Do you know the feeling that you're taking pictures for quite some time now and you don't really notice any progress? Ok, the pictures you take are nice but you always think higher of the pictures other people take. I guess you're lucky if you don't recognise the feeling, I on the other hand are less fortunate in that respect. When I write about Islay on my blog I regularly find people who have absolutely stunning pics of Islay and when I received a stunning picture by email early December I was quiet for a moment. The image I was looking at was the now famous stars at night image taken by James Deane. And here I was sitting quietly on my sofa admiring this beautiful picture and thinking who is this guy? Where does he come from? And how are his other Islay images? Why can't I take pictures like that? Why haven't I heard of him before?

Oh wait, I did hear of him before, he was the one that won the INHT photo competition, you know, the picture with the Buzzard, Hen Harrier and geese. Now it's hard enough for folks like you and me to take a picture of a buzzard, even harder to have it together with a Hen Harrier and almost impossible to have both of them with Islay's wild geese as a backdrop. Not for James though, he used his patience and talent to take not only this picture but later on I found out James had many more stunning pictures, mostly of Islay. The great thing about all this was that James sent me images for my blog every now and then and I was very proud to show them to you all. And in return James received many oooh's and aaaah's from people who admired his pictures and talent. Continue reading.....

You probably remember James from his beautiful Islay images he posted on Facebook, for winning the INHT photo competition and for the pictures I have posted here such as Islay Snow and Stars, the beautiful winter images, the night sky at Bunnahabhain Bay and of course the meteor and Kildalton Cross.

Breathtaking view of Carraig Fhada lighthouse at night (cropped)

Each and everyone of these pictures are stunning and last night James sent me pictures from the Oa at night that are more than stunning, I think incredible is a good classification? When I opened the email and saw the picture of Carraig Fhada lighthouse at night I was quiet for a few moments, this is in my opinion one of the best Islay pictures I have seen so far. James took more images of the lighthouse and you can admire them all below. The lights behind the lighthouse in some of the images belong to the ferry, how about that! I'm sure you will enjoy the pictures as much as I do. Continue to more pictures of James Deane

Every now and then I write about Social Media in relation to Islay and today I want to show you a nice "App" called PicPlz. Picplz is a photo sharing service for smartphones, much like Instagram, which is quite popular with iPhone users. Instagram however is not (yet) available for Android users such as myself. Picplz comes in two flavours, one for iPhone and one for Android. Once you have installed Picplz on your smartphone you can easily take photos and upload them in just a few clicks. It's easy to add a caption, tag your location using Foursquare and check in. And when you decide to connect to Foursquare you will see your images attached to the Foursquare venue of your choice, that's a really nice option. There is also an autopost option for Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Posterous.

Uploading your pictures is also possible directly from the Picplz website so you don't really need a smartphone to upload your pictures and apply filters. The fun part however with a smartphone is that you can also tag your location and connect with Foursquare. Both the smartphone and the website version make it possible to view pictures from other users, like pictures and comment on them, and find or make friends, this is where the "social" part comes in. Continue reading....

Saligo Bay on Islay's Atlantic west coast has without a doubt one of the most beautiful beaches in Scotland and in this time of the year, when it's cold windy and grey outside, it's sometimes hard to imagine that these beautiful and sunny days at Saligo Bay can be here again in only a few months. That's why I've selected five pictures of sunny Saligo Bay to brighten up this gray day and to remind you that spring isn't that far away anymore. Have a nice weekend!

Tag: saligo photography spring