Photo of the Month: December 2015

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8th December 2015, St Monans, East Neuk, Fife

After checking tide tables and the weather I set off for the East Neuk.  I had planned to photograph on the beach directly below St Monans Parish Church but the tide had already receded from here so I turned my attention to the rocks of Long Shanks further west. I have looked down on these rocks many times from the Fife Coastal Path without giving them a second thought. Today, from the beach, I was looking up at a raggedy skyline.  It was as if I had found a new location. The rocks were cut with deep channels of water being fed by the sea swell even though the tide was receding. As it receded further I was able to move within the rocks to reach a small beach. With the low winter sun providing some dramatic lighting and a storm sweeping over the Firth of Forth, the scene looked very foreboding. They are moments which are too infrequent in my opinion.  I was determined to make the most of it before the storm hit but with the air full of spray the most difficult task was keeping the filters dry using a small reflector as a shield.  Eventually the rain became too heavy and I had to pack everything away and retreat to the harbour but I had enough images on the card to make the trip worthwhile.  

Technical Info: 

Taken with a Fujifilm X-T1

Fujinon XF 14mm f/2.8 R lens

EXIF: ISO-200 / f/11 / 1/10sec

Lee filters:
RAW File converted to TIFF in Fuji RAW converter powered by Silkypix, developed in Adobe PSE9

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Other images from the same afternoon:

Photo of the Month: November 2015

Four of a Kind

3rd November 2015, Devilla Forest, Fife

Devilla, a productive forest managed by Forestry Commission Scotland, on the A985 between Dunfermline and Kincardine and only 5 miles from home. Much of the forest is native Scots Pine, planted in regimental fashion, but recent forestry activity has thinned areas of the forest allowing more light to penetrate.  Today was a foggy autumnal day and I went to Devilla specifically to photograph in the fog. I know where these trees are from previous explorations of the forest. They are not readily identifiable from the forest road, but by taking 10 paces 'off-road' all is revealed. I used the low vegetation to fill the foreground and frame the trees. The last of the leaves have lifted the foreground and the fog has created a lovely softness.

Technical Info:

Taken with a Fuji X-T1
Fujinon XF 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR lens @ 34.5mm

EXIF: ISO-200 / 1/20sec / f/11
Lee filters: None
RAW File converted to TIFF in Fuji RAW Converter powered by Silkypix, developed in Adobe PSE9

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Photo of the Month: August 2015

Legoland

25th August 2015, St Monans, East Neuk

After finishing a commission in St Monans I spent the remainder of the afternoon in the East Neuk.  The late-summer sun was too strong and high for landscape photography so I concentrated on the harbours to see if they would yield an opportunity. I didn't have to go too far. This is Virgin Square just along from Mid Shore where I had been working. I have always been drawn to this scene for its angular look.  The architecture is typical of the East Neuk but today there were two other factors which made it stand out. The strong lighting has created deep shadows which has given the scene an almost 3D appearance and the lack of vehicles which are usually parked in a line on the street. My Canon tilt-shift lens was put to good use here.  It is a specialist lens that gives me the ability to keep vertical lines straight as opposed to creating a wigwam effect, where the vertical lines appear to be converging, which happens when a standard lens is used. Very little post processing was done too as I used one of my own Picture Styles created within the camera menu to give me the look I was wanting. 

  
Technical Info:

Taken with a Canon EOS 5D mk II
Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II tilt/shift lens

EXIF: ISO-100 / f/13 / 1/125 sec 
Lee filters: None 
Picture Style applied in camera: Landscape / Sharpening: +4 / Contrast: +3 / Highlight: +2 / Shadow: +1 / Tone: -1 / Saturation: -2

RAW File converted to TIFF in Canon DPP


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Photo of the Month: July 2015

Nights of Thunder

 3rd July 2015, Crombie, Fife

Another visit to my local fields to witness more sunset colour.  With thunderstorms forecast for the early hours the clear sky is starting to cloud over as the storms approach. The setting sun lights up the underside of the black clouds with fiery reds and oranges whilst clearer skies to the south change to deep blue.

