Waltzing With My Camera

Portraits

2011-08-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

It's a while since I added any photos to this blog, but I have been out and about with my camera.
Today I went to a portrait workshop taken by David Graham.
We had to take photos of other participants and then hit the streets and ask strangers to pose for us.
here are some of mine:

Skye

2011-07-20T09:12:00.000-07:00

The sun broke through the clouds:

A boating family lives here?

The sky is full of drama in Skye:

Over the sea to Skye..

2011-07-17T04:13:00.000-07:00

Kintail

Burial Ground, Kintail

View from the cottage, Skye:

At the bottom of the garden:

Isle of May

2011-06-21T10:20:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I went to the Isle of May, a small island in the Forth estuary off the coast of Anstruther. We were so lucky to have a lovely, sunny and dry day-the only such day in the last 6 weeks. The Isle of May is known for its birdlife. It is teeming with birds, but the birds I really wanted to see were puffins. And I certainly got to see puffins:

As well as Razorbills

Terns

and gulls

The lighthouse

the landscape

and The May Princess

Port Seton.

2011-06-05T15:08:00.000-07:00

I went to the 3 Harbours Arts Festival at Port Seton, a small fishing village in East Lothian. The exhibitions are held in people's homes, mostly along the sea front. As interesting as the art are the houses-small fihermens' cottages built in the late 1800's, and full of character. Here are a few things I spotted on my walk:

Day 4

2011-05-16T14:43:00.000-07:00

Glen Coe:

Tulloch:

Day 3

2011-05-10T11:55:00.000-07:00

We drove over to the Granton, via Aviemore.

Loch Morlich:

Pine forest:

Wildlife-pheasant:

Deer:

Salmon:

Daffodils along the Spey River:

Waterfall:

Day 2

2011-05-09T13:10:00.000-07:00

These photos were taken near Loch Ness. I walked through a wonderful birch wood, all covered in moss. It was quite magical.

Then I did a hill walk-it was much longer than I had anticipated. It took me 5 hours, up and back!

But the view was splendid:

Easter holiday: Day 1

2011-04-23T13:42:00.000-07:00

We are just back from a week's holiday in the highlands. We were so lucky with the weather-warm, dry and of course no midgies at this time of the year. It was our first holiday without kids in 20 years, and it was lovely!! Here's some pictures of the first day:

I walked up through a forest, over a field..

and came to a small trout loch. It was very peaceful.

There was a small fisherman's hut:

With a deck of railway sleepers-the perfect place to sit, dream and eat my lunch.

Project 52 #12 One light portrait

2011-04-14T15:03:00.000-07:00

So for this assignment we were meant to take a portrait of an artist holding something related to their art in their hand. We were to use one light to create a portrait with one side of the face lit, and the other in shadow. The light could be a flash or even the sun. I don't actually know any artists so my daughter agreed, grudgingly, to pose as a jewellery artist!

This photo fits the brief and is lit by the afternoon sun through the window.

It is not the most flattering photo though.

In the next photo I was standing in front of the window, and used flash bounced from the ceiling. I had the diffuser on the flash, as well as the white flag to direct some light towards Emily. It doesn't fit the brief of light and shade on the face, but it is a much more flattering photo.

Project #52/11 macro shot

2011-04-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

Assignment 11 was to do a macro shot of an electronics item. Here are my two shortlisted shots:

A-Z 2011- #G is for grater

2011-04-11T12:38:00.000-07:00

I didn't really get around to photographing much for the letter 'g', so at the last minute I got out my macro lens and my cheese grater. Here are the results:

Project 52 #10 String Quartet

2011-04-07T12:57:00.000-07:00

Assignment 10 of Project 52 was to make a photograph for a CD cover and inside spread, for a string quartet playing Ravel. My major problem with this assignment was not having access to a string quartet, so requiring me to think outside of the box somewhat. The first thing I did was listen to the piece of music which was somewhat sombre and melancholy. I then had to find a way to represent the mood and the idea of a string quartet. This is what I came up with:
The cover:

The inside

This was taken on my kitchen table. I just pulled the curtain across the table for the backdrop, and lit the candles with a couple of table lamps.
I was quite happy with the results.

