig... and from a fellow photoshop novice, the processing looks pretty good to me!:clap I'm still fiddling with my images each time I learn a new technique.

Will you stop talking about Sierras, I'm getting seriously jealous now :rofl

Charlie
Sierra Sierra Sierra. Sierriously, why don't you sierrgn up?!!
Thanks for the nice comments Charlie - some novice, you - your images are stunning - all the best, Sierrah!