Set up, Shoots and Leaves

17/05/2026

An early start at Doune Hillclimb - Lcc for the first day of the Classic Speed Hill Climb.

There is a good variety of cars at this meet, and the likelihood of it staying dry for the whole day meant I was happy to spend the duration of it up at Meadow.

As is always the case with images, feel free to tag, share or drop me a message for anything else.

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21/04/2026

19/04/2026

Another early start at Doune Hillclimb - Lcc as it's the best part of the day for me.

It had been a properly chilly night, so the cars and competitors were thawing out as I arrived for a coffee to power me up the hill.

I managed to get a few keepers and caught up with the best two elderly chaps that I keep bumping into year after year up at the top of Meadow for a blether. And then the bloody cloud rolled in again, and the temperature dropped.

Time for a burger. A caffeinated soft drink. And a warm-up.

After lunch I headed back up to Meadow and The Esses, but by this time I just wasn't producing the shots I wanted, so I called it quits early again!

All in all, I was happy with what I came away with this weekend. And it's always good to be at Doune as I have fond memories of visiting the museum back in the day with my petrolhead Grandad (who owned a few Imps), but I knew by the time I got back down to Oak Tree where I was taking the most boring head-on images of cars coming up the hill, that it was time to get in my car and get the hell outta dodge.

Once again, thanks to all the competitors for making the journey to Doune; it can't be easy especially with costs being as they are right now. The organisers, the caterers AND the marshals. Without whom the event just could not happen.

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18/04/2026

A soaking wet morning at Doune Hillclimb - LCC, but it fairly brightened up as the day went on.

I couldn't stay for a full shift today, but hopefully I'll be back along again tomorrow.

It was good to see some new cars on the hill. And some familiar wheels too.
As with every trip to the track in April, it takes me a while to get back into the routine of panning with the cars on a slow shutter speed, but I'm happy enough with some of the results.

These shots are straight off the camera, so they have not been cropped or tidied up in any way.

As with every other post from Doune Hillclimb - Lcc, feel free to tag your vehicle, share or comment.

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09/04/2026

The much-lambasted Spitfire90 flight made amends for yesterday and departed Leuchars for a turn at the Forth Bridge before heading up to Lossiemouth.

I can understand that people might have been annoyed that they never saw it yesterday, but I also find that the unfortunate power of social media and the postings by some other media outlets might not have helped matters.

The Scotsman described onlookers as being "distraught" after the flypast did not occur. FFS, get a grip! Upset? Yeah, I can understand that. But distraught? Eh, no. I think you need to reevaluate your journalistic standards, if you actually have any left.
People do seem to get very upset over really trivial matters these days when there is a tonne of utterly horrendous s**t going on in the world.

It might also be worth reminding people that this isn't just a commemorative flight celebrating 90 years of the Spit. But it is also raising funds for the Mark Long Trust (Sqd Ldr Mark Long was killed in a Spitfire crash at RAF Coningsby in 2024) and the RAF Benevolent Fund.

Anyway, here's a shot of the tiny wee Spitfire as it passed my lounge window. Yeah, that's right. I didn't even have to leave the house to see it.

Fun fact for today. If you wanted to span the Forth at the same points as the Forth Bridge with Mk V Spitfires, you'd need at least 270 of them. Of the 20,000+ that were built, only 240 survive, and out of those, only 60-70 actually fly.

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07/03/2026

Another cold & calm scene to enjoy as I headed over the The Forth Bridges into Edinburgh.

A really heavy frost was visible in places, with it dropping to almost -6c at one point.

03/03/2026

A crisp and calm commute over the FRB into Edinburgh this morning.

It's not a great photo by any standards. But I would have regretted not taking a quick shot of Cammo Tower silhouetted by the powerful moonlight.

05/01/2026

I haven't bothered to take a tripod with me, as I simply cannot be ersed with the faff of it all, so it means I've been reminding myself of how to hold the camera steady in low-light conditions.

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04/01/2026

Wolf Moon is the first supermoon of 2026. I really was not in the mood for getting any images of it last night but knew I'd be in with a chance of a few shots this morning.

I spotted this photographer on the Forth Road Bridge; he appeared to be more focused on setting up his camera & tripod to take photos of the blazing sunrise behind the Forth Bridge and seemed unaware of what was behind him.

I also managed to catch the moon on its descent a short but freezing while later, just hovering above The Ochil Hills.

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25/12/2025

An early walk over The Forth Bridges and back.

A tawny owl, song thrush and territorial robins provided the soundtrack for most of the way with two traffic cop cars hurtling over the Queensferry Crossing shattering the peace & quiet.