The Balmoral Hotel is one of the most famous hotels in the city of Edinburgh and its clock tower can be seen here to the right of the frame. In the background and to the left is Edinburgh Castle on the hill. This was taken from Calton Hill on the other side of the city, so the long focal length of the lens used distorts the perspective a little. Obviously I was using a tripod and the image was post processed to bring out a little extra detail in the shadow areas.

As regular readers will know, Calton Hill is one of my favourite spots for photography in Edinburgh and this past winter I got a chance to finally do some night photography up there. It was freezing cold, but I was very lucky to have a clear sky as you can see from the stars and the deep purple of the sky in the above photograph. This is Nelson’s Monument, which I have been up a couple of times in the day, shame it closes at night as I expect there would be some great opportunities for photos looking down on the city centre from the top of this tower.

This street entertainer had a large crowd of tourists around him, gathering to pay to have their photograph taken with him. I watched for a few minutes and reached in my pocket for a few coins, then asked if I could take his portrait. He was very friendly and asked how I wanted him to pose. I just told him to shout at me! (something which he seemed particularly good at). This was the first time I have approached or paid someone in the street to take their photo, but it was definitely a rewarding experience and I will be sure to do it again whenever I get the opportunity.

The above photo was taken on my first afternoon’s walk around the city at dusk. I was stood in Melville Place, looking towards Randolph Place and noticed the way the houses seemed to lead me eye towards the dome at the end of the street. As much as it was worth getting my camera out for, I thought it would be a good test of ISO on the new camera body. ISO is the sensitivity of the camera to light. The higher the number the more sensitive and so the sharper the picture, but the more grain (or digital noise) will appear over the image. It was better than I had hoped and noise is only slightly noticeable in the sky.