Harbour reflections

                                    Still waters


Not a recent image as the Isle of Man seems to be under a rain cloud for the past 3 weeks. Grey skies do make great black and white landscapes though.  The in-between pubs walk shot. Mirror image of the Sulby River, moored boats along the quayside, looking towards Bowring Road. 


Image part of Skywatch, were other sky shots of the world can be seen.

Derby Road, Ramsey, Isle of Man - Sunset

                                             Mirror image


Skywatch this week, a dusky pink serene scene. Mirror image reflections along the harbour inlet, Derby Road, looking towards Bowring Road. The sun rises over the beach, and sets inland, always casting a myriad of colurs over the harbour inlet, Sulby river and buidlings. No two days are the same, which is great for a photographer on a night time walk. 

To see a sizzling orange fiery sunset of the same view see here. You'll see what I mean about the colours of the setting sun. Unreal, yet natural.

Skywatch images around the world by others can be seen here.

Weekend reflections

                                River blues


Mirror image reflections on the Sulby river. One for my friends who miss this area more than any other part of the town of Ramsey, Isle of Man. .


Jane Hards Photography


Image part of weekend reflections

The white bridge

in black and white


The single file bridge, the aptly white bridge, straddling the Sulby River, Poyll Dooey Nature Reserve. Sky Hill in the distance. The bridge atm is need of a coat of paint, or perhaps it should be reamed the rusty bridge.


Jane Hards Photography 


Image part of The Weekend in Black and White

Sulby River, Poyll Dooey

                                    Still waters


A walk along the river with a camera, down by the river, alongside the Poyll Dooey Nature Reserve. The plan to seek out and capture on camera the elusive cormorant. I didn't find the bird, but I did find this tranquil scene. I'll take that. 


Jane Hards Photography for more from the Isle of Man


Image part of Weekend Reflections

A walk along the river

                      Summer meets Autumn


If you want to getaway from the hubbub of town, look no further than the Sulby river. Nestled in the Poyll Dooey, a former tip, now set aside for wildlife and nature trails you can pack a lunch and weather permitting, head for the picnic area, take a walk along the river, or just wander round the wooded area in search of local wildlife. Little bit of peace ad quiet, on our doorstep.

Simonetta

Ramsey Swing Bridge, you're not swinging anymore

                                  Grounded


Ramsey Swing Bridge is out of action at the moment, undergoing urgent repairs to an estimated cost of  £750,000 to avert a "major failure," apparently.  Well it was built in 1892, so perhaps it needs a bit of a facelift and nip and tuck. The bridge crossing the Sulby River, is a short cut, from the shopping area of town to the local park, beach, swimming pool and residential area. It's a long walk round without it. On the plus side, a chance to photograph the iconic bridge by night under shimmering light before it returns to its normal place.

Same old scene - Skywatch

Why photograph anything else

Still laptop less at the moment and without access to my older images which the defunct (possibly but it's certainly comatosed) suicidal laptop is holding to ransom I have dipped yet again into the recent archives. Slowly we are going to walk along the whole of this river walk each Skywatch unless I get out there with camera and offer you something new. Why bother. I can dine out on these tranquil reflections for the rest of the year. After all we all know I'm the world's laziest photographer, so anything that makes life easier. Had to take my own image from another site I have stashed images away for when laptops throw themselves off tall building when they have had enough, so not the best size and little small, but you get the general idea.



Short and sweet tonight, bit of a rush job. For for more Skywatch images click here.

Serenity - Skywatch

Reflections on a Skywatch Theme

Apologies to any Sci Fi fans who searched Serenity and were hoping to catch a glimpse of the cast of Firefly ( yes I am TV, film buff, uber geek in addition to the music buff bit too) but his particular image above is my own personal slice of serenity. Not your most up to date image, another of those snowy image shots I rattled off within a couple of hours in one day, knowing the next this scene would disappear, probably for another 7 years until we have any kind of snowfall worth mentioning. I did warn you the icy/ snow photos would run linger for a while but I do try and vary them. Blatant lie there. It's the same Sulby river walk as last week, further along the path with a touch of melting ice in the foreground and the stillest of reflections. You'll note reflections play a big part of the blog. Easiest shot in the world on a clear crisp Winter's day with no breeze and they are always a pretty spectacular shot even in a mere novices hand with a simple (no this is the big Nikon) point and shoot. In other words, if in doubt shoot over water. It doubles the amount of available light by bouncing it around and the flatter it is the deeper the depth of the reflection.


