Evilrooster Crows: Edinburgh, a love letter

Recent Photos (Edinburgh, a love letter, Photography)

2006-08-23T21:43:30+00:00

In case you're wondering, dear reader, Edinburgh continues to be lovely. It isn't always sunny, or warm, but it is still magical to me.

Leaves, a pattern shot

Taken 10 July 2006

Tree bark in the botanics

Taken 18 July 2006

Rose in Gorgie Farm

Taken 14 August 2006

Monocot lying in the arms of a dicot

Taken 22 August 2006

Scarlet poppies, glowing in the rain

Taken 23 August 2006

Poppy seed head. (This photo has been cropped)

Taken 23 August 2006

Thistle buds, insanely purple. (This photo has been cropped)

Taken 23 August 2006

These photos, like all of mine these days, are hosted on Flickr, and can be viewed in different sizes by clicking on them.

Recent Edinburgh Shots (Edinburgh, a love letter, Photography)

2006-06-21T21:49:13+00:00

In between trips to London, I've been so busy studying that I've taken very few shots around Edinburgh. Of those, only a few are really worth your consideration, gentle reader.

The roses are past their best in George V Park, but I still love them.

Taken 15 June 2006

Splendidly bizzare monkey puzzle in the Botanics.

Taken 1 June 2006

Tender shoots of holly, Arboretum Avenue

Taken 1 June 2006

Biking on the Beach (Edinburgh, a love letter, Photography)

2006-04-15T21:10:30+00:00

Friday, though cold, was a bright and sunny day - perfect for a family expedition. We took Alex's bike to the John Muir pathway along the Firth of Forth, just outside of Musselburgh. It's time for Alex to get more confidence in his bike and himself on it. He needs to ride faster if we're going to take his stabilisers off.

It was a good ride - he started slow and hesitant, but I started challenging him to races. As the trip went on, I found myself striding less and running more to keep up with him. He was thrilled to be pushing me, but insisted after a time that we were "a team" and should cross every minor finishing line at the same time.

At the midpoint of the ride, we all stopped on the beach. The kids threw rocks into the water. I found a couple of old bikes on the stony shore, slowly rusting in the salt and being buried by the tides.

The first bike, frame and cables

Taken 14 April 2006

Cables round the stem of the bike

Taken 14 April 2006

Pedal mount on the second bike

Taken 14 April 2006

Rust replaces chrome on the second bike

Taken 14 April 2006

Handlebar mount on the second bike

Taken 14 April 2006

Sprockets in stone, bike 1

Taken 14 April 2006

Stone in sprockets, bike 2

Taken 14 April 2006

Wheel mount, bike 2

Taken 14 April 2006

Not just a bike, but the headphones for a walkman too!

Taken 14 April 2006

Handrail hardware by the firth

Taken 14 April 2006

An Unlikely Love Story (Edinburgh, a love letter)

2006-04-05T21:42:52+00:00

The green shoots and the black iron were not the most compatible of couples. Their parents disapproved, their friends didn't understand. But they were happy in the springtime.

Taken 5 April 2006

(It was a trying day. I may be in a slightly odd mood as a result.)

The Camera is Back (Edinburgh, a love letter, Photography)

2006-04-04T21:19:54+00:00

My phonecam developed a spot about a week ago. Ugly, in the way, and depressing. It ruined a number of photos that I really wanted to take.

Taken 1 April 2006

Occasionally, I could get a shot in that it didn't ruin, but that was rare.

Taken 29 March 2006

Fortunately, my phone insurance covers the functionality of the whole instrument, including the camera. I called Vodafone, and they sent a new phone to replace the old one. So now I have my camera back!

I tried it out on Fiona this morning.

Taken 4 April 2006

Then I was back to taking the pictures I've been missing.

Leaf growing through a fence, Newington

Taken 4 April 2006

Shadow of a doorknob, looking like a warmer day

Taken 4 April 2006

Cut-off fence post.

Taken 4 April 2006

Framing the world, one tree at a time (this photo has been cropped)

Taken 4 April 2006

Yay new phone!

Marmion (Edinburgh, a love letter)

2006-03-14T22:19:32+00:00

A photo essay, of sorts, from Sir Walter Scott's Marmion.

Also available as a Flickr slideshow.

I Love My Coffee (Edinburgh, a love letter, Photography)

2006-03-09T23:19:04+00:00

...and it loves me back.

Taken 6 March 2006

I love this city, too, though it doesn't show its affection in the same way.

I love the Botanics, and they show me the delicate drops of rain on a branch.

Taken 7 March 2006

The first yellow flowers come out for me, even on a cold day.

Taken 9 March 2006

The side doors of St Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile stand solemn and graceful.

Taken 9 March 2006

And the door handles from the back of the cathedral have their own rhythm. (Yes, this has been cropped.)

