The O Zone + others

Rob MacKillop

Edinburgh Correspondent
Hexar and Kodak 400TX - no editing. Orange filter on lens.

1. The O Zone - a new art installation in the botanic gardens. At first I wish I'd had a zoom, but now I quite like the way it turned out. It's now about the fear of the new - people approaching it cautiously, even the photographer is hiding in a bush! Apes and Space Odyssey come to mind.

O Zone.jpg



2. A picture of a tram on Princes Street:

tram.jpg



3. Take A Seat. Why this art installation (now two years old) is outside the veterinary school of Edinburgh University, is anybody's guess!

Take A Seat.jpg



3. Hope Cottage: "When Professor John Hope became the fourth Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 1761, he made a momentous decision early on in his tenure: close down the existing small physic gardens at Holyrood and what is now Waverley Station, and create a new, much larger garden on a five acre site on Leith Walk. The move took place in 1763, and at the entrance of the new garden, Hope decided to build a little house which could serve as a gateway for visitors, a home for his head gardener, and a classroom in which he could teach medical students about botany – it would come to be known as the Botanic Cottage...In September 2014 work began on rebuilding the cottage in the RBGE Demonstration Garden, using the historic materials and traditional techniques...With a flourishing education programme for schools and students, as well as special community gardening projects such as the Edible Garden, RBGE is committed to helping people learn more about the world of plants. The Demonstration Garden is the outdoor hub for these activities, and with the new spaces created in the Botanic Cottage – including two new teaching and community rooms in the historic building, and two additional spaces in newly built wings on either side – opportunities for engagement will be greatly increased. It is hoped that people of all ages and backgrounds will make use of the new centre, with access and activities free of charge."

Work in progress:

Cottage.jpg


4. The floor - sun dappled:



ground.jpg


5. Dark Above - Light Below. One of my favourites for quite a while. It came out exactly how I hoped it wood.

leaves.jpg

6. Trees Playing Hide And Seek...or something like that:

Hide And Seek.jpg



I hope you like them :)
 
Yes I like them Rob, some more than others. The bottom two set my imagination flowing and like how the house being renovated comes across as quite a historical image, probable captured in the tones rather than the subject.
 
I do like them. All of them! I like Dark Above-Light Below especially Rob. In particular how the shimmery leaves contrast against the wall behind them. That you shot for this look and got it is great!
 
Cheers, Brian. It's gratifying when things turn out the way you planned them, especially when you don't see the result for a week or more! I've discovered I like not knowing for a week or so after shooting. When you eventually see the shots, you can be a little more objective in appraising them. And often a bit surprised.
 
Cheers, Brian. It's gratifying when things turn out the way you planned them, especially when you don't see the result for a week or more! I've discovered I like not knowing for a week or so after shooting. When you eventually see the shots, you can be a little more objective in appraising them. And often a bit surprised.
I'm looking forward to seeing what's on the rolls I have sitting about. I have been shooting but not developing much. I just took a count and I have 27 rolls of exposed but undeveloped film. Some color some B&W most 35mm but a couple of 120. I may start processing this coming weekend. The mystery of it all is exciting.
 
Maybe it's me. or maybe it is the impact of the first image on the others, but I do find this a quite suspenseful set. Which I like at lot. And that first really is a fine mood setter - The Owl Service comes to mind - and the wide view works very well I think. Love all the watchers and suspended action in the second - still has that mood - reflected in the sculpture / explosion in the third. The House! Are they traces or just light and the mysterious woods behind that dark and forbidding wall. Fabulous stuff. :)
 
I had to look up the Owl Service - missed that one, but it sounds interesting.

Glad you like them, Pete. I guess they are a series of sorts, all done in one walk.

Paul - I never thought of that sculpture as an animal. It seems like yours us the creative mind.
 
OK, here are some thoughts nine years later...

At first I wish I'd had a zoom
I know what you mean. On all of my film cameras I only have whatever the "normal" lens is, so that means either a nifty-fifty for the 35mm's or an 80mm for the Mamiya and the Perkeo. I've got my eye on one of three Canon 70-210 zooms rated as very good cosmetically and fully-functional at my local film camera store.

Interesting that the shot you wrote the most about seems to need all those words because the image itself is sort of plain.

I really like the ones numbered: 4, 5 & 6.

I hope you're doing better each day Rob!
 
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