Angus Bruce & family take over The Gallery Cafe

"More great landscapes and more great food" is the promise from The Gallery Cafe, as local landscape photographer Angus Bruce assumes control on 15th December. The Mountain Cafe was converted to a dual purpose Cafe and Photographic Gallery in June this year, and has already hosted some outstanding exhibitions by local and nationally-renowned photographers.

Angus commented: "Something special has been started here, and I'm hoping that The Gallery Cafe will continue to develop a reputation for excellence in local landscape photography, while maintaining the high standard of food and drink on offer in the cafe. We have some superb visiting photographers scheduled for 2010, including Ian Cameron, Richard Childs and Glen Campbell. Local professionals Iain Roy, Margaret McAtier and myself will have a year-round presence, and there will also be occasional exhibitions featuring emerging local photographers.
Running the Cafe will be an invigorating new experience, and I will be ably supported by my children (John and Hannah are my partners in the business, and Ben is on the staff) and a number of the previous Cafe staff. We look forward to welcoming you to The Gallery Cafe (above North West Outdoors) soon - we'll be open from 9am until 5pm daily (last Cafe orders at 4pm), except Sundays. "

New Exhibition in The Gallery

Our new exhibition is by Local photographer Angus Bruce who writes ....

"Some people consider winter in the Highlands to be a dull, depressing experience. The short daylight hours are frequently dominated by westerly gales and rain beneath leaden skies. But when snow falls, ice forms and the skies clear, there's simply no better place on earth to be for a landscape photographer. The low winter sun throws a gentle golden light across the mountains and glens, and the colours of dawn and dusk have to be seen to be believed.

Ullapool photographer Angus Bruce specialises in images of the local landscape and his Exhibition is a celebration of the vibrant colours of the Highland Winter ."

" I discovered the joy of photography as a teenager, shooting reels of Kodak Tri-X B&W film and spending hours in school darkrooms instead of studying. But somehow I managed to pass a few exams and my pursuit of photography was (partially) interrupted by a 20-year career in the legal profession. I left the courtroom behind in 2002 when I moved with my family to Ullapool - the perfect base to combine my love for the Highlands and my passion for landscape photography.

With some regrets, I have left behind the world of developing drums and caustic chemicals, having embraced the digital age. My weapon of choice is currently a Nikon D300 DSLR camera (but I'd love a D3x for Christmas please). I'm entirely self-taught and so don't have any letters to quote after my name, apart from BALS (Bachelor of Arts Legal Studies) which I tend not to use very much!

I don't use on-camera filters, except Lee solid neutral density (to slow things down) and graduated neutral density (to balance the exposure for the sky) and occasionally a polariser (to avoid water reflection). I use Adobe RAW + Photoshop (and plug-ins) to post-process the images, in a way that seeks to emulate the strong colours and contrast of Fuji Velvia, the landscape photographer's favourite for film cameras.

I hope that some of my images may inspire you to get out with your own camera, not just to take some great photographs, but also to witness the extraordinary light and colour of a winter’s dawn and dusk in the exceptional landscape around Ullapool."

Angus Bruce Exhibition

Heres a selection of Angus Bruce's image which can be seen on display at the gallery. You can also visit his website to see more of his work at highlandpix.co.uk

Levori competition

I have recently been asked to Judge a new competition online named Levori .
A competition open to amatuers, students and professional a like with a share of $15,000 worth of prizes for the winners.

Heres a short description from the website but have a look at the site for more information


"We're all different...but what moves us is the same. Our cultures, languages and landscapes are diverse, yet we each have a goal in common: the desire to grow, to succeed, to evolve...to be better tomorrow than we are today.

Our goal at LEVORI is to capture the essence of this ambition in photo art. LEVORI is a call to photographers worldwide to capture and share your view of our hope in the future through photographs featuring...

love & kindness....sacrifice & service....joy & laughter....those striving for a better world in every circumstance. "

Rhiannon Connelly " Polaroid Paintings "

Just a quick post on that last few days of Rhainnon Connellys excellent and unique exhibition at the Gallery Cafe. Heres a few more images which can be seen on display . For further information please visit Rhiannon Site at www.rhiannonconnelly.com
or her great little blog at starrybluesky.wordpress.com

Loopallu

Its that time of year again when the village of Ullapool is getting ready for the biggest event of the year . The music festival Loopallu decsribed as the most remote festival site in the UK.
The " little fest in the west " attracts big names which perform in a large tent on the edge of the shore and brings approx 2, 5000 to the village

Heres the official line up and more on our exhibition dedicated to music festivals later



The View
Lightning Seeds
Neville Staple (Ex Specials)
Family Mahone
Dykeenies
Mumford and Sons
Kid British
Codeine Velvet Club
Pearl and the Puppets
The Dangleberries
Bronto Skylift
Polly & the Billets Doux
Grousebeater Sound System
French Wives
Naked Strangers
Ullapool Pipe Band

Rhainnon Connelly Launch evening

We will be holding a exhibition preview evening this Friday 28th August 6-8.30pm at the Gallery Cafe for our new Exhibition " Polaroid paintings " by Rhiannon Connelly.