Photography in the Pentland Hills, Edinburgh, Scotland

I decided a couple of days ago, to start going out into the Scottish hills with my camera and drone, to test some technical things out such as setting up my camera onto the tripod higher up and doing some drone videos and panoramic image. I purchased a pretty cheep set of wireless mics to even Vlog on what I was doing. Yesterday was the very first time I did a Vlog with the receiver in the DSLR and a mic on my jersey. They were charged up the night before.

They worked really well and the sound quality was good, I was five or six meters from the receiver without any issues.

From Amazon. Wireless lavaleir microphone for IPhone, Android, and camera. Good quality.

The Pentland Hills are close to Edinburgh, making this area a nice retreat from the busy city life. I live approximately thirty minutes from there and its an excellent area to escape, and explore new paths. Its busy! I parked there yesterday morning around 0830 at Flotterstone car park with Betsy my Cockapoo.

Me with Betsy at the start of our walk with the camera gear in the daysack.

We set off and it was really quiet, see a couple of people there on bikes, walkers with dogs, and trail runners. Also families out just enjoying the peacefulness.

The route was around 12.5kms going up to Turnhouse hill first, which is 506m above sea level, and had lovely views of the surrounding towns and landscape. Edinburgh city can not be seen from here, you would need to be on the other side of the Pentlands to see that. A quick video of me leaving the hill as I headed upto Carnethy Hill, which is slightly highte, its the second highest in the Pentlands at 573m. It took roughtly 25 minutes to reach the top. I took a panorama and orbit video there, the wind was light. The views here really open up and enjoyed the moment. We walked down to Green Cleugh at the Howe, I stopped here had something to eat and made a really nice coffee from my coffee beand with an Aero press Go! It took less than six minutes to put on a pan of water, boil it and pore the water through the coffee press. Magic! I took more images, and did a small Vlog there. It was my first time talking into the camera, it felt uncomfortable.

From Amazon. Aeropress Go portable travel coffee press kit. It’s really worth it, honestly.

I spent around thirty minutes here, admiring the views and relaxing. The walk back took another sixty minutes or so, and the area got a bit more busier. I took a panoramic image with the drome, which was two images stitched together in LR.

I took other images along the way and video too.

Green Cleugh - Pentland hills, grid reference NT 189 620. Image from the Mavic Mini 4 Pro.

I really enjoyed taking my camera gear onto the hills and there will be a few more, I need to allow extra time on the walks, due to getting the camera gear out and back into the daysack, including all the setting up etc. Keeping fit and doing photography together is a nice thing to do, without any pressure. It would be a lot different in the winter months.

Edinburgh is a great capital city of Scotland, and the Pentland hills is not too far to explore and escape the city life. Below is the route and stats from todays brilliant walk away from the stresses of life.

Stats from todays photography trip onto the scottish hills. I walked in a clockwise direction.

A road trip to the seaside!

Yesterday I went to the seaside to take an image of a groyne on the beach.

(Groynes are structures built perpendicularly from the shore to protect beaches from erosion. Learn how they work, what materials they are made of, and how they affect different coastlines).

I decided to go to Portobello beach, which is near the capital city of Edinburgh. I drove for approximately 50 minutes through to outskirts of the capital, passing the Royal Yacht Britannia in Leith. I also passed the Water of Leith, where I spotted branches of trees sticking out of the water. The road in Leith passes quirky bars and cafes, I’ll go there at some point to relax and take some photos. I parked the car in Bridge Street, and walked to the promenade with Betsy, going straight onto the beach. The weather was nice, and it was breezy, making it nice for some images with the nice blue sky and clouds. I arrived on the beach at around 1430. The tide was almost at its highest, and I checked the tide forecast before leaving.

The last time I was in Portobello was around 50 years ago going to Whitley Bay in the car, going on holidays! The main street is the same! This road went onto the old A1.

Portobello is a nice seaside resort, it reminds me of going on a holiday, sitting in the sand eating chips or having an ice cream, rather than scouting around looking for an image.