Short and sweet tonight and I won't be around. Babooshka does not exist but the photographer does and I will be out celebrating my Birthday for the next 3 days. Yes I know it is tomorrow, Friday, but somewhere around the world over the next three day it is Jan 29th. That's my excuse an I'm sticking to it. For more Skywatch images please click here

Not virgin territory but mine

A river runs through it

Yes cryptic titles and cloak and dagger shenanigans greet you here for this weeks peek at the sky. It's not the Atlantic of course, just the little biddy Sulby river meandering gently. All we be revealed soon, but not just yet. Before I wade in headlong into unknown waters, or shall we say Virgin territory like the uncharted waters and previously not captured angle above. I need to be as clear and calm as this image. You know a bit of(shall we throw in some annoying corporate speak) blue sky thinking, and bottom fishing for those thinking outside the box. Now if we just add water, get our ducks in a row, behind the curve we may be able to float that balloon and land that plane on the right track.


Relax and wander up the little path on the right into the nature reserve or into town. Up to you which way you go. For me the only way is up, up and away in well possibly a beautiful balloon would be nice, but that is maybe verging on the ridiculous along the still waters of the river. No planes, trains and automobiles for me just plain sailing upstream on a sailboat or maybe a yacht would be nice, destination my own private island at the peak of this image. Now that would be real Virgin territory and not at all original, erm unlike this photo shall we say.



Check out this link here about the blog. It's totally mad and it's not me.

YELLOW FACTS REFLECTED UPON

They call us Mellow Yellow

ABC - Y is for All about yellow facts, fun and trivia.

The yellow house you see reflected is the one you have often seen in my Sulby River images. I'm not really a  man made yellow fan  but I do like photographing images around the edge of the river here and this house is an anchor to balance many an image. I am however a fan of yellow that occurs in nature, as in Provence.  Van Gogh's chair though is my most favourite man made yellow. You really have to see that chair in the flesh to appreciate it.  Who'd like some yellow facts then?

Yellow Journalism -Exaggerates or sensationalises a journalistic story for profit.

Yellow Peril- Danger, Danger

Yellow Jersey - Tour de France is awarded to the leader at each stage

Yellow - In the English language first use of this spelling, used in the epic Poem Beowulf

Yellow -Thai Solar Calender, wearing of yellow on a monday

Yellow Card - Football/ Soccer warning- red means yo are sent off

Yellow Dog Democrat - Southern voter in America who consistently voted Democrat

Yellow Flag- At sea for the letter Q

Yellow streak- Cowardise

Mellow Yellow- Song about ah that would be telling you find out for yourselves......if you are bananas enough. 

There are indeed a lot of yellow facts, literature, songs, political overtones I could go on here were just a few for you to go and check out the info more in depth.

One more. Don't forget we all live in a Yellow Submarine. It's underneath the geese.

See Mrs Nesbitt for more Abc's, the hostest with the mostest.

LOOKING UP TO THE NORTH BARRULE- SKYWATCH

Sulby River, Poyll Dooey

It's Friday it must be skywatch. I must be showing you a photo of my favourite place in Ramsey . The Poyll Nature Reserve, along the side of the Sulby River. A wider view though today. Same reflections and fluffy clouds but can you see the North Barrule in the distance, on the right hand side. What is a that though?


North Barrule which overlooks Ramsey. You can actually walk up there if you're feeling energetic.

This image is an archive, Sept. The river has sunken a little but it's still too muddy to actually walk down there without getting your boots sucked onto the mud. I'm pressed for time tonight due to my parnter's busy deadlines, so had to post an image that had been pre scheduled with all the info written.



Of course you can always look around for all the other beauties of the skies.

S - SHELLAN MAEY- TO BEE OR NOT TO BEE?

shellan maey- bumble bee

Fancy learning some more Manx? You do? Well you already have. Shellan is the Manx word for bee. Shellan maey is the Manx for bumblebee. Shellan breck is also Manx for bumble bee is used less frequently. The Sheelan Maey above disappearing into the flower head could actually be disappearing now if we don't act soon. Changes in countryside practises, crop rotation, climate change and urbanization( modern housing estates and car parks again!) have lead to a decline in numbers of the poor British bumble. The humble bumble is is a pivotal creature in the pollination of many British crops and rare and garden flowers so don't dismiss the Shellan Maey. Please Take care when you see one, maybe plant some bumble bee friendly blooms. For more the the decline of the British bumblebee and those friendly blooms click here.




Hands up those you thought I was going to have Sulby River or the Ramsey Swing Bridge Swinging for S. Tsk! To bee or not to bee predictable - that is the question. The answer I always choose to be one step ahead- catch me if can you.The original, the best Ramsey Daily Photo.
Ha! Ha!

