Starbank Park

Location: Starbank Park 

Weather - Bright and sunny

Optional theme - Small worlds (suggested for us by ChatGPT)

Refreshments - The Pier House - finest bacon rolls in North Edinburgh 

Arthur photographed the blossom with the Firth of Forth in the background

Eileen's version of "small world" shows a tiny TARDIS

Ian gave us a beautiful close-up

Kate found geometric shapes in nearby Newhaven Harbour 

Maggie found abstract shapes in this complex tulip

Sandra's tulip portrait concentrates on colour 

Alex chose a minimal composition 

Ada found a different view of our theme - the small world enjoyed by children playing in the park 

Inverleith Park and Stockbridge

Meeting place: outside the Raeburn

Weather: a fine spring day 

Optional theme: lines 

Refreshments: Two Children - excellent cakes and bacon rolls

Sandra captured this dream-like image of Darwin's Barberry 

Lines of tenements photographed by Ada 

Two ducks in a line, floating in the clouds - photographed by Alex 

Colin photographed this distant clock tower 

Dorothy found a diagonal line of flower pots mounted against the horizontal lines of the fence

Ian found lines in this sun dial 

Maggie found multiple layers of reflections in this composition 

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Meeting place - Inverleith Row entrance (east gate) 

Weather - Sunny intervals 

Optional theme - Shapes

Refreshments - John Hope Gateway - long queues, and no hot food before 11:30! Scones were excellent but very pricey. 

Sandra photographed this emergent peony

Ada found a Monet-like tranquillity in this pond scene

Alex found a triangle in this reed bed 

Arthur found this scene from Alice in Wonderland

Shapes everywhere in Dorothy's view of the east gate

Ian found fractal shapes in a monkey puzzle tree

The shape of Edinburgh Castle is immediately identifiable in Maggie's photo

The magnolias were a highlight. This photo is by Eileen

Mandy found a beautiful stone gateway

Kate found a lovely detail in the garden's East Gate 

National Museum of Scotland

Meeting place: National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh

Weather - Bright but bitterly cold with a strong wind - a good day to stay indoors

Optional theme: Colour

Refreshments - The museum café 

Eileen found shapes and colours in the lens of the old lighthouse in the main atrium

Ian managed to isolate this figure from the busy background of museum exhibits 

Sandra framed an architectural scene with a window from the musuem

Ada found simplicity in a red chair 

Colin found colour in a selection of tourist pamphlets 

Dorothy photographed a colourful selection of children's souvenirs in the shop 

Closes of the Old Town

Meeting place: Outside the Writer's Museum, to explore some of the closes at the top of the Royal Mile  

Weather - Fine 

Option theme - Flat - interpret it however you want! 

Refreshments - Coffee shop at National Library of Scotland 

Ian found a moment of serenity in Riddle's Court 

Ada found a dragon, and flipped the photo sideways to make it look oh-so-tired

Alex artificially aged his photo of New College

Arthur found a very grand piece of street furniture

Beryl found a reminder that the Old Town is very much a bustling business area

Colin was one of the few who took the theme very seriously, photographing this flat surface in front of two flats 

Dorothy found this ghostly figure