Zig-Zag to Temple Hill

[Donald]

Had our first real snowfall of the year yesterday/today. Much of the UK got the same, which is very early for us.


40D, 70-200 f4 L IS @ 70mm. ISO100. 1/45@f11. Circ Pol. Manual. 10:54am

[Clactonian]

Great tones and composition on this one Donald. No snow down here as yet.

[Wirefox]

Donald

This is an inspired composition and beautifully captured (as usual). You really must find a gallery to take these shots you are producing.

I like the Title by the way, Laird Mackenzie o' the Lasses....you do realise you will have to live up to the responsibility of that position....well probably many positions....you have obviously been saving all the blue smarties out of the packet. I was also wrong about the allure of kilt and carpet slippers. I am off to M&S to get some slippers and a travel blanket from M&S....do I find them in the lingerie department or will this have to be a discrete order from Ann Summers?

[wilgk]

I like the Title by the way, Laird Mackenzie o' the Lasses....you do realise you will have to live up to the responsibility of that position....well probably many positions....you have obviously been saving all the blue smarties out of the packet. I was also wrong about the allure of kilt and carpet slippers. I am off to M&S to get some slippers and a travel blanket from M&S....do I find them in the lingerie department or will this have to be a discrete order from Ann Summers?

pfft don't waste your time - we'll spot a wannabe laird inexpertly pinned in an M&S travel blanket with ill-fitting floppy slippers a mile away

[Wirefox]

pfft don't waste your time - we'll spot a wannabe laird inexpertly pinned in an M&S travel blanket with ill-fitting floppy slippers a mile away

Kay..that cuts to the quick. And after all the trouble I have gone to. I have fashioned a very passible sporran from road kill squirrel (good job its below zero here) and milk bottle tops. I have even shoved a dirk (potato peeler) down the top of one of my fluorescent green leg warmers. Wirevixen pinched my highland bonnet back...said the teapot was getting cold but I have retained the bread knife as a very utilitarian broadsword (the basket hilt fell off at the till in M&S). One thing I can say is it gets very nippy under the travel rug especially when the wind is howling up the Glens (read as multi-storey car park). I thought I cut a rather Liam Nielson (in Rob Roy) like figure with my 6ft 6" frame and windswept hairline...the travel blanket is a wee bit short and I can fully understand why you lasses wear tights. WireVixen has some nice barely black seamed ones somewhere I will have to dig them out before the next raising of the clans

Yours

The Duck of Badprose aka Laird of the Jessies

[arith]

-18 is tooo cool for me; I would need an oxygen mask to go out in that. But I let you do it, when it gets to about zero I might venture out.

I like it, especially the zig zag, did a farmer do that because they only grit main routes round here; buses stop running and it takes 90 minutes to travel two miles by car.

[Donald]

-18 is tooo cool for me;

Steve

Don't think it was quite that low when I was out, but the wind chill was making it feel as if it was.

My next essential photo accessory is a pair of high quality thin gloves. I have good leather gloves that, although they're a bit bulky still allow me to operate all the dials and buttons on my 40D. However, they're not good enough to handle cold wind coming in behind already low temperatures. For example, during the shoot where I got the above, I was having to put the camera back in the bag every 10 minutes or so and put my gloved hands inside the lining of my jacket to get warmth and feeling back into my fingers. They were quite painful.

So, I'm going to go to one of the outdoor/mountaineering type shops to see what they've got. If I get what I'm after, I'll keep them in the front pocket of my Lowepro backpack as my 'photo gloves'.

What do the rest of you, who experience cold weather conditions, do ... other than saying "Sod it" and staying inside?

[arith]

I used to do weight lifting and have some weight lifters gloves, camel leather without fingers. But it is -6 outside here now, on my thermoneter and there aint no way I'm even going as far as the church, plus the buses are not running so I even if it was as high as zero, I wouldn't walk anywhere knowing I couldn't get a bus back if I needed to.

Sunny though.

[Wirefox]

Donald

Shooting mitts..I used to use these when I roamed the fields in winter with a shotgun. This is an example HERE but you can yet them at any shop that has Range Rovers parked outside and smells of horse **** and Barbour oil

[Donald]

Donald

Shooting mitts.

Excellent. You're wonderful.

And they will go wonderfully well with the Barbour Fleece jacket I bought a few weeks ago (which is wonderful), over which we can put the Barbour waxed jacket when it rains.

