I had been planning to go to Scotland for over a year. It was primarily going to be a golfing trip and an opportunity to play at some great golf courses such as Muirfield, about an hour drive east of Edinburgh and the site of the Open in 2013. But as I started to get back into photography and heard more about Scotland, I knew I had to devote some time to photography there. There were just so many things to see. So I cut my golfing short by two days devoted 3 days to exploring some key areas.
After picking my wife up at the airport after her short trip to Dublin we did some site seeing in Edinburgh. I have to take an aside to mention that the people were very friendly in the different areas of Scotland. I have two Scottish co-workers in my office, and I jokingly tell them, “I wasn’t expecting that after working with you two!” to which one tells me “I’ve become jaded after working with you for 5 years.” Ahh… what the fast paced corporate life does to people like us.
Sensor: Canon 6D
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
40mm, f/16, 1/10 sec, 100 ISO with .6 ND. While my preferred apertures are under f/11, I wanted to ensure I got the long depth of subject matter in somewhat decent focus.
If I had to take one photo of Edinburgh, the one here would be it. It shows many of the major architectural elements of the city in one shot. At the top of Calton Hill, one can see the Dugald Stewart monument in the foreground, Edinburgh Castle in the background, and Scott’s and Matyr’s monuments in between. I call it the Edinburgh All-In-One. One can quickly see do a google search and similar images will show up. I hope though that this shot can compete with the best of them or at least complement them.
One thing Scotland taught me on this trip was not be afraid of clouds. During dusk and dawn in Scotland, I was able to get some good complex skies to complement the photo. However in the summer in Scotland when this was taken, sunrise and sunset happen at 4:30 AM and 11:30 PM. Trying to fit in both golf and photography I averaged about 4 hours of sleep per night for the first 4 days. But it was worth it. I’ll share the reset of the stories and photos over the next several weeks. (I’m still and more afraid of overcast skies and rain than lack of sleep, that will ruin any day of photography… not to mention golf)
Thanks for reading.
