North Berwick

May 2024, venue - North Berwick 

Theme - Off Centre

Weather - It didn't actually start raining till we were on our way home. 

Refreshments - Seabird Centre

It was touch and go whether we would make it to North Berwick as the weather forecast was all over the place. But we decided to risk it, and the risk paid off with the rain-soaked streets and flowers giving us some beautiful colours to work with. The theme was a bit of a flop though. 

Alex's heavily-edited interpretation of St Andrew's Church went down well. The vintage feel was the result of some lengthy work in Affinity Photo. His other image is a view of the old changing rooms at the outdoor swimming pool. 

Sandra's photo of a rain-soaked tulip brought out all the lovely colours. Her more subdued image of the Bass Rock deserves to be viewed full-screen: look at all those gannets flying round the rock! 

Brian spent some time photographing the rocks by the harbour. I'm surely not the only person who sees an alligator in the shape of that rock formation in the second photo? 

Maggie's first photo of a path at the foot of Berwick Glen captures a feel of modern sculpture: compare it with the Landform at Modern One in Edinburgh. Her second photo gave us our theme for next week: Looking Through. 

Eileen was unable to join us on the day, so she shared some photos from a recent Urban Landscape course which she has been attending. The tutor told her that the first image was "a still life, not an urban landscape". Damn fine photo though. 

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. 

Dr Neil's Garden

 April 2024, venue Dr Neil's Garden, Duddingston 

Theme: Spring. 

Weather: Mix of sunshine and clouds 

Refreshments: The café in Dr Neil's Garden. Don't forget to pick up a bar of home-made tablet to eat later! 

Another easy theme this week. Spring was in almost everything we photographed. Perhaps we'll choose something a little more challenging next time. 

Ada's macro shot of a flower was probably the best shot of the week. 

Maggie used a combination of filters in Photoshop Elements to create this textured image. 

Colin's macro shot used multiple shades of green to create this restful effect. 

Sandra captured this shot of an awfy fancy tulip! 

Almost all of us photographed this pheasant. This is Alex's photo. 

There's always one person who goes off-piste with the theme! But who could resist this lovely still life which Eileen found in Jock Tamson's Gairden - a collection of community gardens adjoining Dr Neil's Garden. 

Canongate

 March 2024, meeting place Canongate

Theme - History

Weather - Heavy rain was forecast so the plan was to visit the Museum of Edinburgh. In fact it remained dry, with occasional sunshine through the clouds

Refreshments - Scottish Parliament - Pick up an information leaflet for 10% off your bill  

Sandra spotted a secret courtyard accessed from Bakehouse Close 

Sandra's abstract of the Scottish Parliament

Ada was in Bakehouse Close too - she captured this image which will be familiar to Outlander fans everywhere

We do like a good flower photo in the Ageing Well Camera Club. Even in the city centre, we always try to find flashes of colour! This image is by Ada

Alex captured an unseasonal rose - part of a floral tribute on David Rizzio's grave in Canongate Kirkyard 

The Scottish Parliament lends itself well to abstracts - this is Alex's interpretation of the MSP's think pods, Each one is unique 

Alison captured this view of Canongate Kirk's front elevation

And this is Alison's view of Bakehouse Close. See what I mean about it being a morning of clouds and sunshine?

Colin missed this outing - his image of a Black Tailed Godwit was captured at an RSPB reserve near Belfast 

Eileen shared some photos from her recent trip through Vietnam and Cambodia. So much colour compared to our photos of Edinburgh.