wondering–breadth or depth

I’ve been thinking about learning new things – how many courses and workshops are available and how to choose (I’m signed up for 2 in February that I’ll share mid-month). 

and it got me to thinking about the choice of knowing ‘something about everything or everything about something’.  I’m definitely on the ‘something about everything’ side of the continuum – what about you?

totally unrelated photo but it makes me smile – public sculpture in Dundee – penguins because of the city’s connection with ships that explored Antarctica (OK perhaps there is a link – I like to know something about all kinds of things!)

Zoom in on the waves

more shots over the Firth of Forth today - looking towards Edinburgh this time. I was fascinated with watching the waves form as the hightide hit the sand which is full of birds at low tide

while I was zoomed in on the waves a flock of birds flew back an forth just skimming the water so I've used them for a second pair - zoom and double zoom (on the computer)

Looking forward to another lovely range of subject matter from all of you lovely ladies who are sharing this meme - I smile each time I see another link added - thank you.

smile magic

I can’t help but smile when I see a rainbow

I remember, a long time ago, when I lived in Liverpool – I was going home on the bus on one of those grey days when everyone feels subdued and the bus turned the corner and bang in the middle of the view out of the front window was a big rainbow and you could feel the whole bus smile and perk up.

I had thought of using this for zoom in, zoom out.  But, mindful of all the media chatter about the Mondays of January being the most depressing of the year, I thought I’d share the smile magic for the last Monday of January.

choose

One of the ‘entertainments’ we organised for Christmas was a sheet of pairs where you had to choose one.

Some were very specific to family interests and knowledge – Warhammer : lego

Some were the least worst -  sarcasm : anger

Some were straight forward – sweet : savoury

here is part of my sheet – I highlighted the option that I prefer.

What about you? which would be on your bucket list of things to see northern lights or solar eclipse ?

would you rather read the book or see the film?

Zoom Out to see the artist

out walking last week I noticed some fabulous abstract art in a rather unexpected place

the 'accidental artist' was a combination of layers of paint applied and removed plus the actions of the sea the the bottom fin of the boat (which I am sure has a name - keel?).  Having spotted one I walked around all the other boats - most of them are up on the land rather than in the sea, I assume because of recent very high tides and storms.  People were working on some of the boats but undeterred I photographed some more of these wonderful abstracts - I can imagine them on the walls of a gallery in the posh part of town

I'm really enjoying all the different subject matters being shared in zoom in zoom out photos and how some start with the wide shot and some with the close shot.  Thank you.

I'm linking this post to Nature Footstep's Wednesday abstract this week too.

Zoom in on abundance

Mum saw these blackthorn bushes laden with berries the other week and suggested they would make a good topic for my zoom in and out so we made use of a beautifully sunny day to take a drive to see them.  I'm not sure why they are called blackthorn when they have orange berries - but they are stunning and I do love the colour contrast of a strong orange and blue

I'm loving all the different ways that people are using this meme and the glimpses we are gaining into different seasons and lives.

On the bright side

Rather than bemoan the dark  mornings I resolved to enjoy the  sunrise
[thanks to Abi for the invite to share a photo and up to 20 words]

Zoom out at the nature lagoon

Wow, what a response to zoom in, zoom out with so many posts popping up and intentions to participate sometimes, monthly and weekly.  I’m delighted to see so many takes on this meme and welcome the regular and occasional contributors. 



As there are so many wanting to take part, and it is fun to see how others are using the zoom in, zoom out idea I’ve included a linky on this post.




And so to my contribution.  One of the local places that I walk with my Dad (an avid birdwatcher) is a local lagoon, bird scrapes and bird hides created on top of all the soil excavated when the power station along the coast was built (early 1960s).


Looking out from the bird hide was a perfect opportunity for my pair this week.  I zoomed in to see the flock of oyster catchers and then zoomed out to show the terrain and what you would see it you were just looking without a camera or binoculars.  The oystercatchers are the black stripe half way up on the right.





Looking forward to seeing how others have zoomed in and out this week.

5 in the sky

Joining Sandie for her fun 5 in 5 monthly meme.

I decided I’d like a theme while snapping on my daily walk by the river.  With a low sun and lots of bare trees I decided to look up and seek strong dark shapes.

with the tangled branches,

crows commanding the high spot,

and the pigeon flock swooping around

and a touch of sunlight gilding the clouds behind the chimney pots

and more bare branches

Thanks Sandie for the prompt to take a series of photos and pick the 5 best.  Thinking I’ll repeat this exercise when there are leaves on the trees and a bluer sky

December in numbers

Time for the monthly chance to indulge in counting strange things in company, thanks to Julie

and as I’ve included the 1st and last item each month I know that I read 66 books – I’ve never kept a count before but guess that would be fairly normal for me.  I took 4 032 photos on my camera, compared to 2 961 the year before – not sure why I took so many more this year, can’t just me all the up and down pairs!

and just for the sheer exuberance of it – my favourite firework photo from the 31st

Thanks to Julie for this fun meme which I intend to continue for 2014

Zoom in at the torchlight parade

Welcome 2014 and a very happy new year to you all.

Hogmanay celebrations are big business in Edinburgh but on the 30th the council organises a massive free torchlight parade through town, including 8,000 torches sold for charity. I’d been once before and really enjoyed it and remembered to book torches early this year as they sell out before Christmas. It seemed to be the perfect event for my first pair for my 2014 meme – zoom in, zoom out.

In this case I took the wide shot first and then zoomed in for some detail.

Looking forward to a new perspective on photos for this meme and to seeing how others use it through the year.

I’ve created a blog button, you can  copy the image – I gave up creating the html code on the sidebar after half an hour of trying – will try again next week