Mellow Yellow

We had a super weekend in Fife recently – visiting all of the gorgeous coastal villages. Most of the photos were of the family enjoying the beach, but I couldn’t resist publishing his little yellow trio.

Hydrangeas Again

As promised, i’ve been back out with my camera AND a tripod! I’ve done a little more research and suspect this is a lacecap hydrangea, composed of a flat ring of petaled florets that surround a lacy cluster of smaller florets. Apparently, the acidity of the soil has a lot to do with the colour …

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Tiarella in flower

Popped outside on my lunch break to snap these flowers. I had a quick google, which revealed they are Tiarella (foam flower) and I love seeing them fluttering in the summery breeze.

Carnations

I treated myself to a bouquet of flowers to cheer up my home working desk at the start of the new year. It included some lovely roses and lilies, but it was the Antique Carnations that really caught the attention of me and my camera lens. The frilly edges and gorgeous colour transitions were a …

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Allium: An Update

Last week I posted the first set of photos of the Allium growing in my garden. I’ve been monitoring them daily and went out again today with my camera and macro lens to capture how they’re developing. To be honest, though, it wasn’t until I sat down and viewed these images on the large computer …

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Lyra

Lyra is a Parson Jack Russell. She belongs to my mom and dad. She’s a cheeky little thing. Whilst not the most willing of photography subjects, I just about managed to catch her attention for long enough to get a few fun shots. “Tickle my belly please”, says Lyra. … I thought we were here …

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A nice outing for a new camera

I’ve recently invested in a new, small camera to take on my travels when my DSLR is simply impractical. Today was the first time I’ve taken it out for a test run – to get used to the new controls and see how it fares compared to the DSLR. Our destination: the Secret Herb Garden. …

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Inspired by Nikon Meetup

I couldn’t quite believe it when I got an email in December telling me that I had been selected in the ballot for a place on Nikon’s Birmingham Meetup. Today was the day of the Meetup and I set off with a sense of anticipation of what the morning would have in store. Would everyone have …

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Brantwood House and Garden

I had heard the name ‘Ruskin’ but knew little of the man until visiting Brantwood House and Gardens last weekend. It turns out he was a rather interesting and influential man. A little quote by him caught my attention – “Take a handful of rubble from the roadside, and pick out a small stone. When examined …

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“Piering Out”

I often see people strolling along the pier and stopping for a moment or two of contemplation.  I set out to try to recreate these moments in my photography today. Thanks to a willing model (aka James) and a low sun, I managed to get a set of shots that I was pretty happy with.

Our own mini photography club

I think it’s great to head out for a walk with other photographers to be inspired by what they decide to photograph and to learn some new techniques. I am, therefore, very lucky to have James and has dad, George, as regular walking/photography partners in crime! On our last walk, I enjoyed turning the camera …

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Twit Twoo

I first spotted the signpost to the Scottish Owl Centre back in the summer and straight away it went on our ‘To Do Before We Go To Canada’ List. Today we certainly enjoyed ticking it off the list. Most of the owls were in large pens, so I was taking photos through the mesh. Having …

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Spring Flowers

Our apartment is looking lovely with a scattering of daffodils.  We didn’t have quite the right vase for them all to go in together so instead I split them up and shared them around the living room.

Time to Make my Christmas Cards

For at least the past 5 years I’ve made all of the Christmas Cards that I’ve sent to friends and family.  I wasn’t convinced I would have time to do the same this year because my Masters Dissertation has taken over my life somewhat.  Thankfully, the dissertation has now been submitted and life is resuming! …

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Study of the Bumble Bee

So I had a strange urge to take a closer look at what a bee looks like up close.  They are one of these creatures that you see so often but don’t really know what they look like.  A microscope would have been useful but I don’t have one so instead my macro lens came …

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Jupiter Artland

Jupiter Artland is a sculpture park situated a little way outside of Edinburgh.  We visited this weekend and had a great few hours wandering round in the sunshine. Here’s a selection of the sculptures: Landscape with Gun and Tree by Cornelia Parker Life Mounds by Charles Jencks Over Here by Shane Waltener The Light Pours Out …

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Old Memories, Revisited

I must have been around 14 years old when a family holiday took us up to Berwick upon Tweed.  We had taken our touring caravan up and stayed on the southern side of the River Tweed on a small campsite looking straight out towards the lighthouse.  I seem to remember it being a fairly rainy …

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Tulips

It has been a busy few weeks and I haven’t really had much time to get out and about to do any photography.  I did, however, pick up a couple of bunches of tulips when we were at the supermarket yesterday and I couldn’t resist snapping a few photos of them this afternoon. I promise …

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My new home studio

It was my birthday a fortnight ago and one of my presents from James was a little home photography studio.  It comes with lights and coloured backdrops etc, and is perfect for the close-up photography that I enjoy.  For my first trial, I grabbed a couple of flowers from the vase on our TV stand.  I am …

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Snowdrops

I realised a few weeks ago that it was the right time of year to see some snowdrops in all their glory.  However, it was only today that we found time to take a trip to Edinburgh’s Botanic Gardens and thankfully we hadn’t missed them.  These clusters were in a fairly covered woodland area in the gardens, so …

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Bold Buildings

It feels so encouraging to know that Spring is on its way.  Today was a lovely, fresh day and the sun was shining so a bike ride was high on our priorities.  We didn’t go far – just down to Newhaven Harbour and then around the Western Harbour Development.  On our return the sun was …

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Silhouettes

I spotted these birds crowding on this otherwise bare tree whilst walking around part of the seawall in Vancouver.  I liked the silhouette effect although I have tweaked the image a little to maximise the contrast. 

