Scottish Seascapes - Wick Stack, Pettico Wick

 

[caption id="attachment_2974" align="aligncenter" width="633"] View across Broadhaven Bay, Pettico Wick, Scotland[/caption]

Seascapes

Returning home from a Scottish photography trip we decided to come down the A1 along the coastal route looking for seascapes.

As we neared St.Abbs towards sunset the sky began to colour and a fantastic sunset was in the offing. Racking our brains for a nearby location, we came up with Pettico Wick, Broadhaven Bay.

We had wanted to visit this one for a long time and hadn't really been able to justify it, but we had to move quickly.

Heading into St.Abbs we were disappointed to find the sought after location was not actually here, frantic googling got us the name "Pettico Wick" and more googling got us a map, off we went. We weren't too sure of the maps authenticity when it came to crossing farm land, avoiding livestock and driving along a narrow track but we persevered. Glad we did!

The jetty and stack were bathed in pink sunlight by now but the sun was really low and in danger of disappearing below the cliff tops as we ran down the path to the jetty and set up the camera.

Just in time. Darkened over within two minutes of the shot as the sun dipped behind the cliffs.

Back to St.Abbs for coffee and cake ..... as you do.

 

The Shot

The clouds weren't moving but the sea was a little choppy so a 10-stop filter was used to smooth it out a little (always useful with seascapes). With no time left to calculate the hyperfocal distance focussing a third into the frame got the shot.

 

Links

This print is available to buy in the seascapes section of our shop

Take a look at another seascapes blog entry - Longniddry Wreck

Wikipedia information on Pettico Wick

Getting there ...

Scottish Seascapes - Longniddry Wreck

[caption id="attachment_2957" align="aligncenter" width="950"] The wreck on the beach at Longniddry, Scotland[/caption]

 

Seascapes

So, we were aimlessy driving along the southern coastline of the Firth of Forth, Scotland, looking for promising seascapes.

Alright, alright, don't twist my arm! We were specifically heading to Longniddry where we knew a wreck on the beach would be revealed if the tide was right. You can't fail with seascapes if you have a wreck to include in the shot.

We were lucky, the tide was going out and the ribs of the wreck were just beginning to show above the water, not long to wait.

The sky was nice and moody and the clouds were moving quite fast.

We don't know much about the wreck, to be honest, so if you have any information please drop us an email or leave a comment.

 

The Shot

The tripod was jammed well down in the sand to dampen vibrations from the water arounf the legs. A 10-stop filter was used to give a long exposure to make the most of the receding tide and the fast moving clouds.

We took two or three exposures just to make sure one of them had captured the water and the clouds sufficiently well.

 

Links

This print is available to buy in the seascapes section of our shop

Take a look at another seascapes blog entry - Stag Rock

Tripadvisor - Longniddry

Wikipedia information on Longniddry

Visit Scotland - Longniddry

 

Getting there ...

We took the A198 from the eastbound A1, then along the B1348 Links Road to a carpark signposted "Bents No.1", a sandy path lead down to the beach from there, once on the beach turn left and walk a couple of hundred yards along the beach and around 100 yards out. If the tide isn't that far out yet, you'll just have to wait :-)

Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year 2014

[caption id="attachment_917" align="aligncenter" width="950"] Tarbet Isle - The island of the drag boat or portage place[/caption]

Tarbet Isle - "The island of the drag boat or portage place"

We are very pleased to announce one of our images progressed through all judging rounds of Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year (SLPOTY) to achieve a "Commended" award in the Landscape category. One of only a few awarded from thousands of entries.

The image is available as a print from our shop

The shot was taken around the shores of Loch Lomond, Scotland in 2014. As we were scouting for shots around the Loch Jill spotted the Isle, looking magical, across the water, being backlit by the sun showing through some prevalent rain clouds. We could instantly see it would be perfect for a mono conversion. As luck would have it there was a layby nearby and we turned around and pulled over.

Anxious that the light would dissipate at any second and even more aware that a tourist ferry was approaching from the left that would destroy the still waters we needed to move fast. Jill grabbed the tripod, I grabbed the camera bag and we sprinted over the road and crossed the crash barrier, over a small fence, climbd down a wall then over the slippery remains of a collapsed section to the shore.

As we hurried along the shore Jill extended the tripod and I was fitting filters to the camera. All was ready to go by the time we reached the spot. The ferry was very close. There was just enough time for one 30 second shot before the ferry tore through the scene. In fact, it is only about a metre out out of camera-left in the image above.

A quick chimp at the image revealed a nice capture but we wouldn't be able to tell until we saw it on the big screen.

Then it rained, heavy.

Back home a little processing was done. Some dust spot removal, levels and curves were applied then a mono conversion.

What was produced, the image above, far exceeded what we were expecting.

Laughing to myself, when it's typed up it reads like an Indiana Jones movie!

Eqpt: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 10-22, Formatt-Hitech Firecrest 10 stop IRND, Lee 0.6 SE ND Grad

Exif: ISO 100, f8, 29 secs, 12mm

Wikipedia - "Tarbet Isle is an island in Loch Lomond, Scotland. It is off Tarbet on the mainland. It is 10 feet (3.0 m) at its highest point, and 80 metres (260 ft) long.^"

Visit Scotland - "The small Tarbet Island on Loch Lomond is situated just off Tarbet on the mainland from where its name derives.

The island is privately owned and is largely covered in pine woods and oak woodland. It is a little north east of the island where the deepest part of Loch Lomond is with depth reaching 630ft.

There is a lovely circular walk on the island which climbs gently and offers good views over Loch Lomond and the island itself."

island, landscape, loch lomond, scotland, scottish, slpoty, tarbet isle, water, loch, award