A Weekend At The Turnberry

October 27, 2011September 23, 2012 / Mike / 4 Comments

I had double luck earlier this year – my parents came to stay and looked after our son while we had a rare night away at a secret location (my wife is much better at keeping surprises than I am).

The secret location turned out to be the Turnberry hotel on the Ayrshire coast. Apparently well known if you are a golfer, it’s a wonderful 1920’s style hotel, with the best breakfast buffet I have ever had – whisky and cream on your porridge or a Buck’s Fizz with your cooked breakfast of local specialities? As I was due to drive home I avoided the alcohol, but the view out towards the golf course and beach was fantastic, and we decided to go for a good walk before we left.

I was drawn towards the lighthouse. They are functional, but often beautiful structures, and seem to symbolise mankind’s battle against the elements.

The beach was deserted, apart from a lone horse rider, and we enjoyed just listening to the waves break.

There was a lot of gorse just behind the sand. Not only was it an incredibly bright hue of yellow, but it gave of a strong scent of coconut. Wonderful!

Waiting For The Train

October 23, 2011February 17, 2013 / Mike / 4 Comments

They say the best camera is the one you have on you, so here’s a fun one from my iPhone and using the Tilt Shift Generator app.

This is Waverly station in Edinburgh, from the mezzanine/walkway.

Submitted to the Photo Friday challenge ‘Little’.

Monochromatic Affection

October 13, 2011February 17, 2013 / Mike / 6 Comments

These two zebras were entwining their necks, oblivious to their human spectators.

This was my son’s first trip to a zoo (and our first time at Edinburgh Zoo), and far better than my memories of zoos as a child. The animals had more land to roam in, and there was much more focus on endangered breeding programmes than 20 years ago.

My son’s favourite part of the zoo? The climbing nets in the children’s play area. I guess real animals don’t talk and make jokes like at the movies…

Pedestal Of Desire

October 6, 2011February 17, 2013 / Mike / 7 Comments

A shop display on Multrees Walk, Edinburgh. The first thing I noticed was no prices on display! I’m glad I mostly wear hiking shoes.

The Falkirk Wheel

September 29, 2011September 23, 2012 / Mike / 99 Comments

The Falkirk Wheel is a fascinating and beautiful piece of engineering.

Designed to replace a series of locks, boats float out along a viaduct from the top of a hill, then enter one of two “baths”, 180 degrees opposed on the twin arms of a wheel. The wheel then rotates 180 degrees, swapping the top and bottom bath. Out the boat moves, 35 metres below/above its start point.

I used my recently acquired B+W ND 110 filter to get some nice skies and reflections in the water.

I processed the black and white images using Nik Silver EFX Pro 2. I was pleased with the results, and plan to write something up to show my workflow with it soon.