2011 A-Z Challenge #F

2011-04-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

F is for flowers:

Project #52 recipe ingredients

2011-03-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

Another topic for the Project #52 course was to set up and shoot the ingredients for a salad- a shot that could be used in a cookbook. I really enjoyed this assignment. I'm loving the tabletop work. I think I enjoy the arrangements-the making of the still life, as much as the photography.

Here is my short list:

These were taken in my lounge room. In the last one the sun was coming through the window, and I really like the effect. It was difficult to get the exposure right in these shots-exposing for the white background would have meant the cheese and the onions were overexposed-well they are slightly anyway, but if I had exposed for them, then the white background would have been dull and grey. I know there is a solution, probably to do with using flash in some way..
But I think the ingredients look tasty and inviting, and I guess that's what it is all about!

Project #52

2011-03-20T15:54:00.000-07:00

One of the topics for project 52 was CHOCOLATE- a shot with a square crop that could be used on a restaurant menu. This involved me cooking as well as taking photos. Here's the result:

E is for Earth

2011-03-19T12:11:00.000-07:00

Well, E proved to be a very hard letter, and in fact I only ended up with one photo for E -freshly plougher EartH!

D is for Discovery

2011-02-12T14:06:00.000-08:00

Today I went for a walk, a walk I have done many times before down to the Dell near my house. For those of you on the other side of the world the Dell is a small wooded valley. Our dell has a river-The Water of Leith, and I have walked along the water time and time again. It is so peaceful, and changes with the seasons, so there's always something new to see. Herons, magpies... I'm always attracted to the water. But today I decided to take a path that I've not walked before, and I'm so glad I did, as I made lots of discoveries.

The path I took was at the top of the dell, so it was interesting to look down into the dell, down to the path that I usually walk, seeing things from a different perspective. That's one of my favourite thing about photography too, seeing things from a different point of view, finding the small detail within the big picture.

Among my discoveries today was a complex of abandonded and derelict buildings:

I've actually been inside this building, Graysmill House, when it belonged to the council and they used to use it for inservice training. However it was sold to a developer who very strangely built a housing estate around it. Seems bizarre that very expensive new houses look out onto this. Maybe there are plans to develop it into apartments, but in the meantime, it's abandoned and no doubt falling into disrepair.

This little building may have been a workers cottage to support the big house:

And this was probably the stable block:

Peering through the hole in the door allowed me to get this shot:

The lock:

And my favourite photo of the day-I love the way the light is falling here:

The path took me through this disused tunnel-I think it was a railway tunnel perhaps:

Click on images to see larger.

C is for Cathedral

2011-02-08T13:16:00.000-08:00

St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh to be precise..

2011 A-Z Challenge #C

2011-02-02T14:33:00.000-08:00

so for letter C I decided to use the theme of Curves. I met up with some fellow photographers at the Old Calton Burial ground in Edinburgh. I used my 50mm lens and concentrated on the small details, rather than the big picture.
Here are a few of the photos:

Project 52 #3 Still Life magazine cover

2011-01-29T14:20:00.000-08:00

The assignment for week 3 of Project 52 was to shoot a stillife to fit a predesigned 8x8 magazine cover. Still life isn't something I've done before, so I thought I would give it a go. I gathered up some bits and pieces from Emily's room, and set them up on the kitchen table, which I covered with some white stretch fabric.

And here's the result:

I did struggle with light-it's still gloomy here in Scotland, so this is shot with the halogen lights of the kitchen on, and then I draped a silver emergency blanket over a chair and shone a head torch onto it to bounce some light onto the objects. Overall, I'm quite happy with how it turned out, and I think I could get to enjoy still life photography!

