French Claire's pics

A bit of sun makes the difference!

2008-04-27T16:27:00.004Z

Hello everybody! I recently treated myself to a new lens and I'm loving it. I haven't had a chance to try it as a macro lens yet but I'm loving the telephoto side of it so far! Mark and I have been going out for walks just about every evening since I got my new toy and the weather has been quite decent, so it's all good! We were in Newburgh last monday night and after checking the usual couple of birding spots for Mark, we went to the beach along the golf course. It was actually really busy, not so much with people but horny eider ducks making that funny noises to go with their courtship moves! Very sexy...

As we were walking towards a seal colony on the other side of the estuary, a shellduck flew past us really fast but I still managed to get a shot!

There were quite a few seals chilling out in the late afternoon sun...

We went to Girdle Ness this morning for Mark's birding fix. The weather was exceptionally beautiful, the sea was very calm ...There were a few dolphins with young calves having a play around...

Windy!

2008-01-09T20:03:00.000Z

I don't know about you but I really like watching big waves crash on breakwaters! I know it sounds weird but I find it very soothing. We went for a walk at the weekend around Girdle Ness and it was very windy, the waves were absolutely massive! So I stayed there for a while to take some shots until I turned blue and couldn't feel my fingers...

I'm back!

2008-01-06T16:22:00.000Z

Hello everybody! After just over 8 months of not doing much photography, cause not very inspired, I'm back! My lovely boyfriend got me a macro lens for my birthday and wasn't it just a good buy! I have found inspiration again and I'll never spend another day off lazying on the sofa watching far too much telly! The amazing thing about macro photo is that anything can make a great photo... like coffee and sugar!

Or a leaf covered in dew and ice that I found in Seaton park in Aberdeen on a very cold morning.

We got the lens in a great shop called Ffordes which is in Beauly, in the Highlands. We spent the night at a friend's parents' on the Black Isle and I got to try out the lens the morning after in their garden. The only thing I knew about macro photo was that it makes flowers and insects look really cool! So I had a wee go at a hover fly...

And from then on, I've been finding photo opportunities everywhere! I set up a mini studio in my living room consisting of two white A4 sheets, a desk lamp, a glass of tonic, a syringe (for henna!), and some blackcurrant and apple cordial! I used different backgrounds such as a pink rubber duck and a blue biscuit tin! And that's the result...

Hello everybody!!

2007-03-04T18:53:00.000Z

First of all, I would like to apologise for being such a lazy bum. From now on I shall try to post at least two entries a week. I'll try as well to write a paragraph in French so my compatriots can follow my adventures too!
Anyway, today's photos are a bit random! They're not recent either due to the lovely weather we get in Aberdeen during the winter!

Mark and I went to Edinburgh zoo back in november. I hadn't gone to a zoo in ages and I loved it even though the animals were very shy...either that or they were just more clever than us and stayed indoors to shelter from the wind and the rain! There were loads of cuties and some scary looking cats. I made the mistake to say to Mark how cute and inoffensive the otters looked and one of them heard me! It tried its best to look dangerous...

We moved on to the big cats enclosures and were disappointed when we couldn't see the black panther. We didn't realise straight away that the panther could see us from its cave! It had a very intense stare that I tried my best to capture through the enclosure's window.

As I mentioned in my previous entries, Mark and I go for walks as often as we can. Buying a car was the best decision we've ever made! Thanks to Zuki (that's our car) we've been to a few places in Scotland and England. Our plan is to visit as many places as we can in Scotland especially before we eventually move to sunny France! Anyway, we went to a forest in Glen Muick with Dave last summer and saw the spookiest thing ever...a deer skull hanging from a tree, drying away, almost ready to be hung above a hunter's fire place...yuk!

There was a very peaceful wee loch in the forrest. There was a little grebe couple building a nest for their future family...how cute!! There were loads of funny insects including bright blue dragon flies (well it looked like a dragon fly but then again, I don't know anything about them. Feel free to leave a comment if you know what it is). One of them kept on coming towards me as if it was trying to tell me something...

When I looked at this photo for the first time, I realised it was actually a really cool dragon fly...sunglasses on and singing the blues!