 
Technical Info:

Taken with a Fujifilm X-T1
Fujinon XF 14mm f/2.8 R lens
EXIF: ISO-200 / f/11 / 0.3sec

Lee filters: 0.6 GND Hard

RAW File converted to TIFF in Fuji RAW converter powered by Silkypix, developed in Adobe PSE9


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Photo of the Month: May 2015

Branch line

 22nd May 2015, Crombie, Fife

May this year has seen some very moody skies at sunset in western Fife. Fortunately I have a few very local spots where I can watch a sky develop from my car and decide how I am going to shoot it.  Sometimes I use small country lanes as my foreground lead-in but with the recent sunny weather the crops are now maturing and this allows me to use the tractor lines in the fields as a lead-in. Tonight's sunset was another spectacular one and the field is less than a mile from home.  
The image presented a challenge due to the large dynamic range between the shadow areas and the highlights in the sky on the horizon. In these situations I initially ignore the extreme highlights and bracket 3 exposures metering off the foreground, using a graduated neutral density filter to balance the sky. A 4th exposure was taken from a spot meter reading just above the horizon to capture the highlight detail.  The final image was manually blended from three of the four images taken using layer masks in Photoshop. 


Technical Info:

Taken with a Fujifilm X-T1
Fujinon XF 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR lens @ 18mm

EXIF: ISO-200 / f/8 / 1/3 sec / 1/15 sec / 2/3 sec, 3 exposures blended
Lee filters: 

RAW File converted to TIFF in Fuji RAW converter powered by Silkypix, developed in Adobe PSE9


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Photo of the Month: March 2015

Tentsmuir

8th March 2015, Tentsmuir National Nature Reserve, Fife

Tentsmuir, on the north-east coast of Fife above St Andrews.  On an OS map it looks like many other Forestry Commission forests with a regular pattern of forest roads and uniform conifers. But on closer inspection it is different. Yes, the forest is extensive covering 14 sq km's, making it one of the largest forests in Fife, but it extends along the coast for 8km's with a line of sand dunes separating it from miles of sandy beaches. The coastline is now a National Nature Reserve, and the dune grasses are littered with decaying trees giving the appearance of a desert. The afternoon was sunny and unseasonably warm as we walked from the forest through the dunes and along the beach towards Tentsmuir Point.  On the return leg I knew what I wanted to photograph and I knew that black and white would give me the look I was wanting.  I wandered through the grasses until the right combination of light on dark appeared in the viewfinder.  I also wanted one of the decayed trees to provide a focal point.

 

Technical Info:

Taken with a Canon EOS 5D mkII
Zeiss Distagon T* 21/2.8 ZE lens

EXIF: ISO-100 / 1/60 sec / f/11 
Lee filters: 0.6 Hard GND

RAW File converted to TIFF in Canon DPP, developed in Adobe PSE9



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Photo of the Month: January 2015

Dreich day at Dysart

23rd January 2015, Dysart harbour, Fife

The picturesque harbour at Dysart lies beneath a high wall of natural stone which offers protection from storms. With stone piers and buildings, cobbled surfaces, old sheds and cast iron lamps, it has the ambience of a bygone age. During the winter months many of the small craft line the piers. Soon after arriving today it started to rain. I sheltered as best I could, waiting for the rain to stop, even for a few minutes, but this was more in hope than anything else.  I resisted the urge to pack up and instead set up beside the Harbourmasters House using a small reflector as a makeshift umbrella to keep the lens and filters dry.  The rain has reflected light on both the cobbles and on some of the boats which is why I was reluctant to miss this opportunity as it has given the composition an ambience which would have been lost had it been dry. 

Technical Info:

Taken with a Canon EOS 5D mkII
Zeiss Distagon T* 35/2 ZE lens

EXIF: ISO-100 / 0.5 sec / f/11
Lee filters: 0.6 Hard GND

RAW File converted to TIFF in Canon DPP, developed in Adobe Photoshop CS5 with Topaz Adjust plug-in

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Photo of the Month: August 2014

Slipway, St Monans Harbour

 7th August 2014, St Monans, East Neuk, Fife

I generally avoid photographing coastal scenes in the middle of summer when the sun has just past its zenith and beating down on all and sundry.  I had parked in St Monans to visit the Pittenweem Arts Festival just along the coast.  The tide had just started to ebb with the end of the stone slipway still wet which looked good in 'live view'.  To smooth the water I used a 10-stop ND filter and a Polarising filter helped with the glare. A shaded my lens/filters from the sun using a small pop-up reflector.  It sounds complicated but it only took a few minutes to set up.  To get the look I was wanting I used a Photoshop Plug-in called Topaz Adjust to bring out the textures in the stone and add some contrast.

