The Collections page contains samples of my photographic images displayed in "theme" galleries. Please check my Blog for all of my posts.
This morning I caught a view of some snow flurries in action. I think that I was able to capture a wintry mood in the image that I am posting today in response to Paula’s latest Lost in Translation Thursday’s Special. Adding some extra grain to the snowflakes makes my vision even more wintry.
This week’s WordPress Photo Challenge inspired me to experiment with some “other world” treatment of a recent image. There is a new pedestrian bridge connecting the Eaton Centre with the Hudson’s Bay store in downtown Toronto. The architectural design of the structure has a space-age look, and adding some blurring to the image gives it that final touch.
Out of This World
I have been working on some images from a walking holiday along the Scottish Borders almost three years ago. By coincidence, these tie in nicely with this week’s Lost in Translation theme of Traces of the Past.
Paula Borkovic posted an image of Melrose Abbey in Scotland. Just downstream along the River Tweed lies Dryburgh Abbey. The abbey is located in a secluded area and is somewhat off the beaten track.
Dryburgh Abbey was founded in 1150 and it was occupied for over 400 years. It was established by a group of canons from Alnwick Priory in Northumberland, and became the mother house of the Premonstratensian order in Scotland [also known as the Norbertines or the White Canons elsewhere]. The abbey was closed following the Scottish Reformation, and the site remained abandoned until it was purchased in 1780 and converted into a landscape garden. The novelist Sir Walter Scott was buried here in 1832. Parts of the abbey are well preserved, and the daffodils are plentiful in the spring.
Further to the south lies Jedburgh Abbey, which is in the centre of Jedburgh and located along the Jed Water. The abbey was founded by a group of French Augustinian canons at about the same time as Dryburgh Abbey. It was established in a prominent location in order to be close to the local king’s palace. This abbey also fell out of use after the Scottish Reformation of 1560, and it was partially dismantled for other purposes. A significant portion of the abbey church remains and is the most visible feature today.
I have been experimenting with the use of textures and other techniques in Photoshop to create a vintage look for these images. I hope that you enjoy them.
There is no more iconic location to celebrate the winter solstice than at Stonehenge in southern England. This is my contribution to Paula’s Lost in Translation Thursday’s Special for the week of December 21, 2017.
Although this photo was not shot in December, it was taken at sunrise. The special effects were mostly accidental – while experimenting with a variable ND filter – which resulted in the red flaring. The blue hue was accentuated using a DXO filter preset. The overall impression – mysterious.
Sometimes a photo challenge topic comes along and you know right away: I have a good example for that.
Here is my submission this week for Paula’s Lost in Translation Black & White Challenge: Shape.
My “shape” is a unique light fixture found in a downtown office building in Toronto. I titled it light spill because it looks like something that spilled on the floor – except this is looking up, not down.
Some blogging photo challenges inspire me more than others. This month I found some inspiration in Paula’s Lost in Translation Black & White Challenge: Ceiling.
Two images from London, England, immediately came to my mind as worthy of posting on my blog. Both ceilings are examples of functional architecture, bringing daylight into a central and otherwise enclosed space.
Covent Garden Market was opened in 1830, and was designed to enclose an outdoor market that had been on the site since the late 17th Century. This photograph was taken in December – hence the Christmas decorations hanging under the skylight.
The Tate Modern Gallery is housed in a repurposed power plant on the south bank of the Thames. The Bankside Power Station was rebuilt after WWII as an oil-fired electricity generating plant, and this skylight was originally located over the turbine room, which is now the main entrance hall to the Tate.
