12 Days of Gladness: June

June 2012: A huge month for Britain, and a huge month for me! The Queen celebrated a long tenure. The Olympic torch did its tour of the country, and so did I, before I hopped over the pond for good.

This photo was taken in Edinburgh after a Jubilee weekend spent with old friends. It sums up part of my mixed identity: I was born in England, and grew up in Scotland, and now I live in the USA.

The Sigma 80-200m lens is really useful for city photography because you can zoom into rooftop details, or catch little moments far away. I probably should have used spot metering here, as the sky is very washed out (in truth Scottish sky is often totally overcast in white or grey and that poses lighting challenges). 

Here's a bonus photo of the same weekend in Edinburgh. Both Edinburgh and London have this wonderful sense of history and present occupying the same place. You can get lost in winding cobbled streets of tall buildings practically built on top of each other, squeezed in as tight as can be. But the old towns are mixed up with newer builds and shiny store fronts: Beautiful and unusual cities.

I know said I'd only do one per month, but my husband is a fan of this photo, probably because it adheres to the classic rule of thirds, making it aesthetically pleasing to the eye.