Technical Info:

Taken with a Canon EOS 5D mkII
Zeiss Distagon T* 21/2.8 ZE lens

EXIF: ISO-100 / 30 sec / f/11
Filters: Lee Big Stopper (10-stop ND); B&W Polariser
RAW File converted to TIFF in Canon DPP, developed in AdobePhotoshop CS5 and Topaz Adjust.

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Photo of the Month: July 2014

Heads and Tails, Cleish Hills

26th July 2014, Cleish Hills

Woke up at 4:15 a.m. as bright as a button.  Last nights weather forecaster had predicted that the eastern side of Scotland would be affected by a haar, or fog, which would roll in from the North Sea overnight. Looking out of the window there was no fog at all but I still got up and headed for the Cleish Hills.  It's a 20 minute drive on quiet roads, the final stretch being on the narrow hill road through Blairadam Forest. I glimpsed the fog just as I was coming out of the forest and my first reaction was to punch the air in triumph.  It was a sea of fog stretching to the horizon over much of the old county of Kinross-shire.  Poking through the fog were the hills around Loch Leven; Benarty and Bishop Hill with the dome of West Lomond behind.  With few clouds the red hues of the dawn sky subsided to blue once the suns disc had cut the horizon behind Bishop Hill.  The fog was still in shadow but eventually, as the sun rose higher, its light started to reflect off the fog which took on a yellow glow.  Just before 6 a.m. two horses appeared and came over to say hello.  Their profiles were caught by the light from the sun which was gaining strength rapidly as the minutes ticked by.  I was back home for 6:30am feeling elated.  Time for a brew before switching on the PC.

Technical Info:

Taken with a Canon EOS 5D mkII
Zeiss Distagon T* 21/2.8 ZE lens

EXIF: ISO-100 / 1/25 sec / f/11 
Lee filters: 0.9 Hard GND

RAW File converted to TIFF in Canon DPP, developed in Adobe PSE9

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Photo of the Month: February 2014

Seafield, Kirkcaldy, Fife

16th February 2014, Seafield, Kirkcaldy, Fife

The Fife Coastal Path at Seafield, Kirkcaldy.  This is one of the most interesting areas in Fife for the photographer who likes to seek out their own compositions along a particularly rugged section of coast. Below Seafield Tower, the sandstone rocks have been eroded by the action of the sea creating little rock pools. I have used this composition before in less favourable light. Sunset is about 30 minutes away with the soft pastel sky stretching over the Firth of Forth to Edinburgh on the other side. 3 frames were taken in portrait format and stitched together in software. 

Technical Info:

Taken with a Canon EOS 5D mkII
Zeiss Distagon T* 21/2.8 ZE lens

EXIF: ISO-100 / 4 sec @ f/11 x 3 frames,stitched
Lee filters: 0.6 Soft GND

RAW File converted to TIFF in Canon DPP, developed in Adobe PSE9

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Photo of the Month: January 2014

The Watcher, Pettycur Harbour, Fife

8th January 2014, Pettycur Harbour, Fife.

Pettycur, on a headland south of Kinghorn, has a harbour for both pleasure craft and small fishing boats.  It has a single stone pier which provides a haven to moor boats in the sandy and tidal Pettycur Bay.  The pier is lined with sheds and workshops, lovingly cared for by their owners.  One is a smokery and another sells fresh crab.  Staircases lead from the pier down to the boats moored in the bay and there are creels and fishing gear at the far end of the pier. When I arrived it was raining quite heavily. When the rain moved away I made my way down the sand to the boats which were beached at the far end of the pier.  They were lying at all angles. The sun set and an incoming tide soon covered the sand. I was concentrating so much on one boat, Island Lass, that I didn't notice the figure standing on the pier until after I had pressed the remote release. 10 seconds later the shutter closed and he hadn't moved. Perfect.

 

Technical Info:

Taken with a Canon EOS 5D mkII
Zeiss Distagon T* 21/2.8 ZE lens

EXIF: ISO-100 / 10 sec @ f/11, 20 sec @ f/11, blended
Lee filters: 0.6 Hard GND

RAW File converted to TIFF in Canon DPP, developed in Adobe PSE9

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Photo of the Month: July 2013

Telegraph Road, Culross, Fife

1st July 2013, Gallows Loan, above Culross

 

I have been visiting this field above Culross since the Spring when the crop was merely a few inches high.  Each visit sees new growth and a change in colour.  My last visit was 3-weeks ago.  Now it is thigh deep, the sun has ripened the ears and I expect it will soon be harvested.  With the sun setting at about 10pm there is luminosity in the sky for a long time afterwards.  I took this image 25 minutes after sunset in the gloaming light.  The trees were all silhouettes against the sky whilst the tram lines in the crop helped create a sense of depth with their dark shadows.     

