Challenging Landscape Photography | Orkney 

My wife and I are just in awe of your knowledge and talent. Thank you for teaching us so much. Much love.

I personally love the sharper images as it seems to portray the emotions of the place really well

Simon.. I would like to thank you for your mention of a photographer Ewan Dunsmuir in your last film. What a truly talented photographer, story teller come cinematographer he is ... have sent the last few weeks watching his back catalogue. You find yourself completely engrossed and inspired by the man and like reading a wonderful novel you find yourself wanting to turn the next page for more. I am amazed that Ewan’s films don’t have a higher viewing rate than currently shown.. so watch and promote a true talent.

Lovely photos. Crazy light and weather. You recently mentioned Evan Dunsmuir and his photos are excellent. I have watched most of his videos. Thanks for sharing.

Lovely photography, thank you. The painting is called the Starry Night. It depicts the view out of the window of his asylum. Sad, but brilliant.

I think the first rock is weathered Gneiss, brilliant inspiration turning it into Starry Night...our youngest's fav painting, she loves the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam.

Dear Simon. You can read your love and excitement for the elements from your face. The light and colours are really beautiful, no harsh bright yelling colours but lovely moody tints of blueish purple greys and mauve and ochre, the palet of a romantic painter. Love it. But it's also the other elements, the blowing, the cold and wet from the rain and the roaring of the stormy sea. You enjoy outdoor life in al it's elements and with all your senses. You can see it in your face, you can feel it in your photographs, it's your signature. What good it is to have some toilet shelters in such rough environments, the wind drumming on the roof and walls, the sea roaring in the distance. Sniffing the salt and the kelp and the wet boulders. You can't get all those elements in a video vlog but with a good feel for colour and loght and great moody photographs you can almost smell it. The search for structures and compositions. I myself are using a so called fourway head from Sirui on my tripod. Maybe not that sturdy, but it is lovely in creating those close macro panorama's. About another thing. So many professional photographers aren't using protecting equipment for their valuable gear. When photgraphing whales and fish and other wildlife under the sea surface there's enough to protect your darlings. Those inbuild protection against slightly spatters ain't always working in rough and wet stormy circumstances along the coasts. So why. When you can dive under the sea there must be more to protect. And even your dear good serving friend deserves more. I have seen Gavin Hardcastle do it and even your beloved instrument in creatng art is now dying it's seamans grave on Orkney Island. Farewell dear friend for five long years, I hope you get another life... Oké, may be, perhaps I'm just a little bit to sentimental. Enjoy nature, enjoy the elements, the light the colours and whatever. Hope to see next vlogs and photographs. Take good care of yourself.

Yes, thank you for mentioning Ewan Dunsmuir, only discovered him recently while looking at Orkney. Like you he is one of the more informative teachers.

Lovely video showing real world landscape photography on a beautiful island,that has realy testing conditions.

🙂 and that beautiful rock definitely resembles Starry Night... nice equivalence 🙂 An amazing adventure... Thanks for sharing... 🙂 Wonderful closing quote 🙂

The last shot it's very fantastic......like a deam!

Marvelous job “dancing with the rain.”

2nd and 4th at the end- really nice!

Beautiful. Hard to pick a favorite.

Fantastic video Simon and the second image is really beautiful. Thanks for sharing your adventure!

Another fabulous video. I feel that I am always able to learn something new from your films. Keep up your good work and Thank You.

Hey Simon - You poor bugger. Sorry your camera took a nose dive. Lovely to see you enjoy it despite of that. Always a good opportunity to get some new gear! I Particularly love the Starry Night image, as well as the simplistic Study of Rousay (the island). THAT for me... is what Orkney Landscapes are about. Simplicity! = ) I am heading back to Orkney and Iceland in June of next year... if you are up to another trip to the big 'O'!? Speak soon buddy. Ewan

Many thanks for taking us to the island of orkney. I enjoyed it like you enjoyed your travel. The feeling comes with your wonderful images :-).

Truly, beautiful and memorable video, Simon!

Much to my surprise my favourite image was the long exposure Coastal shot, I say to my surprise because usually I would got for the image without filters, as an old fashioned Photographer my idea of a great image is pin sharp edge to edge foreground to background, but I have to say that long exposure shot is to my mind just stunning, the light you captured beautifully, one of your best ever images ???? regards, Colin.

I so admire your patience even when the water is rising. Really love your photos and especially the one with the ND filter. You are very versatile. I think the poem was written by Vivian Greene 😉

Beautiful place, thank your trip to stunning images to see. It is great tips. 👍👏

Great shots Simon!