Project 52 #2 Street Portrait

2011-01-23T07:51:00.001-08:00

#2 Street Portrait
Originally uploaded by pampossum

So for Project 52, assignment 2 we were to ask a stranger to pose for a photo. I have taken photos of strangers before, usually street performers during the Festival. I wasn't looking forward to this assignment, because I feel uncomfortable about this type of photography. I think it is intrusive to ask a stranger to pose for a photo. I know they can say no, but still it makes me uncomfortable. Also I find the idea of having portraits of people I don't know on my computer a bit disconcerting. I'm ok about street scenes with people going about their business-it's the portrait stuff I don't like.
Anyway, I came across a large group of young people all dressed up in costumes in the city centre. I thought they were performers of some kind, When I chatted to them they turned out just to enjoy dressing up and descending en masse at different locations. So I figured this was a bunch of people who didn't mind being the centre of attention, so I was happy to ask some of them to pose for me. The photo you see is Lauren.

2011 A-Z Challenge #B

2011-01-23T07:40:00.000-08:00

So we are onto the next letter 'B'. I was going to do BOKEH-and set up some shots, but I didn't have time. So yesterday I met up with some other Edinburgh photographers to do the BURNS walk-a walk looking at places in Edinburgh associated with Robbie Burns, Scotland's most famous poet. (Auld Lang Syne, for one).It is Burn's night on the 25th January. So these photos are from that walk:
1, The Writer's Museum

2. Beer barrels in Ladystairs Close

3. The Burns Window in St Giles Cathedral

4. Deacon Brodie-Burns was thought to have lived where the Deacon Brodie Tavern now stands. This photo also has some nice Bokeh!

Project 52- #1

2011-01-14T11:00:00.001-08:00

In addition to my A-Z 2011 challenge I have joined Project 52 at Lighting Essentials. I am hoping this project will help me to develop my lighting skills. For the first assignment we had to write a mission statement, and take a photo from around our home to illustrate it.

Here is mine:

2011 A New Challenge

2011-01-11T11:23:00.000-08:00

Well, I finished the 52 walks in 2010 challenge-although my blogging did get behind!
So this year I have started a new challenge A-Z 2011. This is a fortnightly challenge-a letter every two weeks. So for A I decided on Angles. I 'm looking around when I'm out and about for things with interesting angles, as well as maybe taking photos from unusual angles.
Here are some:

Week #52 St Mary's Loch, Edinburgh

2010-12-31T12:10:00.000-08:00

Week #51 Christmas Market Edinburgh

2010-12-31T12:04:00.000-08:00

Week #50 German Market Edinburgh

2010-12-31T11:55:00.000-08:00

Week #49 Holyrood, Edinburgh

2010-12-31T11:37:00.000-08:00

Week #48 Linlithgow

2010-12-31T11:24:00.000-08:00

Week #47 Lochrin Basin Union Canal

2010-12-31T11:07:00.000-08:00

Week #46 Edinburgh Old Town

2010-12-31T11:01:00.000-08:00

Week #45 Lochgoilhead

2010-12-31T08:26:00.000-08:00

Week #44 Photocamp

2010-12-31T08:15:00.000-08:00

Week #43 St Andrews

2010-12-31T08:08:00.000-08:00

Week #42 Beecraigs Country Park

2010-11-25T12:27:00.000-08:00

Week #41 Alnwyck and Eyemouth

2010-10-18T02:58:00.000-07:00

Thos week we drove down to Alnwyck, a pretty market town in Northumberland.
It was a walk of many parts:
Firstly, a visit to Barter Books, the largest 2nd hand bookshop in the UK,
housed in the old Alnwyck railway station-a bookshop of great character.

Not my best shots; note to self- check that the auto focus is switched on!

Then a walk through the town. It was market day.
It's a very small market, but added a splash of colour to an otherwise grey day.

As did a walk into the woods around the castle:

On the way home we drove into Eyemouth.

The harbour is very much a working harbour, full of the paraphenalia of fishing fleets.

There is a maritime museum on the dock, with an old chinese junk.

Week #40 Aberdeen

2010-10-07T12:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to visit Emily at Aberdeen University. We were blessed with a gorgeous, sunny autmunal day.

Aberdeen Uni is very old with parts dating from the 15th century. There was a wedding at King's Chapel,within the university grounds. Only ex students and staff are able to be married there.

