Scotland Dissertation Trip (behind it all)

As my friend Sarah and I were struggling to focus on our dissertation work, we decided it'd be great to escape into the middle of nowhere.  There are no distractions up here except my camera and the great outdoors, which we use as an excuse for a break in the middle of the day.  I feel if I ever have to do another large scale project such as this dissertation I will have to escape again, but for a longer period of time.  I've never been so productive in my life.

Anyway below are a few photos from a dissertation break to Nairn, just south of Inverness.

Practicals Aren't On Today (behind it all)

I can't believe my friend Pete and I turned up to practicals yesterday.  We should have checked the notice board and then we would have realised they'd changed our practical dates.  Thanks university of Cumbria.  So with us both getting up early to be there we decided not to waste the day and head out to play with our cameras.  Lets say a new lens and some filters have now been added to my wishlist and I will be living off vegetarian chilli and cereal for the forseeable future.

These first set of images were taken with my Canon 7D and Pete's 16-35mm l-series wide angled lens. I love the distorted effect it gives.

High on life (behind it all)

Even though I have all this work to complete pretty much by the end of April, I really haven't let it drag me down this past week. I've had a cold so I've not been concentrating on doing work, however, I've been using my illness as an excuse to escape to places and learn how to use my new camera, as you can see in previous posts. It's been an absolute joy to do something practical rather than writing and typing lines and lines of words one can barely understand.

Towards the end of the week I had a couple of great nights out with friends and although this doesn't seem so outdoor related, I think it's incredibly important to socialise and do something different with different people. For example, Thursday night was spent with some students I'd never met in person before and, Saturday night was spent with the ladies from Penrith Hockey club. Let's say it was a pretty wild experience.

Then you have the spur of the moment plans, my second match of the weekend got cancelled and another opportunity presented itself. I ended up driving across to the North East for the afternoon and having sunday lunch with one of my best friends and her parents. We rounded that off with a trip to the cinema and pub.

I feel joyous that I'm falling to sleep with a smile on my face because of these experiences, and felt I should probably share this happiness.

And to round it off, a favourite song of mine at the moment... Miami by the Foals

Lessons Learnt

We were blessed with another lovely day in the Lakes and I took it upon myself to get out and photograph anything and everything! I'm trying to work my head around my new Canon 7D and learn how to move around with it quickly. However, after the day I had, If I'd have moved at a slower pace things wouldn't have gone half as bad.

Lesson no.1: In terms of photos, I need to learn to take time with composing shots and as mentioned before learn my way around the camera. There were so many spur of the moment opportunities, that I simply could not keep up with. I missed out due to not knowing which buttons to press and which switches to flick.

Lesson no.2: In terms of footwear, it's pretty much essential to go out with a pair of shoes that have good grip if you have no idea where you may end up! Even if they are trail shoes, they are by far superior to skate shoes. I ended up falling over 4 times in total onto soggy wet grass. Let's say it wasn't my brightest moment.

Lesson no.3: Always ensure bags/equipment are securely placed on the ground and aren't likely to end up falling in streams or off cliffs. My bag was subject to such abuse and my phone ended up drowning with no way of escape.

Other than a number of lessons presenting themselves to me, I had a fantastic day. The sun was shining and spring is well and truly on it's way. I was almost tempted to go for a dip in the stream but was then reminded it's melt water. It's days like these where I am truly happy to be able to document the Lakes.