Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt 2015: the town centre edition

Hello hello.

Ever since last summer I've been looking forward to joining in with the scavenger hunt again! This will be the third time I've joined in with the Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt created by Rinda from the Gallo Organico blog and if you want to join in too, you can, Rinda is happy to have you.

You can blog your finds, share them on Instagram with the hashtag  #‎rindas2015photohunt or join the Facebook group. Plus Rinda also blogs some of those photos that have caught her eye throughout the hunt and she blogs posts where you can link up your successes too. 

I like the hunt because of two seemingly opposite factors:

1. that it gives your summer snapping a structure - in finding things which match the 21 categories listed.
2. while at the same time providing you with more free-form opportunities, excuses even, to go out wandering with your camera 'just because', to see whatever it is you'll see, to let serendipity have its way with you and to capture it all on film [well, in pixels more likely!].

So let's kick off with my first round of finds. I've crossed off those I've found so far [although they wont all be in this post].

Earlier in the month James and I went into the town centre mainly so we could have curry at the Middlesbrough Mela festival for lunch. Only it turned out that ... due to the unusually high winds happening around lunchtime... the curry stalls were prevented from opening on health and safety reasons!

You'd think that anyone selling curry would be used to strong wind by now wouldn't you? [Too far?]. But I digress ...

... so, while we were in the vicinity anyway we did a spot of 'tourist in your own town' wandering around with our cameras and here's the categories I managed to scavenge from that day .. 

6. A metal bridge
There's something of the 'old Middlesbrough' the Infant Hercules about the riveted steel on the ornate Albert bridge that runs into the train station:

And then, 2 minutes away, something entirely 'new Middlesbrough' in the sharp lines of this metal walkway between buildings in the digital and creative Boho zone:

9. A tent

Three colourful promotional stalls at the Mela festival in Centre Square.

10. A college or university
This was always going to be the easiest item for me to find ... it's where I work from time to time. I managed to somehow lose/delete the photo I wanted to share - of a new building in progress - so this one  - with its funny bobbly things on the side is the next best thing:

11. A cellular tower or television satellite dish
Also on campus these were spotted at the tippermost top of the 10 storey tower building:

12. A public restroom, bathroom, or toilet
Inside the MIMA gallery:

 As soon as I saw this category on the list I knew I wanted to capture the acid yellow of the art gallery's loos. Clearly I've paid their toilets too much attention ...

13. A merry-go-round or carousel
How about 3?

Taken from the 2nd floor outside deck of MIMA before the Mela festival got started.

And while we were up on the deck I grabbed ....

16. A panoramic view, taken while standing someplace high in the air

Up above the streets and houses ... [British 80s kids I'm pretty sure how you just finished that sentence! ;-) ]. I love the outline of the hills in the distance , quite different from the much closer view of them I get from my workroom window.

So that's 7 out of 21. A third of the list duly scavenged; plus there's another item I found on the same day but I'm holding that one back for a later post.  

All in all not a bad start ... especially considering they're all from one morning/afternoon's wanderings and I've found one of the 'alternatives' in case I can't find all 21 on the main list. So I'm feeling pretty positive that I'll have an album full of summertime scavenger hunt photos by the time September looms into view.

Also before September there's June's Month in Numbers post - my regular monthly round-up in statistics - heading this way, so I'll see you at the end of the month. 

Julie