Shetland Isles Experience

This is the first experience of this part of the world I have not travelled as far north as this; I was quite looking forward to my time in Shetland. I had signed up to a wildlife course it was to be run by Lee Mott; I have been on other courses run by Lee a few years back.
The time of the course was over Christmas though I did stay for the New Year, so the weather was going to be quite changeable and cold; I made sure that I had the right winter gear so I could stay warm. The travelling side of things ran very smoothly I flew by BA from Heathrow to Aberdeen and then a Flybe flight to Sumburgh; that flight was a first as well I flew on a Jetstream.
I was picked up by Lee and taken to the Orca Country Inn of which he and his wife Jane run; the drive was about thirty minutes to the hotel in Hoswick. Lee said that we would need to have breakfast around eight thirty because it doesn’t get light until nine o’clock, for this time of the year the period of day light was very short from nine until around about three so you don’t have much time to play with if the weather is good enough.
Before I went to Shetland I decided that I needed try to bring a new dimension to my photography, and try to get to grips with the artistic side so I was looking for a good opportunity to do this. I had a good feeling I would, though; I needed to get some of the basic stuff right as well, so I needed to get the mind in tune.
Most of the mornings started overcast so you had to go out and try to predict what the weather was going to do, and try to work round this. Lee seemed to know what to do; I suppose that is experience for you he was right on most occasions. With his experience I had some very good days.
On Christmas day Lee said that we should try and get some shoots of the sea because it would have a good swell with the wind being as it was. I said lets go for it, though it was not raining you still had to wear your waterproofs it was bitterly cold you had to wear them all the time. Once we parked the walk was about half a mile to where we needed to go.
Once I was setup the sun started to break through the clouds making the scene rather softer; the light was amazing I did use a granulated filter to try control light in the sky.


One thing was that the light was amazing which would make the final results very good. Lee said that the light had not been this good for some time, I said well we have made the most of it them! we spent the morning there by which time I was ready for a cup of tea, I did say to Lee that this was the best Christmas Day I have ever had.
There was another day were again luck was with us, the cloud didn’t break up until really late on, Lee was getting rather worried that the day was going to be uneventful. The problem now was to get to a suitable area to setup the tripod, Lee spotted a place which was on the shore line, and there was no wind so you could get a good reflection off the water, there was a building so that made the shot more enchanting.
The time spent taking a number of shot I did do some bracketing, the light was fading fast so there was a need for long exposures. By the time it was time to call it a day I thought I had achieved a number of good shots. The light had been fantastic.
I found that trying to take shots of the sea birds was a quite hard you had to try and workout what the birds were going to do. I did manage to get a number of a good shots of them taking off and landing, I was quite please with the capture of the movement. I think it makes the difference. I did take some shots looking over some cliffs; using a big lens I caught the birds with their wings in the soaring positioning. Because I was shooting at f2.8 then you know that the back ground isn’t going to be too dominating, so you get them standing out more clear.
The artistic side came about when I was chatting to Lee; we were looking at the sea there were some rocks with the water crashing against them in the distance. I said the shutter speed to capture the water with a milky effect would be quite slow. Lee replied with this light it would be. We stopped what we were doing and moved along down to shore line were we could see what was going on.
The light was fading fast with the clouds moving in, there was no need of using a ND filter. I setup the tripod with the cable release and got closer to the water, I got the focus by using the large stones that were just in front of me. “I thought this is the opportunity I have been waiting for.”
I took a number of shots the light meter showing one to five seconds, when I focused for other shots the light was that bad I had to do it manually. The results of the shots were quite good; I did get the effect that I was looking for; and the depth of field was ideal.





One of the best moments I had in Shetland was on New Year’s Day, I had a walk from the inn and made my way to the hill at the back over looking Hoswick; I took some shots the light was rather flat, so I decided to make my way down the hill, I thought that the beach would be a good bet. The weather was fair really though cold; once on the beach I stayed as quiet as I could, there was really no one about just people taking their dogs for a stroll; you could see that they were really walking their hangover off.
After a time the sun decided to appear and that made the bay come alive; there was a seal he was being nosey. There were a number of divers Shags and Cormorants moving round; I did take some shots but they didn’t come close enough.
I was looking out in the bay I thought I could see the seal diving around; the creature I saw wasn’t a seal. I realized that it was an otter it was an away too far out. After awhile I couldn’t see it; it was getting late now so I put the camera back in the bag, what I did now was I just sat quiet and watched and waited and low and behold, I saw a movement in the corner of my right eye. I saw the tail of the otter it was just metres from me by the rocks, I kept still the otter swam across my front diving looking for food. The otter did look at me a couple of times; by this time the light had faded and trying taking photographs of the otter was pointless.
Well I think that the stay in Shetland was wonderful, I was made to feel welcome by Lee and Jane did everything in their power for me to enjoy my stay. I can commend the food the menu was excellent, I can recommend the fish soups.
The return journey was with no problems really, though I did go to the airport to early. It was shut I thought there was something wrong bad weather somewhere! After a phone call I had an answer, it opened an hour before the first flight which was mine. I flew back via Edinburgh.


