Second time out with the camera this year, went with my school to one of their cup final rugby matches.  On arrival it was very dark and spitting rain with the sun hanging just behind the shower cloud - typical!  That said, the Elgin school strips really brightened the scenes up.  The game started quite slowly with a lot of play in the middle of the park, and with me just behind the try-line I barely pressed the shutter in the opening twenty minutes.  Elgin schools did continue to push and eventually got the try they had deserved, the conversion narrowly missed and with the opposition - Garioch schools of Aberdeenshire - clawing the margin with a penalty the scores at half time were Elgin schools 5-3 Garioch schools.  The second half started with two tries from Elgin schools in the space of a few minutes and again both were unconverted.  A lot more middle ground play before another pair of tries were scored - this time both were converted - and the game finished Elgin schools 29-3 Garioch schools.

Read more: School rugby cup final

Elgin City started off the year poorly, with a 3-0 loss away to bottom side Peterhead who then moved up placing East Stirlingshire in last place.  This left Elgin City in sixth position - albeit with a few games in hand - after being in the top three for a lengthy period of time!  Their first home game of the new year was at home to now bottom side East Stirlingshire and they were keen to regain their form.

Read more: Elgin City vs. East Stirlingshire

Having stumbled upon music photography at the beginning of September when I went to The Wall of Rock (a youth music festival in Lossiemouth, Moray) to photograph one set as I had a family member in the band.  That was the intention anyway, it didn't stay that way and I ended up at the small Marina Park it was located at for about 9 hours of that day!  I loved every minute of it and it really kick-started a drive for more.

I kept in contact with a couple of bands, namely Be Like Pablo and Team Kapowski who were involved in the 5x5x5 project.  This led to my attendance at the 5x5x5 music launch event back at the end of September in the Cowshed of East Grange's 'The Loft' venue.

Next up were a couple of gigs at Cafe Drummonds in October which Entrosolet were playing.  This was a small venue in Aberdeen which regularly has gigs played at.  The lighting was very tricky, especially trying to photograph anyone on the left side of the stage as the lighting was pretty much solely dim red.

So I sent a hopeful e-mail off to Kassidy hoping for a pass to shoot their gig at Inverness-Ironworks for experience and to add content to my portfolio.  I was overjoyed when I received a reply informing me that I they were happy for me to do it.  This was going to be my first major venue gig so I was quite nervous as to how it would all work out.

 

 

Read more: Kassidy play Inverness-Ironworks

Last year I had the idea of creating a snowblog, the idea of which was to show my view of the UK snowfall in my local area of Elgin, Moray in Winter conditions.  The idea was good last year but I didn't update it regularly enough and I don't think it had the impact it could have done so I decided to once again do a snowblog but this time keep it up to date.

Another use of the snowblog is that you can see what the conditions are like up here and compare them to the conditions in your location.  Personally, I love the amazing Winter scenes that snow and the white can allow for a lot of contrast in photographs! 

Bou Brig taken at night during late November 2010 

Read more: Elgin Snow watch 2011/12 (as of 04/12)

After leaving Elgin Cathedral we made our way directly to Spynie Palace through the clearing sky and winter sunshine. Just after arriving there and showing our pass to go in we noticed a string of cloud beginning to creep towards the sun so I quickly took a few photos before it went away to make sure I got some in the beautiful light!

We then had a look around the inside of the Palace whilst the sun was still obscured by the only clouds in the sky (something that happens far too often!) Fortunately the viewing point at the top was not closed from the winds, and even better, the sun decided to make a welcome return although no change in temperature was felt - it was a bitter cold day!

Because the sun was so low, the shadows were very long and caused some problems but I was just glad to have it. I think I'm going to need to return in the Summer months for a re-take because its a very good little place.

Background information about Spynie Palace from Wikipedia:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spynie_Palace

"Spynie Palace, also known as Spynie Castle, was the fortified seat of the Bishops of Moray for about 500 years. The founding of the palace dates back to the late 12th Century. It is situated about 500m from the location of the first officially settled Cathedral Church of the Diocese of Moray, in present day Spynie Churchyard. For most of its occupied history, the castle was not described as a palace — this term first appeared in the Registry of Moray in a writ of 1524."

Read more: Spynie Palace