Tag Archives: church

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Scotland, Photographs: Travel

Light Beam, St. Giles Cathedral

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Light Beam, St. Giles Cathedral
“Light Beam, St. Giles Cathedral”— Light from an upper window forms beams inside St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh.

We concluded our three weeks in Scotland earlier this year with a few days in Edinburgh. This marked one extreme on the continuum of our visit, with the opposite end defined by a week spent walking the quiet trails of the Great Glen Way. Edinburgh, of course, is not just a rather large city, but it is also a place that attracts crowds of tourists, even when we were there before prime tourist season. Since it was our first visit to the city we had to, of course, visit some of the famous sites.

On the day we arrived by train we checked into our little hotel, located on a quiet side street less than a half mile from the famous Edinburgh Castle. After getting settled we set out on foot, walking toward this landmark at the upper end of the Royal Mile. We had not done much research, which means that we got to be surprised by “discovering” places like St. Giles’ Cathedral, the subject of this photograph.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Scotland, Photographs: Travel

Holyrood Abbey Ceiling

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Holyrood Abbey Ceiling
“Holyrood Abbey Ceiling” — The ceiling vaults of the Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Edinburgh is a busy city, popular with tourists — and there is quite a lot to see there. A lot of the main attractions are found in the Old Town area along the Royal Mile that runs between the hilltop Edinburgh Castle and the Holyrood Palace, a residence of British royalty. The ruins of the Holyrood Abbey are on the grounds of the palace.

The Abbey dates to the 12th century, The suffix “rood” refers to the Holy Cross, There were several versions of the place, and this is the last, most architecturally advanced version. In addition to its religious significance, the site is also connected to Scottish history. The structure eventually fell into disuse and was neglected. An ill-advised attempt to restore and strengthen it ended up adding too much weight and portions collapsed, leaving the ruins that we see today.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Scotland, Photographs: Travel

Interior, St Giles’ Cathedral

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Interior, St Giles' Cathedral
“Interior, St Giles’ Cathedral” — Visitors walk through the interior of Edinburgh’s St. Giles’ Cathedral.

Our May 2024 visit to Scotland was centered around our weeklong Great Glen Way walk. But the majority of the trip was in more urban environments, ranging from smallScottish towns to London. Before leaving Scotland, we spent four days in Edinburgh. There is, of course, quite a lot to see there — from the “old” and “new” towns to our hike to Arthur’s Seat to the Holyrood Palace and more. St. Giles’ Cathedral is one of the most important and interesting sites in the Old Town.

We stayed in a mundane area that was perhaps a ten minute walk from Old Town, and our first walk there brought us almost immediately to St. Giles’ Cathedral, and it was one of our first stops. I’m no expert on Scottish history — far from it — but we quickly understood that this place is a center for quite a bit of it. Its history goes back many centuries, and during that time it has been used by Catholics, Protestants, royalty, and for other secular events. This continues today — there were concerts there and even a craft sale inside!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: England, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Travel

Church Doorway

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“Church Doorway” — A side doorway to a churc at Oxford University.

We spent one of our London days to leaving the city for a day trip to Oxford. Having enough time in London, we had planned to take a train to some nearby location at some point, and Oxford seemed like good choice. (We were possibly swayed by the fact that our oldest son had been there the previous week for work and had shared hiis impressions of the university.) So we got off the train in the mid-morning time frame and walked up into the town of Oxford.

It was surprisingly crowded! I suppose this was partly because we were part of the small crowd of people who arrived on the train and headed the same direction. There was also a Pride event taking place, including a parade that temporarily blocked our way — a fine excuse to stop and grab a bite to eat nearby. Eventually we managed to wander through areas of Oxford University, though many are relatively inaccessible given that it is an actual working university. We stopped in a couple of churches and chapels, and I made this photograph of light coming through an open back door at one of them.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.