Stirling castle emerging from morning mist taken from the Wallace monument near Stirling, the sun which was rising from the left has enhanced the colours of the...
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Stirling castle emerging from morning mist taken from the Wallace monument near Stirling, the sun which was rising from the left has enhanced the colours of the Great hall.
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kathleenweetman
November 14, 2015
Great work Stuart...I love Stirling .SEEING IT IN THIS WAY IS VERY ARTISTIC...K
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Behind The Lens
Location
This is Stirling castle in Scotland sitting high above the city itself, emerging from early morning mist taken from the nearby Wallace monument.Time
The shot was taken in the early morning around 7.30 just as the sunrise started appearing, despite how it might look in the photo it was quite a chilly morning.Lighting
The sun was rising from my left and as it rose it started to burn of the mist surrounding the castle which had been obscuring it, once the sun came up over the surrounding hills it started to fall on the recently re-painted Great hall causing the colour of the wall to be enhanced considerably, this lasted only for a few moments and it was surprising how quickly the mist dissipated. .Equipment
I used a Nikon D7100 with a 70 - 300 mm Sigma lens, as the light initially was fairly low I used a tripod to steady the camera, also because the castle is actually some distance away from the Wallace monument I didn't want to introduce any shake from holding it.Inspiration
I had planned to get a shot of the castle at sunrise from the fields below, I arrived at the location whilst it was still dark having left the house around 5AM, it was around a 40 min drive. But the mist totally obscured the castle from below so I hurridly drove up to the Wallace monument to try and get above the mist layer, I made it but only just! It was an amazing spectical as the sun came above the horizon and the mist quickly descended to the ground revealing the castle.Editing
I reduced some highlights in Lightroom and also did a closer crop to remove the tips of some bushes on the lower edge.In my camera bag
I usually have a couple of lenses with me, my Sigma 10-20 mm1.4f and something like the Sigma 300 mm that I took this shot with, I have recently also bought a Nikkor 18-300 which is very nice and lighter than the Sigma. Not in the bag but with me is also my trusty tripod a Marsace DB-1 which is nice and light. Ticked inside my bag are also my Cokin filters and remote triggers, I have a cable release and an IR remote for when I need them.Feedback
Plan out your location where you want to take the shot, a visit before the actual day if possible is very useful, I also checked out where the sunrise would come from using the program TPE (The Photographers Ephemeris) which is a very useful tool. You should also give yourself plenty time to get there, find the right spot and setup, there is nothing worse than having the sunrise start to appear and you are still setting your gear up! And lastly if you are going to be doing this sort of thing in the dark or low light, bring your head torch, I forgot mine and at the first location had to use my phone torch to find some of my gear in my bag!