Winchester Abbey

After a few days of rain, the forecast for today was sunny and dry so an outing was promptly planned.  We are currently staying for a few days in Oxford with James’s parents.  There are so many places to visit in this part of the country, but we settled on Winchester which is only an …

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A Boxing Day Stroll

A white Christmas would have been lovely, but if it can’t be white then a Christmas with a little sunshine is a good alternative.  I’m back home at my parent’s house for Christmas again this year and its great to be able to get out of the house for a lovely stroll with the dog …

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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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Character and Symmetry

Well here is more little set of photos from my trip last month to the US.  Firstly a few from The Town of Little Wolf in Manawa where we rented a cottage for the weekend.  We went off on a walk into town which was only small but had a lot of (almost hidden) character. …

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Autumn Brights

After New York, we headed north-west to visit our good friends, Catherine & John, in Chicago.  From there the four of us headed even further north into Wisconsin.  We rented a lovely cabin right on the lakeside for the weekend.  It was a lovely getaway and break from our city sightseeing. The autumn colours were …

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New York Landscapes

There are so many views from New York that I would like to share, but here are my favourites.  The first is from the High Line pathway – a fantastic reuse of a disused rail line on the western edge of Manhattan.  Then on the right, we spotted this wall art when we ventured off …

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Statue of Liberty

She must be one of the most famous icons of the USA, so it was great to hear that the Statue of Liberty had reopened to visitors whilst we were in NY.  She had been closed due to the Government shutdown, but thankfully the City paid to reopen her just in time before we left …

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A collection of collections

I must firstly apologise that my blog has been abandoned somewhat over these last few months – I’ve just been busy busy busy!  So now the summer has rushed by and autumn has well and truly set in.  I was, however, lucky enough to recently spend two weeks on annual leave in the US; firstly in …

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Down the Pier

I’m convinced that this year has seen a growth in the number of fishermen (and fisherwomen) hoping to catch their tea off Granton Harbour.  Its lovely to take a stroll and see the mix of people – kids, families and groups of friends – gathered along the pier.

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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Felted Flowers

I spotted this crafty idea on Pinterest and couldn’t wait to try it out.  These ‘flowers’ are made using wet felting and are supposed to look like ‘Billy Buttons’ or ‘Craspedia’.  This is actually the second bunch of felted flowers that I’ve made. The first bunch – in purple – were made as a present …

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Festival Season Begins

It is summer in Edinburgh and that means just one thing – it is festival time! Today Princes Street and Princes Street Gardens hosted hundreds of performers as part of the Carnival to mark the start of the festival season.  Here are a few sights from the afternoon.

Camping in the Borders

Well what a good summer we are having!  I’m hoping the sunshine lasts a good few weeks yet, but we are certainly trying to make the most of it in case our luck runs out soon.  So last weekend, James and I heading down into the Borders for a weekend camping trip.  We stayed at …

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Edinburgh’s New Town

Edinburgh’s New Town was built in stages between 1765 and around 1850.  Princes Street and George Street were the first areas to be developed but later stages extended the New Town towards the north.  Today, whilst running other errands, I managed to get some decent shots of some of these northern New Town’s streets.  The lighting …

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A lucky spot

I’ve recently seen some fantastic photos of wildflower meadows, which has really inspired me to want to get out and explore the countryside that borders Edinburgh. I was visiting my parents in Shropshire this weekend when I got a glimpse of the sort of photos that I’m after.

Furry Friends

We had a lovely day out at Cotswold Wildlife Park earlier this week. It’s a great wildlife park where you can get very close to many of the animals. Here are some of my favourites!

A Castle visit in the sun

Two sunny weekends in a row – fantastic.  Long may it continue! This weekend we went on a little outing along the coastline of the Firth of Forth to Blackness Castle.  It is a Historic Scotland property and well worth an explore.  From the seaward angle, the castle is shaped like a ship that has …

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Unusual Appeal at Granton Gas Works

Just along from our flat, there is an old disused gasholder.  The Granton History website tells the story of this site.  Most of the site was demolished in the early 2000s, but one of the gasholders was kept alongside the old railway station.  It is actually now a listed building.  I’m sure many would say …

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Lakes and Woods

After my work expedition to Canada, it was great to take a break last weekend and spend a long weekend in the Lake District.  It was made even better by the fact that the sun decided to grace us with its presence. This set of photos are from one particular day when we visit the southern …

