Fringe After Dark

Posted on September 3, 2026 by Joe

The Fringe after dark…

Coming out of a Fringe show at the Teviot (the student union building for Edinburgh Uni, which resembles the Edinburgh branch of Hogwarts), I took some time to walk around Bristo Square and nearby George Square after dark, the area busy and lit up with food stalls and vans and housing temporary performance venues for many Fringe shows.

(above: “Hiya, Pals!” – Fringe banner hanging off Teviot at night during the festival. Below: McEwan Hall, where my graduation ceremony took place a lifetime ago, lit up during the festival)

Jazz Under the Bridge

Posted on July 25, 2026 by Joe

Walking with a friend a few days ago, we passed down King’s Stables Road, which runs around the west of Castle Rock, then passes under the King’s Bridge, right below the Castle. The bridge is an old, stone structure, with a long, tunnel-like arch, and this saxophonist was playing some cool jazz under it.

I’ve seen some musicians play here before, including another jazz player (possibly the same chap) – it isn’t the best for busking in terms of footfall, compared to nearby streets, but the acoustics of that long, stone arch are incredible, especially to an instrument like a sax. And it makes for a cool pic…

Edinburgh Canal Festival

Posted on June 28, 2026 by Joe

My chum and I had a nice stroll along the annual Edinburgh Canal Festival the other weekend – after days of rainy showers, the sun came out, hot and strong that weekend. The festival itself felt smaller than previous years, not least because the Raft Race, which is what started the whole thing (existing before th festival grew around it) is now taking place on a different date, so it felt like crowds were smaller, there were less stands and fewer bands etc (and it all finished fairly early in the afternoon compared to previous years)

That said, we still had a great time, had some nice food and drinks (someone was making proper, fresh fruit-filled Pimms, a perfect summer sunny day drink!), enjoyed some of the bands and browsed the stalls, while taking pics (my friend wanted a go with the camera too).

Band entertaining the crowds around Lochrin Basin, where the canal now ends

Jazz band I have photographed at previous Canal Festivals was back, with some swinging tunes!

I was delighted to see our smiling mermaid was back again this year. We pointed her out to some small kids near us, and she waved to them – their faces lit up!

Even the barges became stages for entertainment!

Kayak fun!!

Ball right in the net!!!

I rarely appear in front of the camera, preferring to be behind the lens, but my chum wanted a go with the camera and took this shot of me, with a child apparently growing out of my head!

One of my swan chums decided to join me!!

Light waves reflecting off the sunny water onto the curved underside of the old, arched, stone bridge

And a slo-mo video of the same, because it was kind of gently mesmerising.

Waiting On The Evening Bus

Posted on August 8, 2025 by Joe

Waiting on the night bus home, Fountainbridge, Edinburgh

Future’s So Bright…

Posted on May 31, 2023 by Joe

I study nuclear science
I love my classes
I got a crazy teacher
He wears dark glasses
Things are going great, and they’re only getting better
I’m doing alright, getting good grades
The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades
I gotta wear shades
I’ve got a job waiting for my graduation
Fifty thou a year’ll buy a lot of beer
Things are going great, and they’re only getting better
I’m doing alright, getting good grades
The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades
I gotta wear shades
Well I’m heavenly blessed and worldly wise
I’m a peeping-tom techie with x-ray eyes
Things are going great, and they’re only getting better
I’m doing alright, getting good grades
The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades
I gotta wear shades

Timbuk3.

People watching along the Union Canal on a very warm, sunny, spring evening, so many people in sunglasses, which always makes me think of the classic 80s pop song, “Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades” by Timbuk3.

