Kitesurfers on Barassie Beach
On a windy, but sunny February morning, a few of us from Ayr Photographic Society, met on Barassie Beach to enjoy the acrobatic activities of the local kitesurfing training school, run by Grant Clayton
Below are some of my action-packed images, captured with the new Sony zoom lens
What an amazing performance. Superb !!!!!
Sony FE200-600mm f5.6/f6.3 Trial
I had the opportunity to trial this lens at the end of last week, at Rozelle Park, in Ayr, where I manage to shoot some “active “dog images and a few images of some local birds
Although a little heavier than my Canon FE70-200mm f2.8 IS USM, with metabones e-mount adapter, I found it easier to handle than expected.
The reach and quality of this Sony lens was superb, and the continuous autofocus, on the subjects was extremely accurate. I hope Santa will be good to me, this Xmas so that I can add it to my photography kit bag
Here are a few sample images which I hope you will like
Dumfries House Estate – Another Day Out
Earlier this year, we visited Dumfries House Estate, located near Cumnock, in East Ayrshire. The first visit was towards the end of summer and then again later in the Autumn.
A great place to “chill out”, wandering in the well maintained woodland and garden areas, giving you a real sense of peace and tranquility
Below are a few images taken during our visits
Fireworks Near Burns Monument
The annual fireworks display, to commemorate Guy Fawkes’ attempt to blow-up The Houses of Parliament in 1605, was held recently at the grounds of Ayr Rugby Club.
Here are a few images, of the local firework display, shot near Burns Monument, overlooking “Brig O’ Doon” Hotel.
Scottish Airshow 2014
The Scottish Airshow, was held in Ayr, this year, during early September.
It was an incredible performance that was enjoyed by around 50,000 spectators soaking up the atmosphere and the great weather.
Many thanks to all involved for a superb day.
A small sample of my images are shown below.
Caitlin – My Wee Granddaughter
A “Wee Cracker”. born on 24th July.
A Poem for Caitlin
“C” is for child so wonderful and new
“A“ is for apple of my eye she is too
“I” is for innocence you see in her face
“T” is for tenderness and so full of grace
“L” is for love, unconditional and pure
“I” will protect her and love her, for sure
“N“o words can express my joy and elation
Caitlin’s arrived …. she’s a sensation!
Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2014
I’m Back!
While visiting my new Granddaughter, (she’s a “wee cracker” of 2 weeks old), earlier this week, I paid a short 2 hour visit to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Great atmosphere, superb acts and some real “odd” characters ……. just what I like.
I hope to return later this week for a longer visit, along with my “better” half, to capture more images, enjoy some lunch accompanied by a nice bottle of wine and bathe in the atmosphere of the worlds largest arts festival.
I can’t wait. Here are a few images from my visit.
For images of last year’s festival, please click on the link
Link to Fringe 2013 http://wp.me/P1WKsc-qm
Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2013 – Additional Images
“Armada” – Queen Elizabeth
Please click on this link http://wp.me/P1WKsc-qm for the rest of the images
Edinburgh Fringe Mania
As in previous years, Fringe Mania once again gripped Edinburgh at the beginning of August. So far, many thousands of festival “junkies” from near and far, have flocked to the Scottish Capital, perhaps to witness the spectacular street performers in the Royal Mile, to see one or more of the 2,000 shows being performed in many of the different venues in the city, or just to “bathe” in the unique atmosphere of the largest performing arts festival in the world.
If you can only visit one event in the year, in Scotland, The Edinburgh Festival Fringe should perhaps be at the top of your list. So far I have visited 3 times, mainly to “soak up” the atmosphere and to capture images of some of the interesting street performers, advertising their show. I hope to visit again, at least, once before it finishes on 26th August
I hope you enjoy the small sample of some of my images below.
More images of the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe Festival can be found at this link http://wp.me/P1WKsc-qm
Spectacular Vintage Festival – Glasgow 2013
A Spectacular Vintage Festival was the main theme, last week, at Glasgow’s Merchant City!!
Thousands of “retro” fans descended on Glasgow to take part in one of the cities main events of the summer, many dressed in costumes from the 1910s to the 1980s. The revellers enjoyed a feast of vintage styles covering 7 decades.
Vintage entertainment, fashion, makeovers, shopping and food markets were the main attractions during the day; and in the evenings Glasgow partied at vintage nightclubs, to the sounds of Rock and Roll, Soul Music and the Big Band Sounds of the 1930s, 40s and 50s.
