In general, lacking high pointy mountains, Angus always strikes me as one of the less dramatic parts of the country. However, I’ve visited the Lunan Bay area a few times and it makes a good escape for an afternoon.
There’s quite a nice beach…
Pebbles amongst sand
Decaying lump of tree bark on sand
A small floral life-form amongst the pebbles and sand.
Signs on a shed on the weay to Lunan Bay beach
Sweeping leading lines – where the Lunan Water meets the sea
Beach details: dead tree trunks/branches embedded in the sand, pointing at a hut amongst the dunes.
and the ruins of Red Castle stand out stark sandstone against blue skies – ideal with high-flying cirrus cloud in the background.
Pleasantly contrasty light illuminating the castle ruins, against a dramatic cloudy sky.
Pleasantly contrasty light illuminating the castle ruins, against a dramatic cloudy sky.
Quite an impressive ruined castle atop a small hill.
Mouth of the Lunan Water outflow through the beach below Red Castle.
It also looks quite good from the air.
Red Castle, Lunan Bay
Red Castle, Lunan Bay
Floor plans
Lunan Water
Estuary
Red Castle, Lunan Bay
And finally, I’m experimenting with a different art form – composite overlays, controlling visual information by selectively retaining structures. Essence of Lunan in one.
Composite: various aspects of an afternoon spent at Lunan Bay blended together.
Can’t beat Scotland’s West Coast in summer. Saturday was spent exploring a new place to me, Smirisary in Glenuig, Lochaber.
A beach of large psammite outcrops with lyprophyre dykes
Cracks and sedimentary strata lines in an exposed lump of psammite, Smirisary.
Erosion in action: an exposed lump of psammite (metamorphosed former sandstone) showing lines of strata and cracks, with gentle folding, yet surrounded by stones and boulders where the sea has eroded it away.
Cracks and sedimentary strata lines in an exposed lump of psammite, Smirisary.
A perfect subject for an abstract art: dense close strata layers of psammite (mid/coarse-grained metamorphosed sandstone) tightly packed.
Signs of habitation – old (but possibly still in use) croft/houses just above the shore in amongst the caves
Signs of settlements – Smirisary forms a small cluster of houses down around the shoreline, nestling amongst the rocks.
Evidence of former habitation. Just because the west coast has its culture and traditions does not mean we should refrain calling out an example of litter for what it is in the context of environmental pollution.
Discarded metal bath-tub and other crap in a cave-mouth, Smirisary.
A beautiful beach – ideal for a paddle in the shallow seas with Dog – surrounded by rocky cliffs.
Beautiful landscapes – wide vistas via light on the sea out to the islands of Eigg and Rùm on the horizon
Sunlight playing on ferns in the foreground, looking out to the islands of Much, Eigg and Rum with their distinctive mountain outlines on the horizon.
Sky meets sea in an atmospheric haze of glowing light. Very ethereal.
Dramatic light: crepuscular rays emanating from dark clouds over the islands of Eigg and Rum across the water.
A variety of types of cloud billowing gently over the distinctive outlines of Eigg and Rum on the horizon.
And on the way back home we called in at Loch Eilt by the roadside – partly to wash the salt water out of the dog, but also to admire the symmetrical reflections. The midges were out in force, pesky and biting as ever, but the photos were worth it…
Pure green: Scots Pine trees on an island across Loch Eilt.
Pleasant clear and pure water. Shame about the hordes of midges – some flying so close to the lens I could see them larger than life on the live-view screen. A combination of long exposures sufficed to remove them, however – this is a combination of HDR (5*±0.7EV) and pixel-shift (4*1px offset) for optimal dynamic range and resolution.
Scots Pine trees on an island across Loch Eilt.Pleasant clear and pure water. Shame about the hordes of midges – some flying so close to the lens I could see them larger than life on the live-view screen. A combination of long exposures sufficed to remove them, however – this is a combination of HDR (5*±0.7EV) and pixel-shift (4*1px offset) for optimal dynamic range and resolution.
Today was the airshow in Ayr, marking the last Scottish flight of the Avro Vulcan XH558.
Last weekend I saw inside its sister plane, down in Carlisle. This week, I enjoyed watching it fly – and what a beautiful bird it was. So elegant – when cruising around slowly it was as though she was toying with the audience. And when they opened the throttle to accelerate or head upwards…. wow. What an engine roar.
The Red Arrows were also there – an impressive display of several fly-pasts ludicrously close and at high speed.
A continuation of, and the latest in, the “Crail Harbour Rocks” theme – I’ve already posted a comparison of the original study at this location from 2007 against a similar closeup from 2015; here we have a classic intimate-landscape view – optimum golden-hour light at sunset touching the rocks from foreground into the distance.
Three views of the beach at Crail – for the geologists, the rock is old red Devonian sandstone. For everyone else, the seaweed is slippery and the water is wet.
A bright summer day: kids playing on the beach and swimming in the sea, reflections of bright white buildings in the water and a catamaran coming in to park itself.
