CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

The John Muir Way winds its way across the south of Scotland from Muir's birth place in Dunbar and ends in Helensburgh 133 miles away on the north side of the Clyde, which was the place that Muir family set sail for the United States. We have walked small parts of the John Muir Way, which isn't very difficult as it passes a few hundred metres from the front door of our house in Dunbar, but in September this year we decided to head out to a section of the pathway on the south bank of the Forth River, west of the road and rail bridges. The part of the John Muir Way we decided to walk was from Blackness Castle in the west along the side of the Firth of Forth, past Hopetoun House and onwards towards the beach near South Queensferry which gave a great view of the three bridges. We also had a view across the water towards the naval dockyard of Rosyth, where the new Royal Navy aircraft carriers are being built.  HMS Queen Elizabeth is nearly complete and will sail out ...

On Saturday we headed to Inchcolm island to visit the Abbey and the WWII ruins. However the trip on the Maid of the Forth started from  Hawes Pier in South Queensferry, which is in the shadow of the magnificent Forth Rail Bridge, which towers 110 metres (361ft) over the mooring.  The route of the Maid of the Forth out to Inchcolm is under the bridge so you can get some unrivalled views of the 126 year old structure. The Forth Rail Bridge is a cantilever bridge spanning the Firth of Forth from South and North Queensferry to the east of Edinburgh.  The bridge is considered an iconic structure and a symbol of Scotland, and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2015.  Designed by the English engineers Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker construction of the bridge began in 1882 and it was opened on 4 March 1890 by the Prince of Wales, who later became King Edward VII on the death of his mother Queen Victoria in 1901. The bridge has a tota...

Yesterday we took a trip along the coast to Cramond for a picnic and a bit of family time.  We had our picnic and, because we arrived at low tide, we were able to walk along the causeway out to Cramond Island.   I took along the X-T2 and the 16-55mm f2.8 to get some pictures while we were out on the island. Cramond Island is a tidal  about one mile (1.6 km) out to sea, which is connected to the mainland at low tide across the Drum Sands. A paved path, exposed at low water, allows easy access. This causeway runs at the foot of a row of concrete pylons on one side of the causeway, which were constructed as a submarine defines boom  during World War II  and are one of the most striking sights in the area. At high tide the path is covered by several feet of seawater which cuts the island off from the mainland. At the outbreak of World War II, Cramond Island, along with other islands in the Forth, was fortified  to protect the coasts in the e...

A few weeks ago I bought a waterproof housing for my Fujifilm X-T1 and tested in the local rock pools here in Dunbar ( CLICK HERE ).  I bought this DICAPAC Waterproof Case for the landing trip to Bass Rock that I had booked and the idea was to capture some underwater shots of the Gannets diving for fish which is thrown in the water by the skipper of the tour boat. Yesterday I finally got to try the new underwater housing in the Firth of Forth.  Now I need to explain how the housing was used. The DICAPAC case was attached to my Manfrotto monopod by the means of a Mini Clamp.  The monopod has a clip and this was attached to one of the connectors on the waterproof case and then I attached a Peak Design leash to the case which was then attached to my wrist.  There was no way that the camera and case was going anywhere should it become detached from the clamp. When doing my tests I found the case, which is airtight obviously, tended to flip up and point t...