Taken 9 March 2006

Hail, Hail! (Edinburgh, a love letter, Photography)

2006-02-22T22:10:11+00:00

Yesterday, while I was walking in the Botanics, I came under a sudden assault of hail. I had to shelter under an umbrella under a tree - one layer of protection was not enough.

After the white stuff stopped falling, it seemed to vanish. Only a few balls were left to convince me that it wasn't a dream.

Taken 21 February 2006

The hailstones didn't last, but the raindrops were beautiful as well.

Taken 21 February 2006

This shot reminds me of one of my favourite poems, No Road by Philip Larkin

Taken 21 February 2006

I've had a few other photos building up that didn't really deserve their own entries. Of possible interest:

The sacred cow is coming home to roost.

Taken 20 February 2006

Plant in the car park at the Cuddy Brae. Very red!

Taken 19 February 2006

Bus stop hardware...one of those tiny details of life that looks so good up close.

Taken 19 February 2006

Walking Home At Sunset (Edinburgh, a love letter)

2006-02-08T21:48:01+00:00

The days are getting longer again. I walk to the bus in the growing light every morning - saw Venus today in the eggshell blue sky, just before the red sunrise drowned it out with brightness. And on my walk home, I get to see the tops of Edinburgh's golden sandstone buildings still drenched in sunlight.

While I was crossing Princes Street, it began to rain lightly. I didn't get that wet, or that cold, but it was enough to bring a rainbow.

Taken 8 February 2006

The Balmoral clock tower in the light, with the Scott Monument in shadow.

Taken 8 February 2006

Up the hill a shadowy David Hume glowered near St Giles Cathedral

Taken 8 February 2006

The pattern of the stones of the museum on Chamber Street satisfies me every time I pass it.

Taken 8 February 2006

The anarchists have also been out in force. I rather like this one.

Taken 8 February 2006

And, last of all, a public service announcement. If you've lost your heart recently, it's waiting for you on the wall across from the Potterow Port, right near the museum back door. It misses you.

Taken 8 February 2006

Ice balls (Edinburgh, a love letter, Photography)

2006-01-31T21:49:06+00:00

It was a cold day after a cold night. I still needed to get out and get some light at lunchtime, even though the wind nipped at my hands and the tips of my ears. And it was worth it - look what I found!

I first noticed, walking by the Water of Leith near Stockbridge, that the edges of the water sparkled with little bright circles. Looking closer, I realised that they were balls of ice, hovering above the water level.

How did they come to be there? The water must have frozen overnight, along the edge of the burn, then thawed in the morning. As the sheets of ice broke up, the weight of the balls lightened until the leaves could spring back a little, pulling the last spheres up out of the water.

Or the fairies left them behind when they were playing marbles.

Ice balls.

Taken 31 January 2006

Frosty Day (Edinburgh, a love letter, Photography)

2006-01-30T20:32:18+00:00

Today was astonishingly cold. It was one of those days where I step outside the door in the morning, then duck back in to get my gloves on properly before venturing out for real. The sky was clear as crystal, and I watched a flock of fourteen blackbirds fly above me as I walked to the bus. The breath from my open-mouthed smile clouded in front of my eyes.

Things didn't thaw as the morning progressed, either. I took a brief walk at lunchtime (after spending most of the hour indoors, with companions who object to frostbite and nicknames like Nine-Fingers and No-Ears), and the world was still frozen. Wow.

This is not an aerial shot of the antarctic desert from a high-flying airplaine, but part of the pattern of ice on a windscreen. The driver will have had an interesting time this evening.

Taken 30 January 2006

Frost-rimmed leaves, a pattern shot.

Taken 30 January 2006

This evening the fog descended like cotton wool. It was as dramatic as the ice, but a lot less photogenic.

January Walk Shots (Edinburgh, a love letter, Photography)

2006-01-18T21:33:38+00:00

It's been a while since I've posted photos, mostly because I've been too ill to take many. The flu this year has been dreadful, and it made its mark as it swept through our household. Alex was ill week before last, Martin got it last week (and still coughing now), I fell ill last Thursday and didn't really resurface until Sunday, and now Fiona is just coming out of a bad bout.

I have taken a few pictures over the past week or so, as I have walked my way back to health. But the muse hasn't really been there. Here are the ones that made the cut.

The first crocus leaves, peeping up from the soil at the foot of my road. I think they are in for some difficult times.

Taken 12 January 2006

Gate hardware, Drum Street. One of the few manmade items I've been drawn to photograph, mostly because it looks so human!.

Taken 12 January 2006

Wrinkled rose hep, on a back path through Gilmerton.

Taken 12 January 2006

Grass underwater in the Water of Leith. (This photograph has been cropped and its colour altered to reduce the reflections off of the water.)

Taken 18 January 2006

View through the fence, Powderhall.

Taken 18 January 2006

Reddening ivy 1, Powderhall.

