Festive Edinburgh 2012

It's been a while since I posted anything, so it's high time I started getting something done!!  I finished my Christmas shopping fairly early in December, but unfortunately it was a very grey day, so the photos weren't very bright and it was too windy and cold to have a turn on the Big Wheel.

Snowman and Big Wheel

Festive Mice

Pottery Bikers

Jenners

Santa and Big Wheel

About a week afterwards, I had another trip into town and this time the weather was a little better with a small dusting of snow!  This time I did have a turn on the Big Wheel and took more photos.

Edinburgh Castle

Looking towards Princes Street

Big Wheel and Scott Monument

Edinburgh Castle from Big Wheel

Scott Monument and Big Wheel

The next time we visited Edinburgh was a night to go to a dinner and party night and to get there we took a walk through the gardens and the various markets - with camera in hand, I took more photos!!

Scott Monument and Big Wheel

Jenners and Big Wheel

Helter Skelter

I quite liked the photo of the Scott Monument and the Big Wheel, so I had a play around with it and came up with these:

I quite liked how that second one came out so  have ordered some Christmas cards in that design for next year!!

I've been chosen as a finalist!!

I am so excited to announce that I have been chosen as a finalist in the Nature Photography Awards being organised by the Scottish Seabird Centre at North Berwick.  Out of the five photos that I submitted, two have been chosen to go on display with the others until 31st January 2013.  Fingers crossed for a prize!!

Aberlady Bay

Spider's web

All finalist photos are now on display at the Scottish Seabird Centre where a public vote is also taking place.  I will be taking the opportunity of visiting at some point to have a look at them all.  There were nearly 500 photos submitted, so I am so pleased to have reached this stage.  Wishing everyone the best of luck.

The Hairy Bikers

The evening of Saturday 10th November had finally arrived - this was the night we had booked to see the Hairy Bikers Large than Live tour in the Queen's Hall, Edinburgh.  We left home fairly early as we had booked a table at the nearby Kismot restaurant for a meal first, so that set us up for the evening.

We arrived at the Queen's Hall and bought a programme and other miscellaneous bits and bobs.  Friends had given us a copy of the most recent cook book by the Hairy Bikers which I had taken with us, and I asked if it could possibly be signed for us.  At first the answer was no, but then the chap seemed to have a change of heart and he said he'd see what he could do and told me to write our names down on a piece of paper to put inside the book and told me to see him again during the interval.

The first half of the show passed quickly as it was very entertaining - not a lot of cooking going on, but these guys are just pure entertainment.  If they ever gave up cooking, they could still do a tour and drawn in the crowds as they are so funny!!

At the interval I duly went to see the chap I had spoken to, and there it was - our book signed by both Si and Dave and personalised with our names - brilliant!! 

We then watched the second half of the show, which passed just as quickly as the first half, even though the show is around two and a half hours long it's so good that you don't notice the time passing!!

Here are some photos that I took during the show:

Spooktacular Halloween Fun!

It's nearly Halloween, the night of witches and all things spooky!!  It was a little early, but our Halloween nibbles and drinks night was on Saturday, so out came the decorations once more!  There were skeletons, masks and much more for a fun night!!  Here are some photos to get you in the mood for the 31st October!!

Raindrops and Spiders' Webs

I've been experimenting with the camera again!!  Some were taken on macro mode and some with a macro add-on lens.  I'm thinking of entering one of these into a photo competition, but I can't decide on which one to use!!

An Autumn Walk through Gosford Estate

On Sunday just past, the sun was shining and it was actually quite warm, so we decided to have a walk through Gosford Estate.  Although very muddy underfoot in some places after the recent heavy rain, it was just lovely.  The autumn colours are magnificent just now, and with virtually no wind at all, the reflections in the ponds were wonderful.  I took a few photos, and will share the best of them (in my opinion) here:

Photo Competition

I've decided to have another attempt at a photo competition and have entered the following photos, so fingers crossed!!  I'm really not holding out much hope of having a winner, but it's fun to take part!!  Here's what I've entered:

Single Puffin

Aberlady Bay

Collecting Nectar

Ruffled Feathers