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Winnipeg’s Exchange District

My recent work trip to Canada ended in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  This was the first time I had visited the City and I wasn’t sure what to expect of it.  Once there I discovered a really interesting mix of buildings and communities.  The Exchange District was certainly a favourite area of mine.  These two shots show …

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Parliament Hill, Ottawa

At the centre of Ottawa sits the Canadian Parliament buildings.  Parliament Hill includes an series of gothic-style buildings.  At the rear of the building, overlooking the Ottawa River is the library chamber. And this is the Peace Tower which was rebuilt in the early 20th Century after fire destroyed the previous Victoria Tower. I especially …

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Ottawa’s Tulips

A recent work trip took me back to Canada for just over a week.  I landed into Toronto and had a few days there before moving on to Ottawa.  I was lucky enough to get a free weekend to explore Ottawa.  In May they have a tulip festival in the City.  The history of the …

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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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Edinburgh Castle

I’ve lived in Edinburgh for almost 5 years now and until today I had never been into the Castle. I’d been up to the Esplanade on a number of occasions (including a visit to watch the Tattoo last year) but never beyond.  Today, however, we donned our hats, gloves and warm coats before jumping on the bus …

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A New Look for the Blog

I decided my blog needed a bit of a facelift.  I hope you like the new design! I think it should make it easier for you to flick around and select which posts you want to read.  Let me know if you have any thougths or comments (good or bad).

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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Bright Lights

Okay I promise that this is my last blog post with photos from Vancouver, but I was really keen to share this one.  This photo shows the steam clock in the Gastown area of Downtown Vancouver.  Apparently it is the most photographed view in Vancouver so here’s my addition to the collection! The odd thing …

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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. 

Sunshine over Vancouver

I’m not long back from a work trip out to Vancouver.  I was excited about heading over there as Vancouver has been on my “Want to Visit” list for some time.  Unfortunately, I don’t think we were there at quite the right time of year.  I hear summer is excellent but February is rather wet; …

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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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New Year’s Wander around Oxford

Today brought us a crisp, bright start to January.  We went out for a walk around Oxford – starting at the University Gardens and on to the overflowing river before heading into the city centre.  We all had our cameras at the ready, desperate to make the most of the long-awaited sunshine.  There’s so much to …

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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.

Man’s Best Friend

Couldn’t resist getting a few snapshots of Ellie – Mom and Dad’s Parson Jack Russell – when I was at home last weekend.  She’s getting pretty old these days and loves a nap on the sofa.  She’ll wait until someone gets up from the sofa and promptly jump into their place while its still warm. …

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Photocrafty

On Friday I treated myself to a fun, new photography book during my lunchtime meanderings to Waterstones.  The book, called Photocrafty, includes 75 different projects to try with a DSLR which are a bit different to the usual projects you get in some photography magazines & books. The first one I decided to try was …

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Cadre Noir

I just wanted to share one last highlight of my trip to France last week.  Cadre Noir is home to the French National Riding School and is based just outside of the city of Samaur.  They have one of the world’s most prestigious equestrian display teams.  Visitors can have a tour of their display arena, stables …

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Features of France

Here is Part Deux of my selection of photos from my recent trip to the Loire.  My last post focused on the fields and countryside, so this time I am turning my attention to the built features. The Loire region is scattered with chateaux and abbeys and we chose a handful of the ones nearby to visit. …

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Fields of France

I’ve just been away with my Mom for a few days in the Loire. We were staying on a campsite in the middle of nowhere and spent plenty of time cycling and driving through the countryside.  I might end up doing a couple of blog posts from the trip because I’ve got so many photos …

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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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Filters and Layers

I few weeks ago I blogged about how I was starting to learn about Layers and Filters in Photoshop.  I’ve been having another play around this afternoon and I like some of the results I am getting.  Here’s an example using one of my photos from last weekend. I’ve not quite sussed out how to …

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Soap Bubbles

I was flicking through a few old copies of Digital SLR Photography magazine earlier looking for an article about applying filters in Photoshop.  I spotted one of their “Photo DIY” articles about making abstract photos using soap bubbles.  It looked pretty easy to set up and the result they had achieved were pretty cool so …

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