 Simon....
Stunning photos mate, absolutely stunning!
I just wish I could take photo's like that. Thing is for pictures THAT good, it isn't just the gear that you need, it's a really good eye for the photo itself.
I have to say it again...The feature is superb!
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 Makes me wanna go there like tomorrow!
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But you've got 4C doing "Thermal Conducivity and Crochet" tommorrow!
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I have driven through that area, but unfortunately not walked there.
All of a sudden it's up there on my ever growing "list of things to do before I die (or at least things to do before I get to old to stand up to go to the toilet)"
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Errr I already don't stand up to................enough!!
Anyway tomorrow I have exam invigilations followed by levers and linkages or is it structures and forces...must get my book out.
Crochet?
CROCHET???
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 Si, tell more about the geology. What is the actual rock type, you mentioned builders aggregate suggesting a breccia if its sedimentry or maybe a conglom' . What age (approx). Might work on Farby for a oversea's field trip
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 Thanks for the positive feedback - I should point out again to you serious full-on winter mountaineers that Montserrat is a gentle stroll compared to most UK mountain outings. I dragged my very unfit brother up Scafell Pike on Sunday - 8 hours later he staggered back to the car absolutely shattered!
The good thing about places like Montserrat is that with cheap flights to places like Barcelona, it becomes possible to get to all kinds of interesting mountain destinations without spending shed-loads of cash. In the last three years, I've been to Chamonix, the Mercantour National Park in the Alpes Maritime, the Gorges du Verdon in Provence, the Mourne Mountains in Ireland, not to mention a wild weekend in Amsterdam, all courtesy of a certain budget airline that flies from Liverpool very cheaply.
Ben, I'm no geologist, but my guide book has this to say:
"At the beginning of the Tertiary period, the Balearic continent occupied what is now the Mediterranean Sea. Geological action caused the contitnent to sink, and the deposit of sedimentary material emerged and rose to a significant height because of the depression of the surrounding land. This sedimentary material, consisting of pebbles, bonded together by hard natural limestone cement, sands and clays, formed the mountain of Montserrat. It measures 10km in length and 5km in width, with an elliptical perimeter of some 25kms."
I'm sure a geology field trip would be entirely justified!
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thats it. Im suggesting a montserrat field trip very soon, im sure the college won't mind as geography and Environmental Science students went to majorca
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Oh, I forgot to mention Mallorca - the mountains of the Sierra di Tramuntana have some great walking and scrambling, far from the tourist beaches and fun pubs of Palma Nova and Magaluf.
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Ctredit where it is due...Simon, how about an article on how to take good mountain pics...?
I'd be willing to learn!
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Al, it just so happens that I have such an article - I'll submit it to our editor when he returns from his sojurn in the Alps, who knows, maybe we could organise an OUTDOORSmagic mountain photo day!
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That'd be cool...count me in on that baby!
Thing is...taking pics like that is a gift, and not necessarilly one you can teach...
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Count me and Sir in too. Currently debating about getting him a nice camera for his birthday in June but so many other things to buy......
hoping to pick up some end-of-season bargains at 'show prices' next week.
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It's true that you need to have an eye for the image, but if you read the superb article in January Trail about Scottish mountain photographer Colin Prior, at the end is a list of tips, which really do make a lot of sense and offer practical advice to anyone interested in improving their mountain pictures.
I'm still drooling over his Fuji GX617 panoramic camera, without which you haven't really got much chance of producing images of the quality of Colin's, but there's a still a lot can be achieved with a reasonably good quality SLR.
I have taught photography to full-time BTEC students, and adults at evening class, I do believe that everybody possesses the creative urge, and often all that is needed is the technical knowledge, and the confidence to apply it.
The main problem in the UK for anyone working outdoors, not just mountain photographers, is the weather and the light, or lack of it. As the article on Colin Prior mentions, to get a single image often required many fruitless trips and literally years of frustration before the actual picture was captured.
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 I can attest to the problems with the light. On many of my walks the light simply doesn't allow shake-free handheld pictures. However I have a trekking pole with a camera mount that I use quite a lot. It's not nearly as stable as a tripod but still a lot better than hand-holding in poor light situations such as typical British drizzle and fog or at dusk. Many of the pics at http://www.mjausson.com/collections/collection_twilight.htm would have been blurred if it hadn't been for the monopod.
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I've got the Leki photo system trekking pole, and it does indeed help to get a steady camera - however, I find the temptation to stick it in the ground and use it as a self-portrait monopod irresistible, with the ususal result that the whole thing topples over at the moment of exposure...
As for typical British drizzle - I don't think Ansel Adams or Galen Rowell could have produced anything in those conditions!
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I use a olympus trip thingy which take average pictures, but god can that thing take abuse. It's been droped so many times, thrown in rucksacks, scraped up gullys, put down in puddles, used with muddy hoofs. and all for £29.99. One of the best ever buys. its better than my mums APS. I don't like the idea of taking a biggish expensive camera with me cuz i find they either get in you way if attached to waist belt, where i find they have to be otherwise they tend to get left in your sack, esp when raining.
Can someone recomend a bombproof camera that isn't to big and take reasnoble photos and doesn't cost the earth
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Well, I'm a big fan of Olympus, my OM 1 is 28years old, still going strong - I also use an Olympus mju II fully auto compact which has a fast f2.8 35mm lens, auto-focus, weather-proof casing, and built-in flash, retails for about £92, easily slips inside the map pocket for quick access, and is tolerant of that UK drizzle. Picture quality is superb for the size.
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 I'm also a big fan of Olympus. I have had a Mju for about 10 years. Fits in any pocket. The battery lasts for ever. Takes crackin' pictures, even on a dreary day in the Lakes. I use Fuji film and developing that seems to help quite a bit. Images look better than when I'm forced to use Kodak or Agfa anyway.
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 I have an anitquated vivitar v635 slr (manual focus etc) but it is real heavy but does take some nice pic's! might replace the body over the summer for a nice new pentaz MZ50, anyone know of any "outlet" type stores for camera's?
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