We visited the festival on Saturday, where we met some “groovy” characters in “retro” style costume. There were many interesting people, including a couple I spoke with, Claire and Paul, from Wrexham, who were dressed in 30s/40s style; a great couple that would travel almost anywhere to experience the early to mid 20th century “retro scene”. It was great to meet the two of them!!
While at the festival, we took the opportunity to have lunch at “Arisaig”, in Merchant Square, where we enjoyed the home-made fish cakes starter followed by a superb king prawn risotto, all “washed down” with a nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.
Below are a few of the images I captured before lunch and the bottle of wine.
Images from previous Merchant city festivals at http://wp.me/P1WKsc-oI
More details on the Merchant City Festival at http://www.merchantcityfestival.com/Pages/default.aspx
Whitby
From York, on my previous post, we travelled on to the picturesque fishing town of Whitby, on Yorkshire’s east coast, at the mouth of the river Esk. What a beautiful town, well known for it’s black Jade jewellery, favoured by Queen Victoria and its association with Captain James Cook the famous British explorer.
We stayed about 5 hours in Whitby and while my “better half” visited the local shops, I spent time capturing a few images. We also took the time to enjoy a superb pub lunch of fresh fish and chips. A great day out!
More information on Whitby at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitby
York
This famous historic walled city, with its odd-looking medieval buildings in the “Shambles” to the majestic historic attractions of York Minster, has much to offer both the “casual” tourist, photographer and the historian.
The city was founded in Roman times circa 71AD and grew as a wool trading centre. In the 19th Century, York was a world-famous centre for confectionary, with Rowntrees and Terrys the main suppliers. As a “chocoholic”, I was fortunate to visit both factories, on company business, in the mid 1980s and was fascinated by the manufacturing processes and the history.
We spent a relaxed couple of days here, but really needed a week to do it justice. Below are a few of the images captured on our recent visit. (both the “old” and the “new”)
For more detailed information on York, please follow this link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York
Beamish Museum – Co. Durham
You can’t visit Durham and not visit the nearby Beamish Museum. This “living museum” is a superb example of urban and rural life that existed in the early 20th century in N.E England.
We had previously visited some 15 – 20 years ago, when our children were young and it was great to return, a few weeks ago, and remind ourselves how amazing the Beamish is. We were only there for a day and really did not get a chance to see all of the exhibits, but we will most definitely return in the near future.
Below are a few images, including some of the interiors of the houses in the old Victorian town.
Detailed information about The Beamish Museum can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beamish_Museum
Great Honour for Tawny Owl
I was given one of the highest complements on my “Tawny Owl” image the other day, by a fellow blogger from Hungary, Moira Gyenes.
Using my image, Moira has managed to capture the very essence of the image in her drawing, by emphasising the details, the piercing eyes and augmenting the soft feathery textures of the raptors plumage.
As you can see from the image below, I think you will agree that her drawing is superb! ……. I am honoured!
More of Moira’s superb images can be found at http://fav.me/d67rva6
Durham Cathedral (N.E. England)
My “better half” and I recently visited North East England. Needless to say my camera gear went with me, but was not used often, as the weather was a bit dull and the quality of light was poor. Fortunately there were the occasional breaks in the cloud cover and I manages to capture a few images when, for a fleeting moment, the light quality improved dramatically.
The image below of Durham Cathedral, was capture about 1 hour before sunset, when the “soft” sunlight illuminated the west facing towers of this beautiful Sanctuary. Building started on this magnificent place of worship in 1093 and was completed some 40 years later.
More detailed information can be found at this link. http://www.durhamcathedral.co.uk/
Durham Cathedral
Rome – Additional Images
With so much activity in Rome at the moment, I felt compelled to add some additional images to my Rome webpage. Please click on this link to my Rome webpage http://wp.me/P1WKsc-jl
I would love to be there at present to sense and enjoy the atmosphere of anticipation and excitement as the Catholic Church seek to elect a new leader.
Alas, I will neeed to content myself with watching history unfold on the television and think of our holiday visit a few years ago, seeing the places we visited and dreaming of our return, hopefully in the near future.