Roger Plummeridge.

Lifetime trip to South America (part 2)

Well ladies and gentleman this is part two of the incredible journey. The next morning after a good sleep a taxi was call to take me to the bus station, after getting settled on the coach the trip started. I was told that it was going to take a good eight hours driving time, and then there were the breaks. After leaving Puerto Natales the next stop was the Chilean border crossing where the passports were checked that must of took forty-five minutes, then it was to the Argentine side again that was a good hour.
The coach was now on its way to La Calafate the countryside was so beautiful it was breath taking; we arrived around midday at the bus station this is where I had to change bus. The next coach wasn’t until the evening; I was allowed to leave my baggage in the travel agents office.
The agent, her advice that the best place to for something to eat was a restaurant that was a ten minutes walk away she it was good and cheaper than to eat on the main street. The problem now was to find a bank which would change my traveller’s cheques to get the money to take to La Chalten, there isn’t any there so you would have a slight problem.
The restaurant which I found was very good, it was over looking Lago Argentina with it being a wonderful weather it was a pleasure to sit out on the patio for lunch. After lunch there were still a number of hours to pass, so it was a walk down the main street window shopping to pass the time away with a number of coffees thrown in.
Back at the bus station I retrieved my luggage from the office; there were a larger number of passengers to go to La Chalten so the coach driver had his work cut out with loading the baggage on. He also had to issue tickets for our luggage.
On the road to La Chalten as the evening was drawing in the light was great as we were going along the side of Lago Viedma with its snow capped mountains on the far shore, the bus must have travelled for ninety minutes and it was still there; the only problem was that there was no way the bus driver would of stopped for some photographs. We got to our destination around ten thirty were again there was a taxi to take me the short distance to my hostel.
In the morning I was having breakfast when the guide for the day turned up, he explained what the plan was I took all my equipment which I should have just took what I need; it was a hard day trekking. I did take good shots there was more cloud so it made taking photographs easier not so bright.
The one good thing I did learn over the trekking was the best way to pace myself with the breathing,
I was always trying too hard to get on; I was told to slow down it isn’t a race by the guide I found that it got a lot easier walking expertly when I had to the go up the inclines which were quite steep.
Walking in the wooded areas the birds where quite plentiful they had good cover, I saw a pair of Woodpeckers quite close up with their black plumage with red head, trying to peck their way into trees. I did try to get some shots I did manage though they weren’t that good, after seeing them I thought that I was near enough to the subject. They did move rather quickly so you had to be alert.
The day I was to leave Le Chalten the transport wasn’t until the evening so I had to arrange my day; I pack my baggage and left it in the hostel for safe keeping which was permitted. After breakfast I made my way to the bakers get something to eat and drink for lunch as I was going to look for a waterfalls which I was told was beautiful. The weather had stayed wonderful so I had to find it, the only problem was that I didn’t get early so the light was in my favour.
Once I got going “walking that is” I left Chalten proceeding along the road adjacent to the river, I took a number of shots of the water and mountains, the size of it all was breath taking. I carried on until I got to a picnic area where I noticed a couple having lunch, I made my way to the next table; it wasn’t long before we were chatting about photography and they were very nice they point me in the right direction, as they had just been to the waterfalls.
I took the directions which meant that I had to take another path towards the back drop of the mountains there was open areas and the grass had plenty of wild flowers which made it quite pleasant to walk. Once I had crossed a brook it wasn’t long before I saw the waterfalls in the distance, the falls must have been eighty feet at an estimate.
Once I had got there I had a drink it was hot, I got my tripod and set up to take some shots, I was thinking of what I was told the week before by Bruce when using a ND filter. Now I had to put into practise, I used a wide angle setting on the lens to get the frame full of the splendid scenery. The camera was on manual so I put the focus to f5.6 and the shutter speed to 45 of a second. I was trying to make the waterfall look milky which it did. I was quite pleased with the results of a number of the shots; the film used was Velvia 50. After an hour I just slowly made my way back stopping to take a number of shot of interest.
Once back in Le Chalten I had to get my dinner so I wasn’t going to get hungry on the bus, I went to the cafe and order a bowl of their soup come stew. It was quite filling with a couple of beers. Now I had dine I made my way back to the hostel and wait for the transport to Le Calafate, when the bus turned up I was surprised because it was only a mini bus, that meant that every bump will be felt, it was only two couples one with a child and myself to return to Le Calafate. On the way back we saw a number of the wildlife, an Armadillo was of most interest.
Le Calafate was in darkness when we arrived, the driver pulled up outside of the hostel where I was to stay for the next episode of the journey. After I got sorted out I did have a wander up the main street where I had drink, I couldn’t stay out too late I was to go on a tour of the Moreno glazier in the morning.
The coach was again on time I was greeted by the tour guide who made me very welcome. The drive to the Moreno glazier was quite long; the weather today was overcast though there some breaks in the cloud on some occasions.
The guide when we arrived is that there was a boat trip that you could go on; the cost was £5 which was reasonable. The boat must have been touring for a good ninety minutes; the glazier was a lot different to the Grey glazier I visited the week earlier. The closer you got to it you realised the scale was out of this world, the shots I took from the boat when going round icebergs they were segments that had fallen from the glazier you saw the enormity of the whole thing.
Now I’m on dry land and making my way to the restaurant area I got a drink and a sandwich to fill the gap. I took the rest of the time on the gantry which ran down the side of the hill overlooking the glazier, from this point you could see the how small the tour boats was against the mass of ice.
There was a funny side to this as well, while I was taking some shots I heard a noise looking round I noticed that there was a number of Chinese visitors. The noise was that they were sing I think they were trying to make the ice fall into the water below. I must have listen for ten minutes with no effect the crowd did applaud for their effort.