Technical Info:

Taken with a Canon EOS 5D mkII
Zeiss Distagon T* 21/2.8 ZE lens

EXIF: ISO-100 / 13 sec / f/16
Lee filters: 0.9 Hard GND

RAW File converted to TIFF in Canon DPP, developed in Adobe PSE9

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Go local: Fields at Crombie, Fife

The field is a few minutes’ drive from my home in Cairneyhill.  Not only is it planted with wheat, which provides the foreground interest, but it’s advantage over other local fields is that it’s on a small hill and gives views across to the north-west where the sun sets at this time of the year.  It’s a place I can get to if the sky suddenly develops some colour around sunset. A lay-by at the entrance to the field provided easy parking.  The channels created by the tractors make natural lead-in lines and break up the continuous swathes of green whilst adding shadow areas too.  Tonight I left the house at 9:35pm, got parked up at 9:40pm, was set up in the field by 9:50pm, spent 30 mins photographing the sunset and gloaming light following sunset and was back home for 10:35pm.  Pretty good mini-session I'd say. 

Photo of the Month: April 2013

Buoy Racers, Aberdour Boat Club, Fife

30th April 2013, Aberdour Boat Club, Fife. 

The tide was retreating rapidly when I arrived.  Being a Spring low-tide it more or less drained the harbour of water as I wandered amongst the small craft.  The tidal range is quite significant.  I was quite a distance from the rear of the harbour when I took this, with the majority of small craft being behind me.  I waited for the sun to set, for the sky to 'cool' down and used the reflections off the stony harbour basin to create a very contrasty scene with deep hues and dark shadows.  The yellow buoy and the snaking cable lead the eye perfectly.  

Technical Info:

Taken with a Canon EOS 5D mkII
Zeiss Distagon T* 21/2.8 ZE lens

EXIF: ISO-100 / 3 sec / f/13
Lee filters: 0.6 Soft GND

RAW File converted to TIFF in Canon DPP, developed in Adobe PSE9

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Photo of the Month: March 2013

Point of Impact, Loch Glow, Cleish Hills

12th March 2013, above Loch Glow, Cleish Hills.

I've visited Loch Glow a few times over the winter months to study the lie of the land including a circuit of the loch itself.  It is approx. 2 miles / 3.2 km's around with the far side, Tipperton Moss, being a poorly drained marsh, making for extremely tough going.  The northern side is flanked by forestry and the craggy Cleish Hills which rise to over 350m /1150ft.  The Loch is a fishery run by Rosyth Angling Club and out of season there  are few visitors.  This evening I had the loch to myself. It was very windy and cold with sunset due at 6:10pm. The day had been overcast and the sky was dull and grey as I climbed the hill on the north side of the loch. After setting up my tripod and camera it was a case of waiting to see what, if anything, would happen. And happen, it did. Big bands of thick black cloud started moving in from the NW on strong winds.  The cloud was so black that even the weather forecasters on BBC Reporting Scotland mentioned it on the early evening broadcast.  The sun appeared, disappeared and then re-appeared as an intense orange ball as it set in the little dip in the hills. It lit up huge sections of black cloud with red light making one section of the sky look almost apocalyptic as if there had been an explosion.  Eventually the fiery sky subsided to dusky pinks and blues before settling down for the night but I had captured the moment perfectly which is why it is my photo of the month.

Technical Info:

Taken with a Canon EOS 5D mkII
Zeiss Distagon T* 21/2.8 ZE lens

EXIF: ISO-100 / 4 sec / f/13

RAW File converted to TIFF in Canon DPP, developed in Adobe PSE9

The changing sky at sunset

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Go Fife: Seafield, Kirkcaldy

Seafield beach, Kirkcaldy on a Thursday afternoon in late March.  I arrived with about an hour to go before low tide (due at 4pm) to see the waves rolling in and a bit of colour in the heavy sky so stayed for about 2 hours.  Was absolutely baltic but you tend to forget the cold when you absorb yourself in rocks and waves and cleaning filters and watching for rogue waves (above).  