Piazza San Pietro – Rome
Canal Lock at Fort Augustus
Fort Augustus is one of the most picturesque towns along the length of the Caledonian Canal. On a beautiful autumn day, we spent a quiet hour watching the boats passing through the flight of locks. The image shows one of the five locks and on the far left, behind the lock, you can just see Loch Ness.
Trees in Winter
My wife commented that the wintry scene in this image looked like a Christmas Card.
So I am posting this today to wish all my fellow bloggers, “Complements of the Season and Best Wishes for 2013”
Trees in Winter
For some of my other landscape images please follow this link http://wp.me/P1WKsc-M
The 3 Sisters of Glencoe
The group of mountains of Beinn Fhada, Gearr Aonach and Aonach Dubh, shown in the image below, are more commonly known as the 3 Sisters of Glencoe. These mountains form part of a volcanic ridge in Glencoe, known as Bidean nam Bian
For more information please follow this link : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidean_nam_Bian
For some of my other landscape images please follow this link http://wp.me/P1WKsc-M
Double Canal Locks at Corpach, on the Caledonian Canal
The 62 mile long Caledonian Canal, with a total of 29 locks was originally built to allow wooden sailing ships to travel from the north-east to the south-west of Scotland, avoiding the perilous route via Cape Wrath and the Pentland Firth. It was completed in 1822, after 19 years in construction at a cost of around £910,000. The canal had taken so long to construct, that much larger, iron hulled ships were now in use and the canal was too narrow to accommodate them.
Today the canal attracts many visitors who come to enjoy the magnificent scenery that stretches all the way from Inverness to Fort William.
The image below is of the of the double canal locks at Corpach. Ben Nevis can be seen in the background
Double Canal Locks at Corpach on the Caledonian Canal
For some of my other landscape images please follow this link http://wp.me/P1WKsc-M
Autumn “Peaks” in the Highlands of Scotland
Last week we were fortunate to spend a few days in the beautiful Scottish Highlands.
The end of October/beginning of November is the “height” of autumn here.
I am always amazed at the vivid colours, in the landscape, which is the result of high rainfall (often too much) and the excellent quality of light at this time of year. If you are lucky you may just get a “dusting” of snow on the moutains, which really is the “icing on the cake”
We spent 4 nights in the 2nd lodge, in the image, and travelled into Glencoe and the local countryside in search of beautiful scenery.
The mountain rising, just above the”scotch mist”, about a third in from the left in the image, is Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Scotland (4,409 ft above sea level)
What an idyllic place ………………… I am now completely “chilled out”
“Scotch Mist” in Glen Nevis
For some of my other landscape images please follow this link http://wp.me/P1WKsc-M
Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2012 – Additional Images
6 Additional images of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2012 added today.
- Japanese Girl
Please go to http://wp.me/P1WKsc-jn for the rest of the images
Busier Than Ever – Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2012
Superb!! – 25 days of Events with over 2,600 shows from 47 different countries
Edinburgh, the Scottish Capital was “buzzing” this year, in August, with the annual Fringe Festival.
An amazing diversity of shows to suit all tastes ranging from Shakespeare to light comedy; classical to rock music accompanied by traditional “scottish” cuisine from the many local bars and restaurants. (Even haggis and neeps, deep fried mars bars or the usual fish supper, were on the menu, if that’s what you fancied)
I love Edinburgh, particularly at this time of year when the city is busy with tourists and “locals”, enjoying the “banter” of the performers and audiences, enjoying the culture and “soaking-up” the atmosphere.
Edinfringe Rocks
The Fringe is an opportunity for me to indulge in my photography, to capture portrait images of the “street” performers advertising their shows and to talk with some of the interesting “characters” taking part.
GI Girls at The Fringe
This year I visited the Fringe 3 times. On my last visit, my “better half” and I met up with some of my “old” school friends and rounded off a great day, with a delicious meal in a local restaurant, with a nice bottle of wine and good company.
Looking forward to August 2013.
For more images of the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe please click on http://wp.me/P1WKsc-jn
Roman Holiday – Roman Forum
The Roman Forum was the center of public life in Rome. Processions, criminal trials, public speeches all took place in this central area which is located betweem Palatine and Capitoline hills.
This is my final post in this series. However, I have now added a page under “Travel”, which contains all images from my previous “Roman Holiday” posts. It also includes additional images not previously published. I hope you have enjoyed.
Please click on this link http://wp.me/P1WKsc-jl
Roman Forum
jimreidphoto 