The stained glass is inside the chapel, and the other photos are within one of the university buildings.

On the way back we stopped at Dunottar Castle.

It is such a dramatic setting on a rocky outcrop overlooking the North Sea.

My favourite photo of the day is the one of the hay bale.

week #39 Glen Lyon

2010-09-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

Week #38 Aberlady

2010-09-28T11:42:00.000-07:00

Week #37 Flotterstone

2010-09-28T11:21:00.000-07:00

Week #36 Water of Leith

2010-09-28T11:13:00.000-07:00

Week #35 Gladstone Loch, Midlothian

2010-09-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

Week #34 The Royal Mile

2010-09-28T10:55:00.000-07:00

Week #33 Festival time....

2010-09-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

Week #32 Stradbroke Island

2010-09-26T11:47:00.000-07:00

Week #31 Mount Tamborine

2010-09-26T11:34:00.000-07:00

Week #30 Sydney

2010-09-01T11:18:00.000-07:00

Somehow, I managed to delete all my photos from Sydney-and there were some good ones!!
So these photos were taken by Emily on her point and shoot.
I am still kicking myself for losing my photos-and I still don't know how I deleted them. One day they were on my computer and the next they were gone-completely!!
Before I had a chance to backup!!
Lesson learned!!

oops Week #28 Barossa Valley

2010-08-11T11:30:00.000-07:00

Oops-just posted my week 29 photos from Broken Hill and realized I hadn't uploaded these from the very beautiful Barossa Valley in South Australia- so here they are, out of order, but here nonetheless.

Most of these are in and around Tanunda and Bethany.

Week #29 Broken Hill

2010-08-11T11:24:00.000-07:00

So these photos were taken in and around Broken Hill in far western NSW. This is where I grew up, went to school and lived until I
moved to Adelaide at the age of 17.

This next lot were taken in Silverton and looking across to the magnificant Mundi Mundi Plain.

Now some from the sculpture park on the Nine Mile road.

And more in Broken Hill.

Week #27 Brisbane

2010-08-08T12:06:00.000-07:00

I'm very much behind with uploading my walks to this blog. I've been on hoilday in Australia for the past 5 weeks, and am now going through the processing of editing my photos. The next 5 weeks won't strictly be walks, rather just uploading a sample of photos that give a flavour of the different places I visited. Today it's Brisbane's turn.
Many of these photos are taken along the Brisbane River-the mangrove swamps and board walk at the botanical gardens, the city centre, Queensland University and Southbank-all on the river.

Week #26 Canal Festival

2010-06-29T14:48:00.000-07:00

This week's walk was a short at at the Union Canal where the Canal Raft Festival was taking place.

Lots of home made rafts.

A festival atmosphere withstalls and bunting,

And people watching

And poppies growing over a fence.

Week #25 Melrose

2010-06-23T13:35:00.000-07:00

This week's walk was at Melrose in the Scottish Borders. Lots of interest-the Abbey, nice textural details, like rust, brickwork, and splintered wood..

Some interesting examples of symmetry, a fabulous old unused railway station feeling like something from the wild west..

interesting gardens, and plants..

a vaiduct and an MG..

And wonderful vintage signs..

a great walk

Week #24 Leith Festival

2010-06-18T14:42:00.000-07:00

So for this week's walk I went down to Leith to watch the parade and look at the stalls at The Leith Festival.
These photos should be bright and colourful, but I was pretty well shooting into the sun and they are generally over exposed. I am so cross at myself for forgetting to check the histogram!
Lesson learned!

Week #23

2010-06-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

This week I met up with some other keen photgraphers and we headed out to Port Seton for a photo walk.

First we went to the small fishing harbour:

Then to the Seton Collegiate church:

And finally the Prestonpans Industrial Heritage Museum:

Week #22 The Pentland Hills

2010-06-06T14:36:00.000-07:00

The Pentland Hills are the hills just south of Edinburgh. In fact you can see them from the top of our street, and walk out from the house into the hills. But this walk is further out past Silverburn, and takes you up past a farm, where there is an interesting array of farm paraphernalia which makes for some interesting photos. Here are a few:

Week #21 South Queensferry

2010-05-28T14:08:00.000-07:00

Photography is all about light, and the best light is around sunrise or sunset,
so with this in mind I was up early and got to South Queensferry just before 6am.
I was about an hour too late!
The best light had been and gone, but nevertheless I did get some lovely shots!