The next morning again I sorted the luggage out put it into the holding room, the bus for the airport for the flight to Trelew wasn’t until late afternoon I was going to the coast, Puerto Madryn was going to be were the hostel was located. The rest of the day was looking around the shops I did buy a couple of things it was cheaper than back home.

When I landed at Trelew the skies were very dark there was an electric storm in progress it was magical, so making our way to Puerto Madryn was quite eventful with the lightning strikes. I didn’t get to the hostel until midnight; I had a cup of tea then hit the sack.

I was up early I was going whale watching on the Peninsula Valdes; again the weather was good after last night’s storm. The coach trip was a long drive; Puerto Piramides is where we where to broad the boat. The tour guide was keen to get there as quick as possible so we could get on the first sailing, she said that would make day run easier.

On the boat I got the sea legs quickly, it took awhile to see a whale it is amazing sight which I have never seen. I used ISO 400 which I thought turned out well as there was a lot of movement. After lunch we made our way to Punta Norte was we were to walk along the beach. The elephant seal colonies are located here. This is where I used a 300mm lens because you weren’t allowed to go beyond the fence which meant that you couldn’t get a lower position for a better composition.
I did get a number of shots with some action in were the seals where either getting out of the sea or looking vicious at one another, there was a lot of that. After getting the film back you could see were the positioning would have been better if it was possible to a lower position, you would have been able to get the sea in the frame, using the 300mm lens meant that you got closer though the back ground was limited.
Well the next day I was up early this time I was booked to go to Punto Tombo this was a nature reserve. Here is where a great penguin colony was located it was a three hour drive; we did stop a couple of times for refreshments it was a hot day again. On the beach it was very hot I had to wear a hat and the suntan cream was a must.
Walking along the beach the penguins had their nest borrows scattered all around I was surprised to see how far they had to walk to the sea. The party was with the guide all the time, I was making my way to see if I could get a good position to take some shots when I was meet by a solitary penguin, I thought it would move out of the way, it had other thoughts it started to peck at my left shin, the guide saw what was happening so he waved me towards him out of harm’s way. I should of know that the penguins had young so would be a bit protective.
Eventually I did take shots of penguins they were massed on the water’s edge having their fun time, I did get fairly close again I used the 300mm lens for some close ups. The landscape was the usual pebble beach to the rear was some vegetation, Guanacos where feeding. For me this part of Patagonia was a far cry from my first week in Chile, though interesting I felt the landscape was far less colourful here. To me I ‘am afraid that the first week was for me was the most beautiful, the scenery was outstanding.
Now photography wise the rest of the day wasn’t that great we spent most of the time inside, we made our way to Trelew to have tea - cakes which was quite delightful. Trelew is where the Welsh setup after immigrating to Argentina, the tea room had been visited by the late Princess Diana. There were a lot of photographs of the princess on the walls which were of good taste I thought.
We went to the museum after which housed dinosaurs and fossils gave the story of the ages in which Patagonia had formed, it was a new building and the lay out was impressive so it made the whole experience most enjoyable, it had great lighting to get the best results of its exhibits.
Well after the day’s tour was tired I was dropped at my hostel, now I had to think about getting the luggage packed for the last time, in the morning it was the start of the long journey home.
Roger Plummeridge.

