photography

Rhodes, September 2023

I got married earlier this year -which is something I don’t think i’ve actually mentioned here!?- and for our honeymoon, we went to the Greek island of Rhodes for some long overdue rest, relaxation, and of course sun.

Most of the days on the island were spent at the hotel resort sipping cocktails, swimming in the sea, and sunlounging entire afternoons at a time, and while initially this all felt a little jarring, it was a lifestyle I fell into a little too easily as the days passed. Certainly, I hadn’t realised how much I needed a holiday until I was away and completely unplugged from everything.

We stayed at the excellent Atrium Prestige- a remote complex carved into the coast on the south of the island, a base the kind James Bond villains could only dream of. We were fortunate to squeeze in a few excursions too, one, to Rhodes town itself for a walking tour of the medieval architecture and night markets, and two, to the town of Lindos for rooftop cafes and a climb to the Akropolis.

Both were great and definite must-dos on the island…though sadly didn’t have any pools or loungers.

Isle of Skye, March 2023

In March earlier this year I got to visit the Isle of Skye for the first time, making the pilgrimage west to take part in Misty Isle Bricks, a TartanLUG Lego show. It was the first show of it’s kind in Skye, and though only a one day event, I greatly enjoyed the rest of my weekend on the island, making the absolute most of my time there.

I found Skye incredbly inspiring- stunning views, interesting folklore, and something cultural/historic around each corner- so naturally there were lots of photos. And lots of walking too! Some of the most i’ve done in some time, going up hills, through muddy fields, and down scree paths.

Arriving mid afternoon on the Friday -and before check-in!- I climbed The Storr. Saturday was the show of course, but also a visit to Uig. Sunday was home-time, but some further driving first, with a trip to the Fairy Pools. Throughout, I resided centrally over the weekend, staying at the Portree Hotel- an excellent mid-island base for my weekend.

I’m fortunate to be visiting Skye again next year- i’m looking forward to exploring further then!

Accidentally Wes Anderson: Wick Lifeboat Shed

Wes Anderson is a well-celebrated film director, known for his set-framing, colour, and above all, whimsy. Accidentally Wes Anderson is an inspired community, sharing images and locations that feel like they would comfortably belong in his films. I received the book of the same name as a gift, and since then i’ve been trying to capture my own images.

I will never get tired of walking past and admiring the old Wick Lifeboat Shed. With it’s entrance in it’s current light blue and red colour scheme, along with it’s nautical importance, it’s an obvious candidate for the project, and very reminiscent of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. The diving pioneer and oceanographer would easily be right at home here.

Accidentally Wes Anderson: Highland Folk Museum

Wes Anderson is a well-celebrated film director, known for his set-framing, colour, and above all, whimsy. Accidentally Wes Anderson is an inspired community, sharing images and locations that feel like they would comfortably belong in his films. I received the book of the same name as a gift, and since then i’ve been trying to capture my own images.

Earlier this summer I visited the Highland Folk Museum. An open-air living-history attraction, with period accurate cottages, laid out as a small town, a uniquely fascinating museum to explore and inhabit. Along with a tailor, blacksmith, and village shop, one of the buildings was a schoolhouse, complete with teaching diagrams, old-fashioned desks, and wood-panelling as interior detailing. The room was empty, but upon entering it immediately felt like a possible set or location for a Wes Anderson film, evoking memories of a childhood camp summer, not that far removed from Moonrise Kingdom.

There was no sign of Ed Norton or Bill Murray anywhere unfortunately.

Adventures in Lego Photography

I’ve been a fan of Lego for a long time. Building, buying, collecting have been huge aspects of it as a hobby, but though I enjoy it elsewhere as an interest, the photography side of it has never been the one i’ve enjoyed. When I’ve been publishing MOCs and build pictures online the photography part of it has always been my least favourite compared to the building and designing itself, and 15 years later as an AFOL, this hasn’t changed. Truth told i’m probably underselling my builds when I’m presenting them as a result, but a quick search on social-media will quickly reveal an expanse of both varying skill and quality amongst fans. I’m okay-ish, I think? Instagram in particular is a hotbed of competition and people having accounts dedicated to just uploading Lego photography. I should probably do a link list of the best ones fully at some point, but these four really jump out.

I recently bought a cheap light box off Amazon to dabble in a bit of it myself and get some sharper images. It’s a simple pop-up box with USB-powered LED lights and a range of coloured backdrops that folds away easily afterwards. I planned to take big minifig cast photos with hundreds of medieval knights and spacemen explorers, but the particular one I bought is a bit on the small side for that and bigger builds, and much better for individual minifigs and pairings- so that’s what i’ve done initially. These are very rough, unedited shots from my phone, but I think the box and set-up has a lot of potential for future better calibrated photos (and posts here, let’s be honest). I might actually seeing about getting a bigger one too for, like I said, bigger builds. At some point I would like to a list about all my favourite minifigs that I own and photos of them but that would require the ardous task of actually sussing them out to begin with. More experiments required!

Armadale Beach Bay

I took lots (read: far too many) photos and videos when we were out at Armadale Sutherland last week. Ill get a post for it sorted properly soon, but here’s the three I recently posted on Instagram. It looks warm and sunny, but those waves were COLD, definitely not as much swimming as we hoped.