Week #20 Glen Esk

2010-05-28T13:48:00.000-07:00

Blue skies, sunshine, wonderful scenery, wildlife and old buildings=
a great day out for any photographer!!

Week #19 Homecoming March

2010-05-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

I went into the Royal Mile to watch the 3rd Battalions The Rifles, Homecoming March after their tour of duty in Afghanistan. This battalion is stationed at the barracks near to where we live. I was surprised to be quite overcome with emotion watching the March and hearing the applause of the the crowds who came out to welcome them home. I'm not sure why I had that response. This battalion has suffered a significant loss of life while on tour and they marched so proudly. It must have been so hard for them to experience the joy of coming home and being reunited with loved ones, and yet knowing that some of their comrades were never coming home. And some of them are so young... the same age as Jack

Week #18 Dawyck

2010-05-11T13:26:00.001-07:00

Week 18's walk was at Dawyck Botanical garden in the Scottish Borders. It's not that long since my last walk here, but it's nice to visit a garden throughout the year to see the seasonal changes. This was my first outing with my new Canon camera, so I'm on a steep learning curve at present, learning how to access the various settings.

Week #17 Madrid

2010-05-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

After spending 13 days in Madrid, and walking more miles than I care to think about I feel I got to know the city pretty well. We were in Madrid 2 years ago also, so this time I tried to get some different shots of this wonderful city. This is a selection-click for a close view.

Week #16 Madrid

2010-05-02T15:20:00.000-07:00

Week 16 and 17 photos are from Madrid. It was meant to be week 16 only, since we were to be in Madrid for 4 nights. However the volcano eruting in Iceland changed that. We were unable to fly home because of the volcanic ash, so eventually we got a bus to London and train home from there. Our 4 day break expanded to 13!, so I will upload another selection from Madrid soon. Madrid is such a photographic city-everything from narrow streets, ornate balconies, grand civic buildings, fountains markets and beautiful parks. The difficulty is in making a selection!

Week #15 Benmore Gardens

2010-04-10T15:58:00.000-07:00

Week 14 Cramond

2010-04-10T15:46:00.001-07:00

Week #13 Dawyck Botanical Garden

2010-04-02T13:03:00.000-07:00

Dawyck Botanical Garden is near Peebles in the Scottish Borders- a garden of trees, rather than flowers. It has trees from all over the world, including enormous Douglas Firs. At this time of the year the buds are froming on the trees and shoots of herbaceous plants are coming through. It was a week or two early for the daffodils-I shall try to get back in the next couple of weeks. I hadn't realized that seasonally it's a couple of weeks behind Edinburgh. The drive down was lovely with the springs lambs and calves in the fields.

Week #12 Wallace Monument

2010-03-25T12:59:00.000-07:00

My walk this week was at the William Wallace monument near Stirling:
Completed in 1869 after eight years' construction, the 220 feet high Wallace Monument sits prominently on the Abbey Craig two miles north of the city of Stirling itself. It was from this prominent hilltop in 1297 that William Wallace watched the English army approach across Stirling Bridge before leading the Scots into the battle of the same name: and victory (see our Historical Timeline). A fitting, and striking, location for the national monument to a national hero.