I decided to take a photo of one of the groynes, I got the tripod set up and my camera and the 10-24mm lens. I used a polorizer and a 10-stop ND filter. I was happy with what I got and went home after a walk on the beach. On my way home however I should have taken another image as a panorama, as I think that would have also worked, maybe two inages stitched together. Ill go back and try it, as its another perspective of one of the groynes. I should have taken more time at the location, I did have time and did not really maximise the time that I had. Lesson learnt.

I will go back again, and take the panorama image. I am happy with the image, and converted it into black and white as it looked a bit more dramatic, rather than been in colour.

10mm, f16, ISO 100, 30s exposure, 10-stop ND filter and a CPL polarizer. Converted into black and white in LR.

Seascape photography in bad weather. Fife Coastal Path, Scotland.

I planned this morning to go to a local beach in bad weather, and capture a moody image in the evening. This is my local beach, where I go often to photograph. This is black sands beach in Aberdour.

Black sands Beach. 10mm, f16, exposure 79s, ISO 100. CPL and a 10-stop ND filter for this image.

When I got there around 1930hrs it was drizzly, and the strong winds were dropping, and with a 90% risk of heavy showers. It did rain about 2000hrs, and used my umbrella to help with not getting my camera gear wet. I used as CPL and 10-stop ND filter for this image, it was the best one I came away from this evening. It was a bit of a faff getting the filters on and off without getting any rain droplets on them, on occasions the filters had a couple of rain drops on them, but I cleaned them off with a soft cloth.

I enjoyed being out, and sometimes I have to go out in the rain, and think about what type of image I would like to take. I just wish it was a bit more windy, to get more drama in the movement in the clouds. There was a little movement in the yachts on the horizon though. The polariser (CPL) prevented glare in the water, which was good, you can see the seaweed in the mid ground, it adds some interest to the scene.

The camera I have is an old Nikon D5100, which is a 16 megapixel DSLR from 2012! Its still going strong, and I think I need the sensor cleaned soon, as there are dust spots in my long exposure images. The lens I had on the camera body today was the Tamron SP 10-24mm, f3.5-4.5.

An old camera, still going strong.

I have had a good couple of trips this week with my camera and I am really enjoying getting out with it. I’ll see what’s next on the cards to photograph, but when the weather is bad, I think I will do a bit more moody sea or landscapes.

This Friday looks really good for little wind, and patches of cloud around Edinburgh and the central belt, making an opportunity to get the drone up, and maybe get some landscape panoramic images. Ill keep my options open and during the next few days Ill plan something.

Night photography, the Trossachs National Park, Scotland.

I planned to do some night photography or a sunrise this week, its just being organised, or I will hap-hazard, just go out and see what images I can take. I have now done a personal photography spread sheet, which helps me plan certain types of images. This includes the idea (landscape, portrait, astro, seascapes or sport etc), sun rise/set, moon state, wind, cloud cover and tide times. It worked a treat for the first time actually, using it and writing down new creative ideas. I used this yesterday to my advantage.

I planned a sunrise today but yesterday I captured a beautiful landscape sunset. I also stayed up late and did some astro photography with my prime 50mm and 10-24 mm lenses.

I use walk lakes (its worth checking this out) for my locations, its free and on the internet. It can be used for my photography, hillwalking and mountain bike adventures.

I broke down some sub headings in my head to help me with the spread sheet ;

Plan

Explore

Experiment

Find an interesting subject

On my way to the location I took a long exposure of 120s with a 10 stop filter on the lens during sun set at around 2120hrs. This is an old jetty on Loch Ard, Kinlochard, in the Trossachs. Grid reference NN454 022.

I got to my planned location by car after sunset to view Loch Arklet and have the Arrocher Alps in the background. I took my images at the side of the road, grid reference NN 398 093. A marvellous passing place looking west as the sun had set, what a beautiful site!. I used my 50mm prime lense to capture a panorama, three images were stitched together in LR.

Loch Arklet and the stunning Arrochar Alps in the background. The Trossachs National Park, Scotland. 2230hrs

The sky was clear all night, I used an app called Clear outside, its also on internet, to plan astro and landscapes images in general. This was taken around 2230 and you can see there is some light well after sun setting here in Scotland during the early summer months. I stayed here until 0135, admiring the ever changing light and noises from the wildlife next to my camera, tripod and car.

