Slickrock and Shadow

Kilchurn Castle Ruins Kilchurn Castle is an impressive ruin in the Highlands of Scotland.  On the day of expeditions from Glencoe, I visited this Gothic site.  The building is free and easy.  A pleasant level pathway leads from the parking lot around a few trees, under a bridge and then across the field to the castle.  The castle itself is located on a lake.  Entry is not allowed and the castle was locked.  Nevertheless each face of the castle gave a different look or view to photograph and experience.  I was fortunate to visit on a beautiful day with lovely blue skies and gorgeous clouds. Photographically speaking the most technical shot I attempted was the Windows shot with the shadow of the wall allowing only a few squares of light onto the grass.  This was shot almost directly into the sunlight.  I made sure the lens of the camera was not being hit by the sunlight directly but this is clearly a high contrast feature.  I used L...

Unexpected Beauty:  Wildflowers find a Home in a Sliver of Sand Planning for a specific shot in Chesler Park, I wandered all around the sandstone towers at dawn and sunrise.  After I had done a a lot of photography, I took a break for breakfast with my daughter.  We climbed on top of a boulder to enjoy the view.  Between our boulder and another boulder, a sliver of sand allowed yellow wildflowers to grow.  This was unexpected yet so beautiful, I had to stop and try to capture this.  This unexpected moment is now one of my favorite memories from that morning. Another view from my breakfast boulder

Cannons of Fort Zachary Taylor Fort Zachary Taylor is located on the far west side of Key West.  This is extremely accessible (much more so than the Dry Tortugas National Park which requires a date to visit).  You can visit in a couple of hours and then spend more time enjoying the beautiful Florida Keys.  The scenery is similar to what you find at Dry Tortugas.  Ancient canons, very fine brickwork, rusty colored fort walls are all available for the light to play with. Wandering the corridors, I found many fascinating angles of light and shadows to photograph.  This is an excellent place for landscape photography.  This would also be an excellent place for a photo shoot with a model. A couple of things are strongly recommended.  In order to get the best light on the canons, I do not recommend coming in the morning.  Instead, just after noon.  In the morning direct sunlight will be shining into these corridors and the contrast is too ...

Gibraltar Rock Gibraltar rock is one of those things that makes you tilt your head.  When I look at it, I'll just feel like I'm a little bit off balance or that the earth is slanting one way.  That is because Gibraltar rock does not go straight up and down.  In the photo above, you can see that the left face has a significant overhang.  As you get closer to it, this becomes more exaggerated.  It looks like it is about to fall over any second. Visiting Gibraltar rock is easy.  It is on the trail to the "fire wave".  You walk right by it.  The photo above was taken about half way between the fire wave and Gibraltar.  Lots of small rocks strewn over the textured sandstone make for a fantastic view.  This is best at sunset when the shadows are long and the light is golden-orange!