Week #11 Bangour Village Hospital

2010-03-14T15:47:00.000-07:00

The hospital was modelled on the Alt Scherbitz asylum of the 1870s, near Leipzig in Germany, and represents one of the first "colony" plan psychiatric hospitals in Scotland. The Bangour institution comprised individual villas which would house approximately 30 patients each. The village also incorporated its own railway station, a farm, bakery, workshops, recreation hall, school, shop, library, and latterly, a multi-denominational church.
The hospital was requisitioned by the government War Office during both wars when it became "Edinburgh War Hospital" and "The Scottish Emergency Medical Hospital", reverting back to a psychiatric hospital between and after the wars.
The number of patients rose to over 3000 in 1918 so, as well as temporary marquees, prefabricated huts were erected to cope with the demand for bed space, for both patients and staff. This led to the creation of Bangour General Hospital in the surrounding grounds, which was to become a world leader in many medical fields, in particular its esteemed burns and plastic surgery unit which was established in 1940. It also had a 1st class Maternity Unit serving the whole of the county.
In 1989, St John's Hospital opened in nearby Livingston, and services were transferred from Bangour General Hospital, which closed in the early 1990s. The Village Hospital also started to wind down after the opening of St Johns, with the last remaining ward closing in 2004.

Week #10 Kinghorn and South Queensferry

2010-03-08T10:16:00.000-08:00

Click on image for large views.

This week I joined the Edinburgh Uni Photo Society on a photography day with Alonso Dias, a photographer from Spain. Alonso specialises in long exposure landscapes, and the point of the day was to learn some of those techniques. One thing I learned was that I need a ND grad filter-I do have a screw on ND filter, and I was able to increase my exposures a little using it. However for some of the day I did my own thing, like these photos of Kinghorn village.

I did try long exposures for the next group, which is why the water has that smooth flat silkiness.

Week #9 Edinburgh

2010-03-03T09:58:00.000-08:00

So this week I walked around Edinburgh-the top of Leith Walk, Princes St, and St Andrew's Square
It was a twilight walk and the real object was to have a play with long exposures. One task was to capture movement in passers by, and the other was to create some light trails. Actually-there were very few people out and about, so the people shots were a little problematic!

And if you look at the photo above you can see I amnaged to get people blur-and light trails-in the same photo!!

Week #8 Glencorse

2010-02-26T10:32:00.000-08:00

Glencorse is a privately owned estate just south of Edinburgh. The old Kirk has been restored and is now used for weddings. It is lovely as it has not been over restored and is now lit largely by candlelight.

The rest of the estate is so pretty-a lovely trout pond which was partly frozen, rolling farmland, and gorgeous horses.

52 Walks Week #7 Killin

2010-02-16T08:55:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we went for an outing to Killin, near the Trossachs. As you can see, it's a very picturesque part of Scotland.
The hills were particularly lovely with that crown of snow on top.

Week #6

2010-02-08T14:26:00.000-08:00

This week's walk was at the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh.
The weather was dreich-love that word-dreich-drizzly and miserable, so a walk around the glasshouses-especially the hot houses-seemed a good idea. And it was!

52 Walks Week #5

2010-01-30T12:33:00.000-08:00

Oh my, what a stunning walk I had today. I took around 200 photos, so it was very difficult indeed to pick out a selection to tell the story of the walk. It was a very cold, crisp day, but the sun was shining and the sky was blue. We drove to the top of Talla Reservoir in the Scottish Borders. We had intended to drive further but the road higher up was still impassable due to ice.
This pictures in this first set are all taken around the reservoir.

Along the shore line I came across this little scene:

Those icicles were so prett, twinkling in the sunshine.

I then continued on to tweedsmuir village and the little parish church, which was open. So I was able to get some lovely shots inside and out:

Then further on to the Tweed River.

My favourite photos of the day are the sheep, the door knocker on the church, the icicles, and the wood shed. I adore that woodshed!!

52 Walks #Week 4

2010-01-28T14:12:00.000-08:00

Here are the photos I took in the derelict factory at Ratho:

This is my favourite photo of the whole day:

I love the painterly quality.

52 Walks #Week 4

2010-01-27T13:18:00.000-08:00

My walk this week was with the Edinburgh Flickr group. We started at Ratho Parich church...

along the canal...

to the Edinburgh International Climbing Centre.

Then back to Ratho where we explored a derelict factory.
I'll will upload the pictures from there separately as Picasa -or blogspot won't allow me to upload more at the moment.

