It has been refreshing to experience some post-lockdown freedom and to revisit several of my favourite photographic locations once again. A couple of trips to the East Lothian coastline resulted in some Facebook posts and felt like a reacquaintaince with an ‘old friend.’ One evening the light was almost non-existent so it was a chance to experiment with some slow shutter speed photography of gulls and terns flying around the beach. Once the lighthouse on the Bass Rock switched itself on, it provided a fitting opportunity to conclude the evening’s photography.
I have been working on a mini-project to photograph the Antony Gormley statues on Edinburgh’s Water of Leith and managed to conclude it last month. The idea is to present the images as a collection for a small exhibition. The project forced me to think how to portray each of the six statues creatively and the results were very exciting. This has spurred me on to start a further mini-project to photograph other statues around the locality in a way that tries to bring them to life and this currently remains on-going.
I have also started a new long-term project to photograph the wildlife around the area where we keep our bees. It is a fantastic, quiet spot with plenty of wildlife and flowers. The variety of subjects is endless and the photographic opportunities open-ended. The potential is really exciting and will also give me the chance to experiment with and develop camera trap technology.
As summer is now here, the wild flowers are in abundance and I have enjoyed photographing orchids - including bee, butterfly, common spotted and northern marsh. I always used to think orchids were rare but some species are really quite common. While they might look exotic and perhaps a little out of place in the Scottish countryside, they are very welcome and show the variety of plants that can grow here.
The lifting of lockdown restrictions allowed us to stay in our cottage in the Cairngorms. A photographic foray to the River Tromie and Ruthven Barracks was another chance to revisit old haunts, while a trip to Glen Roy was a joy of colour with a huge variety of flowers in bloom and the River Roy looked very enticing on the warm afternoon we visited. Due to the clean air in the valley, some of the lichen growing over stones was stunning (see image). The break made me realise how much I have missed the Central Highlands this year and I look forward to making up for lost time with a few more visits now we are free to move around the country once again.
July has been wet and windy in south east Scotland so I have been catching up with some photography presentations on youtube. It has certainly given me some ‘food for thought’ and I look forward to experimenting with new techniques to try to give images a little more atmosphere. Photography is like most things in life… you never stop learning.