Early Morning Cromarty Firth
Took a walk down to Ferry Point early this morning.
Click on this Pano image below for a larger version
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Photography
Glen Glass and the Cromarty Firth
There was a heavy and prolonged thunder storm, last night in Dingwall – following what had been a fine day. The rain was so loud beating in the tent that we had trouble hearing the thunder over it.
I awoke, this morning, (JSC was still asleep) to a damp but bright campsite and had a very good coffee made with my “coffee maker”, sitting outside the tent, watching the rabbits on the field. Eat your heart St*rb*cks this is the only way to appreciate fresh made coffee.
Once JSC got up we decided that we would go walking.
The photos below are from Glen Glass, a little north of Dingwall – as you can see blue sky and sunshine.
Click on this Pano image below for a larger version
What you cannot see in the photos are the midges – so JSC went back to the car, leaving me to take my photos and try out a bit of gear I bought yesterday – a lightweight midge head net! Not something I had considered before, however the air at the campsite at Cragganmore, last week, was “midge soup”. The other backpacker I met there had a midge head net which she found useful. That got me thinking that many of the wild camping places I plan to visit in the future will probably also be plagued midges.
The one below (modelled for you by JSC) is the Micro Head Net, from Highlander, it packs small,weighs little, (I will weight it when I get home) and cost £4 from Tiso.
We left the forest and headed for the coast – with a stop at the picnic site at Invergordon. The Cromarty Firth was used by the navy in the past as it is a deep safe anchorage. Today the oil industry uses it for the same reasons.
Click on this Pano image below for a larger version
Another photo using Pano – if you have an iPhone get it – it is easy to use and, as you can see, great results.
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Logie Steading
The weather forecast today was not so great, so we planned a trip to the secondhand book shop at Logie Steading.
Well as you can see from the photos – it was excellent weather.
Click on the Pano image below for a larger version
There is a walk from the visitor centre/shops down to the River Findhorn, where it passes through a gorge.
Below was the view we had from our picnic spot on the banks of the river. Click on it for a larger version.
Click on this Pano image below for a larger version
So remember if you come to Scotland assume the weather will always be unpredictable!
Dornoch
Jeremy and I walked down to the coast at Dornoch today. We took the small brew kit and had a brew and noodles with tomato soup for lunch.
There was plenty of RAF action whilst we were there with pairs of Tornados performing “power turns” in front of the beach, displaying their underneaths and weapon loads.
Waterproof Case for the iPhone 4
After looking for two weeks in most of the bigger outdoor shop we have passed, I have finally found a case to protect my iPhone 4 from bad weather and is not an Aquapac.
It is a Haglofs Watatait mobile pouch. There were two models and after trying them both out in the shop I chose the smaller one. For testing I fitted the power jacket to the phone so it was larger. I found that the smaller one would work – although it is snug but not tight – and it requires just a little manipulation to get the phone with it’s jacket through the zip lock fastenings. I wanted the smallest case possible as I carry the phone when walking in one of the concealed zippered chest pockets in my Rohan vest.
The pouch looks well made, but it is very light when compared to an Aquapac, and it uses cloth and plastic in it’s construction, rather than all plastic. The water tight closure is a double ziplock with a Velcro roll over top – rolling down this extra protection also reduces the size of the pouch. The front is completely transparent so the whole of the smartphone screen shows. The rear is obscured by the nylon panel and the roll down closure and to use the camera I have to unroll the closure and make sure the iPhone is positioned high enough to avoid the nylon panel – a small amount of trouble to be able to use the camera in bad weather.
Over the coming days I will take some comparison photos both in and out of the pouch to see by how much the quality drops when shooting through the plastic.
There is a long neck strap provided, long enough to go over my head and then still put the pouch in the vest pocket and fasten the zipper, it has a cord lock fitted to this strap can also be used as a wrist strap. There is a tape clipped fitted for another carrying option.
This pouch is not as waterproof as other brands – you could not use it whilst swimming but for protection from the weather when walking it looks ideal. I’m in Scotland at the moment and it is core sat to rain tomorrow so I will be able to test it quite soon!
The pouch could also be used in the real world! We have a client who is a builder and his phones are always out in the weather when he is onsite – when I get back to the office next week I shall drop round and show him this one. Aquapacs were not suitable for him but this Watatait pouch is small enough and looks alright for business use.
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Knockan Crag
The exposed rock at Knockan Crag is extremely interesting as it distinctly shows two different geological layers.
It is also unusual as the older rock is on top of a younger rock – this arises through tectonic movements over many hundreds of millions of years.
There is a visitor centre and a well illustrated walk up the hillside to what is called the Moine Thrust, where you can see and touch the rock layers,. From there you can continue up to a great viewpoint complete with benches to sit on and admire the view from. For more details on the Moine Thrust Belt go here to Wikipedia.
I tried out the Pano app from this viewpoint.
I have only looked at the results on my small iPhone screen not on a bigger screen yet but the image on the iPhone seemed OK. The app was very easy go use – and fun. One thing to remember is if you manually select an exposure point then remember to set it on each of the mosaic images.
Other images from Knockan Crag
Statsraad Lehmkuhl
We got to Ullapool and on the walk down from the car park we saw the tops of these masts over the buildings. The Statsraad Lehmkuhl is a really big ship and I could not get it all in the frame – hence the mast detail.
Whilst having coffee I have had a quick a Google and search of the App Store and found a well rated app Pano – for making panoramic shots with the iPhone camera. Below is a quick try out in the cafe. (Not sure what size image to post with the WordPress app so I will use medium as always – and check it later on my PC.)
It has done a reasonable job, in the closeness and clutter of the cafe where there are some parallax errors in making the original images but it looks OK. However it was a disaster on the tall ship – I will try it on some landscape later.
I got far enough back on the harbour to get most of the ship in – and a small detail of the design work on the ship.
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