52 walks Week #3

2010-01-21T14:39:00.000-08:00

It was tight this week. I didn't get out on the weekend for my walk, and then I was ill during the week, and before I knew it, it was Thursday! So I went for a very quick walk around the Rutland Square area of Edinburgh today after work, and here is the result:

52 WALKS- Week 2

2010-01-09T14:10:00.000-08:00

Today I walked along the Union Canal from Harrison Park to the Lochrin Basin. It was the second time I've done this walk during the big freeze. Today the footpath was less icy which made for easier walking, but the canal was well and truly frozen, with a covering of snow. So it was hard to distinguish the canal from the footpath. And people were enjoying walking on the canal (not me though, because the very idea freaks me out!) These photos were all taken at the Lochrin Basin end of the canal, and show the development that has taken place along the canal in recent years.
The Leamington Road lift bridge-which lifts to allow the canal boats through.

This view was taken from the Leamington lift bridge towards the city centre:

Canal boats moored in the canal:

A colourful canal boat:

On a cold and frosty morning...

2010-01-03T11:49:00.000-08:00

It was so pretty this morning when I got up. There was a soft pink light in the sky, and the moon was still visible, so I grabbed my camera and went for a wee wander around the neighbourhood.
My street-We am fortunate that a bus comes down our street, so the raod gets cleared. The other streets in our neighbourhood are still thick with snow, and people are struggling to get their cars out.

The sliver birch trees in our garden:

And a scene at the church at the end of the street:

And a look down at Colinton village.

52 Walks-Week 1

2010-01-01T08:42:00.000-08:00

Wishing eveyone a very happy 2010!

For 2010 I have started a new photo challenge.
It is to complete 52 walks-that's one a week- during 2010, and of course to photograph the walk.
I think this will be more manageable for me that the 365 challenge I tried to complete last year.
Feel free to join in. The FLICKr link is here.

So the first walk of the year was to Flotterstone. Flotterstone is a very popular walking and picnic spot just outside Edinburgh. From Flotterstone you can take various walks in the the Pentland Hills. Today I was up early and had finished my walk by the time people started arriving, so it was incredibly peaceful-just me and my camera wandering around. I took many photos-here are just 4 of them.

View across the fields:

A lovley white dove:

Upturned fishing boats, stuck in the snow. The reservoir was frozen, so those boats were going nowhere!

And a view across the water to the frozen part of the reservoir:

Farewell 2009

2009-12-31T14:16:00.000-08:00

and still it snows....

The graveyard at Colinton parish Church..

Icicles on a branch on the Water of Leith.

Bridge ...

And the beauty of snow and light..

The Freeze continues...

2009-12-30T12:28:00.000-08:00

Although the snow has stopped for the time being, it continues to be very cold here in Edinburgh. The pavements in particular are very icy and walking is quite hazardous. These photos were taken at the Union Canal and show the frozen canal, and the frozen footpath that runs alongside. How I walked that path without slipping I'll never know!

The boathouse:

And a close up of the boat in the ice:

And a black and white conversion:

Winter Wonderland

2009-12-27T12:47:00.000-08:00

We had fresh snow this morning. As soon as it stopped I headed out with my camera. It was surprisingly warm, and the snow on the branches was rapidly melting and dripping on my head when I was walking through the woods. I took lots of photos. These are my favourites:

Out Walking..

2009-12-26T12:10:00.000-08:00

On Christmas day I went for a walk to Torduff Reservoir, near Bonaly.
It was stunning in the snow.

And the moon was out-a perfect half moon.

WALK

2009-12-23T11:34:00.000-08:00

We are so lucky to live in Edinburgh, and even luckier to live on the outskirts and have countryside on our doorstep. So Emily and I went for a walk-these pictures were taken just 5 minutes from our house. The snow was stunning-thick, pristine, dry powder snow. It is unbelievably beautiful. I don't think I'll ever stop being enchanted by snow.

Greyfriars Kirk

2009-12-22T13:45:00.000-08:00

What a glorious day it was in Edinburgh today. Pristine snow covered the ground, the sun was shining, the sky was pretty-a perfect day for photography.-and I finished work at lunch time so I was able to take advantage of the day. Here are some of the photos I took today:

This is the Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh Old Town. It is the churchyard associated with Greyfriars Bobby.