But I don't have a 4 x 4. Could this exclude me from the correct social circles, or would the mitts be an acceptable alternative? And if I promise to start to try and like wine from a cardboard box?

[carregwen]

I like the Title by the way, Laird Mackenzie o' the Lasses....you do realise you will have to live up to the responsibility of that position....

Ye see yon birkie, ca'd a lord,
Wha struts, an' stares, an' a' that;
Tho' hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a coof for a' that:
For a' that, an' a' that,
His ribband, star, an' a' that:
The man o' independent mind
He looks an' laughs at a' that.

[carregwen]

Excellent composition, Donald. Absolutely A1 spot on. It's hard to find good zig-zags like that. Well seen.

[Katy Noelle]

I sold two pairs of green, Barbour wellies to Adam Ant, once. He was quite mellow, shy and retiring and used to bring very lovely ladies into the tea room on dates (I think). Of course, I didn't know who he was, at first. (I spent two hours chatting with Rick Dees, too, while his wife shopped. I never knew it was him which was pitiful because they were having an ad campaign and his face was on every bus and every other billboard in the Greater Los Angeles area. It wouldn't have mattered if I did know - I'm afraid that fame doesn't change my friendliness to people. Oh, I don't know which smilie to use - hm.) Anyway, I am freely rambling. Adam Ant gave us "nippies" free tickets to his concert. To make an understatement, he's different on stage than in real life. ahem.

P.S. I was just ruminating about fingerless gloves in my photo journal (in signature below).

[arith]

4x4 is a nuisance Donald. I used to have a 1955 series 1 SWB softtop with modified (modern) engine; in fact the only bit that wasn't modern was the aluminium bits. You just keep getting pulled over by Range Rovers driven by people that have to have a look. No heater and very drafty so not recommended.

I like the SAS Balaclava and the wax cap, they would keep me warm when I go taking pics of the Xmas tree outside the cathedral.

I use these but mine are yellow.

http://www.jjbsports.com/golds%20gym...p-product/6350

[Donald]

A direct line of connection from freezing cold fingers in rural Perthshire, Scotland to Adam Ant having tea with young ladies in the US.

Truly, this is an amazing forum!

[Donald]

Ye see yon birkie, ca'd a lord,
Wha struts, an' stares, an' a' that;
Tho' hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a coof for a' that:
For a' that, an' a' that,
His ribband, star, an' a' that:
The man o' independent mind
He looks an' laughs at a' that.

And it's primarily the words of this magificent Burns anthem that makes my flesh creep at the idea of being a Laird.

[Katy Noelle]

Oh, I've been meaning to ask and maybe this is a good place to do so. When I was using my telescope, in past years, I would put it outside in the late evening so that the lens could adjust to the temperature by the time we were ready to look. I only generally understood why. I've been wondering how it would effect my photos when I grab my camera and run outside into the cold to catch the moment. Even more worrisome is when I bring it back inside where it's so warm. Is there anything that I should know, be aware of, worry about, do?

[Katy Noelle]

A direct line of connection from freezing cold fingers in rural Perthshire, Scotland to Adam Ant having tea with young ladies in the US.

Truly, this is an amazing foum!

hee, hee! Well, it was a small step for me.

[Wirefox]

To make an understatement, he's different on stage than in real life. ahem.

Katy, I just love his music videos from the 80's. If I hadn't been such a stick in the mud greasy Kneb I would have dressed like that for sure. The surreal flamboyance of the new romantic period was very tempting.

Could this exclude me from the correct social circles, or would the mitts be an acceptable alternative? And if I promise to start to try and like wine from a cardboard box?

Donald, provided you slug the Blue Nun straight from the tap you will do fine. In any case the 4x4s (apart from the Defender) are the transport of choice for orange skinned women with Wirral accents, leopard print thongs and floppy haired children. Defenders are driven by macho males in camo jackets, a gun rack, a subscription to Guns and Ammo and a large flagged back patio. Oh make sure you wear a mustard moleskin waistcoat under that Barbour...you can get in anywhere with a mustard moleskin waistcoat...even the Conservative Club in Wilmslow...provided you flash your leopard print thong

[carregwen]

..provided you flash your leopard print thong

Well, he's not wearing any... http://www.your-kilt.com/under-the-kilt.html