The Night Tram

Posted on April 29, 2023 by Joe

Walking home from my book group recently, darkness had just fallen. I didn’t have my main tripod with me, but did have my wee Gorilla mini-tripod, with its bendy legs, and thought some scenes of people waiting for the evening trams in Saint Andrew Square would look good in monochrome, so I sat the mini-tripod on a handy post to raise it up, set the timer and crossed my fingers…

As I was zooming in more on the people waiting on the platform, I heard the rumbling of an approaching tram, so I left the camera on a long exposure, so you get that nice contrast between the stationary platform and people standing still, and the blurred motion of the tram passing them, which I quite liked:

A second tram arrived while I was still shooting, so I got a twin-tram snap for the last pic. Not the greatest, but not bad for semi-improvised night shots. As ever, for the larger versions, click on the pics to see them on the Woolamaloo Flickr stream.

I switched back to shooting in colour for this pic, just a couple of moments walk from the previous ones, looking towards the buildings on the south side of Saint Andrew Square, but also managed to get one of the cherry blossom trees into frame, the branches loaded with sakura, hanging over the railings of the now-closed gardens:

Autumn arrives

Posted on September 25, 2022 by Joe

Autumn is really making itself felt as we move into late September; chillier in mornings and evenings now, although still quite pleasant temperatures in the main part of the day. Glorious, golden autumn sunlight quite often, and on those days it brings out the colours as the trees begin to turn, and it’s just utterly beautiful.

With such lovely autumn sunshine, people were making the most of it, enjoying pavement cafe culture in Bruntsfield, before the weather and temperatures slide further and it becomes too uncomfortable to sit outside the cafes and bars (at least not without a coat on!).

As always, you can click on the pics to see the far larger version on the Woolamaloo Flickr stream – now well north of 24, 000 photos!

Fun on the Water

Posted on June 1, 2022 by Joe

Sitting on a bench by the side of the Union Canal on a very fine evening, reading. Hear some splashing, look over and see a kayaker coming along, enjoying the spring evening. Managed to grab the camera for some very quick pics as he came towards where I was, then turned as he passed and saw a traditional “Indian” style canoe coming the other way.

They both moved over to give each other plenty of space, passing with friendly smiles and waves, all enjoying a very welcome evening of warm sunlight after several days of rain and wind.

And while we’re on the canal theme, here’s a nice bookend to my recent photos of this year’s new cygnets – this year’s new ducklings on the Union Canal! All looking unbelievably cute and fluffy, also looks like I caught one of them here mid-quack!

As ever, click on the pics to see the much larger version on the Woolamaloo Flickr site (now over 24, 000 photos!)

Dreich Night

Posted on December 1, 2021 by Joe

Walking back from my long-running book group on a cold, very wet winter’s night through the New Town, I was heading for the bus stops on Princes Street late evening. Despite the pouring rain and the hour, there were still a few folks going around the festive market on the Mound and Princes Street Gardens, most clustered around the food stalls.

As I was coming from my book group, I wasn’t carrying my tripod, so all these night shots were freehand, with the zoom, in the rain – not exactly ideal situation for taking nice, clear, sharp shots, of course! But you take wat you can get with street photography, which left me with a choice of rough shots or nothing. The way the rain and the lights made the streets glisten was too irresistible though, so I fired off a few shots – perhaps the roughness of the shots actually suits this kind of night street photo (even if it doesn’t though, it was all I could manage with what I had!).

(as ever, click on the pics to view the much larger version on my Flickr)

Life by the Canal

Posted on July 4, 2021 by Joe

The last couple of months have seen the usual yearly increase in wildlife along the Union Canal, not far from my flat in Edinburgh. Ducks with fluffy wee ducklings, the Moorhens and their little chicks calling to them among the reeds, and of course our resident breeding mute swan couple who have been on this stretch for some years now, with their 2021 brood of cygnets, which have gone from smaller than my hand a few months ago to almost as big as Mama Swan now. As ever click the pics to see the larger sized versions on the Woolamaloo Flickr page.

It’s rather wonderful to have all this, right in the heart of a major city, we’re very, very fortunate to have it on our doorsteps, little slices of natural beauty in the middle of the urban jungle, a once polluted, dirty, industrial waterway now home to pleasure craft, houseboats and a great refuge for wildlife.