I will be back here again, as the road from Aberfoyle to Loch Arklet is a gem for any photographer enthusiast or professional. I captured this image as the light diminished at 0130hrs, before heading home with some meaningful images.

Have a nice weekend,

Allan

10mm, f3.5, 10s, ISO 800. Looking west towards the silhouetted Arrochar Alps and the stars. 0030hrs.

Photography under the stars. The Trossachs National Park, Scotland.

Ben A’an (454m) at sunset. Grid reference NN502 082

After careful planning this week with the weather and location, I decided to venture under the stars yesterday in the Trossachs National Park in Scotland. I headed off after work and arrived at Loch Achray car park around 1900hrs. With a heavy rucksack on, with camping and photography gear in it, I walked to the rocky outcrop of Ben A’an. I arrived there around 2015hrs. This gave me time to pitch my tent on a beautiful spot, get organised with my camera and drone, and also, something to eat and drink. Sun set yesterday was at 2125hrs, and I got some nice photos from my Nikon D5100, and from the Mavic Mini 4 Pro. The weather was gorgeous, very little wind and a few people around. I decided to be up all night, in awe of Scotland’s nature, and I am so glad I did it.

Six images stacked together in Lightroom (LR). 15s exposures, ISO 1600, F4, manual setting. An amazing experience under the stars! Outside my tent. An experience I wont forget in my lifetime.

I did some Astro photography with the DSLR on the tripod, the image looks great, the lens was pointing in a south westerly direction. I used a Tamron 10-24mm f3.5-4.5 lens. A nice wide angle lens to capture a lot of area in the night sky. I walked around for hours, and took lots on images. After the moon rise 0130, I went back into my one man tent until 0445hrs, and made coffee and had breakfast during the dawn. I did take panoramas with my drone including videos (I have not looked at them yet, I will tomorrow).

Those images really made me feel happy and energised, a real sense of escapism, and hope you like them too? I like the one of my tent and gives you a sense of being alone with nature, showing the scale of the stunning surroundings.

I will have another wild camp with my photography next month. It will get me outdoors, and hopefully I can capture something meaningful to me, and it can only improve my photography skills, and my hill fitness at the same time.

The Trossachs National Park is the gateway to the Scottish highlands, its landscape is so magical and inspiring, it will bring me back again for sure.

I will continue to showcase my images and blog posts, hoping you can be inspired to get out and take meaningful images like I do. Until the next one, have a great weekend.

I’ve learned very quickly that there is no wrong or right way to produce art (photography). I will continue doing what I want to do, this is important to me.

If you have read this blog post up to now, I really appreciate this. Enjoy the image below before moon rise.

My Bobcat-1 ten on Ben A’an. The light on the horizon on the left is from the small towns and the city of Stirling. To the right is from the small towns and the city of Glasgow. The horizon from where I stood is around 30km’s away.

Cramond Beach, Edinburgh.

Sun set, image from the Mavic Mini 4 Pro drone, 50m above sea level. A manual panorama image (2 images stitched together in LR). Looking north west (sun), fading golden light, and to the east, a beautiful dark blue tone.

I decided to make a video and take some sunset images at Cramond Beach on the outskirts of Edinburgh yesterday evening. Sun set was at 2105hrs. I posted a video on my YouTube channel this morning which was edited early morning. This week has been brilliant for sunsets as there has been a high pressure for several days in Scotland. I have been out in the evening chasing sunsets, and did not really get one from my camera or drone, due to faffing around, but yesterday the destination was perfect.

I got to the car park at Cramond around 1930hrs, to give me time to explore the area, and see how the light was. I wondered around for 30 minutes getting a bit anxious, getting the drone into the air, as there was a lot of people there on the beach, and the paths. I was just going to go back without any video or images, because I was thinking I was not confident with myself in general, and what people would think about this old guy with his drone. I decided to just go for it, and be safe flying it around. Sometimes I will be nervous, and times I have no issues flying the drone. I love the early mornings to be fair in the summer months, as there can be no one around, so with this thought, I will get a sunrise here in the next month or so (It’s in my diary right now).

As the light was fading there were beautiful colours in the sky, Crammond Island, and the sand. The sand had magnificent colours and lines as the tide started slowly coming in, At the time of sun setting, there was still a lot of people going to and from Crammond Island, along the walkways sea defence.

