Dalkeith Country Park

May 2024, venue - Dalkeith Country Park

Theme: Out of Place

Weather: Glorious

Refreshments: The cafe at Dalkeith Country Park 

We all interpreted this theme in different ways. Some folk interpreted it to mean that we could only photograph "out of place" things that were already there. Other folk came armed with props at the ready. What we were all agreed on was that it was a terrific day out. 

Colin found this abandoned bottle cap with a very sad message. 

Kate found this old rusted bike in the river. It's been there for years. 

Alex came armed with a prop, photographing a model of an old Chevy on the mossy stump of an old tree trunk. 

Eileen also used an old tree stump as her base. Her choice of prop was Paddington Bear. Cool! 

It was Sandra's turn to go off-piste. Nothing out of place, but she found some wonderful shadows. 

Ada found a photo she had taken previously at Dalkeith Country Park - a beautiful dipper posing on an old flytipped wheel

Brian found this giant redwood which was well out of place - the species is native to California. 

The Meadows

 April 2024, venue - The Meadows 

Theme: Angles

Weather: Sunshine and clouds 

Refreshments: Lady and the Bear

A slightly trickier theme, though everyone rose to the challenge and captured images of angles even in this very green space. 

Most of us photographed the angles in the Quartermile development fringing the Meadows. Colin was the only person who found the angles in this resting crane. 

Eileen created this image entirely in-camera, with a double exposure and some special effects. 

We were all intrigued by Kate's image of the checkerboard pattern on a seat attached to a picnic bench. This was definitely the longest discussion of the day. 

Once again, Maggie found an image which would work well as the sleeve design for a compilation LP of European electronica. Don't believe me? Check out the sleeve design on this LP. 

It wasn't all photos of angles. Sandra's image of budding leaves has a Van Gogh feel to it.

Ada was unable to join us on the day, so she shared some photos which she took during a previous visit. The original caption on this photos says "Scavenger Hunt at the Meadows". Sounds like an idea for a future week! 

The play areas were a great source of angles to photograph. It was Brian who captured this angle. 

This week it was Alex's turn to get distracted and ignore the theme - but he did find some angular shadows in this image of the graffiti on Meadow Lane. 

Bonus Photos 

Of course, this being spring in the Meadows, the blossom was spectacular. Surprisingly, Eileen and Alex were the only folk to share images of the cherry blossom.