Lifetime trip to South America

I have always wanted to go to Patagonia after watching nature programmes on T V, when I saw an advert in a photography magazine to go on a workshop, I had to sign up. So I got in touch with Andean Trails in Edinburgh, Tom Shearman was the expert who put my tour together he had great knowledge of this part of the world; once the photographic tour was over I was going to do my own thing.

So in November last year I went to Heathrow to start the journey of a lifetime, my brother dropped me off at the terminal. From Heathrow I flew to Sao Paulo and then on to Santiago, I stayed the night there so I could get a break from flying it must have been around sixteen hours and have a good sleep.

From Santiago I flew to Punta Arenas in the south of Chile where I was to meet the team leader photographer Bruce Percy at the hotel; two other members of the tour were also there so we arranged to go to dinner in a local restaurant. Bruce was in the know so he knew what to order, it was steak all round with eggs on top and chips of course, washed down with some great wine!

In the morning we meet by the guide and driver so all bags packed we set for Puerto Natales which was around three hours drive, though on the way we stopped off at Wildlife Park it was a few good miles of the main road. I took a number of shots of penguins and also an eagle which was sitting on a fence post. I noticed that the land was quite flat most of the way to our next location I was quite surprised, as we were nearing our destination you could see the snow capped mountains rising in the distance.

When we arrived in Puerto Natates a Canadian couple joined the party, we had lunch in the hotel before making our way to the first hotel in the Torres del Paine National Park. This location Estancia Lazo was a working farm, we got up early and photographed the lake and the mountains, the air and light was very clear. After breakfast Bruce then asked the Gauchos who were working if it was possible to be photographed which they obliged I must have spent half an hour taking shots.

The third day was spent taking shots of Cuernos range it was quite windy here, so you had to learn how to get the best positions because the wind was so strong, the best results I thought was to get low as possible, or get behind a blocker for protection i.e. rocks.

The four day was I though was wonderful it was at Lago Grey, when we got there we had a walk so we could get a position to take shots up the lake, it was quite a hike with all the equipment on and the weather warm. Because I not very good on my feet I took it easy going up the steep climbs, I used a grad filter here the sky and icebergs was very bright so I had to control the light.

After lunch we took a boat trip to see the glacier it took thirty minutes to get there, the number of people on the boat was I thought was quite staggering because they just seem to come out of no where when it was time to embark. When I was taking shots of the glacier I was using a polarizer with a grad filter to try and get the best results, the sun was quit strong. After getting my films back from processing I was pleased with my efforts. Whilst we were on the tour everyone was offered a drink with ice from the glacier, I had a whisky of course.

Day five was heading out to Laguna Azul here we took shots of the splendid scenery, clouds where hanging around the mountains so with the sun I got some good results, I used a 300mm lens and took shots of the interesting sections of scenery which I thought was a better idea than taking the usual wide angle shots.

After the packed lunch we went out looking for some wildlife to photograph, still using the 300mm lens I took some shots of a number Guanacos which look like Llamas without the wool. The animals seemed quite calm so I could get quite close, though they did turn their backs to the camera for sometime I did eventually did get time to photograph them, I laid on the ground so I could get a better background which was the snow covered slopes, the light played it’s part to by catching their heads which made the shots more moody.

The sixth day the last full session was generally making our way back to Puerto Natales stopping off at Cuernos which is on the eastern side of the park, when we arrived in Puerto Natales I took off my luggage off the bus as this was where I was going to say my goodbyes after our fair well dinner; they were going back to Punta Arenas then fly home the next morning, I was going to make my way to Le Chalten for some trekking by bus in Argentina.

Once everything had settled down I went out and took some shots of the changing light in the mountains in the distance again using the 300mm lens.

Well I hope you have an insight into my first part of the incredible journey.

Roger Plummeridge.