Puffins

Isle Of May

Yes No Yes

Taiwan in Edinburgh

Northern Gannets On Bass Rock

Bass Rock in the Firth Of Forth sticks out of the water with sheer cliffs all around.

From a distance the top of the rock looks white. It's white with the density of gannets that call it home during the breeding season.

At 150,000 birds, it's the largest colony of Northern Gannets in the world. It has grown year on year but looking back to earlier in the 20th century there were no gannets.

The top of the rock was green - the green of meadows and planted fields. The produce from them helped to support a small population of lighthouse keepers and their families.

The lighthouse is still in use but since 1988 it has been run by remote control. The Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouse Board monitor it from their headquarters in Edinburgh.

With the human disturbance gone the gannets claimed the rock as their own. And once established, the breeding pairs return year after year.

Visiting in 2015

The Scottish Seabird Centre run trips to Bass Rock. Landings depend on the weather and you need to be fit.

I and eleven others were in an inflatable RIB, having just visited the Isle Of May.

On the way back to North Berwick we idled in the waters for a while. We didn't land but we did see gannets. I was truly staggered with the sheer numbers overhead. It was amazing - one of those times when my head stops and I know I am enjoying something so deep that it clears the fog.

That's when I took these shots.

Fuji X100s in Edinburgh - Highland Piper

The first image is a crop from the full frame. Click the images to see much larger and more detailed versions.

Fuji X100s Sharpness

I have had this camera for more than a year now and I had good results last year shooting comedians for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

But I have also had mixed results, and a few weeks ago I met someone who also shoots a Fuji X100s.

He asked me what I thought of the image sharpness and I said that there was a strange kind of behaviour in some images that I could only describe as almost double imaging that gave shots a plastic look.

He said he found the same, and we shook our heads at how we had managed to buy highly-recommended cameras that sometimes gave so-so results.

Then about a week ago I noticed a strange thing happening when I opened images in Photoshop Camera Raw. The image would look blurry, as though it had not rendered properly. And then it would just 'develop' and turn into lovely, sharp, detailed, rich, rounded, luxurious images.

Did Adobe update Camera Raw to deal with the x-trans sensor in Fuji cameras?

The Piper

I spoke to the piper and in the course of our conversation he explained that the reed is a single reed just like in a clarinet. I mentioned that I had read Larry Adler saying that he would blow out the reed on his harmonicas after just one full evening's performance and had to throw them away.

The piper (I forget his name - apologies to him) said he had had this reed for two years.

Having never seen a piper in Edinburgh wearing a red jacket, he explained that it was a military jacket and had cost him £500.00 and that he used to collect funds for a hospice and the jacket brought in the crowds - that and his playing. He had terrific staying power when he played, with notes and sequences that just went on and on. He said he had been piping for 45 years and was thankful his lungs had held out.

He said he used a soft reed which made it easier to play and that professional contestants and pipers in military bands used a hard reed to get more volume.

Then he pointed to where the reed sits, and I was so surprised. I expected it to be up near his mouth, but it is buried at the far end of the pipe where it meets the bag. Who knew?

Silvrback Blog - Yes, No, Maybe

The answer is always yes, no, and maybe.

The blogging system is Silvrback - 14-day free trial and then $30/year. It's not exactly front-end blogging but it is near it and it is very intuitive to use.

It states

You have full ownership of your data. Your blog has no advertisements. You own your data and can export it at any time. Embrace the zen-like, Silvrback writing experience.

I cannot think why I am attracted to using it. I don't need another blogging platform. I have Pixels ate.. and I have a self-hosted site at NoMorePencils - so what is there beyond the allure of a well-polished product that makes me want to pay $29.99/year for the privilege? It's a mystery.