Dad’s pic stop
Hot Wheels project crosses the line
AN EDINBURGH DAD embarked on a 365 day photo challenge to take pictures of his son’s Hot Wheels car collection at some of the city’s most scenic spots.
Ross Burns, 41, who works at Edinburgh Napier University, featured more than 250 of the cars in places such as Calton Hill, Edinburgh Castle and the Forth Bridge. The cars are also partial to a double flip on the half pipe at Saughton Park. Ross has posted an image every day on Instagram under the account Scot.Wheels with the most popular being the photo of a Land Rover Defender 90 reflected on the Water of Leith.
Ross said: ““I have a five-year-old son called Daniel and he loves Hot Wheels. I used to love Matchbox cars when I was his age and I soon began to become obsessed with his growing collection. To make sure I took a walk every day, I started taking a car out and just taking some pictures on my phone.
“After a few weeks, I set myself the challenge of doing it for a full year and I’m delighted to have now completed it. It’s been great for my mental health during the various lockdowns, particularly the one early this year – getting out and taking a picture of a car gave me a purpose and a creative outlet each day.”
Now that he has achieved his target of a photograph every day for a year, and run up more than 20,000 “likes” in the process, Ross intends to carry on but take his foot off the accelerator.
“I’ll continue taking car pictures but not pressurise myself to do it every day. I’ll aim for quality over quantity and hopefully as we become able to travel more, I’ll explore some fantastic new settings with some wonderful new cars.”