Edinburgh International Festival

Edinburgh, capital city of Scotland, and often referred to as the ‘Athens of the north’ or ‘Auld Reekie’, stands magnificently overlooking the Firth of Forth and is emboldened by the prominent Arthur’s Seat, a now extinct volcano.

Edinburgh is a hugely popular tourist destination throughout the year with many attractions such as the Hogmanay Street Party and Edinburgh Marathon. One such event of infinite worldwide fame, held every year in August, is the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) which attracts more and more visitors from all over the world to watch countless spectacles throughout the city, including dance, theatre, classical music, comedy and more.

The Royal Mile in the heart of the Old Town (part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site) - which runs from the majestic Edinburgh Castle that thrones atop the magnificent Castle Rock to the beautiful Holyrood Palace (Queen Elizabeth II’s official Scottish residence) at its foot - is a central place for a myriad of street artists to display their talents as part of what is known as the ‘Fringe Festival’ as well as for artists who wish to advertise their upcoming shows in somewhat unique and enlightening ways rather than by the mundane distribution of flyers.

Many photo opportunities can be found here and indeed it is a photographer's paradise! With acrobatic displays aplenty, mixed with colourful costumes and intriguingly unconventional characters, there is much to feed the mind, make you laugh or shock the eye.

Although I work in Edinburgh itself, making fleeting lunchtime visits to watch these street artists, actually made me feel like I was on a holiday, quite losing myself in another strange and wonderful world. I do hope I have managed to capture some of the essence of the Festival in my Monochrome and Humanity's Footprint galleries and hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Selkirk MTB Marathon Series

Lying on the Ettrick Water in the heart of the Scottish Borders is one of the oldest Royal Burghs in Scotland. Selkirk is steeped in history, being the site of the first Border Abbey and the place where William Wallace was declared Guardian of Scotland, as well as having links with the likes of Bonnie Prince Charlie, The Marquess of Montrose and the Outlaw Murray.

Selkirk's main link with a turbulent past is the Common Riding in June, when up to 500 riders saddle their horses at daybreak to ride the Marches. The Casting of the Colours remembers the story of Flodden when Selkirk sent 80 men with the Scottish King and only one returned, bearing a blood-stained English flag.

Selkirk’s population grew thanks to its woollen mills, although this industry has now ceased, leaving little in its wake and the town is now well known for bannocks (a dry fruit cake), its rugby - and latterly has grown a good reputation in the world of Mountain Biking.

It is the latter that brought me to Selkirk on this occasion as again Selkirk played host to the increasingly successful Mountain Bike Marathon Series, this year sponsored by Chain Reaction Cycles. Almost 900 riders set out on various gruelling mountain bike challenges ranging from a beginner's (and children of age 12 and over) Mini-Marathon covering 25 km to the full marathon of some 85 km.

The Marathon routes forged their way over Southern Uplands' hills, through forests and Glens - taking in some of Britain’s finest scenery. Its enchanting beauty however, was also laced with several ‘sting’s in it’s tail’ - as the routes included several technical 'red' descents - which were not for the faint of heart!

The Selkirk MTB Marathon is part of a series of five events spanning Scotland, England and Wales. For the riders they are a test of ability, endurance and nerve and for the spectator something of a grand spectacle to be enjoyed all the same. Many riders came from all parts of the UK, some camping over night, enjoying event facilities based in the Selkirk Rugby Club ground.

For me it was a great opportunity to try my hand at sports photography and to capture riders in awesome surroundings - which included my partner who had entered the event.

Sports photography is a different 'kettle of fish' however and one not easily mastered; having said that I do hope you enjoy the photos I managed to capture which, can be found in my Sports gallery.