More from Edinburgh

 Edinburgh in Pictures

Edinburgh in Spring

It really does not seem possible that a couple of weeks ago, in Edinburgh, we were walking about in t'shirts. But in the pictures below, as you can see, clear blue skies. 

Night Gallery



This first picture was taken from in front of the rock the castle sits on, looking towards the city centre. Such a display of daffodils. This picture was a night shot, I just loved the street lights and the illuminated building.



Edinburgh Castle

  Finally another shot of the castle, having walked up numerous steps, the castle still sits high above, and certainly dominates the Edinburgh skyline from wherever you are.

Spring?....



Model Castle?

  Well, it is difficult to believe that this time last week, we were in Scotland - Edinburgh - walking around for the majority of the time in T'shirts. In fact by Wednesday evening I think, as we omitted to taking any sun block, that I may have been suffering from too much sun.

Apart from that, the weather made for a stunning visit where I managed to reel off over 100 photo's. I won't post them all here, but I will give a taste of what I consider to be the best shots.

This view of the Castle was taken from Arthurs Seat using 400mm zoom. I did use Gimp2 to add Focal Lens Blur and Picasa 3 to warm the picture slightly. The end result a picture that looks like a model.?



Night Shop



This picture is one of my first night shots. I could not resist this building at night with the stunning Pink lights. Miraculously I managed to take this hand held rather than the recommended method of a tripod.

Flowers....

Still Life Study:

Iris:



Iris



With it being Mothers Day and our house being inundated with flowers, I have posted this still life picture of an Iris in full bloom.

This was taken last week, in natural light - near the Kitchen window to be precise - and against a black board.

By using Picasa 3, I darkened the background a little more and added a border, selecting the colour from the flower itself. A further vignette using black, also tinted the border. The result is a very rich coloured flower, with very fine detail.

Cotswolds....

The Cotswolds:

Stunning Countryside



Crickley Hill





Newark Park - Lake





Into the Valley

The Weather was very kind to us this weekend. We set off on Friday and travelled down to the Cotswolds. Although the first National Trust site we intended visiting was shut for a private function, nearby was somewhere we had visited before - Crickley Hill. Stunning views over Gloucester and Cheltenham, looking towards Wales. It was a very misty day, and very sunny, which almost produced a white out in some of the pictures.

Saturday was a bit of a mixed bag, we spent the morning in Tetbury, a typical Cotswolds town. Some great shops and buildings. After a brief heavy shower we headed off to another National Trust park - Newark Park. A fairly small house, but situated in the middle of no-where with some great walks along the valley.

The top picture was taken at Crickley Hill, and the lower two whilst walking around the red walk and gardens at Newark Park.

On Sunday due to the torrential rainfall, the camera never made it out of the bag..!

Under Dramatic Skies

It has been an absolute age since I drove the 14 miles to Wandlebury Country Park. It is literally on my doorstep, but very rarely have I visited. Well it has certainly changed. One thing I intend to do is go back and walk the old Roman Road in its entirety - 10 miles.

Anyway, yesterday I visited in the afternoon with the intention of staying until dusk to capture the sunset over Cambridge. Although the clouds did roll in, it did give me the opportunity to experiment with settings. I did find that using the Sunset - setting - well before the sunset, but whilst the sky was cloudy produced some very detailed cloud formations and silhouette foreground.

Seeing Double...

This was an experimental shot and amazingly it worked first time. It is a composite of two separate images. The only thing I had to ensure was that no part of my body overlapped where my other body was going to be in the final image. Using a ten second time delay and a flash for consitant lighting, I took the first image holding the magazine and cup. A quick jumper change. Sitting in a different position and holding a book I took the second picture, again using the self timer.

By careful cropping and using Microsoft Ice - a free piece of software - I was able to stitch the two images together.

West Stow Country Park

Having a week off work, and some fine weather, I have been determined to get out and about and take some pictures. In search of some wild life I set off for West Stow Country Park, and although quiet, by the time I arrived it had clouded over, so not the best of days. The main aim of the trip was to use my new x2.2 telephoto converter, get used to it and experiment with some settings.

Although most birds were very elusive that day I did manage to capture this swan that seemed to gazing at its own reflection.

Anglesey Abbey

There is nothing better than a stroll around a National Trust site on a crisp winters day, particularly when the sky is clear blue and the sun is shining. Today was one of those days. A quick trip to Anglesey Abbey before dinner. Much of the park was closed off, so it was just a walk around the paved areas today.

Plenty of snow drops on view.

I also took a couple of pictures with a view to manipulate them on return home. The abbey itself I converted the picture to a sketch and then overlay this with the original.

Finally a bit of an abstract view of the tree that has been struck by lightening twice. I used a couple of effects in Picasa 3 to try and give it a mystic, eerie feel.

Snow Joke...!!

Well the snow finally hit us again. Just a mear 8-9 inches, and you would think we had 8-9 feet. But it certainly has been incredibly cold. I think one night the temperature dropped to about minus 11. That is cold.

Despite that, mind you I did wait until the sky was clear blue and the sun was out, before I ventured out to take some snow scenes.

This was the view across the flood park.

Below: Ice formation on some grasses

Winter is here...

Well we did not miss the grip of winter this weekend. The steady snowfall starting early on Saturday night did produce 6"-9" of snow. Deeper where it drifted. However it push the visiting Redwings into town. From what I understand, Redwings visit the UK over the winter months and spend most of there time in fields. But this morning they raided the bushes right outside the backdoor that have been heavily laden with red berries since the end of the summer.

In a matter of hours the red berries are gone, and so are the Redwings...!

I did manage to snap a few birds whilst they were in the garden.

Equipment Check..

Well I have had my camera for well over a year now, and I must say I am pretty impressed with it and so reluctant to change it. The only thing I struggle with is wildlife pictures, and although the Fuji Finepix S100FS does have a tremendous zoom range - an equivalent of 28mm ~ 400mm - wildlife is sometimes a bit beyond that range. I have elected to go for a telephoto converter.

I await delivery and it should then give me a total of 880mm...of HD quality shots. Once received I hope to be posting some more intimate shots of the local wildlife.

Toy Town....Haverhill Model

I have been intrigued by the camera technique used in the TV series Sherlock which makes photographed scenes appear as though they are miniature models. This picture is not only two pictures stitched to make the scene but I also found a free piece of software I GIMP that is able to work some magic in producing a lens focus blur, thus emulating a very narrow depth of field on a scenic shot. So narrow that it can be the depth of a house or road.

This is my first attempt and personally I don’t think it turned out too bad. The subject was Castle Manor building taken from a field in between the school and the Water Tower at the top of Wratting Road.

Oh for better weather

I know we British tend to have a thing for weather, always seems to be the topic of conversation....especially if you are struggling to start a conversation with someone. The safe bet is 'the weather'. But for me I love taking pictures in natural light...and for that I do need some sun. Invariably when I am off work it rains and when I am at work the sun is shining. Missed some stunning sunrises on my way to work this week. If only I had my camera with me!!

Looking forward to some if not sunny days, dry days so I can be outside to capture some scenery.

The Party's over...

Well that's it Christmas is over for another year. The decorations are down and back in the box, the room looks bare as it does every year for a few days after everything has been packed away. Once again we have boxes of biscuits and chocolates still unopened and the distinct feeling that if I eat them, it will be for the sake of eating and not because I am hungry.

Still we have passed the shortest day, it should be downhill all the way to summer now!

One very last look at the Christmas decorations on the tree...!