Personal Favourites

It's not just the name of the Post Office; this used to be an ancient forest where royalty went hunting.

Original Post Office corner of Montpelier Park and Merchiston Place

The wet 2012 summer left several pools of water on Bruntsfield Links prompting numerous comments on Twitter.

More Springside later in the gallery...

Metal doors and shutters protect the premises which now belong to Poundsavers. Woolworth's became like a filling station's shop without the petrol - then it went into liquidation.

A High Definition picture of The Meadows with Arthur's Seat behind. People are visible on the summit.

Almost the first of my experimental motion-shot images. These are done using an in-camera app on the Sony RX100M4.

A camera exposure of 10 seconds reveals the slow rise of the tipper truck's hopper as its contents slide into the spreader machine.

Same sequence faded in.

When these places are new, they look like they've been rendered by a computer.

The steps are part of the footpath from Holyrood Park Road. These monochrome pictures were taken on a digital camera using a Hoya R72 infrared filter which blocks visible light up to 650nm. (Nothing is visible through the camera's viewfinder. Later IR pictures were taken on the specially modified Pentax *ist DSLR)

Twin roundabouts connect Queen's Drive (foreground) and Holyrood Park Road. It's obvious from these photos that plants reflect more infrared light than inanimate surfaces.

On the way to Arthur's Seat, past the Commonwealth Pool, on the other side of the road. The trees contrast with the smoked glass windows of the Scottish Widows building.

Queen's Drive and the steps which appear in the photos taken from the Radical Road.

My personal choice for Desktop Wallpaper in its larger 1920 x 1280 version. That speck on the edge of the crags is a person, which gives an idea of scale in this scene.

A long lens shot from nearby Nether Hill shows crowds in front of billowing clouds.

The distinctive shape of Arthur's Seat shows that this is indeed Edinburgh.

Suspend belief - rather than disbelief - for this one, or else take your belief somewhere else meantime.

A red double decker tour bus passes by on Lauriston Place at the end of this lane on the western boundary of George Heriot's school. The yellow line is redundant now because both ends of the lane are blocked for cars.

The top section of Fleshmarket Close leading up to the High Street from Cockburn Street.

High above the shops in Cockburn Street, a cat-like gargoyle with big feet lurks overhead.

A surreal-looking image. The iron man seems to be gazing across Belford Road at an exhibition by (appropriately) The Surrealists.

It's a while since the exit ramp from Waverley Station was this quiet.

Recently restored and looking quite magnificent. Golden mermaids with long tresses and spirally intertwined twin tails.

Same picture but with an extrusion effect applied just for fun.

Some infrared photographs of Edinburgh's Princes Street Gardens west of the Mound. All photographed on July 14th 2012.

An infrared photo near the entrance to Craighouse.

The redundant apostrophe is the only reason for this picture's presence. A dyslexic sign-writer..? This was opposite the Odeon Cinema in Edinburgh's Clerk Street.

Two parking attendants walk towards the open mouth of the woman - whose image has an unusual photographic quality.

Looking a bit smarter. June 2011.

Approaching the Diggers Pub on the West Approach Road.

Revisited again. This time I've shown Grove Street itself, extending southwards to the Fountainbridge junction. Photographed with an extreme wide angle lens. The converging verticals have been 'corrected' to prevent the appearance of buildings leaning towards each other.

Previously featured in lower quality. Back in 1977, there still was a farm nearby. Whether the farmer was jolly or not is unclear. Rescanned in 2005 with a larger image.

The previous picture was taken in March 2002. It was a dull day with flat light and was better suited to the monochromatic treatment. This time in August 2005 the sun is shining, showing the colours in all their true glory. AQQA stores is open for business.

The east end of the building shown above. It's hard to tell if TOLERANCE was stencilled on this livingroom wall before or after the other walls disappeared.

A zoomed-in look at this building and its ornamented windows, painted by a variety of artists.

An overall view of number 21 and its two shops and fourteen decorated windows.

The cycle track from Crewe Toll heads N down West Granton Access then veers NE towards Waterfront Avenue & Saltire Street where the statues 'Going to the Beach' are.

The structure on top of the passenger compartment presumably was supporting the wings - and vice versa when flying.

Two slightly different views of this aircraft fuselage.

EAST TRINITY ROAD states the helpful sign at the entrance to the tunnel on this branch of the cycle path network. This first of three variations was at 55mm focal length, a slight zoom over 'normal'.

I was so intrigued by this weird scene I took another shot from a bit closer.

Obscured by ivy, these tombstones overlook the one in the foreground which hasn't yet vanished under a cloak of leaves.

A man strolls casually through the hedge while a woman photographer and I aim cameras at each other.

From previous experience I knew that hedges came out well in infrared. This is undeniably a big hedge.

The main entrance to the Palm House is on the left.

August 2010 and the months (years?) of work seem to be finished.

On 23rd September 2009 I grabbed this chance to photograph the steps still in pristine condition. The ultrawide fisheye lens also captures The Traverse Theatre.

Camera panned left showing how the vegetation at the back of Temple Park Crescent seems white under infrared.

Low winter sun lights up the concrete chess table in Roseburn Park.

2013 saw the arrival of an outdoor chess table and chairs and also a table-tennis table in Roseburn Park. A film of rain water on the chess table reflects a nearby lamp post.

