Finally got a chance to shoot some photos after the disaster with my camera!

As this is my first photo shoot for 2016, I decided to try something a bit different and head to a new location in the Scottish borders. A beautiful little village called St Abbs .  It a very small and quaint fishing village on the southeastern coast of Scotland in Berwickshire with close proximity to Eyemouth.

Like always, I had a look online and my attention was drawn towards a lovely lighthouse, sitting on the top of a cliff. I wanted to capture a couple of different viewpoints and alternative-processing methods, as there is so much contrast with the predominant colours being black and white.

I set off at 6.15 with an hour and a half expected journey time which would leave me an hour before sunrise to find the right location and set up. I am generally quite good at doing my research but got this one wrong. I presumed that the lighthouse was at St Abbs head but didn’t realise the size of the area.

I parked up at harbor and asked for directions only to find the lighthouse was over an hours walk away!

Bang goes my sunrise shot!!

Although I generally shoot at blue hour and sunrise, I wasn’t too disheartened as my main focus was in the contrast of the building itself and had all intentions of doing a black and white anyway.

After the walk along a very treacherous and icy path, I arrived! I looked at all angles to find the correct position to showcase it. I went for the obvious choice of the leading line of the staircase while trying to keep the surrounding area nice and simple, with no distractions. I also wanted a little drama in the photo to chose a 4 minute exposure time using a 10 stop ND filter and a 2 stop grad to balance the sky with an ISO setting to base 64 at F9 for sharpness.

The whole area is fantastic for photography and I wish I could have spent a bit more time there to explore, but it’s winter and get about 6 and a half hours of daylight, so I had to push on. Next, I went back the harbor area as my eye caught a glimpse of rocks looking towards the cliffs.

I always look to capture something a bit unusual from a standard photo and this one was no exception. I wanted a more mystical look from the sea but also, some contrast in the cliffs behind. The tide was coming in really quickly now and some of the rocks were becoming submerged under the water, only visible now and then so I went for a 5-minute exposure time so the rocks would stay in the shot and create a surreal look to it. The first one was done in B&W and the second, in colour. I quite like them both as both have their own qualities.

It was getting late and the sun was lighting the whole sky so time for a quick snap shot before I headed home.

What I didn’t know until the end of the day was, that you can actually take your car the whole way to the lighthouse along a farm path. Yes, it’s very narrow and can only fit one car (glad I didn’t meet any other cars are there are very limited places to pass). The light was absolutely fantastic with pink sky’s and the light was on in the lighthouse.  I didn’t want to drive that road in complete darkness with all the potholes so took a few snaps with a higher ISO of 800 and down to F5.6 focused on the lighthouse but it still looked ok.

I will definitely be back to this area, as I now know what to expect! I always get my best photos on a return to any location but I thoroughy enjoyed my trip to the Scottish borders!