By cover of darkness on the Clyde.  A test shot for #clydebynight.  ISO a little high due to bobbing up n down in the water.

copyright © mishsomerville

From an  exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow.  Sadly I didn’t take note of the artists – an oversight.   Please comment if you know >

These pictures were taken a while back and posted on the High-8.  My pal Somhairle half pulled me up about the shoddy editing and he’s absolutely right.  Done in a rush before heading off and on my laptop monitor (which doesn’t cut it), definitely a bit of complacency creeping in, not just on these but on a few recently.   Anyway, that’s what good pals are for no? – telling you when you making a mess of it!  No one else will.

I’ve decided to post them here the same way anyway for interests sake.   Because of the wet nature of the gorge and trying to keep the camera dry, the lens was steaming up, which you can probably see from the slight haziness in the pictures.  The tendency then is to crank the sharpening and definition settings when editing.  It’s always a danger when learning something – the more you know about it the more you realise the mistakes you are making!  I’m sure there are plenty more to come.  Anyway, it’s good fun learning, especially when it takes you to places like this!   The Devils Cauldron:

I joined Streetlevel photoworks and spent the day scanning in negatives from South Sudan.  As I was waiting for the scanner to rev up this image jumped out a book and bit me.

Edinburgh circa 1920

Spectacular weekend just gone shared with good pals atop the ridges of Arran.

I have been waiting a while to climb V,5 ice in Scotland.  Fortunately Ewan was there to drag me up it.  Here’s some pics:

Saturday was an exciting day out on Ben Nevis ending with the rescue of two stranded climbers.  Here’s the helicopter hovering over the stranded climbers in the Gully (if you look closely you’ll see their torches).  Ewan my climbing partner is also up there somewhere helping them out of their sticky predicament!

This last weekend we opened up a project on one of Scotland’s remote bothies.   As a regular visitor to bothies, it’s always on the back of my mind how a contribution can be made to keep the bothy culture alive and functioning for the future.

This particular building, perched spectacularly on the edge of a loch in one of Scotland’s most fantastic landscapes, has been in need of face-lift for some time having been abused by a very small number of the travellers passing through –  a handful of people who decided to leave rubbish rather than carry it out.  So a small team of us set out to tidy the space for anyone that might want to stay.  The plot thickened however – as we tidied an [almost] blank canvas appeared where the rubbish had been.

In case you feel you might have anything to contribute to a creative outpost in Scotland’s Bothy Culture get in touch through High-8.

It’s been a while since a saw an Adder in Scotland.  Just like the last time, I nearly cycled over it.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

The last few months have been little more than making whistles and ice climbing.  Along with Nik Powell we’ve been reviewing and improving the production processes we use for making the instruments.  Aside from a display stand to go into shops there’s been little in the way of new design.  While the amazing climbing in the Scottish highlands this winter has provided it’s own excitement and the weekly routine has been productive, there has been little in the way of new experiences to provide inspiration to take into a new design stage.   At times like this I try to remind myself that sometimes you have to keep your head down and get on with things until a window of opportunity appears [keeping your powder dry - as my dad would say].  In the mean time, here’s some pictures from weekend adventures of late: