Leeds Central Library

I hate the office I work in. It’s one of those typical open plan offices; you know, the ones that have bad air conditioning, are never at the right temperature, have carpets decorated in duck tape and that slowly suck all the life, energy and soul out of you. I tend to go wandering mid-morning to get some fresh air and re-vitalize my brain cells. every now and then, I take pencil and paper and go to the quiet room at Leeds Central Library to plan and write stuff without the phones distracting me.

The library is a fantastic building with some very interesting architecture inside, and being a council run building has a mixture of original fittings and typical council type touches.

leeds central library stairway

These tiled patterns are all over the building, but on the top floor, there is this little section surrounded by white paint. I’m sure there is a rational explanation, but it does look a bit odd.

leeds central library top floor

For black and white, the building is superb. There are so many different shapes, textures tones and details all over the building.

leeds central library

There are so many little details, one of the strangest has to be a pair of dogs, (Though one of them looks like a lion to me!!) Both look like they could use a good meal.

marble dogs

I didn’t spend too long taking pictures on this occasion, but it begs for another visit with a camera.

Fountains revisted

First outing of the year saw my Dad and I walk around Fountains Abbey. This is my third visit in about 6 months and I was discovering views I’d missed on previous visits. It also reminded me of why I enjoy taking pictures with company and it was interesting to see the shots that my dad saw, that I hadn’t.

Although a freezing, there was plenty of sunlight and plenty of shadows, so some images came out with vibrant colours, other, not so much – but they did translate well in black and white.

Fountains Abbey

Abbey pillar

Studley Royal Temple
On one part of fountains is the abbey itself. After a short walk you find yourself in Studley Royal and a fantastic water garden.
Studley Royal things
I really, really have no idea what these are supposed to be!!
Wall remains at Fountains Abbey
I really didn't know what to do with this one, so I started playing around in Gimp. Inverted it and used the softglow filter and I really liked the outcome.