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Photographing Edinburgh

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

In contrast to the previous week in Glasgow, the weather in Edinburgh was glorious. It was hot and sunny and the light was glorious. Was in Edinburgh for a research grant meeting and whilst there was lots to do during the day, there was also some downtime that allowed me to photograph this beautiful city. There is a mixture of night time views and sunny views from Calton Hill over the Forth. It was challanging to get some good photographs done as the city was brimming with tourists but the sights of the city won in the end.

Street Scene
The Waverley Commute
Early in Market Street
Colours of the Night
Greyfriars Bobby
Calton Hill
View of the Forth (featured by BBC Scotland)
Old and the new being built
Cranes over the city
The Scott Monument
Categories blog

Photographing Glasgow

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

I just love going up to Scotland and the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh are so different but rather wonderful in their own particular way. First stop was Glasgow and I was there for a conference in September. I stayed in the City for the week and then Sandy came to join me on the Saturday. The Conference was at the University of Glasgow which is very photogenic with its imposing Gothic structure overlooking the city. Some of the lecture theatres were also surreal such as the Kelvin Gallery which had a definite Steampunk feel to it. After the conference we went up to Loch Lomond to visit friends and even though it was misty, the magic of the scenery was there to see.

Grafitti greeting
Glasgow University
Steampunk lecture theatre
Glasgow Town Hall
Scottish Dancing
The weather was good on some of the days! (featured by BBD Scotland)
Early morning on the Clyde (featured by BBC Scotland)
The beauty of Loch Lomond
Categories blog

Photographing Berlin

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

I am fortunate that I am able to visit different places and one such place is Berlin.  It is a city that cries out to walk around and I did one better by doing a lot of running around the city.  I ran to the Brandenburg gate, Reichstag and along the river.  When not running photographic opportunities presented themselves on the conference river cruise and next to the bus stop.  What I particularly enjoyed were the sunrises which were particularly spectacular.  Most of the photography was done with my iPhone whilst running or using my Sony compact camera which is still working well in captured the moments of the city.

View of a tram from my hotel room
Early morning runs had added benefits such as lovely light
Abstract shapes and reflections
View from the boat trip
The Brandenburg gate with the early sunrise

Categories blog

Watchful Mary

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

Watergate bay the last night and we went out for a nice pub meal. On the way back we stopped off at the Watergate Bay hotel. They have opened a bar called Watchful Mary. It seemed that the night was going to be overcast and worse still the bar was crowded so we huddled up under blankets on the outside seats. As the sun went down the clouds parted and there was a spectacular sunset which lasted around 20 minutes. It was a great finish to the holiday.

Categories blog

St Agnes and the Tin Mines

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

We spent a delightful morning in St Agnes followed by a trip to Wheal Coates Tin mine. These pictures are rather special as I have wanted to visit the Tin mine and see it for myself. The scenery is beautiful but the thoughts go back to all those people who worked these mines over the years. This is owned by the National Trust and looks impressive against the natural backdrop of the sea. The colour of the heather adds to the pictures.

Cornish Streets
Red box, White house
Flowers in the street
The path to the mine
The mine appears
Od Buildings
Chimney
Wheal Coates mine and its stunning backdrop
Reach for the Sky
More stunning scenery
The picture that I love
Categories blog

Deconstructed Landscape

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

I like this assignment that I was given by a 52 weeks of photography group that I am a member of on Flickr. This was to tty out a new way of exploring a landscape. The idea is to create a composite of multiple pictures of a landscape that you’ve taken during a short walk through it. It was a simple job of taking many shots of the Watergate Bay beach landscape. I found lots of views that caught my eye. It was also great fun assembling this selection of pictures. 