By the way, I would like to apologise once for all for all the bad jokes you may read on my blog, just so I don't have to do so every time!!
I'm very proud to announce that I've had one of my photos published for the first time in Science mag last month!! It was thanks to Dave who recommended it to his supervisor to illustrate his article. Thanks Dave!! The photo was taken when Mark was helping Dave with his field work for his PHD during the summer and the bird is a mummy yellow hammer carrying food to feed his chicks.

Bye!

Birdies

2007-02-20T19:13:00.000Z

Hello! As I have told you before my boyfriend is a birdwatcher (or as he says to sound cool, a birder). Bless him! Anyway, because of his passion for feathered creatures we end up rather often watching them fly and do whatever birds do in many different places (such as Peterhead harbour, see sunset photos) and I've got to say I quite enjoy it. I have discovered so many fantastic locations, Scotland is beautiful! Yeah, I know it sounds lame...but as a wannabe photographer it's great. There always is something to take a picture of.
Today's photos were taken when we went for a walk in the Cairngorms last summer with a friend of ours Dave (a birder) and I had a whale of a time. The scenery was spectacular and I had some really cool photo opportunities! The best part of the trip was when I almost literally stumbled accross a bird Mark and our mate had been looking for for over an hour! I love when that happens! Birds are weird...they're clever, brave and strong...well that only applies to migrations and stuff because when it comes to hiding from potential predators, they're really dumb! That usually very elusive bird was standing right beside my feet until I flushed him. He then stopped and froze thinking I couldn't see him...how silly! I got loads of pics of that ptarmagan really close up.

Once we got on top of the hills, the scenery blew me away, I felt on top of the world! The two tiny men you can in the distance are Mark and Dave.

On our way back there were a few cars parked on the side of the road. We then noticed the deers taking a foot spa in the river! They looked surprised having an audience but didn't move, they even seemed to be posing for me!

What I take pictures of

2007-02-18T14:22:00.000Z

Hi everybody! Today's photos represents what I like the most...even tho some of them feature birds! Well, it's not that I dislike feathered creatures, it's just that if I say they're alright, my lovely boyfriend will call me a birdwatcher! And I just couldn't cope with that! Anyway, they show my favourite subjects.

Here are my favourite sunsets...

The first two were taken in Peterhead harbour on one of those days I was dragged there by the birder...it was cold and windy...loved it.

The next shots were taken from my living room window. Aberdeen has definitely got the most dramatic sunsets!

I will show you my favourite landscapes, birds and other animals in my next entries. I've got a cup of tea and some biscuits waiting for me just now...it's a good thing my family don't understand English, they would think I've lost some of my frenchness! I'll have some garlic and baguette instead!
Au revoir

Let's start at the beginning

2007-02-17T13:21:00.000Z

Well, I was conceived in an area called the Camargue, in France. It's one of the few wild places left in Europe and it's absolutely gorgeous. It looks like a big swamp but instead of ogres you can see wild horses, bulls, pink flamingos and loads of mosquitos!! Every summer, all the villages and towns organise big fiestas to celebrate and show their old traditions to bright pink tourists! I would like to make sure you don't think I'm one of those really cruel people who enjoy bull fighting (game during which bulls are tortured and killed) because i definitely don't! Today's photos were taken two summers ago when I went to Vauvert (village where I was conceived) for the fiesta. They show what is called courses camarguaises, which means "races". They put ornements between the bulls horns and some very talented and quick professionals have to go grab them. Owners and vets take very good care of the bulls and they're never hurt.
Enjoy!!I nearly got "bulled" over to get this shot! If that doesn't deserve a Pullizer, I don't know what would!!

The bulls often jump after the raseteurs and end up running in the outter ring where the other guys are having a wee rest! Panic!!

This guy had bulls of steel!!!! (Sorry...)

Hello

2007-02-17T12:59:00.000Z

Hello!!
My name is Claire, I'm French and have been living in Scotland for about five and a half years. My lovely boyfriend Mark has been telling me to start a blog for so long that I thought if I do it today he might shut up! I love photography and my blog will hopefully help me show my pics to many people...including my family back home. And I can say whatever I want about them cause they don't speak English!
I take photos of birds (because of birdwatching boyfriend), landscapes, people and other animals. I hope you'll enjoy your journey through my pics as much as I'm enjoying showing them to you...even though I'm sure i'm much more nervous about the whole thing!! I'll try my best to give you a wee explanation or my thoughts about each photo. Comments, suggestions and questions are more than welcome.