Scotland!
Well, Scotland was even more amazing than I expected. I've always had it on my list, and even though I'm pretty well-traveled, it always seemed just out of reach of my plans… it may as well have well been in the "Beyond here be dragons" area of an ancient map, until recently. I don't really do much client work, but I had a really intriguing offer to go there that would only take a few days to complete, so I decided to use that as a reason to stay and explore Scotland for an entire month! I don't always make good decisions, believe me, but this one turned out to be one of my best.
I had a feeling it would be a lot like New Zealand, where I have now lived for about 13 years. There were many similarities, but especially amongst the people. Both countries have a really small population of 5 million souls, and both have a "remoteness" to them. Well, Scotland not so much because it's not far from the rest of the UK, but people still choose to live in fairly remote and rugged areas. And when you live in remote places without much population, people can get a little... ermmm... different? Quirky. Let's say quirky. And I'm quirky as all get out, so I found it very easy to talk to and relate to people there!
On the more populous side of things, I loved the roughness and random-people-event-generator of Glasgow and the historic beauty of Edinburgh. They were so different. Didn't expect that. I spent most of my "city time" in Glasgow where I didn't get in too much trouble. It wasn't great for photos, but I still found myself very immersed in the feel of traveling and walking around and just absorbing the life and culture around me. Edinburgh was just amazing old streets and buildings after amazing old streets and buildings which oozed photography moments, regardless of the time or weather.
Then Stu (who runs my art biz, blog, crypto, and everything!) and I went on an adventure to the more remote areas like the Isle of Skye, and that was amazing too...
Then I took trains all over the country... I love train travel and it’s so easy there... and I rented a car for another week and explored the northern edge of Scotland. That was epic and reminded me of when I first got started in photography and went to Iceland four summers in a row and rented a car and just drove around like a maniac, getting lost and taking photos. I had many meaningful experiences there, and I can feel it in my bones that I'll be back!
Anyway, I'm sure you're keen to see some images so here's a little selection from Scotland... enjoy!
A particular highlight?
Well, this area has to be right up there. On one of our days, for sunset, Stu drove us out just about as far as you can go on the west coast, to where the road ends. Along the way there were little gems like bridges from fairytale stories and when we reached the destination, it was magnificently peaceful, just us and the quiet lapping of the Atlantic Ocean on the rocks around this loch. And wow, did that sunset deliver!
My Updated Workflow
In a past newsletter I talked a little bit about how my main workflow has moved away from Aurora HDR to Luminar Neo, now that it has HDR functionality available. That has continued to be the case and every image you see in this email was processed on Luminar Neo. It's a great bit of software and it has been interesting to watch it evolve. Most recently Skylum (finally!) added panorama functionality which removes yet another reason to stick with alternate software. You should definitely check it out. :)
Introducing the Neo-Flaneur
So, here's a bit of an experiment.
A new type of vlog thing where I take you along, in 360, as I wander the cityscapes and landscapes of the places I visit. These will likely evolve over time, they are experiments for now, so expect a few rough edges and a slower pace than the average YouTube travel vid. I hope you find them interesting... here is Glasgow Attempt #1... and remember you can spin the camera all around any time you want. Even on the slip 'n slide!
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StuckInCustoms.com is a personal blog where Trey puts up a new unique photo every day and writes about the art, the technology, and the story of the adventures. Actually, this is Trey writing about this in third person. Both Trey and I appreciate your support very much!
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