You can really feel the energy and calmness as the sun sets. It brings new opportunities in life and with nature.

The planet is a beautiful place, and seeing sunsets are one of my best experiences with nature, just watching the colours, textures and the temperature change, as I watch the sun disappear into the horizon.

https://youtu.be/N2EmaVxA1bE Link to the video on Youtube.

Beautiful landscapes, its all around us!

Drone photography, 2 images stitched together in Lightroom to make a panorama. F1.7, ISO 100, exposure 1/1600s, 24 mm focal length. Rosyth, Fife, Scotland.

I took this image this afternoon, its around a 10 minute walk from my home. I used my drone and it had a circular polariser on the gimbal. I took two images, making sure they overlapped, so stitching them together in Lightroom was easy. This landscape will change in two to three months time due to the rapeseed fields being different throughout the months. I managed to capture the wonderful yellow colour of the rapeseed, blue sky and the white clouds which popped with the polariser filter. Just make sure you are facing 90 degrees to the sun as you take the image.

This image popped with vibrant colours, I made the horizon sit on the bottom 1/3, to expose the sky more than the rapeseed fields. I just knew I took an image that meant something to me. It made me feel happy and calm, being there to witness this was exciting and fresh, I’d be happy for this to be a screensaver on my PC. Half an hour later this image did not exist, as the clouds disappeared, and the light was a bit different.

You don’t have to venture far to exotic locations to capture such beauty. Just go out and explore places nearby, have a look at the weather forecast, feel for an image that you imagine what it could look like before venturing out, draw it or visualise it. With my DSLR and drone, I have a bit more freedom to help me find it. I am still learning this art, and I always will learn new things, there will never be the perfect photograph, if there was, I would just stop right now.

There is a beautiful landscape near you. I just wanted to share this with you.

Seafield Beach, Kirkcaldy, Fife.

I drove to Seafield Beach in Kirkcaldy this afternoon with Betsy. I usually go to this lovely beach at sunrise or sun sets. But today I decided to go and get some seascapes during the afternoon. I checked the tide times and low tide was at 1450, I got to the beach at around 1530.

I took around 20 images with my DSLR and my 10-24mm Tamron lens. I used a 10 stop ND filter. The sun was about 90 degrees to where I was standing. During a low tide, this beach has very nice rock formations, and has an old harbour wall. After scouting around taking various images on the beach, I ended up taking a few long exposures on the tripod.

The crumbling harbour wall made a good subject to photograph on the tripod. I had various compositions, sometimes the sun made the conditions a little harsh, so I waited until the sun disappeared in the clouds, to diffuse the light, before pressing the shutter button.

I used a 2s timer to prevent unwanted camera shake when I pressed the shutter button.. My focus went to manual when I put the 10-stop filter on. My exposure was 20s with the camera set -2 stops for the exposure in the camera, this prevented the highlights being blown out. I always shoot in RAW, this gives me more freedom to edit in Lightroom. I set my camera to monochrome for most of my images today.

Old harbour wall, Seafield Beach. 20 second exposure with a 10-stop ND filter. F16, ISO 100, 10mm focal length. Manual settings. DSLR on a tripod.

I love how this image turned out, as I was standing close to the old wall, it made me feel a little uneasy as it was around 4 meters high. I had my wits with me in regards to the tide coming in, and made sure I was not going to get cut off by the tide. With the long exposure, it made the water silky. At the bottom of the wall, it created dark shadows, as the sun came in from behind me on my right shoulder, looking at the wall. The wall had lots of nice textures, and the sand too. The wall was placed on the line of thirds with pretty much the horizon at dead centre. The rock in the foreground added interest, was it a rock or a tree stump? My eyes go from the bottom centre to the left corner, then along the image where you can see the end of the wall. You can see more rock formations along the right side of the horizon, then my eyes are drawn back to the large rock, then down water and sand patterns to the bottom of the image. The black and white image was so much better than in colour today.

I will be going out this week again to take images, maybe the next image will be from my drone?

Callander, the Trossachs, Scotland. My perspective.

The charming Town of Callander, a panorama image from my drone.