Of course, all this wildlife attracts the attention of the local apex predators!

And naturally it is a great place for Edinburgh citizens to enjoy a stroll by the water and to see the wildlife (always makes my day a little better to see the swans and ducks and their young). Some don’t even just stroll by the water – this chap stretched out in his canoe and let it idly drift while he snoozed happily in the warm sunshine!

Others prefer to walk, cycle, or run alongside the canal, or simply sit by it in the sunlight, or read. I like to walk along to the floating cafe-barge, The Watershed, and get a coffee and flapjack there, sit by their open air tables by the water with my latte and a book before walking home. Great stretch for a wee promenade.

I can teach you to skateboard!!! I love the look of joy on their faces.

Pause the walk for a rest and coffee and a read at The Watershed, the floating cafe-barge by the old Leamington Lift Bridge.

Festive Market

Posted on December 18, 2019 by Joe

There’s been a festive market for quite a few years now in Edinburgh – it started as a small, traditional German Christmas market around the plaza on the Mound by the galleries, and a small part of the adjacent east Princes Street Gardens. However in recent years, especially under the events company Underbelly (which has been a major player in the Festival Fringe for years) it has expanded dramatically as part of a larger festive and Hogmanay programme.

We’re well used to disruption from the festivals in the summer – Edinburgh is, after all, home of the largest arts festival on the planet (and the largest literary festival and the longest continually-running film festival). But the scale and the disruption it causes is starting to seriously anger many citizens, and the complacent response from the promoters and council lackeys isn’t helping. This year the entire east Gardens has been covered in the festive market and fair, so that entire, huge space which is meant to be a shared green space held in common good for the people is anything but. Meanwhile the promoters are, two weeks or more before the events, preparing the west Gardens for the New Year concerts and have fenced off huge swathes of it. So now the public cannot access most of that green space either, both given over to crass, commercial ventures aimed purely at tourists and meanwhile robbing Edinburgh citizens of their entitled green public space that belongs to them

Oh and did I mention the market is illegal?? The promoters didn’t apply for the building permit they require for an erection on this scale, and they and the council kept this quiet, but it leaked out and the local heritage bodies highlighted it, forcing the council and Underbelly to respond, albeit in bleating, weak, pathetic ways, giving no credible reason for such incompetence on the part of both bodies. Then it turns out the same happened last year but they kept that quiet too. Meantime in related events a festive event on the Royal Mile saw huge blocks of stacked freight containers dumped on the middle of this historic area and the streets closed off. The organisers didn’t bother to tell local businesses though, who found out their staff couldn’t even get to work because of this (yet the organisers keep telling us how much these events help “local business”).

Still, much as I have gone from originally liking the early versions of the traditional German market to loathing the vulgar, hiugely commercial monster that now robs our city of its open spaces and allows greedy commercial companies to hijack entire public areas of our city for their own use while castigating citizens for daring to be concerned – not to mention angry – at this, it does make a good spot for some nocturnal people-watching photos (I take pics around it, but I am not buying anything there).

Three Wise Men?

Posted on February 16, 2019 by Joe

Down at Portobello with friend and his hounds for a stroll on a windy but sunny (and very mild for February) afternoon. On the way back to the car we noticed these three chaps in white robes, carrying staffs – we had seen a similar sight a year or two ago around this spot on the beach, although last time it was a larger group of men and women, all similarly attired.

As with the previous time we’d seen this, they walked down towards the shoreline, then stood facing out to sea, singing to the waters beyond. I have no idea what the ceremony was about, I’m presuming it is religious. When I posted some photos of the previous group I had witnessed on my Flickr a couple of years back a friend on there commented he didn’t know what the purpose was exactly, but he had seen this ceremony carried out when he was on the coast of western Africa.

Whatever it was, it was certainly different from the normal groups of joggers and do-walkers! Another good reason to always have the trusty camera with me in my satchel…

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Tag Archives: people watching