Great photos, Simon. A good lesson in perseverance.

Beautiful work!!!

Love the simplistic island shot.

Great video and photos as always.

Thanks for this great video. I like the way You look at nature. Great images.

Thanks for sharing this adventure Simon. All that wind and rain would drive me nuts and to a point of complete frustration. I would not enjoy it at all. Great set of images though. Dynamic.

Another exemplary video I need to visit Orkney thank you Simon.

Nice work again Simon, keep them coming. Rodders 👍.

Simon, another set of lovely images. Thanks, your perseverance is amazing and greatly appreciated.

Fantastic video Simon, Orkney really does give you all four seasons in one day. Really like the first image, the "starry night" editing was fantastic.

Beautiful place, stunning images and the end quote couldn’t have come at a better time for me - thank you 🙏

A lovely collection the sea scapes definitely worth the wait stunning ❤

Simon, thank you for sharing your trip to the Orkney's, stunning images. One word to describe the weather you encountered - Dynamic!!

Your Starry night looks great! Probably better, than original)

Amazing results again, Simon. Patience and endurance are certainly in evidence. Well done, and thanks for sharing.

What a wonderful inspiring place, photographic opportunities abound if you're quick and agile! I wonder what the effect would be with seascapes if you combine to taste, images taken with long and short exposures?

This was absolutely wonderful in every way and what an adventure. So interesting to listen to your comments and instructive to observe your processing in capturing the images. Loved the slow seascape.

What a wonderful video. Not just the images but the way you took us to and presented Orkney. Thank you.

Never fail to give great content in your video's, what they do not show is the hard work and long hours to produce the end result. from the two seascapes compositions for me the one that show the full dramatic waves has the slight edge on the smooth composition. Many thanks for sharing your experiences.

Another collection of brilliant photographs loved the starry night.

Großartig. VG Loki

Excellent as always, liked to see the different images of the waves, they were both beautiful and very atmospheric. It looks an amazing place for photography even if the weather is a bit unpredictable, or should I say challenging.

Another fantastic video Simon. Your patience pays off with another great set 📷😍👏

Thanks for the video. Always enjoy hearing about and watching your process. Lovely images. Keep them coming.

You did indeed battle with the elements you got your shots Simon so well done and you got your rewards for your efforts, bravo.

Lovely images Simon , really enjoyed the videos from Orkney , can’t wait to get up there

Fantastic video Simon,this is the first time i have seen your vids i have heard your name mentioned on the Pubcast many times and they hold you with the greatest resect and rightly so. Liking the sharp image of the sea and rocks to me it tells more of a story and the last image is out of this world well spotted. 👍👍👍

Brilliant images natural water for me every time, smoothing the water always looks so artificial.

thank you !

Simon, I thoroughly enjoy your videos and have done since I discovered your channel. Another set of great images. Wherever you go and whatever the weather, you always come up with the goods. Keep up the great work, you are an inspiration.

Superb images Simon, Orkney really is a photographers paradise, never far from an incredible vista and the light can be fantastic. It’s the home of my ancestors and we visit every couple of years, now that I am into photography more seriously I appreciate it more every visit. If you don’t like the weather wait 5 minutes 😉🌧💨🌊🌈☀️🌫

Simon, your variation on Starry Night is simply brilliant ❤

Hello Simon - thanks for the brutal reality that photographers put themselves through in order to create art. It is a nice reminder for all to remember that Mother Nature is in charge - not us. We are at her mercy. I enjoyed listening to that wind and rain. It was delightful to hear. Thank you for braving all of that to create your wonderful images and film. With great respect for your efforts. Carla

what a rewarding place for the patient and determined :-) the light is some of the best I've seen. I live on the coast (Swansea Bay) and am used to fleeting but stunning light, and your experiences on Orkney seem to mirror that. the rock looked like it had suffered some sort of tear at some time in its life, with wave action washing pebbles, stones, sand and water over it smoothing it off. I'm no geologist and am struggling to remember my A'level geography from 40 years ago, so take that with a pinch of salt!!

The beanie suits you! Wild wild place and although that would test the patience or endurance of most people, I think I’d blend I’m just fine. There looks like so many fantastic places for me to fall flat on my face too! Great film, thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish

Simon, really enjoyed your video in Orkney the dark skies crashing waves was my favourite.

What an adventure, Orkney gave you a bit of everything. That last quote is a favourite of mine, originally by a woman named Vivian Greene, a British writer.

hello Simon, what an inspiring trip and such wonderful photos. I am planning a photo trip for 4 weeks to UK in 2023 and Orkney has landed on the list thanks to you. thank you very much, greetings from Germany

Cracking images ,certainly worth the effort . Cheers!

