The last few weeks 

It’s been an interesting last few weeks photographing close to home. All the places I have visited, I have been to several times before. That is the wonder of landscape photography! I just don’t get bored going the same place over and over again, even if that means getting out my bed and roaming about in the freezing cold, only to find that you did that all for nothing as the light doesn’t materialise. Im not sure if it’s just me but unexpected occurrences always happen along the way

I must have tried to photograph the Forth Bridges a hundred times now, all at various times of the year and I am still waiting in anticipation to get the shot where I can say “yip”, that’s the one I want to hang on my wall” 

These is no different to the next three photos. They are ok and nice photos but they don’t have what I envisage in my head.  There is a limited time during the course of the month when the tides are viable to get this shot, in fact twice a month. I purposely wanted a night shot of the bridges, one that Ive been after for a while. With luck not on my side, the wind was blowing ruining any chance of nice reflections. I hung around until about 20 minutes before sunrise to add some colour to the scene but with no clouds, it was average at best. From there I went to the other side of the bridge to North Queensferry for some sort of sunrise shot.  Like the photographs from the other side of the bridge, it was fine. At least I had a some clouds to spice up the image. 

Moving on back to Fife and the kissing trees, which of course is a familiar yet beautiful place. I had scouted here the previous day and found some lovely hay bales which had great potential to make a beautiful image. They are extremely close to the kissing trees so I may have been able to get a couple of shot rather than my usual single photo. On arrival, my hail bails had gone!! After months of being there, they were taken away, just typical. I scoured the area as I caught fleeting glimpses of other hay bales placed sporadically in the fields on the way past. 

The sunrise was gorgeous with the orange hues lighting the sky. Its was still about 20 minutes until the sun came over the horizon and I came across this another bale of hay. Not really sure why I like them but I always have. I think it gives a sense of isolation as they are most common in open fields. The leading lines with the dominant bale in the foreground made for a nice image. I wouldn’t say it’s a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination. Your eye wanders through the frame without having a final resting place. Occasionally, I don’t think that is such a bad thing as it’s sometimes pleasant just to look at the photo without the guidance of where your eye should end up. 

I headed up to the Kissing trees for sunrise and Im so glad I did, It was just magical. The dense cloud in the east was gradually dispersing leaving intermittent clouds above, with assorted shades of blues, pinks and magenta, it was a photographers dream. Here is a shot which I think enhances the radiant sky with the tree in the lower third of the photo.

The following day I made a brief stop at Aberdour, just a few miles from Kinghorn. I don’t think Iv’e ever taken a photo from here that I liked but wanted to give  it another try. Instead of going down by the pier, I went to the main village area to shoot a longer focal length. The anticipation of a lovely sunrise soon diminished when I realised all the clouds were along the east coast or should I say, where the sun was actually rising (to my direct left). I soon recalled why I don’t come here at sunrise. Aberdour sits in an alcove which is blocked out by natures jagged coastline.

I took the shot anyway at about 120mm focal length, its a very simple composition and something I think an artist would paint! With layers and textures and an abundance of almost tangerine colour emanating from from the glorious sunrise peaking over the horizon. After I took this shot, I sat for about 15 minutes as the sun almost eclipsed North Berwick Law. A few snap shots followed in the coming days where I took shots on the spur of the moment, and not very well prepared at all. Just a matter of picking up the camera and shoot what you see. Most of the time I don’t even bother getting the camera out if I am so unprepared, I just relax and sit in awe at the wonder that we are greeted with every morning (well not all the time). The first shot is looking across the Forth to North Berwick Law with the sun rising behind. It was such a beautiful morning, I had to capture the moment. I was zoomed out all the way to 200mm and waited for a minute until a bird to fly across the frame, it’s a simple shot and worth taking. 

Here is another couple of shots from the week, the fist one was just pot luck, I had slept in and woke up about half an hour before sunrise. I gazed out the window to find high cloud cover with a hint of red. I thought that this might be quite special, I quickly rushed out the door and headed to a viewpoint in the direction of the clouds. It was one of those days that I wish I had made plans. I guess you could  say that about most photos but the sky was one of the best I have witnessed! As a result, I found it quite difficult to edit. I had to turn down the saturation by 15% in the sky which is not something I often do and also remove the colour cast in the bottom of the frame. 

Back to Kinghorn and one of my favourite places, not because it’s a great photo (anything but) but it’s where I grew up. It’s strange because a lot of people like this photo but I am not overlay keen. I prefer the tide to be in as I think adds a little something extra. I love looking at scenes from elevated positions, I guess thats why I enjoy going up mountains.

More recently, I visited Aberfeldy for a couple of days. The first day I scouted for a good Autumn scene which left me a couple of morning shots to get the shot I was after. It didn’t take me very long to find the right spot for my photo, I took a few iPhone shots to gauge whether I liked the ambience or not and continued further up the stream. It was absolutely gorgeous, the colours were fantastic and soon realised there was just loads of photographic opportunities here. As I kept wandering, it dawned on me that the best image was back where I started. 

Im really pleased the way the photo turned out, a lovely example of autumn. 

Last but not least, I had a another brief visit to Seafield in Kirkcaldy! The forecast was not to bad with a scattering of clouds. I set off from the main car park with head torch on. Coming into the winter months, the daylight is almost instantaneous, unlike summer where it get light hours before the sun comes up. With that said, I sauntered along the path in darkness with no expectations at all. As I approached the old harbour wall, I remembered how slippy the rocks down to the beach were. Im slightly clumsy at the best of times, so with nimble feet I treaded with extreme caution. It’s only about 100 yards to get past the green seaweed covered rocks, but I happy to make it without falling. So, onto the flat beach I went trying to look for an aesthetically pleasing angle in where to plank the tripod, when one foot clipped the other. Well!! With a 15kg backpack on, a torch in one hand and tripod in the other, the stumble turned into a trot, which quickly developed into a falling sprint. I just couldn’t stop, I never knew my feet could go so fast, I was now like roadrunner!! I dropped the torch as I feared the worst, followed hastily by the tripod. In doing so I managed to clip my heal again! Nothing else for it and like an action man, I jumped into a forward roll forgetting all about the backpack. Arse over elbow, my rucksack bounced me in the air during my army roll and came quickly back down to earth face first into a huge puddle, SPLAT. Im now spread eagle face down in the middle of the open beach with a colossal weight attached to my back. My first thought was, “that was really not cool”. I was sorely tempted to walk straight back to the car when I seen dog walkers standing a couple of hundred yards away back on the path. “Have they seen me”  Im still trying to get up at this point “ ill just lay here in this puddle for a minute, maybe they didn’t see this spectacle”. 15 seconds turned into 30 and Im losing the will to live “Please Move”.  Finally, they walked off into the distance and I dragged my sorry self, soaking and sandy off the beach floor.

Thinking that I might meet them, helplessly laughing in the carpark, I carried on to find any sort of photo that would merit the extravaganza that I had just undertook. 

Funnily enough, the photo was rubbish but here it is.