Transformation and the River Don

There is just something about large bodies of moving water that becomes even more magical when the light around you is changing. For me they are magical places that speak in poetry and motion. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said that 'my soul is full of longing, for the secret of the sea' and that in speaking the truth about the sea we can't leave out the poetry. And seeing as I am not much of a poet I thought I would give photographing the River Don as it began transforming a try.  

A sneaky peak

For those of you that know me and have some knowledge of my trusty Sony laptop - you will not be surprised to hear that I am struggling to get the old gal to charge again. For those of you who are not acquainted with the situation you may be wondering why on earth I would refer to a not exactly reliable laptop as 'trusty'. Well let's just say that personal experience has shown me that when technology is failing you it never helps to shout choice words, shake it or throw it out the window. Instead I go with the route of lovingly trying to resuscitate it back into a working state with what I hope are comforting words, despite the fact that I want to toss it across the room with a force that would make even Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull F1 car jealous.

Anyway the whole point of this little sidebar story is to explain my lack of blog posts and having only one photograph to put with this post (which I am typing on my very kind sister's laptop). My currently not-charging laptop, which has all my downloading and editing software on it, has put a spanner in the works to put it mildly as I do have tons of photos to post from Dunnottar Castle and a sunset at the River Don. So for now my loving technique does not seem to be doing the job and outside reinforcements may be needed.

Luckily in the few minutes that I did manage to get my laptop charging I quickly jpeged a photo that I took at the River Don this last week. So here you go a sneaky peak of photos to come, I hope you like it!

The River Don rises in the Grampians and flows eastwards through Aberdeenshire to meet the North Sea in Aberdeen, Scotland. 

Snow Days

So for those that don't know yet I found a job and started roughly three weeks ago which would explain my lack of blog posts the last few weeks. But that is going to be changing soon as I am getting the hang of eight to five working days and I will find a way to get some photography in inbetween. I have plans this weekend to go visit Dunnottar Castle.

But in the mean time here are a couple more photos I took when it snowed.

Enjoy!

Not even snow can keep these rugby players from practicing on  the field below Broad Hill.

Flying South to warmer weather perhaps?

Now these guys were just plain crazy! It was snowing and they decided to willingly get into the ocean!

A Dust of Snow

This is a rambling of a few things - thoughts, feelings and mother nature. So with the big move to Scotland life has obviously been full of changes. And seeing as I can only spend so many hours sending out CV's and job hunting I find myself with quite a bit of free time on my hands. 

Camera in hand, I have taken to walking for extended periods of time - which basically means I walk until I am so frozen that if I don't head back to the flat I will be preserved in ice for future generations. 

On Sunday night it started to snow and it was like magic. I sat in my window sill and looked out at the blizzard of tiny crystal flakes so light and soft that they seemed to be coming from everywhere as the wind tossed them around like a tiny boat in an angry sea. The next day I went walking. 

And my feelings of change and wonder of which direction my life is heading were met by a dusting of snow that overnight and engulfed my new home. 

As I walked across the golf course painted white by mother nature the words of Ross Copperman's song 'Holding on and Letting Go' played on the radio.  

Is anybody out there?

Is anybody listening?

Does anybody really know if its the end of the beginning?

The quiet rush of one breath

Is all we're waiting for

Sometimes the one we’re taking

Changes every one before..

It's everything you wanted, it's everything you don't

It's one door swinging open and one door swinging closed

Some prayers find an answer

Some prayers never know

We're holding on and letting go

Like the old saying says when one door closes another door opens. Or was it a window? Well either way it made me realise that in order for your dreams to come true you need to make the best of what you have and  find a way to use it as a starting point. 

As there is always a different way of looking at any situation. 

  

Just for the laugh --- Tescos

So about a week ago, my sister, her boyfriend and I decided to drive to the huge (and when I say huge I mean HUGE) Tescos Exta Store.

And like a photojournalism student who always has her camera on her these days I got a little bored of shopping and decided to observe some shoppers and Tesco staff. Basically I was being a creep and here are come of the photos just for a laugh.  

A world of cheese

 As you can see even the Stig like to have a tan - Desiree this one is for you I just couldn't resist 

Fresh from the sea

I appreciate the uniforms that butchers and fishmongers wear in the UK. It makes the tradition of the profession really stand out and it just looks awesome!

Sailing the North Sea

Sailing the North Sea - taken at Aberdeen Beach 

Now that is what I call an awesome Monday surprise

I just had to share my awesome surprise this morning. I logged onto Facebook to check my news feed (ie. stalk my friends, haha) and clicked on a link that Guy Buttery (an amazing South African folk musician that I photographed in studio at the National Arts Festival) had put up and....................what do you know there were two of my studio photos of him! haha awesome!!
Check it out here and give our local artists some support!

The below two photos are the ones that I took.