December: month in review
Each month I aim to pick an image that, in my mind at least, captures the flavour of that month. It might not be the best image from the month, or the most spectacular of subjects; it just needs to illustrate something about the month. The value for me is in the writing - it’s a tool for review and reflection. If you enjoy the words and picture, that’s a bonus!
Wooden Eye
Fujifilm X-T5 | 80mm f/5.6 1/160s ISO 320
What’s this month’s image? It’s a detail from one of the exhibits at the Glasgow Botanic Gardens. It’s (I think) a leaf scar from a philodendron bipinnatifidum in the tropical section of the glass house.
Did you do anything to it? There were two main edits. Firstly, I flipped the image vertically so that it’s essentially upside down. The result is that we have something that looks like eyelashes at the top and the main branch looks a little like a beak, while the knot has the look of a large eyeball. At least in my mind. Hence the title. I’ve also converted the image to black and white to increase the contrast and ambiguity. A little selective dodging and burning completed the image.
What’s it doing here? I find December a slightly odd month. In theory there’s a lot going on over the holiday period. In practice (for me at least), there’s far too many people around and far to much jollity to make it enjoyable. What we tend to end up doing is hunkering down for the month, closing the doors and switching off the email for best part of the month.
While this undoubtedly isn’t the most sociable of approaches, it does give us a little downtime and an opportunity to explore closer to home. One of the places I’ve been meaning to revisit for a while is the Glasgow Botanic Gardens and the break provided the perfect opportunity. In the event we managed a couple of trips.
It’s been a while since we’d visited and I confess that I’d forgotten that it’s quite such a lovely space. The gardens are well laid out, but the highlights are the glass houses and the Kibble Palace. The added bonus at this time of year is that the sun stays low and can have a warmth that can be very attractive. In this case, as it shines through the dome of the Kibble Palace it has a fabulous quality and look. It’s a great spot for lovely vignettes and details.
Have you been up to much else? Despite the outbreak of festive cheer we did manage to venture out and about. We had a trip to Belfast in the middle of the month, which was interesting. The weather wasn’t hugely conducive to sightseeing (it was Baltic), but we did manage to see some of the city. The Titanic experience is undoubtedly well worth a visit: it’s incredibly well done and it would be entirely possible to lose yourself for a day in the exhibition space. On the downside, while there has obviously been a huge amount of investment in the city, the scars of The Troubles are still all too evident and, in place, still seem quite raw. We will be back, but we’ll probably explore further afield on any return trip.
Coming Up
January brings the New Year, Dundee and Skye…