Lovely locations, Of the two seascapes, i like them both but for different reasons.

Thank you for sharing your video Simon it looks very wild and rough but also a really beautiful place and as always all photos from both episodes were absolutely fantastic. Hope you will be able to get your camera fixed

Another cracking video Simon! It just shows the rewards of perseverance and patience. It looks like a challenging place to photograph with the ever changing light, but if the light was good all the time would it get just a little boring? I prefer the second seascape showing the texture and some movement of the sea, but all the images are beautiful. Looking forward to your next video!

Lovely video! I'm off to the Isle of Mull next week and this has given me plenty of inspiration as I'm expecting similar weather conditions. I really enjoy your work and videos.

firstly, a fantastic effort, loved the Starry Night shot, great imagination, being Scottish i know only too well the rain is wetter up there...

Lovely Simon - as always. The rock looks like a gneiss variety. Banding or 'eyes' are quite common. Add a few thousands years with glacial movement, water, sand and sea....Also: Gneiss Hills on Signy Island has it's name from the rocks there

Great photography as always. One project that would be interesting to me is to see what photos you would take in an area more familiar to me such as Shenandoah National Park in Virginia in the states. I’m sure I would be astonished at the amazing images you would find that I routinely overlook.

The version of Starry Night was a brilliant concept! I did like the soft one but the sharper one would be my choice from the 2 really captures the whole scene. I think everyone watching said the same when the camera took the nose dive.

Starry Night

I'd be distraught if my filming camera blew over and 'died'. not that I have a filming camera!! the joys of filming and taking photos on Orkney are fraught. I seem to recall when I went (summer) that the wind was bothersome! beautiful rock with the unusual patterns and really well edited (I was shouting at my screen before you put up Starry Night!) I'm not a huge fan of long exposures so the sharp one is my favourite. you made me very nostalgic and even though there are hundreds of places I still have to visit here in stunning Scotland I'd love to get back to Orkney. Thank you Simon

I've had rather interesting results with a polarizer on wet rocks. Rather than wait for the rain to stop, just splash water and thoroughly wet the rock.

Thanks for sharing, Simon. Nice to see the two waves photos (time-blurred vs. sharp) - for me, perhaps because we saw the context, the long-exposure one nails the atmosphere. Shame about the vlogging camera - still, you get to do the research and purchase game, eh? (o;

Great video as always Simon. I think the rock you photographed at the start may be a migmatite, which is a rock that’s been heated and squeezed until it is semi molten …. Hence those flowing textures

Stunning images as always. Hope y'all had a great time in the Orkneys. Sorry about the camera...Language is fucking terrible!!!!!! Hahahahahaha. Great quote at the end.

At t=3:40, you were probably thinking of Van Gogh's Starry Night, painted in June 1889.

Fantastic as always. I preferred the rough image of the middle two shots, but the smooth one is a close call between them. RIP to your video camera, I could imagine myself having some colourful words to say if my camera did a nose dive like that

I prefer the 2nd and 4th one of the landscape beach

Starry starry night, but we don't get them regularly but cloud makes you appreciate it more when they are! A good saying but if you're not willing to go out in the storm up here you'll spend a lot of time inside so embrace what nature gives you 🙂 And remember, in the Southern continent there are no inhabited areas as near the S pole as the N of Scotland is to the N pole, Anyway, great spot on that boulder and another enjoyable vlog and give me a shout when you come back :-)

Sorry to see a zephyr threw down your old vlogging camera. Such a shame. I must say I really liked the photograph of the island. [ member comment]

"The Starry Night"

Hi Simon. The geologist in me hazards a guess that the swirly boulder you came across is a result of an already distorted metamorphic rock being broken up in a later fault zone, and then recent wave erosion doing its usual smoothing job.

Hi Simon, I don't know if someone has already answered your question about the stone. To me it looks like fossils of stromatolites. Could be wrong.. Nevertheless it is a beautiful stone.

My wife were in the Orkneys when the remnants of Hurrican Dorean came through in the late summer of 2019. Here is a link to the vidio I took crossing one of the bridges. I will try and email you the link.

Hanging around mens toilets with a camera! Bit dodgy Simon!😂

looks like fossils to me, maybe oyster-shells (at around 5min into the video)

Talking about Van Gogh's Starry night. It's not long since I discovered what this song is about ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4wrNFDxCRzU.html

Nostalgia strikes again! I love the simple shot of the island at about 28 mins. Here's the appropriate music I reckon: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0DW2PY9QncA.html

you need to work more on the audio side. that rumble is just awful