Rain December 22nd North Fife

December 22nd 2010 North Fife. We all know it has been raining big style over the whole of the UK, many places flooded, whole towns in the South West of England. We are having our not so wee rain dump as well, in places to roads are rivers, many closed, water gushing from fields, roadside ditches blocked, the overflow going wherever forming ponds in the dips and hollows in the roads, Ok if you wade the car slowly through.

A typical water hazard, not so bad compared with so many other places. Nevertheless it focuses the mind on climate change, actually it's not change, it's climate extremes. Just a bit more of whatever quality, too wet, too...... and not in accordance with the seasonal norms. What can one do? Just see it as the way it is. Be mindful and reduce anything that contributes harm to our environment, this is the only one we have.

Cupar Farmers Market North Fife

Cupar Farmers Market 15th December, now occupying its pitch in Crossgates Cupar on a two weekly basis adjacent to the Historic Market Cross. Open air markets are growing in popularity, local food, quality products, low food miles, a healthy alternative to Supermarkets which have had a negative impact on local producers.

Balhelvie Beef and Lamb. Fabulous succulent meat bred and grown at Balhelvie farm North Fife.

Fresh prepared Haddock tied in pairs ready for the smoke. Eaten freshly cooked they are really hard to beat, there are always queues of buyers when ever they're on sale. A real food once tried and you'll be hooked.

Arbroath Smokies, haddock being hot smoked over hard wood, usually oak or beech. Meanwhile shoppers were serenaded with topical tunes played by the junior section of Fife Horn Union led by Margaret Douglass.

Margaret Douglass with students.

Busking away, well it is nearly Christmas.

Tayside Sky 11th December 2012

Tayside Sky December 11th, if it's not overcast and raining we tend to get these amazing colourful winter skies.

Same sky 3 mins later as seen from Newburgh High Street North Fife.

A few more minutes later from Banklands Newburgh, looking west into Perthshire.

Above the High Street Newburgh, to the East a kink in the cloud.

Tayside Sky December 8th 2012

Winter sky December 8th 2012. This and the following Photographs were all taken over a period of under 1 hour in the afternoon. Nothing very dramatic but colourful and with changing cloud types.

North East over The River Tay from Flisk.

East North East over Dundee.

Looking East from Flisk, notice the clouds.

15 minutes later in Newburgh, a totally different sky in the East.

Tayview North Fife December 7th 2012

Tayview looking West, a photo I take frequently, the sky is usually quite impressive in its quality of subtle colour and light and reflection on the water. Patches of snow still remaining

Looking East towards Dundee, this is late afternoon, taken at the same time the low sun catching the clouds. I never get tired of these views.

Swans and Ducks Lindores Loch North Fife

Swans and Ducks, Lindores Loch North Fife. Today passing by the Loch I noticed it was teeming with birds, in the summer there would be a few pair of swans but now masses. The loch is partially frozen. at times the ice can be thick enough to support motor vehicles.

Swans standing on thin ice.

Lindores House.

West Lomond Dec 7th 2012

West Lomond, snow capped, not quite as magnificent as Mt Fuji but it's all we have in Fife Scotland, both volcanic in origin.

Ice crystals north fife

Midday 1st December, my house is in the shadow of a hill to the South. Last evening it rained to be followed by a plunge in temperature overnight. This was how the car looked, a most amazing display of frost ice crystal.

December 1st North Fife

December 1st, a bright clear but cold day in North Fife, I was drawn to the accidentally created pattern made by a tractor on this field of stubble.

Winter Sky North Fife

Winter Skies North Fife. Cloud formations take on more subtle forms and colours as temperatures drop with Northerly winds.

Sunset Newburgh North Fife November 24th

Sunset over Newburgh North Fife today 24th November, for me a late trip into town temperature falling with the clearing sky, brrrrr, maybe frost again as last night.

Stunning colours.

Tayside Newburgh North Fife November 19th

It's raining, severe flood warnings issued again today, most fell last night the river Earn flooding many houses in Comrie.

Tayside 19th November, looking East, heavy clouds predominate with the odd glimpse of sunlight reflecting.

Looking West.

Prix Pictet Ushirikano: Building a sustainable future in Kenya's Northern Ranglands [Hardcover]

Prix Pictet Ushirikano: Building a sustainable future in Kenya's Northern Ranglands [Hardcover]

Well seen and stunning photographs by Chris Jordan. The Prix Pictet Commission is an invitation for one of the photographers short-listed for the Prix Pictet to document a sustainability project in a particular country or region. For the third Commission, Chris Jordan took photographs on a field trip to the Nakuprat-Gotu Conservancy in Northern Kenya, an initiative led by tribal Elders, which aims to bring peace and prosperity to a region ravaged by violence and climate change. Jordan’s photographs both document the problems - particularly the poaching of elephants - and celebrate the heroes and triumphs of what he calls a “quiet revolution” aimed at building a sustainable future for this community. Africa is perhaps the most romanticized continent, especially when it comes to nature and nature photography. "Ushirikiano" is a picture book depicting scenes from Kenya - its rural and tribal regions, as well as the environmental dangers that its residents and the wildlife are struggling with. The photographer Chris Jordan manages to capture the beauty of African landscape and life with a keen eye for the details that may escape many others as secondary or irrelevant - a rusting barrel on the side of the road, a colourful water reservoir, a digital wristwatch on a traditionally ornamented arm of villager, randomly scattered cloths on the grand inside of the scouts' house. These choices of subject matter give this book a distinctly journalistic feel. The most prominent photograph in this book is also the most disturbing one: it's a fold out four-page spread of a dead bull elephant carcass. It's an unsettling image of an elephant whose tusks and trunk removed. Its mutilated head has a nightmarish quality, and it brings home the horrors of ivory poaching. One of the aims of this picture book is to bring attention to the environmental degradation that this part of Africa is suffering due to climate change. However, aside from the gruesome pictures of elephant poaching (which could have in principle been taken at almost any point in Africa's long history) it is hard fro me to perceive the devastation that is alluded to in the book's introduction. The semi-arid landscapes that feature prominently throughout the book look just like the kind of landscape that have become familiar to the Western audiences form the decades of well-made nature documentaries. It is possible that the climate change has affected the aridity for the worse, but based on the photographs in this book it is hard to come to that conclusion. There is a lot to commend about this book in terms of pure aesthetic value. Chris Jordan manages to capture the people and their immediate environments very eloquently and beautifully. The contrasts between the colourful traditional garbs of African villagers and their more modern accessories create powerful dissonances that capture one's attention. Nonetheless, this is not entirely a feel-good coffee table book. It serves an important social purpose of creating awareness of the problems and challenges faced by people who live far away from us - both geographically and culturally. It is a tribute to the art of photography and to Chris Jordan's indubitable skills that a book like this one can bridge those vast distances and make its subjects feel more intimately close to us. Well worth purchasing. RRP: £26.95 Price: £22.91 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions You Save: £4.04 (15%) Look and buy here.Prix Pictet Ushirikano: Buliding a sustainable future in Kenya's Northern Ranglands .

Tayside Views 6th & 7th November 2012

Tayside Views 6th & 7th November 2012.

Tayview Newburgh afternoon of the 6th November.

Newburgh Sky an hour later.

Tayside Sky, later still.

Yesterday 7th November evening, looking East the sky was subtle in colour, not so dynamic as the westerly views but lovely quality never the less.