Slo-mo rowing

Posted on June 29, 2026 by Joe

The slow motion effect on the phone is cool, but I rarely have any real use for it, However, on a recent recovery walk after the latest round of chemotherapy, I saw some of the University rowing team practising on the Union Canal near Harrison Park. So I nipped up onto the bridge and switched into slo-mo mode to capture this:

Apart from the interesting visuals, the sound is also slowed down, so turn the volume up – you can hear passing traffic, birds, the splashes of the oars, but all slowed down, and about halfway through the ding, ding, ding of a passing cycllist’s bell, but here deepened and drawn out by the slow-mo effect, giving an unusual sound.

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.

Nocturnal Streets

Posted on May 20, 2026 by Joe

Nocturnal streets offer a different face to the daytime version – a busy, central area now quiet, almost no people, little traffic, all but deserted

All the same buildings are there, the traffic lights wink and change in their pattern, regardless of the lack of vehicles passing, but it is all just somewhat different, while still being the same place. I think that’s one of the reasons I like taking long exposure shots at night, it just reveals a version of the city your eye can’t see.

These were all improvised shots – I was coming home late from the cinema, and so no tripod with me. I had ten minutes to wait for a bus, so I set the timer and sat the camera on bollards, ledges and posts to steady it for a few shots while I waited, and this is what I got, all around Edinburgh Quay, the modern buildings around where the Union Canal now ends (although originally it continued on over the main road to an inland port nearby).

Blue Hour Reflections

Posted on March 4, 2026 by Joe

Walking home this week, and while it is still dark by the time I leave work, with it being lighter till a little later every day as we move into spring, there was a smidgen of blue light in the western sky. I didn’t have the tripod with me, so sat the camera in timer mode on the stone wall by the Walker Bridge over the Union Canal, where it runs between rows of Victorian tenements.

And I was lucky enough to catch this gorgeous Moon rise over the Union Canal, as dusk fell, the Moon chasing the setting sun across the sky.

The Fountain Of Youth

Posted on July 19, 2025 by Joe

The Fountain of Youth is not what it used to be…

New Life

Posted on May 15, 2025 by Joe

We lost our old breeding pair of swans on our stretch of the Union Canal a couple of years back, so after many years of taking photos of them, and then their cygnets each spring, for a few years this part was without the welcome, annual event of the birth of new swans each spring.

We’ve had a young pair of swans for a little while now on this part of the canal around Fountainbridge (close to where the Union Canal finally terminates near the city centre), and we’ve been waiting to see if they would actually form a breeding pair and mate successfully. Earlier in the spring some friends alerted me to them building a nest – first time breeding for this pair, and they didn’t pick the best location (it is in quite a busy area, a more isolated part would be better, like the previous pair did). However, we were excited, then when we saw eggs in the nest, and mama swan (Cindy) brooding on them in April, we became excited – would we be seeing new cygnets in the near future?

Well, yes, we did! A little over a week ago, my friend sent me a message to say the first egg had hatched – I had walked past there on the evening before and nothing had happened at that point, so the wee fella was born some time the next morning. He or she was born on the 99th birthday of the wonderful David Attenborough, so we decided to name it Attenborough! I was off that Thursday, so I walked up to the nest location to find several of my friends standing in the sunlight watching, and there was wee Attenborough, less than a day old, nestled up between mama and papa.

And then something even more remarkable – I noticed little Attenborough start moving along to the rear of his parents, something had his attention. It turned out to be the noise of an egg shell cracking – another sibling was being born right as we stood there, with wee Attenborough trying to help by pecking at the shell, then mama started too, and in a moment a little head, slicked by the gunk inside the egg, emerged, then its head flopped tiredly down.

All these years I have taken photos of each year’s cygnets, but I have never actually seen one being born! What a magical moment to witness. These photos are literally capturing the first couple of moments of this small creature’s life on this planet. I couldn’t help but think I was watching something that has been happening for hundreds of millions of years – ninety million years back and this could have been a baby T-Tex or raptor emerging from its egg (birds, after all, are descended from the theropod dinosaurs), and here I was able to witness it and capture it on film to share.

A week later and three eggs have now hatched, but sadly the remaining few have not, and given the last one to hatch was several days ago, and the mama has stopped sitting on them, it seems unlikely they are viable. However the three cygnets are now out with mum and dad (Cindy and Mr G), swimming around near the nest, and enjoying being fed (please, no bread! It’s not good for the birds or the canal – grains, sweetcorn, green leaves etc are best).

So delighted to have these little miracles near us, and looking forward to taking more photos of them as they grow over coming months. And I still can’t get over seeing one actually hatching and entering the world (and on Attenborough’s birthday of all days!).

Nocturnal City Scenes

Posted on February 8, 2025 by Joe

Although we are slowly edging towards spring, with it being lighter for a little longer each day now, it is still dark by the time I leave work, so I have been experimenting with the new camera’s night mode.

Bruntsfield Place at night. Improvised night shot, setting the timer and sitting the camera on a flat-topped traffic bollard to steady it for some long exposure shots. This means you get no choice over angles, as you would with the tripod, but it’s a handy way to take night shots when you don’t have the tripod with you (like when walking home from work!).

Light trails from traffic crossing the junction of Holy Corner, where our old bookshop used to be (it gets its name from the fact there is a church on each corner of the junction)

Reflections on the Union Canal after dark.

Light trails on the Western Approach Road at Fountainbridge

More light trails, this time as traffic passes the Conan Doyle pub at Picardy Place. The pub is named for the creator of Sherlock Holmes, who had his family home near this spot (a statue of Sherlock stands nearby, just a few metres behind the vantage point of this photo, near the tram stop)

Playhouse Theatre at night, then a closer shot as the traffic lights changed and the cars started moving, so I got some more light trails.

A couple of different light trails this time, the line of headlights, the cars themselves ghosted out of the photo, but the camera also picked up these unusual, overlapping light patterns lower in the image, which I rather like.

I am a sucker for a night shot with streetlights glistening on wet roads after rain, especially a monochrome take. Took this the other evening walking home from the railway station after visiting dad.

As ever, to see the full-sized versions, click on the pictures to visit my Flickr stream (which somehow racked up well over a million views last year).

The Moon and Venus, Dancing in the Heavens

Posted on January 4, 2025 by Joe

Walking home from my first day of work of 2025, frigid but beautiful winter’s night, amazingly clear skies, even over the city. Above the Union Canal, which was rapidly icing up, a large, bright, crescent Moon, with an incredibly bright Venus shining right next to it.

As I was coming from work, I didn’t have my tripod with me, so I improvised, setting the timer on the camera, then resting it on the edge of the old, stone bridge over the canal to steady it for a longer exposure, and crossed my fingers. And while it isn’t as good as with the tripod, given it is a makeshift night shot, it’s not too bad:

And this was the view looking east – you can just see Jupiter in the sky above the buildings at the end of the canal in this one, just right of centre:

And a wee zoom in closer to the old Leamington Lift Bridge, and the cold waters starting to freeze over:

As ever, click on the links to see the full-sized versions on the Woolamaloo Flickr stream (now north of 28, 000 photos on there!)

The Twilight Zone

Posted on March 21, 2024 by Joe

Walking home along the Union Canal at Fountainbridge – as March moves on the sunset is a little later each evening, so as I have been heading home from work I’ve caught the extended dusk, the tail end of Blue Hour, when the streetlights have come on, the eastern sky is already darkening, but the western sky still holds some pale blue light and hints of reds and purples from the sun that has just dipped below the horizon.

I took these using the little mini-tripod, the type with the bendy legs. It’s only 3 inches high, and obviously doesn’t give the scope my main tripod can, but unlike that one, this fits into my satchel! Handy when I want to catch low-light or night shots but not have to carry the big tripod around town. Being to tiny I have to use other things to try and raise the height on it, so sitting it on the side of the bridge, or on a bench by the canal. It doesn’t replace my big tripod, but it is a very handy wee addition.

I always love the “ghost” effect caused by moving people when making a long exposure!

This last one wasn’t taken with the main camera and the mini tripod – this was actually taken with my phone camera, as I walked home. I didn’t really expect it to come out, but thought I would try – I set the timer mode, and then steadied it as best I could, sitting the phone on the edge of the bridge. Quite suprised by the result.

Early morning row

Posted on July 30, 2023 by Joe

Kayaker rowing along the Union Canal, and under the Walker Bridge at Polwarth. Spotted on my walk to work, so paused to grab a very brief video clip on the phone camera.

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.

Falkirk Wheel

Posted on January 29, 2023 by Joe

Dad and I had a wee trip to the rather splendid Falkirk Wheel at the weekend. Originally the Forth and Clyde and the Union Canals met here, linked by a series of eleven locks descending the slope. As the canals declined in the late 19th and early 20th century, the locks were finally demolished in the 1930s. As the canals were regenerated in the late 90s and early 2000s (both the waterways and the adjacent towpaths turned into walking and cycling networks), the Falkirk Wheel was created to reconnect these coast-to-coast canals once more. An elegant and practical piece of engineering, this rotating boat lift uses about as much energy as it takes to boil a kettle to lift and lower all that structure, water and boats. Beautiful piece of engineering, which I think can stand proudly with those magnificent 19th century engineering icons. I can imagine the ghost of Brunel looking at this and nodding in approval.

The low winter sun was good for light and for shadows:

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