Light from Stars. Sunsets. Painting with photography.

                                              ALL PHOTOS CLICK FULL SCREEN
Something different this week as I like variety. In my own small way I try to stretch the boundaries of photography. Not in a technical sense as I'm not that way inclined and haven't the money for sophisticated equipment or the patience and ability to set up complicated engineering projects to capture unusual images. I'm more of a be there in the moment person and just try to capture that.
Painting with photography is something I've had a go at over the last year so here's a small collection of my efforts.

Letters in the clouds. A real one that formed as we watched. With spectacular sunsets throughout October and November I've been visiting small hills within the city when I think the sunsets or lighting effects will be at their best. Often it's after a rain storm, just at nightfall, when the moist air, dark clouds and clear patches combine.

To cover the ground I use a bike or take my car around the north west of the city to reach my usual set of viewpoint drumlins. Cycling in the dark, even in semi familiar areas is exciting but also dangerous as it's harder to see the potholes and hidden dips in the road. I find November is generally a very grey, dark and depressing month anyway and sometimes leaving the house at dusk for a couple of hours is the most colourful time.

A photo taken near Trinley's house. Like me she grew up on a hill with great views across the city.

The romance of starlight. The greatest free slow-motion fireworks display as each tiny square across the city is illuminated one by one.

And planes pass overhead cycling along the canal.

Ra descending. For girls who love the dark and all the creatures that live within it.

R.I.P. Leviathans of the modern age.

Mirror image.

Masters of the sky. But which one?

Sad moon.

Painting with photography.

Glasgow Street after rain storm.

The shadow lands. The time of day when objects are seen or half seen... or only imagined.

In the half life of shadows.

Had this interesting and unusual film in my collection for years and watched it again recently. Enjoyed it even more the second time around. Great wildlife footage shot by Timothy Treadwell, a young eccentric who lived uninvited every summer in the wilds of Alaska with untamed grizzly bears in the Kodiak Island region, sleeping in a small tent next to them, usually alone for months at a time with just a pointed finger for protection. Surprisingly, he lasted over a decade before he was eventually eaten, along with his girlfriend, by an unfamiliar and hungry bear and the German film maker, Werner Herzog decided to make a documentary about his remarkable life. Werner Herzog films tend to be extraordinary and very different anyway ( Fitzcarraldo, Aquirre, the Wrath of God ) and this is no exception. As much a fascinating look at human phychology, psychiatric behaviour ( unlike most people he had no fear of bears or much else in nature) and what drives certain individuals to do unbelievable things, previously considered impossible, as most experienced veterans in the area didn't think he'd last a year without a gun. Also just predates the internet age by a few years and the modern trend for anyone to be the star of their own production online but shows what can happen if you take any obsession for anything too far. Here's a short clip from the film.
PS... The internet being what it is his death tape appears to have made it online but I've never heard it or been interested in watching anything like that as it's meant to be very gruesome indeed. You've been warned. 
 The film and this clip just celebrates the beauty he observed and captured when he was alive. The Herzog film, which is well worth viewing, seems to be available on You Tube. Some beautiful footage of Alaska's wildlife and a glimpse into our own multifaceted perception and sometimes tragically false understanding of the world around us...