2.3.08 - Golden Years. Some photos are moments of inspiration, pieces of technical brilliance or snatched opportunities. This one had been meticulously planned for sometime. I have been working out the best vantage points and sunset times eversince I moved to my current home last summer. Mid-afternoon today it was very grey and trying to rain, then suddenly it all blew through and the air cleared. Sensing a nice sunset I grabbed my gear and walked a few minutes to a local hill crest and waited as this golden lightshow developed. It took much longer to select the DP than I spent taking photos, and I will upload other contenders to my Lincoln Sunset Gallery later this evening (see here http://johnloguk.smugmug.com/gallery/4053411_yY5Qg#260994902 ). I hope you like this shot as much as I do, and I am so glad that I live so close to this view!

This gallery is now a complete year of Daily photos, and although it has felt like a chore on some days I have to say that it has been great fun most of the time. When I started my intention was to challenge myself to try new things, especially to get out of my landscape comfort zone and make myself a more rounded photographer. I've certainly tried lots of new things, had a few disasters, some near misses, and lots of pleasant surprises. But the biggest pleasure is always reading other people's comments and checking out their galleries. There are so many talented people on here that it beggars belief. I really appreciate any comments, especially the constructive ones. I am now moving on to a new gallery for my second year.........

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5.3.08 - This is one of my most treasured possessions, a marquetry picture of Loch Leven and The Pap of Glencoe, in the West Highlands of Scotland. I bought it from a craft village in the far north of Scotland at Durness, way back in 1981. I asked the old guy that made it if it needed any special treatment to help it last longer. He scratched his head and said that it should last a very long time, but to be careful and wax it if I had that... he scratched his head a bit harder...."that new fangled thing......hmmm..... you know..... that new fangled central heating..."!

Well it has survived pretty well, but it was a b****r to photograph! I tried different ways to light it, I cropped it, placed it on different backgrounds, but in the end just left it as it was. I can look at the different wood grains for hours, it really draws me in and brings back brilliant memories. I hope this shot does it justice, and weather permitting I'll be up there climbing this weekend so I'll bring a photo to compare the view.

Oh, and to give an idea of scale, it is roughly 20" by 9"

4.3.08 - I trained as a geologist when I was younger, and although I never put it into practice professionally it has remained a hobby eversince. My local nature reserve was originally a series of open cast ironstone mines, and this is a fine example of the veins that run through the limestone bedrock. I messed up the dof, mainly because I was in a very "exposed" position in a howling gale and hanging on for dear life, but the low sun has set the colours off nicely I think.

3.3.08 - The Good, The Fun and The Ugly! A bit of a change for todays DP, one of those photos with lots of detail for people to look at for ages. The post box on the left is actually Victorian (spot the entwined VR?), and it is hexagonal. Only the Victorians would bother making a hexagonal post box. I wonder how many letters have been posted in that slot? Now I love Pub Quizzes, do they have them in other parts of the world? I also love the fact that smoking is now banned in all public places, including pubs. But the downside is that these horrible smoking bins have appeared everywhere....aaaarrggghhhhhhhh

And here is an old friend who almost became the DP again http://johnloguk.smugmug.com/gallery/4328734_9ZqLR#261519457

2.3.08 - Golden Years. Some photos are moments of inspiration, pieces of technical brilliance or snatched opportunities. This one had been meticulously planned for sometime. I have been working out the best vantage points and sunset times eversince I moved to my current home last summer. Mid-afternoon today it was very grey and trying to rain, then suddenly it all blew through and the air cleared. Sensing a nice sunset I grabbed my gear and walked a few minutes to a local hill crest and waited as this golden lightshow developed. It took much longer to select the DP than I spent taking photos, and I will upload other contenders to my Lincoln Sunset Gallery later this evening (see here http://johnloguk.smugmug.com/gallery/4053411_yY5Qg#260994902 ).

I hope you like this shot as much as I do, and I am so glad that I live so close to this view!

1.3.08 - I decided to blow the cobwebs away with a trip to the beautiful nature reserve at Gibraltar Point today. It was a bright sunny day, but there was also a howling gale, especially on the coast, which made photography "interesting". I've had terrible problems choosing a DP, but in the end I went for this shot of boats tied up at low tide in the sheltered channel of Wainfleet Haven.

If you want to see the other photos that I took today, and I'm really proud of a few of them so please visit, you can find them in their own album here http://johnloguk.smugmug.com/gallery/4434631_EiPrG/2#P-1-15

29.2.08 - Oh boy, what a day! It feels as though this has been my home for today. I've been driving around most of the day, all of it in town, and the last hour in Friday evening rush hour, which wasn't fun. The weather has been foul and my "man-flu" has been bad again, so by the time I finally got home my head was spinning. I took this photo before I got out of the car, and then processed it to represent how I was feeling at the time. Thankfully I've just had a big mug of Earl Grey and I'm feeling much better again. I just need to chill this evening I think, then do something fun at the weekend (not involving the car!)

28.2.08 - The Shopping Trolley Graveyard! Imagine the journey this ageing trolley must have made. After years of servitude it knew that it's time had come. With it's energy failing, it managed to drag itself over a kilometre from the shopping precinct, to this peaceful resting place in a secluded gully on the nature reserve. We cannot begin to imagine how much effort that journey took, as the trolley battled against it's wonky wheels, all pointing in different directions at once. Eventually, with it's last breath, it finally slid into the gully, peace at last. But "oh no", a grubby old bald tyre had already made the gully it's own burial chamber! Knowing it didn't have the energy to climb back out of the gully the trolley simply closed it's eyes and went to sleep...aaaaaahhhhhh

Actually I only went out to post some letters, and decided to take the long way back across the nature reserve. This image was so strong I just had to make it my DP, but others that I took at the same time might make it somewhere later this evening when I have time to process them.

27.2.08 - Had to go into town today, and while I was there I went up onto this footbridge to take photos of the trains at the railway station. Got some nice abstract ones of the criss-crossing tracks too. But I like this shot the best for today. The Cathedral is one of the ultimate expressions of what human beings are capable of, whereas the utilitarian bridge has somewhat less lofty aspirations. I love the contrast though, the colours and the shadow patterns too.

Hey we had a 5.3 earthquake last night, with the epicentre only 20 miles away. Not much by world standards, but the biggest in nearly 30 years in the UK. A guy described it as a Harley Davidson dragging a refrigerator down the road, and the earth certainly moved for me!

26.2.08 - Low Barlings. I was out of town this morning and took a detour to visit this ruined 12th century abbey. This bit of wall, and a few hummocks in the ground, are all that remains of a building that once dominated the surrounding flatlands. It looks beautiful and sunny in the photo, but there was a bitter wind blowing. What we call a "lazy wind". It can't be bothered to go round you, so it goes straight through you!

2.3.08 - Golden Years. Some photos are moments of inspiration, pieces of technical brilliance or snatched opportunities. This one had been meticulously planned for sometime. I have been working out the best vantage points and sunset times eversince I moved to my current home last summer. Mid-afternoon today it was very grey and trying to rain, then suddenly it all blew through and the air cleared. Sensing a nice sunset I grabbed my gear and walked a few minutes to a local hill crest and waited as this golden lightshow developed. It took much longer to select the DP than I spent taking photos, and I will upload other contenders to my Lincoln Sunset Gallery later this evening (see here http://johnloguk.smugmug.com/gallery/4053411_yY5Qg#260994902 ).

I hope you like this shot as much as I do, and I am so glad that I live so close to this view!