I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit London several times and I always enjoy my visits. This is the view from the Westminster bridge looking across to the London Eye. If you have never been there, even with the scale of the multi-story building standing to it’s right, it’s hard to get a perspective how large the Eye actually is. It’s about 40 stories tall and each of the capsules holds about two dozen people. The post in the foreground is actually part of the Westminster Bridge. If you check out one of my previous post with a view of the House of Commons (here) you can see this bridge on the right side of the frame and the posts on top of each bridge column.
Walking through the the Long Room in the Old Library at Temple College has to rank in my top 10 experiences. The library is known for housing ‘The Book of Kells’ that dates back to around the 8th Century, but is also contains about 200,000 other ancient books. I am so very thankful to have been given the privilege to be able to actually photograph this magical place. Typically no photographs are allowed. I did have to sign a release that states that I may not sell any of the images. So this is the only one of my thousands of photographs that I can show you, but you cannot purchase. I am just glad that I have this photograph to transport me back to this wonderful place. For those that are interested, this is actually a 5 exposure HDR.
One beautiful evening in London I took a stroll along the Westminster Bridge and across the river Thames. I found a great spot to take in the view of the House of Commons and Big Ben with their reflections in the river.
As I was posting this I noticed the time on Big Ben (and my camera data). I was surprised that only 45 minutes had passed since I took my Big Ben Bus image that I posted here previously. It’s amazing how quickly the light and cloud patterns change, giving the two images such a different ‘feel’. Which do you prefer?
Today marks the anniversary of the completion of the world famous clock tower often referred to as ‘Big Ben’ at Parliament in London. To get technical, ‘Big Ben’ is actually the name of the famous bell in the tower. Regardless, 150 years ago today the famous clock was started & it has been keeping time ever since.
Another beautiful place in beautiful Scotland. This bridge is actually on the Balmoral Estate. Beverly & went on a great Land Rover tour of the estate & our wonderful guide John told us all about the bridge & the place. Unfortunately, I was focusing on making a beautiful image vs. what John was saying… so I did a better job on capturing the image than I did capturing th history. If I am not mistaken, the bridge was built as a gift to Queen Victoria, but don’t quote me on that…
Eilean Donan Castle is very near the bridge from the mainland of Scotland to the Isle of Skye. We arrived late in the afternoon when the tide happened to be out so where I was standing to take the photo is very often under water. I would love to go back when the tide is in the the light is a bit better to get a reflection of the castle in the loch. Eilean Donan Castle is quite possibly one of the most photographed Castles in the world. Unlike Dunnottar Castle from my earlier post, the Eilean Donan Castle was completely restored in the early 1900 & gives a glimpse of what it may have been like has been like to actually live in the castle.
When driving in Scotland on the northern portion of the Isle of Skye, the major highways consist of single lane roads with passing points every hundred yards or so to allow you or an oncoming vehicle to pull over so that another vehicle may pass. (You can see one in the distance near the sign in the lower photo.)
In the middle of this rural landscape amongst the sheep & green fields, in the middle of ‘nowhere’, stands this big red phone booth. Perhaps it’s for emergencies, perhaps it remains from a time when many of the local farm houses did not have phone service. In any case, it’s a great reminder of the wonderful simplicity of this beautiful Isle.
Perhaps it’s because she is pretty much a city girl, but Beverly found watching the lambs romp around the green fields of Scotland one of her favorite parts of our trip. There is something very maternal about this image of a few sheep & their lambs playing on a beautiful spring morning.
Perhaps in my earlier post I should have said “Scotland is the land of Sheep & Castles”. This particular lady was posing for us & showing off her nice coat & sexy legs. All she needs is some nice pretty stripped woolen socks.
Nearby, these adorable kids were playing.
You can’t drive far in Scotland without seeing a Castle. Some are ‘new’ (using the term ‘new’ rather loosely) , some are old, some are beautiful homes, some were designed as fortifications. Dunnottar Castle on the east coast in Kincardine near the town of Stonehaven falls into the relic category. At least to me, Dunnottar looks like a castle is ‘supposed’ to look. (Perhaps that’s why I took so many photos…) It sits on a large promontory overlooking the sea. It’s beautiful, yet somewhat ominous looking. At one time it was essentially a very small village for the members of the family of one of the most powerful families in Scotland. Dunnottar was one of the homes of the Earls Marischal, from the 14th century when Sir William Keith, the 1st Earl Marischal, built his Tower House, also known as the Keep. It also holds quite a history having been visited by William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots as well as many other including John Rogers & Beverly Straub. I would love to have seen it a few hundred years ago.
Since Dunnottar was so photogenic, I’ll go ahead & post a couple of more images… This one was taken looking out the “master bedroom” window.
And one more for today. This is a shot of what was once the ‘smithy’ or black smith shop.
(If you look closely, you’ll note he was a romantic & decorated his shop walls with flowers.)