Want to join ABC got the lovely hostess with the mostest, MRS NESBITT'S PLACE

MY WORLD - TAKE ME DOWN THE SULBY RIVER

My world is Ramsey, Isle Of Man

The Sulby River as I have mentioned before is one of those lovely Viking names they left their mark with on the island. I know this upsets a few Manxies (people born on the Isle Of Man) out there, but you know some you of you are viking stock you can't deny it. Anyway the Sulby. It's the largest river in the Isle Of Man. S It's apparently good for salmon fishing when it's been as wet as this. Well yippe for those fisherman but bad news for me. My walkway down by the riverbanks is under water at the moment. The psot I stood on to take the image is usually not in danger of being swamped under water. Hopefully we can have a few dry days and the riverbanks won't be so swollen.


I mentioned Sulby was a place named by the Viking who firstly invaded, but secondly stayed and integrated. Here is the meaning of Sulby and a few other Isle Of Man Viking Place names.




For more my entries click MY WORLD and thank the skywatch gang once again for another inspired idea.

SULBY RIVER

One more of Sulby River, and a bit of a curio. Do photographers ever take bad photos.? Yes. Do they make mistakes? Yes. Do they take an image with the wrong setting on. Yes Yes most definitely Yes!

Obviously the river is not this green. It has had a green tinge lately, due to the water being so high, and with what the tide has dragged in with it, but this is ridiculous. The grass is certainly not shocking lime with a hint of yellow either. So what happened?

Simple. Wrong setting! I had been taking images towards the sun and at speed. I just started snapping here as it was nicely framed and the football in the water, really popped out. When I spied them in the view finder I realised my mistake. After uploading this one struck me as being
usable for the purpose of demonstrating what the wrong setting can do. Interestingly though it's turned out quite well. Photographers favourite friend serendipity again. It looks wholly unnatural, because it is, but a it's popular because it's pretty. Who am I to argue with the buying public. Not this know it all photographer that's for sure. You'd all have litter and sofas in the nature reserve if I had my way.

Gary and I are having a skive today. No bloody work! I know it's Saturday, but sometimes that's a busy day. It might be the pub watching the football, it might be the wildlife park. It might be doing sod all and being an utter couch potato. Who knows, but we aren't lifting a working finger in the direction of a paintbrush or a camera.

What are you doing today?

RAMSEY, MOODY BLUES SKYWATCH

MOODY BLUES
BABOOSHKA
copyrighted

September already! What happened to the British summer wet, wet,wet. Blue sky days have been few. I could fill a skywatch year of Fridays full of clouded skies or arty shots to cover up for the fact we have had hardly any sunshine or blue sky days. Today though was the put his hat on and game out to play. For a little while anyway.

This image was taken today along Sulby River, Ramsey. Due the rain it's still quite high, but with little breeze the water was fairly still. Again it's a manual shot. Remember if you do try a manual shot you will need to change both your camera body and your lens setting. The more you practise focusing with a manual the better you will get. Time for the wide angled lens again. No alterations. The image as taken. The more you compose your image first and learn how to use your camera setting, the better your image will be, and you can ditch(almost) the photoshop.

I don't like posting shots I'm not happy with, but next week I might post a manual and an auto shot of the same subject so you can see the difference. It might be easier that way for you to see why I say manual beats digital software. What do think?

Just wanted to show a very straightforward image tonight, busy on other projects.

To join skywatch go to SKYWATCH
The concept was Dot's, the next host WIGGERS WORLD the guardians of skywatch now are Tom, Imac and Sandy

RAMSEY ,ON REFLECTION, SKYWATCH

RAMSEY ON REFECTION
BY BABOOSHKA

I was at a loss this week what image to post. Let me explain. I've had a run of creative skywatch images and tried to explain to those that ask how I take the images. By this I mean, the camera setting, the lighting conditions time of day, low high shot, what lens, focal point etc. I was basically trying to convey how to get the best out of often not picturesque surrounding under some very poor conditions and limited subject matter. I did this in response to the emails I received and thought it would be easier to back up the written explanation with an image as an example. Mostly the feedback was positive, but strangely some wrongly assumed I was just being a smartypants(not quite the words used) and just showing off.

That was never the intention. I was simply responding to questions asked and trying to convey how to get the best out of your camera whether that be a point and shoot, no frills or your top of the range all singing all dancing camera.

So this week I have simply shot a straightforward reflection shot. Again for those that like to know this stuff it was a manual setting, 2pm, good light. F4, ISO 200. No tripod used. Practise just gently coaxing the button to shoot rather than push down. This stops the jerking motion that often makes the image tip to one side rather than get the straight line you originally shoot. No alterations, just resized from a large 4MB file to a manageable 75kb for the blog.

