CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

Contrary to what you see on this blog, the weather in this part of Scotland is not always sunny, but Dunbar is statistically one of the sunniest places in the UK.   However we live near the sea and that means the occasional bout of sea fog.  Now some people put down their cameras on days like this and I think they are missing out on the opportunity to capture something different. Landscapes look so different when shrouded in fog or mist as these two shots taken on the Dunbar coastal path show.  Taking them as dramatic mono images, adding a bit of grain to give that gritty edge to the images in post production, has given me a completely different view than when taking images from the same spots on a sunny day. Cloudy or foggy days are also great for macro and close up images because of the diffused light.  Also on a misty or foggy day the plants are usually covered in water drops, such as this ivy growing on the wall on the coastal path. So next t...

On Thursday I went for a walk along the coastal path near Cockburnspath to find the ruins of St Helen's Church which is marked on the OS Explorer map of the area (OS map no 346). The ruins date from the 12th century and the church was heavily rebuilt in the 14th and 15th centuries before being abandoned in the 18th when the parish of Aldcambus was united with Cockburnspath.  The church was dedicated to St Helen and is also known as  St Helen's Kirk, St Helen's On The Lea and St Helena's Chapel. Access is via the coastal path that runs along the dry stone wall and the ruins can also be seen from the road.  The church yard is set apart from the surrounding fields by a stone wall enclosure and a few head stones and grave markers can be seen close to the ruins of the church.  Only three headstones are still standing and one is set apart from the others, that are grouped together closer in.  Markings are still visible on several of the graveston...

It's been a beautiful spring like day here in the South East of Scotland, too good to be sat at the computer, so I decided to 'down tools' and go for a walk along the coastal path near Cockburnspath to take some pictures of the remains of St Helen's Church above the cliffs - I will post shots from here in the next couple of days.  Walking along the coastal path I stopped to take in this scene looking back towards Torness Point.  I decided to get the Nikon D800 and take a long exposure (4 minutes) to get some movement in the clouds and the sea. Regular visitors to my blog may have noticed that I have been favouring my pair of Fuji cameras over the bigger and more cumbersome Nikon D800.  This is because the images quality and the size of the Fujifilm X-Pro1 and X100 are superb and ideal when out walking.  However today I decided to load up my Lowepro backpack and take the D800 along as well and I'm certainly glad I did.   The 36mp full frame sensor on t...

The cliff top walk around the Winterfield Golf Club has become a regular place for us to go for a walk to blow away the cobwebs.  Unless the weather is VERY inclement, we head off for a walk down to Belhaven Bay and if the tide is in, meaning the bridge to the beach is cut off, we'll head up the coastal path alongside the golf course. This shot is taken from the cliff top looking east towards Dunbar Castle and the North Sea was reminding us of its power with plenty of breakers and white horses all along the coast.  Wonderful!   The shot was taken on the Fujifilm X-Pro1 and Fujinon 35mm f1.4R.  The image was converted to mono in Silver Efex Pro2. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fee for every click thru from Google and this helps support this blog...

If you are a regular visitor to this blog you'll know we've been documenting the many beaches and walks near our new home in East Lothian.  We decided to head south towards the English border to explore the area and spent some time on the coastal pathway east of Dunbar. This shot was taken from the cliff top path near Pease Bay looking west towards Dunbar and the Firth of Forth Images taken on a Fuji X100 and Fujinon 23mm f2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE GOOGLE ADVERTS It doesn't cost you anything to click on an advert but we get a small fee for every click thru from Google and this helps support this blog - thank you for helping ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL IMAGES ARE THE PROPERTY OF MACLEAN PHOTOGRAPHIC AND CANNOT BE USED FOR ANY PURPOSE WI...