I took this image while on a short break this week. My wife Lesley and I had three nights at an apartment in Callander on the banks of the River Teith. The weather was really good, and we did a lot of relaxing in the appartment, walking, site seeing and a quirky picnic to Kinlochard, near Aberfoyle on our last day.

This charming town serves as the eastern gateway to the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, the first National Park in Scotland, and is often referred to as the "Gateway to the Highlands". There are plenty of souvenir shops, tea tooms, hotels, B&Bs, and a lovely fish and chip shop.

I love how this image came out all stitched by the drone, using the panorama function. The nice cloud formations, stunning forests, the River Teith, and the town itself during the late afternoon sun. In the centre of the image is the mountain Ben Ledi. You can see this mountain as you approach from the North or South. I love the lovely colour of the late spring. It would look so different in the winter. Now thinking about the winter months, maybe I should take the same panoramic image in the winter as well? I know where I took this image from, so maybe I could do the same in the winter, sounds like fun to me.

Callander is a special place to me, I keep going back either for a drive, walk or bike trip. It’s only an hour away from where I live. From there, heading north, you can really see more of Scotland’s beauty. I will take more panoramas, and post them here in the future, I have a few photography trips lined up already, for example, Glen Coe and the Lake District.

I did everything I could to capture a beautiful sunrise. It never happened!

Last night I checked the weather forecast (cloud cover, wind, sunrise, and the weather in general. It looked promising!).

My alarm went off at 0431, got up had a quick coffee and banana, got betsy in the car, collected my camara gear and drone, then headed off to South Queensferry at early dawn. On walking towards the location under the Forth Rail Bridge, it looked good, pretty clear, and walked into the deep blue and pinkie sky. As I was getting to the old world war 2 ammunition pier, there was a bit of low stratus cloud. I seen a good opportunity to take an image of the pier, with a lovely rising waning crescent moon above the low clouds, as I looked south towards South Queensferry.

I got my tripod ready with my Nikon D510 DSLR and the lens used was the Nikon 18-105mm F3.5-5.6. I don’t use this lens often enough. It came in handy today. The image below was taken at 66mm, F11, 3s exposure, I set this to aperture priority. It was taken at the side of the concrete block. The tide was out, and to the right side of the pier, was a rocky and pebbly beach. I took this around 30 minutes from sun set, sun set at this location was at 0550hrs.

A lovely waning rising crescent moon above the oil tanker on the Firth of Forth.

I went down and walked carefully along the rocky beach to a point where I should get the sunrise behind the pier. Unfortunately more stratus clouds drifted towards our location, and was unfortunately not going to see a sunrise this morning.

I did however, enjoy being out and seeing the colours in the sky with Betsy. I am learning that as a photographer, don’t be disappointed when things don’t come to plan, but enjoy being outside with the camera, learning new things. Even take different images from the one planned. I am still outside with the camera.

Below is an image of the pier, without the expected sunrise behind this magnificent decaying structure. This was taken around 5-10 minutes after sunrise. I used the same lens, Nikon 18-105mm F3.5-5.6. 24mm, F16, 1/60s. Aperture priority mode.

I hope you all enjoy this short blog?

The low stratus clouds prevented me seeing a sunrise this morning, but still, I still managed to capture two meaningful images, which is shared to you all.

A very cold January with my drone at Loch Leven, Kinross.

On a very cold, windless morning (2nd January 2025), I left my home to capture a beautiful dawn. I headed off to Kinross to Loch Leven in Fife. I got to the car park which was covered in frost and made my way to the shore line at the end of Kirk Gate road, close to the cemetery.

I made sure my three battery’s were fully charged, as the cold winter months drain the power a lot quicker than normal. Just getting up early and seeing a beautiful dawn, with an amazing sunrise is an experience that I just love. In the winter months here in Scotland, dawn can be early as 0730, and with sun rises just before 0900hrs.

I hope this short video (2 minutes long) gives it justice, as the colours were incredible, deep blues, pinks and oranges. My fingers were numb flying my drone carefully that morning. The drone was about a month old, it’s the DJI Mavic Mini 4 Pro. I do love sunrises, and I plan carefully where the sun will rise will be, and what time. Also, the wind conditions, as unfortunately I can not fly my drone in strong winds.