In Russell Road as I was approaching Roseburn a sticker said to me FOCUS ON THIS so I did. I just do what I'm told.

Grass is doing well between some of the blocks lower down, too.

The path passes below the Ravelston Dykes road before heading south to Roseburn.

This area has been completely rebuilt, but back in 1978 the circus came to town and camped here. The Elephant Transporter looks rather surreal against the desolate background.

Another view from higher up. In this shot, a real pigeon seems to be getting chased by monster metal ones.

Pedestrians do still have access and can climb the steep lane called Calton Hill up to Calton Hill itself. It's well worth the effort for scenic views in all directions.

Similar to W Harbour 10 but zoomed in more with the Pentax K7 DSLR instead of the Lumix camera. Left to right: Citadel Court, Persevere Court, Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags.

Another shot of Citadel Court, Persevere Court and Arthur's Seat.

April 3rd 2013. It's still chilly but the sunshine is warm enough today for a comfortable (if not majestic) snooze at the side of Leith Walk. (This is Arthur by the way - thanks to Tom Ellingham for the info.)

My favourite shot of opportunistic grass beside Albert Dock.

Windblown seeds never miss an opportunity to germinate in damp cracks between paving stones.

In this second infrared view can be seen the shadow of the gate I poked my lens through.

The water surface has been smoothed by the Smooth Reflection app downloaded directly into the camera. The usual technique is to use a very dark Neutral Density filter to force a long exposure but this method combines 128 separate stills avoiding colour shifts and other ND filter problems.

After a few minutes the breeze picked up again and the red paraglider took off.

The last of this sequence shows the red paraglider about to disappear behind the hill. Donaldson's building is the the right edge of the picture.

An infrared photo of the path along the top of Caerketton.

A highland cow grazes high over the city.

Down below, the A720 city bypass marks the boundary between farmland and the bungalows of the Swanston area.

Before leaving I took this picture from the front. We waited a little longer to warn other walkers to take care not to step on them.

It was still quite cool at noon but the sunshine would be warming the toads up.

Intrigued by the appearance, I took another picture further along. I've made this one HD size to suit possible desktop computer wallpaper use.

This bridge leads to the Bass Rock.

A different foreground in this picture. In the middle distance is the rocky promontory from which the previous picture was taken.

From this very rocky shore there are clear views across the Firth of Forth to Edinburgh - and there are two climbers half way up the cliff face.

Already zoomed to the maximum, I cropped the image to zoom in yet further. The dogs' legs have all but disappeared in the windblown sand.

A more classic view of Suilven, as seen from the same footpath as in the previous photo, but closer to Lochinver. The rocky surface is Lewisian gneiss, ancient rocks formed three billion years ago. Suilven is Torridonian sandstone created by giant rivers. This layer (up to seven kilometres thick) was eroded to leave mountains such as Suilven and Slioch.

The same footpath, a little further on. The ridge of Suilven is now plainly visible about nine kilometres north, behind the lower western slopes of Cul Mór just over two kilometres away. A puddle reflects the blue sky.

Further up the hill and a deer fence crosses the path. Very little vegetation can grow on the bare white quartzite rock - and it's necessary to restrict the movement of red deer in the nature reserve.

The camera has been panned left from the previous picture, showing the base of the triple buttress.

This is the path up Tom na Gruagaich just above the rocky plateau in the previous picture. The intermittent track leads to the top of the corrie Coir nan Laogh and the summit at 904M.

A few yards to the north is this second gate in the deer fence, previously photographed on a sunnier morning. (Meall a Ghiubhais is pronounced 'mel a yuvay')

A tiny sundew plant which has caught several insects - probably midges.

Back on the stalkers' path and heading straight for Ruadh-stac Mor and Sail Mhor, with Ruadh-stac Beag just visible on the left.

Looking up toward the cliffs to the west.

The Dutch have no need for 24 gears or fancy mountain bikes, they just have to keep a lookout for traffic and errant pedestrians. Traditional bicycles rule.

This is the actual dress worn by the woman botanist who wore it in a hot, humid environment as reproduced in this greenhouse. I took several pictures and had to wipe my steamed-up lens for this one, photographed from a little wooden bridge.

This lasts a few seconds...

She's attempted to take off it seems - but the male has got a firm hold. His wings show up well in this shot. Each of his larger pair of wings has one opaque section near the tip.

Also in Regent Road is this neatly written graffiti with its precise message.

1000 yellow figures

The same image in rectilinear mode with added water

A snapshot of planet view from Theta online.

My daughter and son stand at the corner of North Bridge and High Street. The Tron Kirk looks the same today but the menswear shop at the corner of Blair Street is currently a Starbucks coffee shop. The crossing was resurfaced with granite setts imported from China.

24th March 2017

Another view of the herb garden.

The doocot is at the top of the herb garden.

Another IR view with Bruntsfield Terrace in the background on the left. Bruntsfield Place is behind the trees.

In Chamberlain Road, John Livingston's Tomb.

It's strange how most clothes appear white or pale grey.

Deacon Brodie's Tavern

An InfraRed photo of the gardens.

An edit of a screen grab of a Theta 360º picture from the Pentlands A720 page.

Photographed from the lower slopes of Allermuir. Cruise liner and Edinburgh Castle.

Edited version of a 360º Image - LED pavement lights

Cottongrass at Castlelaw