Capturing Christmas Magic: Tom Duffin’s Photo Odyssey on Christmas Eve

This is 30 seconds showcasing our city on Christmas Eve – the stars are rushing by at breakneck pace this evening, making it quite a task for the fellow in the sleigh. Calton Hill was as tranquil as I can recall for as long as I remember, part of which is due to the gusts whipping away a scraggly beard from its roots.

Earlier in the day, we honored a family custom of having Christmas Eve breakfast with our friends, the Reids, while the sun dipped below the horizon as we savored our plates at Cafe Grande in Bruntsfield.
(A visit is warranted for their bistro-style menu, tasty buns, and of course breakfast…and sunsets)

I cherish this picture for its capture of the moment, with my wife making one of her silly faces and also a photograph on the interior wall that showcases one of my sunsets against a remarkably similar Edinburgh sky. I’ve attached it below for a clearer view.

This is Salisbury Crags for those who are unacquainted with Edinburgh’s inner city cliff face. Below, you can catch a glimpse of the Festival Theatre towards the bottom left, the Old College dome a bit more central, and the castle illuminated in purple as if resonating with the sky.

Wouldn’t it be marvelous for the castle to act like a chameleon, altering its color with the sky? I’ll bring it up to Edinburgh Castle and see their response.

While we’re here on the crags, I ought to mention my buddy Alan Reid, with whom we had breakfast (and he concluded with sticky toffee pudding!) has been a model for countless shots taken up here – back during my Batman Phase. In one of my all-time favorite photographs, this was Alan in bat mode standing on the crags’ edge while I stood 500m away.

I recognize, I acknowledge, but I assure you that this indeed aligns with my “Nae Jiggerpokery” principle and is just a solitary image with no “AI Nonsense” either. He possesses a fine leg.

This was Christmas Eve a few years back in South Queensferry, where one of the last trains of the night contributed its lights to this long exposure shot on the bridge as a vehicle slowly traced its taillight path down the road to the coast – who knew it had such a steep incline?

Earlier that evening, I paid a visit to my Aunt Rina in Dunfermline and paused at a favored viewpoint of the bridges. The Queensferry crossing appeared particularly angelic behind the silhouette of the ancient structures of this city – once Scotland’s capital.

Back to Edinburgh, a different year, where we DID have trams and we STILL had Frasers at the west end. I appreciate how the Rutland has maintained its traditional Christmas attire over the years.

Back to Bruntsfield, capturing the view of the castle as seen from down the hill into Tollcross. One of my cherished aspects of Edinburgh is how the castle can suddenly emerge from behind a corner throughout the city.

Perhaps we will meet out there?
TD