I also love the sunrises on beaches, and in the mountains. Sometimes I will have my camera and do long exposures during the dawn and sunrise, or even sunsets. I will get up early and stay up late to see this and capture images that means something to me.

Enjoy.

St Monans - Fife coast, Scotland.

St Monans is a quaint fishing village between Elie and Pittenweem on the Fife coast. From there you can see the Isle of May and Bas Rock islands across the Firth of Forth. It is worth a trip to St Monans, as its quaint and quirky.

There is plenty of photo opportunities to be had at any time of the day. Betsy (Cockapoo) and I went there yesterday evening to capture something meaningful. I wrote down, and drew in my small notebook of what I would like to capture well before leaving the house, this included the tide times, wind forecast, sunset time, and general weather conditions. I went to the breakwater with Betsy, but it was a bit sketchy to have her there while I took a long exposure image at around sun set.

I moved on, and I did take a long exposure image of a fishing boat in the harbour as the tide went out, not quite what I wanted, but it was meaningful to me. Then, I just looked and walked about, and came across a small beach which looked out to the breakwater. The sun had set, but there was still enough light. I moved away from my camera and set up my drone (DJI Mavic Mini 4 Pro). As it was flying I moved in towards the break water, I composed the image manually, then took a few shots. I felt I captured something minimalist (the clouds did not help, a cloudless evening would have made it more minimalist). Being patient paid off, and I knew going home I would come away with something.

We have to be patient as photographers, and I understand this. To be creative at anything, we need to be patient, there is no shortcuts. If you did not get your dream image, you can still get one, just pause for a second, and feel something inside you as you look around - you will get it.

St Monans harbour - 2 minute long exposure.

St Monans break water - sun set. Captured from my drone.

I’ll try and stop worrying about what people think about my images.

I’ll need to stop worrying about what people think about my images. It gives me a bit of anxiety over something out of my control. Its pretty much in my personality trait. But, I have been a lot better lately, as photography for me is about enjoyment, getting away from the real world, and it puts me at ease and makes me happy.

After all, my images are my art, nobody else can produce images like me, and I should feel proud of that. No way would I take a self portrait and put it up on my website, if I chose not to show my work, it would not exist. I was brave today, and went to my home studio under one light (Soft box) and a backdrop. I put my camera on a tripod, took several shots on a 10 second timer, until I felt that I captured something that was meaningful and personal to me to share.

I will try something different the next time, maybe an interesting subject other than a portrait image. In the near future I will have a portfolio up on my website. But first of all I need to learn this craft.

My first image with a copyright and watermark.

Today was another learning curve. Find out how to watermark and copyright my images, thanks Karen (work colleague). Well, it took me 4-5 hours to find out how to do this in Lightroom. I have learned a lot over the past week, and need to get this website as best as it can be. Also to protect my images from being used and edited without my permission.

I took this image of my wife Lesley this evening in the spare room, It was the same set up as yesterday. I used my old Nikon D510 DSLR and a 50mm prime lens ( Yongnuo) which is very sharp for taking portraits. My settings were, focal length - 50mm, f4 aperture, 1/125s shutter speed, ISO 200. I felt the exposure was good with the soft box light set up. I took around 30-40 images, and most were done ad hoc, and I got Lesley to pose, and made her comfortable, and every now and then stopped to show the images I took.

This image was edited in the Snapseed app on my mobile (I normally use Light room). I cropped the original image in ever so slightly, then converted it to black and white, then used a noir filter at the end. I feel this image portrays emotion , calmness and thought, The leading line at the wrist through a diagonal direction looked really nice, with a dark shadow on her right side added another moody feeling. Her denim jacket, added texture to the image and there is a lot of negative space either side of her face and the left shoulder. I liked this a lot, one of my best portrait images to date.

A nice black and white, noir portrait taken this evening at my home studio,

Home studio - simple design and a first portrait image.

I set up a simple home studio this evening and had my beautiful wife to pose for me. I used a 50mm prime 1.8 lens. Settings were f4, 1/100s. I used a large collapsible Neewer back drop, small stool, a 50x70cm Raleno soft box. I like what I did, and its a pretty clean image. I will do more of these, and would like to take family portraits too. This is set up in the spare room. I closed all the curtains, and made sure all light was eliminated except for the soft box.

