New Year in Shetland

 Happy new year to one and all. For Shetlanders it was a quiet one with most people staying at home, we didn't hear  any fireworks this year which was surprising. Down in Sheffield we skyped Diane's sister and had a great display for over 20mins, very loud and colourful

I headed down to the beach, one of the great delights living in Shetland having been 70 miles from the coast before moving here

The weather has been stormy to stay the least and tonight (Monday) we are having around 60-70mph winds with torrential rain and a few snow showers. We are on a yellow alert for flooding tomorrow although people up north have said some coast roads are nearly impassable due to debris.

Snow and server gales expected for next few days as well and freezing temperatures. This is to be expected and it can create dramatic light and clouds

I am always amazed how some people don't even prepare for a visit to Shetland. I had a request on Facebook- Shetland Aurora Hunter asking for the best way to get to Shetland. He set off at 4am this morning, didn't even know where to catch the ferry or how long it would take. He had also not booked any accommodation and was only planning a 3 day visit.

He posted late to today and has ended up at Thurso in northern Scotland, not taking a right towards Aberdeen. He would have missed the ferry anyway as it set off 5 hours early due to stormy weather conditions, he made the best choice, i wouldn't like to be on that ferry.

So my plans for this year are coming together, having had a success with my `Shetland Aurora Hunter' book selling 500 copies i now am writing another book, this time on Shetland Puffins and this should be out late April. I have already been booked for a few illustrated talks in Shetland and on the mainland, which i always look forward to doing

I also wrote several articles and sold lots of prints and canvas so hope to repeat that and also continue to have photos published in magazines and newspapers

I hope that the wildlife continues to thrive, the seabirds seemed to have been recovering but the recent wrecks of Puffin and Guillemot are concerning to say the least (More to come on shetlandsfp.blogspot.co.uk)

Humpback whales are increasing and we had 15 in Shetland waters last month which is great to hear. Anyway i hope to keep on photographing and running photography courses, all booked up for Learn Shetland this session up to June.

Hope you are enjoying the photos , more to come this year. All these photos are from a trip down to Quendale bay in the south mainland.

Check out Shetland Aurora Hunter on facebook, already 6800 members and growing each week. 

Blogs

Shetland sfp.blogspot.co.uk

shetlandsky.blogspot.co.uk

Have a good year where ever you are and stay safe

10 years in Shetland- Jimmy Perez

Not us, but the BBC 1 Drama ` Shetland', and with series 6 starting  Wednesday 20 October at 9pm  i cannot wait to see it as most of it has been filmed in Shetland.

They have just about finished series 7 as well, which is supposed to be the last one and have been out and about at various locations in Shetland

It was good to catch up with filming down at Sandsayre a few mins from where we live. I was amazed to find out that they usually only get 4-5 mins of footage from 12 hours out in the field. At Sandsayre they got about 40 seconds footage in 3 hours

I cannot give anything way about any series as i have only seen a few shoots but they are protective about the plot, but cannot stop you watching as its in a public area.

I was pleased to see that Douglas Henshall, aka Jimmy Perez,  has been commemorated by a `Star' flagstone, just outside his film home at the Lodberries in Lerwick. This is similar to the ones in Hollywood.

Shetland' has been  great publicity and many people have visited as a result of the programme, especially Norwegians.

It's good to see they have virtually been to all the scenic places in Shetland and for anyone who has visited i am sure it will bring back happy memories. 

At the moment its the birders that are here in numbers, more than i have seen before. All drawn to Autumn migration (see shetlandsfp.blogspot.co.uk)

My new book `Shetland Aurora Hunter' sold out in 12 weeks (see Shetland Aurora Hunter on Facebook) for the latest Aurora action. I am now arranging another run on the aurora books, with plenty of pre-orders already, send me a message to shetlandaurorabook@gmail.com if you want to buy one - £16

This last week or so we have had all kinds of weather, a max of 71mph winds, sleet, snow, hail, heavy rain and some sun

Had a couple of trips down to Wester Quarff and the weather was mixed to say the least, managed one sunny photo before getting soaked so returned again the next day but slightly stormy overcast weather

Like most places on Shetland access is easy to most places and getting down to the stoney beach was straight forward if you avoided the boggy areas

Spent over an hour along the beach, the weather changed revealling more and more. I find its worth spending an hour in one spot as the light changes so fast creating more photo opportunities

I have been asked to do some photography courses for Mind your Head , i did some a year or so ago and enjoyed them, this time its by Zoom so i hope it goes well

My other photography courses should start in September and i will have a number of Shetland Adult Education courses available

Been up north a couple of times and i will be posting photos next time.

Join me on my other blogs

shetlandsfp.blogspot.co.uk

Shetlandsky.blogspot.co.uk

ww2preserved.blogspot.co.uk

and Shetland Aurora Hunter on facebook
 

Storm in Shetland

Before Storm Aiden hit Shetland i managed to get down to Scatness in the sun. The sea had been whipped up by a gale a day before but the sea was not as spectacular as expected

Looking across to Sumbugh Hotel

Looking south as the sun was setting with foam flying about

Waves coming about 1/2 way up the cliffs at Scatness

Dramatic lighting over the bolder strewn beach

The following day the storm hit with winds in excess of 60mph and heavy rain as well

The Aurora has shown well , join Shetland Aurora Hunter for more information