Rob Roy in the rain

to the distant peak, originally uploaded by Bexley98.

Firstly a great weekend in Perthshire, acting as the photographer for 20 work colleagues (including my wife) who were taking part in the Rob Roy Challenge, a gruelling 55 mile hike and bike ride across some spectacular countryside.

This was a great photographic challenge for me. Portraiture, coupled with sports photography and made even more difficult by the very changeable weather conditions, torrential rain in the morning followed by an afternoon of heavy cloud, becoming sunny in the evening – typical Scottish summer weather!

For the first time, I felt really comfortable composing, taking and working with the camera and other people. The feedback I had from the photos was pretty strong and I think I did a reasonable job of capturing people’s experiences. You can see my efforts and judge for yourself on the Picasa site here.

Todays blog shot comes from Dukes Pass, a stunning place just above the village of Callander, made all the more atmospheric by the misty and rainy conditions. This made photography nearly-impossible, the rain kept spooking the autofocus and the above shot was the best I could get, eventually resorting to manual focus. I think it’s a bit soft but the HDR treatment makes it a little more palatable.

I’ll finish on a follow up from my blog post last week on the EP-1. Once again, Olympus completely balls up the release of a new camera, miscommunication and confusion are utterly rife, nobody knows who the EP-1 is meant to appeal to and I think the four thirds system is safe….for now!