I’m happy with the result, and look forward to doing more for sure, a nice starting point for my new website.

A nice catch light on the nearest eye and a fall off with focus towards her left eye. Shot at f4.

Don’t just look towards your scene, have look over your shoulder as well!

Well, I was taking an image out to sea, and by chance I looked over my shoulder as the sky darkened, and captured this moody sky! By looking around, it can give you something so much better to come away with. A lesson learned, if there is nothing really nice to capture, just pause for a second, look around you, and you may come away with an incredible image. This image was shot in November 2023.

Seafield Beach - Kirkcaldy, Fife - November 2023.

A sun rise to make me feel alive.

Seeing a beautiful sunrise, and the reflection of the sun as it rises makes me feel alive. I love to capture these moments in time, save the image on my hard drive, then publish what I had seen and experienced.

The image needs to feel a certain way (uplifting, spectacular, calming, colourful, peaceful). Through my eyes, it needs a meaning, a kind of balance from the real and unreal world that we live in. It needs to tell a story, then I click the shutter button.

Seeing a beautiful sunrise, is not by chance however, a little bit of planning can help. Now the sun rises are getting earlier day by day, as we move into the summer months.

I use a few apps to help me decide on where to go. Photo Ephemeris helps me locate where the sun will rise and what time. Clear outside will give me an understanding on what the cloud cover will be, there is no point going to a location with complete cloud cover from the horizon to the highest point. The wind map from MSN will aid me, if I will be using my drone to to get images from above. The Met Office app is useful for general weather conditions. With all the information I can make a choice on where to go or not go to capture a nice sun rise.

I prefer sun rises as I am an early bird, and to date, I have witnessed many of these magical and timeless moments.

Sun rise at Aberdour, Fife, in March this year.

I Started my photography website today!

I have just started my photography website today, after a couple of weeks getting it set up through Squarespace. I have never ventured into this before, even though I have been a photography hobbyist for ten years or so.

I have been involved with weddings, and sports events in the past. Weddings were the toughest for sure. I did like however being the main photographer for my sons local football team, Hillfield Swifts for two years.

I would just at the minute like to showcase my images. I have an old camera, a Nikon D510, and I have a new DJI Mavic Mini 4 Pro drone.

I have an interest in landscape photography at present, and I like putting together, short videos with my drone, which I will put up on this website. I will see if this lovely hobby develops me as a photographer, and I will endeavour to produce lovely images with a personal feeling or meaning. I am delving into the unknown as to where it will take me with regards to building up my website with images and drone footage.

I have been thinking about starting to do portraits again, either on location, or in my home studio which I am setting up. I have basic kit to practice with, and gain more knowledge and experience.

Future photography trips; Mirror Man (structure) at Loch Earn, Arria (mermaid structure) in Cumbernauld, and Robert the Bruce statue at Bannockburn. My plan is to take images of them and publish them on this site.

My favourite times to take images and drone footage are during the golden hours.

Lets see where I go from here…….

An old photo from around 2012 from a boxing event, which I was the main photographer.

Forth Rail Bridge, I almost lost my drone.

I went out early this morning with Betsy to capture some video and images. I left the house and was in South Queensferry by 0525. I did a bit of filming and I was lucky to come back with my drone. I set the drone up on Hawes Pier with the battery pretty empty. It RTH and landed just on the edge of the pier, another half meter, it would have gone down in the River Forth, I was really lucky going home with the drone.

I have learned not to set the drone up near hazards such as rivers and send it up 10-20m away from hazards, I did managed to capture nice images and put together a video which is on my you tube channel. I look forward to going out again this week.

Hawes Pier - Before sunrise

Seafield Beach, Kirkcaldy.

This morning was an early start with Betsy. I left the house just past 5am, and headed off to Cowdenbeath interchange to park near by, to capture the wind turbines at dawn. Unfortunately the path to the wind turbines from the road had CCTV and did not chance walking along, then get caught by security guards, just for a photo.

Anyway, I drove straight to Seafield Beach in Kirkcaldy for dawn. I captured some nice drone video and images as Betsy ran about the beach. Its a really nice spot for photography and is part of the Fife Coastal Path.

Dawn - Seafield Beach.