Getting close up

 Getting close up to a few of my garden flowers.

Hermand Birch Wood

   Looking for something to keep me occupied closer to home following a few months which have seen me travelling both home and abroad, I was pleased to accept an invitation from one of the Photography Groups - of which I'm a member - to join them on a quest to capture images of wild mushrooms.

  And so we gathered at Hermand Birch Woods Nr. West Calder, on a bright and mild Sunday Morning.

  The weather had been a tad soggy over the last few days, but the temperature had remained mild - even as we headed into Autumn; perfect 'mushroom' weather as it turned out. We didn't have to search for our Mycelial subjects as they were sprouting everywhere through the leaf litter.

  These are a few of my own captures. I hope you enjoy them.

Borders Tour

 

It was my great pleasure, last week, to join the PPG group for an organised wander around the Scottish Borders.

Armed with our instruments of choice (I was packing my trusty old Canon 5D Mk iv) we set off from West Lothian to make the journey South at 7am on a Sunday morning.

The weather wasn’t looking great: the BBC weather app suggested a slight threat of rain for much of the day, though, in the end, we were only troubled with keeping the equipment dry on a couple of occasions as rain clouds drifted quickly through the places we’d stopped; on one of those occasions – at Scotts view - we could plainly see the clouds casting their burden over the Eildon Hills.

Our first port of call was Kelso. There we stopped for breakfast before taking a stroll through the quiet, cobbled streets before walking on to the magnificent Abbey.

Next town on our tour was Jedburgh, along with its own Abbey.

With our cards filling up, we journeyed on to the spectacular Leaderfoot Viaduct. This is a remarkable piece of Victorian engineering and offers ample forage for the myopic eyes of our cameras.

It was then on to Scott’s View. This is where I earlier mentioned watching the rain clouds unburden themselves as they passed through the valleys of the Eildon Hills.

From thence, we tucked away our gear until we reached the busy streets of Melrose. While there, we visited the Harmony Garden, with many of its cultivated gardens in full bloom. Again, wonderful images to capture – and we captured plenty.

Leaving Melrose behind, we sped off to The Haining Estate in Selkirk in order to peruse the 18^th Century Palladian Mansion House which stands in glory before Loch Haining. We also enjoyed a short woodland walk which took us down to the Lochside itself.

We ended our day at St. Mary’s Loch, settling just beside the Glen Café – though we’d arrived too late in the evening to find it still open.

Corolla’s fish and chip shop in Galashiels was still open though, and a few of the group partook of their wares before we finally packed the gear away and headed back to Livingston.

All in all though, it was a great trip, and I have since processed just a few of the near 200 images I took on the day.

I hope you enjoy them.

Boston's Chinatown.

 

Here, June is standing below the Paifang at the entrance to Boston’s Chinatown district; cultural heart of the Chinese community.

Positioned at each side of June, resting Lions guard the entrance; these are placed at the base of the Paifang and signify protection. Internationally, key elements of these constructions such as red pillars (symbolising good fortune, but not employed on this one) and tiled roofs (often green or gold – representing prosperity) are found in many of the Paifang we’ve seen on our travels and, while they may seem fairly similar, they are all uniquely decorated with artworks deeply symbolic to the Chinese diaspora around the world. The four gold inscriptions on the arch above this entrance on Boston’s Beach Street read: Propriety, Justice, Integrity and Honour.

Hanging above the Paifang are the ‘Stars & Stripes’ of America and, alongside ‘Old Glory’, hangs the National Flag of the Republic of China (Taiwan), not to be confused with the Peoples Republic of China (Beijing). This version of the flag also has an element of the American Flag added – the short ‘Stars and Stripes’ at the foot. It’s hung in honour of the Taiwanese Government who gifted the gate to Boston in 1982.

Forfar Loch in Gold.

A few photo’s I captured during a very enjoyable walk around Forfar’s beautiful Loch.

It was later in the evening when we passed by a few lads enjoying their paddle-boards on the very calm waters f the Loch. By the time we got to the most distant part of our walk and then started on the path back to the caravan site, the Sun was very low and we were bathed in a perfectly warm, Golden Hour hue.

These are a few of the shots I managed to snap as an aide-memoire of a beautiful evening.

An ancient coast.

 

The Sun is sinking behind me; its gaunt light fading away to the West; a little earlier, I think, than it probably should for late Spring. But it’s not unexpected; from a murky dawn, the Sun has struggled to pierce the low canopy of brooding nimbostratus clouds which have, all day, been dragging their way across Northumbria’s leaden skies.

I’m stood just a few hundred yards from our campsite on the outskirts of Beadnell Village, facing East over the North Sea. And I find it amazing to consider that the only thing that lies between me and the unseen shores of Denmark’s West Jutland coast, are 460 miles of heaving, iron black waters. It’s a truly awesome sight and leaves me feeling very insignificant; very small.

The silence is almost deafening; save, that is, from the belligerent howls from an affray of vagrant squalls which pirouette along the shoreline and - seemingly vexed by my presence – tug at my collar and cuffs while pitching thin veils of rain my way.

But I’m not minded to leave, not yet.

This is an infamously rugged and austere region of Britains coastline; and my own inconsequence within it only seems to be exaggerated as I stand before its broad (almost eerie) expanse of craggy, slab-like rock formations; formations laid down millions of years ago as layers of foundational sandstone blocks which have subsequently - over countless millennia - been fractured and fragmented by the dynamic forces of powerful tectonic drifts, and further mutilated by the merciless grinding of relentless glacial migrations, leaving this tortured vista as we see it today: desolate, fractured and broken; a coldly picturesque prehistoric panorama rendered in a bleak palette of blacks and greys.

And, amplifying my sense of detachment, now, from the modern world, is the fact that I’m completely alone out here; there’s not another soul in sight; not one solitary human being with whom I might share the awesome spectacle of this broad and ruggedly beautiful shoreline.

The tide is out just now, and as the decline of the land is very shallow here, so the sea has receded a fair distance from the shore. But even while the growing stain of night’s gloom continues to congeal around me, I can still just about make out the foaming tops of distant waves and hear them crash against the shore.

And there I am, standing – still quite alone - before this austere, unwelcoming landscape; quietly surveying the consequence of eons of passing time. And, despite the dark; despite the chilly chagrin of squalling wind devils, I can’t help but be in awe of this ancient, tortured, but wonderfully alluring landscape.

“The Orchid Show: Mr. Flower Fantastic’s Concrete Jungle”

 

We took the time – while in New York – to visit the City’s Botanic Gardens.

And, like everything in New York, this is a massive place: beautifully manicured grounds and very tastefully set out park areas.

We were especially there, though, to take in “The Orchid Show: Mr. Flower Fantastic’s Concrete Jungle” show.

What a fantastically creative and colourful event it turned out to be. Essentially, they recreated iconic New York City sites such as an apartment stoop, a large bucket, a garage, a taxi, a pizza joint, a laundry and many other scenes – and all sculpted with living orchids. It was an incredible experience.

I took dozens of pictures, and here are a few of them: