CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

Today we visited Loch Lomond and took a boat out to the island of Inchcailloch which is a short 5-minute trip out from Balmaha on eastern shore of Scotland's largest loch. The island is quite small and from the highest point of 85m there are some magnificent views of Loch Lomond and the mountains beyond.  Inchcailloch is also covered in woodland and at this time of year the ground beneath the trees is covered in a carpet of bluebells ( Hyacinthoides non-scripta ). In the strong sunlight streaming through the trees the carpet of blue was highlighted so I took some images on the X-Pro2 using the XF16-55mm f2.8 or XF50-140mm f2.8 with the 2x converter fitted. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE By clicking on the adverts you are helping support this blog - thank you. ----...

During our walk along the John Muir Way near East Linton yesterday we came across a small patch of bluebells growing alongside the path.  The overhanging trees created pools of sunlight amongst the flowers which provided some great contrasty light with which to shoot. Using the X-T1 and the 56mm f1.2 lens I took these three images of the bluebells.  Selecting a wide aperture of f4 I was able to throw the background out of focus while the flower I was concentrating on was perfectly sharp.

The Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia) is often referred to as the Bluebell here in Scotland and is quite common in and around the coastline of East Lothian.  The more common Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) also grows in Scotland but the more delicate Harebell, which flowers between July and October, is Scotland's Bluebell. While I was down at Barns Ness Lighthouse yesterday morning I spotted a patch of Harebells growing in the grass bordering the beach.  It had just started to rain and the flowers had drops of water on them. So I swapped lenses to the 60mm macro and got down low to get some close up images before the rain really started to fall. Description:  Campanula rotundifolia is a perennial species of flowering plant, a slender, prostrate to erect herb, spreading by seed and rhizomes.  Leaves on the flowering stems are long and narrow and the upper ones are unstemmed. The inflorescence is a panicle or raceme, with 1 – many flowers borne ...

It's been a glorious day here on Mull today with wall to wall sunshine.  Perfect BBQ weather! On Mull the bluebells has started to come out and the hillsides and woods are carpeted in blue flowers. We headed to Aros Castle on the west side of Salen Bay to sit and have a picnic while watching the world go by sitting amongst the bluebells. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE NEW GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fee for every click thru from Google and this helps support this blog - thank you for helping ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL IMAGES ARE THE PROPERTY OF MACLEAN PHOTOGRAPHIC AND CANNOT BE USED FOR ANY PURPOSE WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION If you like what you see on this blog please visit o...