Categories blog

Streets of Newquay

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

I had a wander around the streets of Newquay and this is what I found. Lots of shops, amusement parks and pastie shops. I enjoyed the seaside feel to the place. I also found the plaque commemorating the filming of the Magical Mystery Tour by the Beatles in Newquay. Sometimes my street photography works other times it is not quite there. I think these shots are OK but I could have done with a few more close ups. I was more attracted to the shops themselves than the people. The train station was a quaint place

A crowded summer street
lots of Bargains
Cornish pasties
Surf hire
Plaque commemorating the Beatles Magical mystery tour
Amusements
Your friendly Argos
More bargains
Flotation devices
More Amusements
More Surf Hire
Newquay Station
Newquay station

The Huer’s Hut above the town is a 14th Century look out for large shoals of pilchards. They would shoot out to the fishermen who would set sail immediately. It looked very dramatic against the sky

Huer’s Hut
Dramatic white brick against sky

I also “lost” my son-in-law James as we got confused as to where we were going to meet. Luckily I found him in a BT phone box trying to phone me as his mobile has run out of charge.

An amusing picture.
Categories blog

Watergate Bay – The Beach

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

It has taken some time to sort out the holiday photographs so here they are. First off is our arrival at Watergate Bay. As soon as we had unpacked then we all headed off to the beach to have some fun. It was wet and windy but as the pictures show that did not distract from the fun.

Sky meets Water
Silhouettes
Happiness
Three surfers
I love my Mum
Not sure about this, Mummy
We do like to be beside the seaside
First look at the sea
Getting the hang of this
Walk across the sands
Categories blog

Photographing Kuala Lumpur

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

I was in Kuala Lumpur for a conference. We were located in the south of the city centre and there whilst there was lots of entertainment in the evening there was not an opportunity to see the city. The last day gave me that chance and I headed into the city.

Traffic everywhere
Parts of the city were heavily built up
Monorail commuters
Motorbikes everywhere
Yellow Shutters

Unfortunately I had not been able to book a visit to the top of the Petronas Twin Towers. Instead I took pictures of the area outside the Towers. At night the area surrounding them teams with people. There is a light and water show with the Towers acting as an impressive background to the many people gathered there. On the last day whilst deciding what to visit, I read in my guide book a comparison between the Twin Tower experience and the Menara tower which is just as impressive. On balance it said the the Menara Tower experience had the edge, so I headed there. There are many photographic opportunities to be had as you wander around the city and in in spite of the bright sun, there was a mix of beautiful buildings and large open spaces to photograph. Access to the Menera tower was not difficult and after a 30 min wait we were up to the top with terrific views of the city including the Twin Towers. The highlight of the visit to the Menera Tower was a glass sky box which was off the edge of the top. A weird experience seeing the drop under you feet but also great fun.

Menara Tower
At the top
Skybox looks scary
Some people were well prepared.
A great view of the Petronas Twin Towers

Following the Tower we made our way back to the Central Market and strolled around the centre of the city. Moving about was relatively easy once I understood the monorail system which provided scenic views of the city.

Central Market
Stores Galore
Inside Central Market
Clothing
Trophies, mugs, photo frames
Feet and Shoes
Caligraphy
The City River
Some KL locals

Whilst there was lots to do during the long days of the conference, we were entertained royally by our hosts. On both evenings of the conference we had dazzling concerts.  The first was orchestrated by the dental students and the second had professional entertainers. On the second night the violinist, Joanne Yeoh, lit up the room with her virtuoso performance. Joanne is well known in Malaysia and has released several recordings. She looked very striking with her blue dress, short hair and modern violin. Her violin playing was incredible and captivating. Here are a few photographs of her performing on the evening.

Captivating music
Joanne Yeoh
Beautiful stage effects
Lights on
Categories blog

Winterbourne revisited

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

I am catching up with my photographs. I visited Winterbourne house in July and the flowers were in full bloom. This photographic journey features the Nut walk. I used a lensball to create the effect at the end of the network which provides a natural frame to the house. Following this I moved onto the flower beds near to and around the glass houses. There were several damsel flies flitting in and around the flowers. It is always a fascinating place to visit and has featured in previous blogs.

A place to pass the time away
more flowers
Worker bee is very busy
In full bloom
Damsel fly
The oriental garden in the lower reaches of the garden
View over the lake adjacent to Winterbourne
Natural framing of the house from the Nut walk
View of the house via a lens ball
The Nut walk
View of Winterborne from the garden (selected for BBC midlands weather)

A previous visit to Winterbourne House

https://damienwalmsley.com.dream.website.dream.website/winterbourne-house-worth-a-visit/
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