It is a very old burial ground as you can see. The graves back on to a row of terraces houses/shops called Candlemakers Row.

Here are some flowers at the grave of James Brown, Sexton , who befriended Bobby after the death of his master.
You can read the story here.

And a shot across the graveyard to Herriots School:

Merchiston School

2009-12-20T06:40:00.000-08:00

snow pretty...

2009-12-19T15:02:00.000-08:00

We had a lovely snow fall today.
This house is around the corner from me-I love all the textures in this shot:

This shot is in the church yard at the end of my street:

And finally-a black and white shot from my neighbourhood.

Snow day

2009-12-17T08:21:00.000-08:00

We had the first snow of the season today. Only a light snowfall but it was so pretty!

A view up my street:

And in my garden:

Playing with Light

2009-12-15T12:48:00.000-08:00

I have been doing Cheryl Johnson's 12 Days of Christmas photography class this week. It was 12 days of tips for taking better photos of the festivities. One tip was to make a cheap star filter by using a piece of mesh from a tea strainer and holding it in front the camera lens. I actually used my big colander/strainer-but it did the trick, as you can see here:

And here are a couple of the lights on the mantel piece(without the strainer).

Oh Christmas Tree..

2009-12-14T13:23:00.000-08:00

We put our tree up on Sunday.

Some close ups:

I like this photo best!

More lamposts

2009-12-12T07:15:00.000-08:00

Today there was a heavy fog all over Edinburgh-as there was yesterday, and is forecast again for tomorrow. I thought I might get some atmospheric shots, but I don't think there was enough tonal variation, and the light was very flat. I converted most of today's photos to black and white-well those I didn't delete!
Anyway, here are some lamps at Duddingston.

I quite like this silhouette:

This one lacks sharpness:

And this is my favourite-and it's not a black and white conversion. I like that it looks black and white until you focus on the leaves! I'm not sure whether a different crop might be better though.

Lampost

2009-12-11T10:43:00.000-08:00

In the market square, Alnwick

f1.7 50mm lens

Treehouse

2009-12-09T14:20:00.000-08:00

This is the tree house at Alnwick garden.
It contains a restaurant, and gift shop, and has some swinging bridges. It's well worth a visit.

Barter Books....

2009-12-08T13:47:00.000-08:00

....is probably the biggest secondhand bookshop in Britain. It is in the lovely market town of Alnwick in north east England. We went there last Sunday, and I was playing around with my new (to me) f1.7 50mm manual focus prime lens. Now this is so different to my usual autofocus zoom lens, and I am struggling to use it well.
I need to practise lots!!
Anyway, here are some photos of the bookshop-most have been deleted!!

Ducks for Sale

2009-12-06T11:28:00.000-08:00

Just some quick snaps of some rather surprised looking ducks in the shop at Alnwick Gardens, using my prime 50mm manual focus lens-which I'm having a hard time coming to terms with.

Waiting..

2009-12-05T14:40:00.000-08:00

I like the contrast of the humble phone box and bikes set against the grand Bank of Scotland building in Edinburgh.

Three photos

2009-12-03T14:34:00.000-08:00

of the same thing..

Slow..

getting faster..

and faster...

moonlighting

2009-12-02T13:10:00.000-08:00

There was a fantastic moon tonight, and the weather was lovely-crisp and cold, but no wind. I hate wind! So I ventured into the city centre to practise my night photography. I've got a lot to learn, but I quite like this one:

Long exposure

2009-11-30T13:37:00.000-08:00

I bought a tripod the other day-from 7dayshop.com-£12.99 including delivery!
Anyway I took it out the other night and tried a long exposure shot.
This is the result:

I love the starbursts-but shame about the traffic cones!

Craigmillar Castle

2009-11-29T12:00:00.000-08:00

Emily and I went to craigmillar Castle today. I can't begin to describe how cold it was. The castle is, as ou can see, a ruin, and the wind and rain blew into every nook and cranny. I would like to go back again when it's warm enough to really explore it, and to enjoy the views from the top!