a Photo Blog, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to dear dirty New York
Edinburgh, Scotland
The National Museum of Scotland has a roof garden with tremendous views. Above an in camera sweep panorama that covers only about 180º of the view. Below, a series of shots that will show some of the views a little closer. Click on any of them to see them larger.
Our last morning we toured the National Museum of Scotland. Naturally, most of my photographs were about the geometry of the space and less about the exhibits themselves. As ever, click on any of the pictures below to see them at full size (clicking the post title first if that doesn’t work for you in email or on social media).
Our week in Edinburgh coincided with the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival and we were lucky enough to get great seats for the Norwegian Mona Krogstad Quartet at the Jazz Bar on the evening of July 19th (over a month ago, now!) to hear this excellent ensemble. A great time and rather than describe the music subjectively and inaccurately, I can recommend you listen to them. Click any of the pictures below to see them all bigger (you may have to click the post title first if you’re not seeing this directly on the web site already).
For those interested in technical details, these were difficult shooting conditions as it was dark and I was just shooting with my walk-around zoom lens from my seat so as not to disturb those around me. Needless to say, they were shot at a very high ISO and were reasonably noisy as well as sometimes not that sharp at low shutter speeds. I used DxO’s Pure Raw to recover as much quality from the raw files as possible before processing in Capture One, simply using the default settings.
After the Parliament we continued our stroll through Edinburgh, eventually returning to our hotel. Click any of the pictures below to see them all bigger (remembering you may have to click the post title first if you’re seeing this in an email or via social media).
At the base of Arthur’s Seat we toured the Scottish Parliament, a striking set of buildings with an interesting architectural history, only opened by the Queen in 2004 following the establishment of the parliament in 1999. Click on any of the pictures below to see them larger (clicking on the post title first if you’re not viewing this directly on the web site already).
At the summit of Arthur’s Seat I shot an in camera panoramic jpeg. Impossible not to include some of the hordes of tourists who had preceded us up the hill, laying waste to the grasses and other flora along the way. Tremendous views, though. Click on the pictures below to see them larger (you may have to click the post title first if you’re seeing this in email or social).
The next day we climbed up Arthur’s Seat, a volcanic hill that is part of Holyrood Park. Click any of the pictures below to see scenes of our ascent full sized (you may need to click the post title first for this to work if you’re seeing this in email or on social media).
Edinburgh, Scotland
Edinburgh, Scotland
After the train brought us back from North Berwick (see previous few posts) to Edinburgh’s Waverley station, we walked back to our hotel via Princes St and Lothian Rd. Click any of the pictures below to see them bigger (if seeing in email or social media you may need to click the post title first).
We had some lunch at a beach-side stand and walked back through the town to the train station to return to Edinburgh. Click on the pictures below to see them bigger (if you’re seeing this in email or social media you may need to click the post title first to get there).
While we were in North Berwick I thought I’d try once again to place some text into the natural environment. Once again, it didn’t really do anything for me.
Click on any of the pictures below to see them all enlarged (you may have to click the post title first if you’re seeing this in email or social media).
We walked East along the beach. Click any of the pictures below to see them larger.
Here’s a first view of part of the town from the beach. We spent a few hours exploring and walking around. I took lots of pictures to try and capture the feeling of the place and there will no doubt be a certain repetitiveness to the pictures that follow in the next few posts. To see the pictures below full sized click on any of them (first clicking on the post title if you’re seeing this in email or on social media).
We walked from the train station through the town to the beachfront. Click either of the pictures below to see them larger.
The next day we took the train to North Berwick, a coastal town in East Lothian. Here are a couple shots taken from the train window.
Where we went we say lots of the grand Edinburgh architecture (see below) – even the decrepit premises betrayed the elegance of their former occupants. Click any of the pictures below to see them bigger (if viewing in email or social media you may need to click the post title first to see on the web site).
After a walk by the Water of Leith and the Dean Village we eventually made it back to the Scottish National Galleries of Modern Art. There are actually 2 buildings at opposite ends of a small park. In the morning we walked though Two. In the park there’s a construction of an open room with half-silvered glass inviting spectral self portraits.
We returned there in the afternoon for a coffee and then made our way to Gallery One. Click any of the images below to see them bigger (you may need to click on the post title to go to the web site if you’re seeing this in email or social media).
I also shot a couple of still-lifes, reflected self portraits and other items along the way. Click any of the pictures below to see them bigger (clicking into the post or post title first, if that doesn’t work).
