Amazing Shetland

Its that time again and we are on Tour in Sheffield soon. If you would like to join us for an illustrated talk on Amazing Shetland which includes wildlife, landscape, Aurora and life in Shetland  then we would be pleased to see you on Tuesday 26 June 2018, as detailed on the poster. You will need to order you tickets in advance so they can sort out the catering, over 40 attended last year

                                                                                                          Shetland lambs

                                            Its lambs all over at the moment and they seem to be enjoying life in the sun.

Its a difficult time for crofters in Shetland, having to checking the lambing every 4 hours and then in some cases having to take a lamb inside to feed. Its difficult to imagine that for all the hard work, injections, tagging and feeding that Shetland lambs only sold for £2 each last year. It costs more than the crofters get back.

Just recently I ran a practical photography course in Lerwick around the fort, the subject Abstract and texture which gave the learners plenty to think about, these are a few of mine

                                  Lots of cruise liners calling in Lerwick this year, good to see the town crowded

Just read about the ferries that they will  not be taking over by the government but will go out to retender asap. Also no sign of the reduce fares that the government promised from July 2018

                          Long sunny days in Shetland with more promised over the coming week

Join me on my new blog http://ww2preserved.blogspot.co.uk/ to see how Shetland was involved in the Second World War

Other blogs you may be interested in

shetlandsfp.blogspot.co.uk  (Shetland Wildlife)
shetlandsky.blogspot.co.uk

facebook : Shetland Aurora Hunter

Shetland attractions

Well the last Up Helly Aa took place  at Delting in the north mainland recently and the weather was terrible with very strong winds and freezing temperatures . These events never get cancelled due to the weather and the only break was during the war years.

                                                             The Galley ready for buring number two

The south mainland Up Helly Aa seems to have the best weather of all the fire festivals this year.

Events like these and the very successful BBC1 drama - `Shetland' has certainly drawn people to the islands. This year will see about 92,000 cruise liner passengers set foot on the islands, around twice the amount that came last year. These will be brought on a record number of cruise ships, but next year will be even better with 109 cruise liners due bringing 107,000 passengers.

                                                                                          Quendale Beach

Recently the  RAF radar, built at Saxa Vord was officially opened and one of the first visitor a few days later was a Russian fighter which flew down the north isles and was seen by a number of early risers.

I doubt whether any Eurofighters from Lossiemouth would have been able to intercept the plane as it would be have been far away when they arrived in Shetland.

                                                                                     Old buildings at Quendale

Russian bombers and fighter are becoming more frequently encountered around Shetland so its no wonder that Radar was installed in Unst.

                                                                                         Ireland (in Shetland)

Unst is also a possible launching area for UK satellites but we still have to wait and see whether this will be the chosen location.

                                                                     Ireland looking south to St Ninian's

I have been giving talks to the WI groups recently and its always to see so many people interested in Wildlife or the Night sky. I was also interviewed by the Shetland Life magazine who wanted an article on the various aspects of photography in Shetland, I talked about the Night Sky which is a favourite subject for my photography courses.

The next one fully booked again with a number of folk on the waiting list. My facebook group, Shetland Aurora Hunter continues to grow and it is now just under 2,000 members, not bad for 16 months. If you want to see some very rare Aurora `Steve' photos then go to shetlandsky.blogspot.co.uk

                                                                  Superb Aurora see above for more

For anyone in Sheffield, I will be giving a talk on `Amazing Shetland' at St Augustine Church Brocco Bank on Tuesday 26 June at 7.30 (I can send you details just contact me for further information)

Storm Caroline hits

Finally managed to get my canvas and mounted prints on sale at Hoswick Visitor centre after about a years wait. The centre is open in winter Wednesday - Saturday 11.00 - 15.00pm. Do pop down for a look, the canvas prints are displayed up stairs and the mounted prints downstairs. For a bigger choice see www.amazingshetland.co.uk

At this time of year the skies can be very dramatic and the one below was taken the other afternoon in Lerwick

The first snow fell a few days ago and created quiet a nice scene in Scalloway. Lucky the roads stayed cleared, more or less.

Below the sun going down at Scatness, also a good walk and no one else around.

I have just bought a Lens sphere from America, it really does pick up the landscape very well and i hope to use this to capture more scene very shortly

The winter light may only last a few hours but the low light is excellent for photography. On a cold wet day it was only just light from 10.00- 1.30

Shetland is one of the best places for seeing rainbows, they are so vivid and often a double rainbow

Storm Caroline hit Shetland on Thursday7 December bringing winds of up to 106mph but the snow didn't arrive as expected. We did however have a power cut that lasted over 6 hours. The Hydro lads were out and solved the problems as soon as it was safe

The next day we found slates all over the place, one had hit our car and chipped the paintwork in several places. Next door had a large hole in the roof and they only found it when they returned from work in the morning. Several other houses nearby also had damaged roofs and one found their hen house upside down and no hens about.

Further away in the north of Shetland a road was blocked near Hillswick when a building collapsed. Ferries had been cancelled Thursday and Friday which means no food will be transported up until Monday- anyone moving up will have to take all this into account

After the storm came the snow and ice, not too much snow but plenty of black ice. Black Gaet is always a bad place for ice and the police closed the road after 8 vehicles had difficulties. 

Although ferry fares are to reduce next year freight fares will increase by 2.9% which will affect everything being transported to Shetland so get ready for a price rise on fuel and food

Earthquake

Seems a bit ironic that we went to hear a talk by the Lerwick Observatory on Earthquakes and the Aurora the other Friday night but that afternoon an actual earthquake hit Shetland , with a magnitude of 4.8.

It hit a point in the north sea south of Shetland, 10 km deep and this time people have felt the effects. The last one, 8 years ago close to Lerwick measured 3.3 and there has been a few more going back 25 years but not as big as the other Friday.

I do like photographing detail and Lerwick provides many opportunities. I took a group of photographers from my Shetland Adult Education class on a practical the other day and had a good time. Everyone sees different things or different angles so we all got something a bit unique.

Details about a new Beginners (Know your own camera) photography course starting in September and a brand new Night Sky Photography course starting at the beginning of November should be available very soon. Both will be run at Islesburgh in Lerwick

You may have seen a petition going round to try and change the Shetland Island council's mind about withdrawing funding for the Shetland Amenity Trust who run  Promote Shetland.

If you are thinking of moving here then this is an excellent resource, they provide a lot of information together with running the webcams around Shetland and also proving a Video link to Up Helly , today i was informed that at least the webcams will still run for the time being.possibly to the end of September.

                                                                        No Policeman outside our No.10

While it may not have been as hot as the south of England we have just had a superb week with temperatures up to 18 degrees. With the ozone layer being much thinner in Shetland this made it a lot warmer than recorded

My Other blogs:

shetlandsfp.blogspot.co.uk
shetlandsky.blogspot.co.uk

Shetland aurora Hunter (Facebook) just send me a request to join

www.amazingshetland.co.uk (Canvas Prints)