Taken 18 January 2006

Reddening ivy 2, Powderhall.

Taken 18 January 2006

Up the Hill (Edinburgh, a love letter, Photography)

2006-01-07T20:10:46+00:00

Although the weekdays this winter have been really good (because of my desk lamp and my lunchtime walks), the weekends have been very difficult. This one has been no exception. Not only has the weather been overcast these last days, but Alex' recent illness left him unwilling to toerate bright lights. I spent yesterday in a dim house, and by today it was starting to tell on me. I felt unfocussed, off-rhythm, and deeply depressed. I wanted to curl up in a corner and simply cease to exist for a while. (This does not mean I wanted to die. I simply didn't want to exist.)

Martin, saw me sitting by my light box, leaning my forehead on it like it was my only friend. So, though he was unwell, he sent me out of the house while Fiona napped and Alex played video games. I decided to do something energetic and definitive: I would climb Arthur's Seat, and take some pictures on the way.

So I did. There wasn't a lot of light even out of doors, but what there was, I got. (I also took 75 pictures. Luckily for your bandwidth, dear reader, my usual 33-50% good photo ratio did not hold up! I was just short of 20%, partly because of the low light.)

Photos of big stuff

My camera isn't much on the big shots - I feel that it makes them all look like snapshots. (Or maybe I'm not a landscape photographer...) But I got a few wider-angle pictures that were special enough to post.

On the way up, looking north.

Taken 7 January 2006

The moon rose over the ridge as I left. (Note that this photo has been cropped)

Taken 7 January 2006

Coming down the hill, toward Newington.

Taken 7 January 2006

Rock shots

Stone from the wall by the Commonwealth Pool

Taken 7 January 2006

Fragmented rock at the summit

Taken 7 January 2006

Stone from the wall by the Pollock Halls

Taken 7 January 2006

Plant shots

A single thistle head in the grass

Taken 7 January 2006

Gorse blossoms

Taken 7 January 2006

Dead thistle heads.

Taken 7 January 2006

Gorse against the sky

Taken 7 January 2006

Bramble leaves

Taken 7 January 2006

Moss and dead grass

Taken 7 January 2006

Stone in the hillside

Taken 7 January 2006

Seed heads against the sky

Taken 7 January 2006

First Day Back (Edinburgh, a love letter, Photography)

2006-01-03T21:57:17+00:00

Back at work today, moved onto a project that I'm not expecting to be as fun as the one I've been on for the last 18 months. (That is a high standard - very little I have ever done professionally has been so enjoyable.) The rest of my gang is still together, launched onto something else, leaving me with the strong impulse to sulk and kick the furniture.

Rather than do that, I took a walk to the Botanics at lunchtime, getting my dose of daylight and my usual smattering of photographs. There were some OK ones, which I don't intend to post, and some entirely uninteresting ones. But four really stood out.

Fern leaf, belly-up on the grass.

Taken 3 January 2006

Pattern: the dead leaves of a palm, still hanging from the trunk (this photo has been cropped, a thing I usually don't do.)

Taken 3 January 2006

Lone bamboo shoot

Taken 3 January 2006

Bamboo thicket...another "pattern" shot.

Taken 3 January 2006

I also stopped by the California Bay Laurel again, just to smell the leaves. Then, completely accidently, I found the Botanic's only tan oak (Lithocarpus densiflorus), which I had planned to search for this month. Just walked straight to it, thinking, "That looks like tan oak." And so it was.

A Day at the Beach (Edinburgh, a love letter, Photography)

2006-01-02T15:58:46+00:00

So the last day before I go back to work, the New Year's Bank Holiday, we decide to go to the beach for the day.

Actually, we managed about 45 minutes on North Berwick beach itself before the kids got too cold. And with everything shut for the bank holiday, we didn't even get to take refuge in any warm place but the car. Martin did a bunch of photography with the big cool camera while Alex threw rocks in the water and Fiona walked around exploring the sandy world. (There was also a certain amount of climbing on rocks, running about and shrieking, and generalised beach fun.)

Nonetheless, I did see a couple of things that just needed photographing, and as usual, the camera phone came through!

Rock and seaweed

Taken 2 January 2006

Roseate seaweed

Taken 2 January 2006

Rocks and sea glass. (I am particularly fond of sea glass, for long complicated reasons.)

Taken 2 January 2006

I love the dark trails in the sand under this bit of seaweed.

Taken 2 January 2006

Yeah, yeah, more seaweed. But I like it.

Taken 2 January 2006

I did a bit of colour messing with this shot - but only a tiny bit. I love the textures, but I know I may be alone in that.

Taken 2 January 2006

This is the prize shot. I tried it with the big fancy camera, but actually, this one from the phonecam is the best of the day. In my opinion.

Taken 2 January 2006

(And, by the way, happy new year.)