An Inukshuk is a stone landmark or cairn built by the Inuit and other peoples of the Arctic regions of North America. The Inukshuk may have been used for navigation, as a point of reference, a marker for travel routes, fishing places, camps or hunting grounds as well as other uses.  Today I decided to build my own version of an Inukshuk using big boulders next to the sea.  As the tide was due to come back in it would be temporary only but would serve as a prop.  The stormy weather migrated westward and was replaced by a brief interval of blue sky before more overcast conditions signalled an end to the best light at which time I called it a day.

Seafield beach is on the south side of Kirkcaldy.  Accessed from Seafield Road, off Kinghorn Road (A921).  The gate to the car park is automatically controlled to open at 6:30am and close at 10:30pm.  There is a height restriction for cars only.  

Go Fife: December sunrise, Seafield, Kirkcaldy

A really dramatic sunrise today in the company of Stuart Low and Scott Masterton.  My first sunrise shoot so the adrenaline was flowing. Was minus something when we arrived and the beach was covered in frost when we packed up.  The tide was on its way out so we had to constantly move down the rocks.  The sky was full of black clouds which added a touch of menace to the already dramatic scene.  

Click to view larger

Although it looks like the type of scenery you would find in The Lord of the Rings, this is the Fife coast between Kirkcaldy and Kinghorn.  Seafield beach to be precise, on the south side of Kirkcaldy.  Accessed from Seafield Road, off Kinghorn Road (A921), the gate to the car park is automatically controlled to open at 6:30am and close at 10:30pm. There is a height restriction for cars only but the parking is free.  

We all set up at different positions along an area of the shore south of Seafield Tower, about a mile from the car park.  The rocks here are tilted and slope into the sea with the channels between being tidal. I got the above shot a few minutes after sunrise having noticed the big rounded boulder was glowing orange in the corner of my eye.  Had to quickly reposition and check all my settings to make sure I got the shot as opportunities like this are rare. 

  All images taken with a Canon EOS 5D mk II with Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM lens and Lee ND Grad filters helped with the dynamic range.    

Go Fife: East Neuk Sunset - Valentine's Day

On a weeks' annual leave and with this being Valentine's Day we decided to go to Anstruther for a fish-supper at The Anstruther Fish Bar.  It had been dull all day and driving the 45 or so miles out from Cairneyhill to the East Neuk was no different.  Sometimes we get all 4 seasons in a day, unfortunately today wasn't one of them. I had packed my camera gear more in hope really.  Instead of going directly to Anstruther we stopped off at Pittenweem and parked on the sea front at the far end of the harbour overlooking the Firth of Forth. The sky was getting darker as day turned into night without any form of sunset at all.

Pittenweem is a commercial fishing port, the busiest and liveliest in the East Neuk, and a number of the boats were on their way back into port.  You could see their lights out at sea.  Grabbing my camera pack and tripod I went for a wander around the harbour in the fading light which I always tend to do when I visit.  I ended up on the harbour wall which leads onto the long pier / breakwater which protects the harbours narrow entrance.  Two or three boats chugged passed into the harbour and I was so pre-occupied with watching them that I nearly didn't notice the change going on with the sky.  

The dull dark grey of the oncoming night was breaking up from the west to reveal a sky already full of the colours of the setting sun.  It was as if someone had opened the curtains on the sky and it was completely unexpected.  Straight into action to get my camera onto the tripod.  At least I was in a great spot on the pier at the harbour entrance. The light levels were already pretty low.  I didn't need any filters, just a quick check of ISO and aperture and I was hitting the 2 sec. shutter release.  I spent about 10 minutes at the harbour entrance before moving back along the harbour walls towards The Gyles.

  

Just before 6pm there was another change as the whole sky turned a deep crimson red, as if the sun didn't want to let go. It was just incredible! I don't think I had even seen colour like that.  Walking back to the car the twilight, or ‘gloaming’ light as it is referred to in Scotland, started to fade into darkness.  An hour earlier you would not have believed this was going to happen. Christine was waiting for me in the 'Larachmhor', opposite the harbourmaster's office, when I finally put my camera away.  She had seen it too.  What struck me was that there were very few people about at all.  I had been the only one at the harbour with a camera so I probably had some unique shots.

And then it was on to Anstruther for our tea from the award winning fish bar.  No queue's this time as it was mid-week. The best sunset over Fife between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox.  Quite amazing to witness and all because it was Valentine’s Day and our desire to grab a fish supper in the Neuk instead of going to a local pub for dinner.  

Satellite map of Pittenweem below: