Edinbugh: Scotland's Empress of the North

Ancient and modern, hip yet historical, beautiful and edgy. Scotland's so called Empress of the North is one of the jewels in this country's crown. The city is filled with absolutely stunning sights such as medevil, Georgian and neoclassical buildings. Lovely gardens, an extinct volcano and the centre piece of Edinbugh castle.

I had arrived in Edinbugh for Bearscot, a gay bears festival that is held every year and took a few nights to drink heavily and shake my posterior at a variety of night clubs. Whether it was held at the steamy venue of CC Blooms two floor gay night club, the sprawling and subterranean setting of The Caves or the old fashioned watering hole of The Phoenix it was a great excuse to party the night away.

After the event (and my recovery from the subsequent hangover) I made sure I took some extra time to wander around the city with my camera. Immediately I was struck by just how truly lovely the city was. The grand architecture and enchanting sights were superb and I had an awesome afternoon visiting the city's grand castle, followed by a visit to the exquistely atmospheric St Giles Cathedral.

Afterwards I strolled through the city centre's parks and gardens (made particularly interesting by the grand gothic Scott Monument spire that takes pride of place in the park centre). I then headed for Edinbugh's national art gallery and perused some of the finest renaissance, scottish and impressionist artwork that Scotland had to offer.

As a final part of my trip I made sure to take the climb up to Calton Hill, a small steep hill whose top is stewn with stone structures and archaeological oddities that were designed to add a Grecian feel to the city. After taking in the stunning view of the city I climbed back down and made my way back to my hotel.

All in all I had had a fantastic trip to Edinbugh and as I flew back to my home city of Cardiff I left satisfied by my truly enjoyable trip to this grand city.

Through the looking glass

One of the challenges of running a blog on my photography is trying to come up with new subject matters and styles to keep things interesting.

It can feel exhausting fighting a continual creative battle, however when you find a new technique or style there is nothing like the feeling that comes with it. That's why when the inspiration struck to try taking pictures through glass I leapt on it.

The idea was simply enough and I was inspired to try it when I was looking through the glass panels of our front door to the world outside. Immediately everything became distorted and riveted by the glass. Appearing to run as if a painting was left out in the rain.


A lot of my photography revolves around the themes of creating a distorted, abstract or painted world and these photos perfected fitted into those themes and ideas. By doing this I was hoping to take my audience through the looking glass and into a whole new and painted world.

Standing in Lunar's light

The moon has always been a potent mystic symbol, in Buddhism it is the throne upon which Tara sits, in Hinduism it is the jewel on Shiva's brow, in Christianity it is a symbol of chastity and to the greek pagan it was the goddess selene who was all seeing and all wise and an enemy of strife.

I've always felt the pull of the moon, a strange energy that made me want to run wild and dance and celebrate under its glowing light. It was for this reason that I set out last night to capture this feeling, this energy through the lense of my camera. As last night was not only a supermoon but also the night of a lunar eclipse.

I followed its etheral light through trees, across roads, under street lamps and into abandoned parks all to capture its intense glory. The world through my camera went from blue to black to yellow to orange to gold. And still I could only capture a fraction of its glory, this moon and its light.

Maybe I'll always be drawn back to the young man I was, standing outside surrounded by the beauty of nature on a cold crisp autumn night, being bathed in Lunar's light.

Abergavenny: the gateway to South Wales

Based in the rolling green hills of monmouthshire and perched inbetween three beautiful mountains. Abergavenny really is a great place to get away from it all.

Whether its to go hiking, explore the castle ruins, wander around quaint shops or enjoy the food festival that occasionally rolls into town Abergavenny really does have a lot to offer its visiting tourists.

I had had the week off work and so rather then sit around the house I decided to get out and do some hiking. On a whim I took the train to Abergavenny, as it pulled into the station I didn't regret the decision as I was immediately welcomed by beautiful sweeping vistas.

I set my sights on one of the nearby mountains and after procuring some supplies I set off. The path led me over a rushing river, by a beautiful local church and up onto an enchanting canal that was home to some lovely houses and a couple of sleepy looking boats.

After taking some time to wander along the canal I doubled back and followed the trail back up mountain and into some woods straight out of a fairy tale. I've never happier then when I'm in woodland so I relished the chance to be out in nature like this. After stopping to eat some lunch I finally broke the tree line and was rewarded with a great view across to the surrounding far off mountains.

When I was on my way in I didn't realise how close Abergavenny was to where my step father had been laid to rest at the foot of the Skrid mountain and it was a slightly emotional moment for me. Still it was nice to sit and take in the view and think of old times.

Afterwards I took the trail back down into town and over the meadows to Abergavenny castle. Unfortunately it was closed by the time I arrived but its ruined glory was more then enough to enjoy and take photos of. I finished my trip by heading into the town centre itself and nursed a coffee in one of the many shops that lined the centre. The friendly local banter left a smile on my face and as I left for the train I was happy that I had come and explored this beautiful place.

This blog post is in memory of my stepdad Berwyn Rogers, rest in peace Ber.

The sky in the lakeside

I decided to focus on my abstract reflection work again this week, as the last few posts I had done had mostly focused on travel or realistic subject matters. I had noticed on my way into work that I passed a particularly beautiful lake with some lovely reflections.

Setting out with my camera I decided to focus on creating a series of dreamy images of the sky. I've felt in the past that looking up into the sky gives the impression of gazing into some great ocean through which a vessel could glide across a great blue silent sea.

This was what I wanted to create by that lakeside, the dream that instead of standing looking at a lake you might be gazing at another world, one where the horizon and the water's edge blur and becomes instead a never ending sky of water and wind.

The last glen of summer

The last throws of the British summer are upon us, you can feel it in the crispness of the air and the shortening of the daylight hours.

It was with this in mind that I set out to capture the feeling of the last few warm days we have had. The evening had arrived, the day was warm and the sun had sunk into a golden orb which bathed everything in a rich glowing light.

I did this by set the camera on a low shutter speed and gently shaking and twisting the camera. I took a range of pictures that day but the ones I was most drawn to were the ones that turned everything into a richly coloured canvas.

One that could take the summer days and turn them into a painting that could capture the last glen of summer.