A couple of other things. I'm considering putting a live feed on the blog, not to spy on people, so please don't feel obliged to comment if you drop by. It's strickly business stats. Would everyone be ok with this? The other is if anyone at all, has a problem with me can they email me. Please do not leave inappropriate comments on other peoples blogs. It's very rude and personally offensive. I never leave any negative feedback it's not my style, so please be courteous and contact me if you have anything to say. It's very cowardly to do it on other peoples blogs and yes they always alert me to it.

I know I have a weird sense of humour and I engage in some healthy joshing with some like minded bloggers out there. I don't have a poker face and my moods do dictate what and how I write, the good the bad, the ugly and the plain old funny. Now let's get on with the job in hand.
Skywatch. It's only a photograph afterall.

To join skywatch go to SKYWATCH
The concept was Dot's, the next host WIGGERS WORLD the guardians of skywatch now are Tom, Imac and Sandy

SULBY RIVER, RAMSEY, ISLE OF MAN

The image today is strictly for me. Purely selfish I know, but Ramsey has been under torrential rainfall for over a week now. Just wanted to remind myself what a blue sky day looked like. Ooh look it looks like that (insert your own adjective) image above. I know it could have a contender, you know a waterfront image for skywatch, but well my needs to see a touristy image today are greater.

The Sulby River as we have mentioned before is one of those lovely viking names they left their mark with on the island. I know this upsets a few Manxies out there, but you know some you of you are viking stock you can't deny it. Anyway the Sulby. It's the largest river in the Isle Of Man. Starting at the hills of Tholt y will, through, Sulby Glen and Village, through deep and shallow, pooling into waterfalls, past Lezayre, Ramsey, into the harbour, and into the Irish sea.
It's apparently good for salmon fishing when it's been as wet as this. Well yippe for those fisherman but bad news for me. My walkway down by the riverbanks is under water at the moment.

Teckie bit.

Manual,
Wide angled lens, zoom full
ISO 200
Sunny
F4

Ah wasn't that nice! So for posting such a pretty, yummy shot of Ramsey with sensible(almost) writing you do know I will have to post an ugly Ramsey pic soon. All in the name of balance of course.

ABC WEDNESDAY - W IS FOR WORDS OF VIKING ORIGIN IN THE ISLE OF MAN

How to combine ABC "W" with the vikings theme? Had to be words that have been assimilated into the Manx language, place names and surnames. It appears the one thing that that the vikings didn't vanquish was the Manx language, but there are a few examples. Norse words seem to be a very murky area to research. So much contradiction of what is a pure Manx/ Celtic/ Norse word or phrase. I have however found more than I was lead to believe exsited in present day form, so here they are.

A SELECTION OF PLACE NAMES

Ramsey/Rhumsaa - as I have said before is wild garlic river
Laxey/Laxa - wild salmon river
Tynwald/Thingvollr - parliament field/assembly/ meeting place
Foxdale/Foss tal - waterfall glen
Cregneash/Krok-nes - crooked (coastline)
Sulby/Sula- by- farm by cleft fork in a river
Dalby/Dalr-by - dale town
Fleshwick - Flesjar -vik - green grassy, spot creek

A SELECTION OF NORSE MANX SURNAMES

Current Name	Mac + Old Norse Name
Carroon	Mac Thorfinn
Casement	Mac Asmundr
Christian	Mac Kristinn
Corkill	Mac Thorkill/Thorketill
Corlett	Mac Thorliotr
Cormode	Mac Thormódr
Cottier	Mac Ottarr
Cowley	Mac Olafr (Gaelic: Mac Amblaibh)
Crennell	Mac Raghnall
Kewley	Mac Joleifr (Gaelic: Eoile)

Only a handful of words as such are now incorporated into conversational Manx.

Manx language, viz, cleg, from kleggi; a horse-fly; blaber, from blaber, a bilberry; ling, from lyng, "heather;" gil, from gil, "a deep narrow glen;" ghaw, from gja, "a chasm," rift, and kirk, from kirk-ja (this being derived from Greek, kupixkos, "belonging to the Lord") a church.

I hope at some stage to delve deeper with the Norse side of the language and see what else can uncover. It is again very subjective as the Manx language is in the main of Irish/Celtic origin.

The photo is Sulby River which runs into the Harbour and along the nature reserve. Just to be confusing the river is Norse, the reserve name isn't!

Like to join ABC Wednesday? Please got to this link, MRS NESBITT'S PLACE
Mrs Nesbitt is the host for ABC Wednesday, where you can find details for joining, her own ABC shot to comment on and a list of fellow bloggers who are playing today, who would also appreciate your comments.