New Fabric all Wrapped Up

I recently ordered some new fabric to make a little bag.  This is all part of my resolution to do more crafty things and to use my sewing machine which has been abandoned in recent months.  This little package arrived during the week and I simply can’t bring myself to undo the knot and open out the …

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Pomegranate

Conscious that just two weeks ago I promised to blog once a fortnight, I started pondering what might be the subject of my next post.  I have a few ideas for an outdoor photo mission into the New Town, but I’ve decided to save that for a day when the light is better.  Instead, I …

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Here’s to 2012

I am writing this at 6PM on New Years Eve.  The men folk are cooking up a feast for our dinner!  I was hoping to have a fantastic set of photos to share with you as my last post of the year, but alas the weather has not really been on my side.  I’ve not …

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Old Things

I like old things.  Even more than that, I like old things that are good to photograph!  I’d been on the look out for objects to use, so couldn’t resist buying this book which was for sale for £1.  The result – a very simple subject, but I really like the images.

Even More Delightful Flowers

I’ve had a gorgeous little cyclamen plant for a couple of years now that I have somehow managed to keep alive!  I’ve never used it in any of my photographs until today because I was never sure quite how to do justice to its curves and slightly odd shaping. This afternoon, determined to have a …

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Mini Vases and Wild Flowers

Earlier this week I couldn’t resist buying some gorgeous little vases from the ‘Cox and Cox’ online sale.  They arrived yesterday at 07:50 – ruining my Saturday morning lie-in!  But they were worth it!  Whilst taking a walk along to Crammond yesterday, I plucked a few wild flowers/weeds to photograph in them.

A Glimpse of Things to Come

We had a lovely visit to the Morningside Makers Market on Saturday which has given me some real inspiration to try to do more with my photographs. We bought a fantastic framed print from one of the ladies – Paper Snapdragon.  She was using her photography but had manipulated it in Photoshop with some interesting techniques – …

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A Bit of Tartan

We recently took a walk along Edinburgh’s Royal Mile.  Having been there previously on numerous occasions, I was on the look out for something slightly different to photograph.  Most people were taking shots of the streetscape or buildings.  I decided to focus the lens on some of the tartan goods for sale.

Looking at things differently

Today I was pondering what to use as the subject for today’s blog post.  I’m still learning how to get the most out of my new Macro lens so decided to pick out something small but with some detail and see what type of shots I could get. Coins seemed like a good choice.  I …

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Wild Fennel

There is so much to photograph in and around mom and dad’s house.  These seed heads were collected whilst out on a very muddy walk with the dog a couple of days ago.  I’m pretty happy with the range of images I was able to capture with such a simple subject.

100th Post!!!

Can not believe that this will be my 100th Blog Post!  Thanks to everyone who has been following my posts over the last year or so – hope you have enjoyed them and will continue to enjoy them. This post returns to a subject that I’ve covered a few times in the past – flowers. …

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Cars in the Park

I’m selling at a craft fayre this week and really wanted to take some photos which might appeal to the kids who might be there.  With a selection of James & his brother’s old toy cars packed into my rucksack, we headed down to Inverleith Park.  After getting over the initial embarrassment of taking the photos whilst …

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Keeping my eyes open

I think it’s pretty easy to stop seeing the interesting things and colours around you. I mean, when you go away somewhere new you are always looking out, eyes open, for what’s around you, but we forget to do that so much when you are in a more familiar place. Recently I took my camera …

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Can you look angry please?

Well since starting my part-time Masters course it has been somewhat tricky to keep up with blogging once a week.  Today I was determined to get some good photos to put up on here.  With a little bribery (half of my M&S Iced Bun) I persuaded James to act as my model so I could …

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Low Tide in Granton Harbour

It wouldn’t have taken much to interrupt my studying this morning, so when I saw how low the tide was in the harbour in addition to the sea haar, it took me all of three minutes to grab my camera and tripod and head outside. I was hoping to capture some of the mystery created by the …

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Old Buses

This weekend was Doors Open Days in Edinburgh.  It’s a fantastic way to see places the public aren’t usually allowed to go in to.  We decided to visit the Lothian Buses Open Doors Event which was held at their depot in Annandale Street.  It was a fantastic opportunity to see the insides and outs of …

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Graffiti Building

There’s an old disused building on Leith Walk which looks like it has been ready for demolition for some time now.  I used to pass it a couple of times a week.  From the top deck of the bus you can see into the building and across waste ground clearly.  I wasn’t sure that i’d …

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Weekend in Arran

I’ve been living in Scotland for a good few years now and probably haven’t explored the country as much as I should have done.  This weekend, however, we got organised and headed over to Arran.  It’s a great destination for a weekend away because it’s not too long a journey from Edinburgh, but the Ferry …

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Festival Goings On

With not much to do with my Saturday afternoon (until 7:10 when the new series of Dr Who started) and the Festival Fringe almost drawing to a close, I decided to take my camera up to the Royal Mile and see what sights I could spot.  I went up to the Royal Mile last year, …

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Back to the Botanics

The Botanic Gardens always provide some great photographic opportunities.  Today I went along with my parents who were up visiting for a weekend of festival activities.  They wanted to get some inspiration for their new garden so we headed straight to the alpine garden section of the Botanics. Considering it was quite breezy, I was …

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A Walk in the Park

James dragged me out for some fresh air, a walk in the park & some geocaching this afternoon.  All very successful apart from the geocaching which we failed to find! I took the camera along and got a few shots which i’ve been having a play around with. Another regal lion statue to go with …

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München & Nürnberg

Last week we had a wicked weekend away in Germany for a friend’s wedding.  Unfortunately there aren’t any wedding photos in this blog post – my DSLR didn’t quite match the outfit I had chosen to wear!  I am, however, just popping a few on here which I took whilst in Munich and Nuremburg. On …

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