Andalucia Almond blossom Alhambra Tuscany Val d’Orcia and thereabouts Scotland Ayrshire coast Glencoe in Winter Around Wester Ross Dennis Craggs March 2021
bruary 2019 I flew to Malaga to join Peter Hendrie and others on a visit to Las Alpujarras, an area of in the region of Andalucia between Granada and the Mediterranean coast on the south side of the Nevada. We stayed in Orgiva and hunted around the area for the seasonal blossom on the almond and to visit a number of local villages. We took a lot of photographs of the blossom of which this one favourites. It was taken with a telephoto lens through trees so the closest are out of focus. It was ed that way.
pent a number of days touring the hills hunting for the best almond trees (I three days is quite enough). It was a bit of a hunt as they flower at different depending upon their location but this area was good and also festooned spring flowers. For a change, I used an intentional camera movement ique.
We spent a number of days touring the hills hunting for the best almond trees (I think three days is quite enough). It was a bit of a hunt as they flower at different times depending upon their location but this area was good and also festooned with spring flowers. For a change, I used an intentional camera movement technique.
sited the Palacio de Carlos V, a renaissance building located inside the Nasrid fortifications of the mbra. It was built from 1527 onwards by Charles V the Holy Roman Emperor who wished to ish his residence close to the Alhambra palaces but it was never occupied and was only finally d over in 1957. I developed in monochrome..
alked through the Palacio Nazaries and I took lots of photos of the fancy architecture and artwork. all that, I selected for inclusion in this collection a rather simple image through two arches at the o the El Partal Gardens. A photographer’s photograph. Actually it was quite dark here so I have used ISO.
e following pages I have included further photos of the Alhambra and the almond blossom groves.
y 2019, I join Clive Minnitt and Phil Malpas for a tour of the Val d’Orcia, a landscape of gentle, ated hills and picturesque towns and villages which extends south of Siena in Tuscany. During our we visit the Abbazia di Monte Oliveto Maggiore, a Benedictine abbey founded in 1313. Clive, of e, has been here many times before and encourages us to head for this wonderful staircase. As we setting up tripods to take the staircase, this monk wandered by. This image I have to admit, was opportunistic, a quick snap or ‘grab shot’, taken as the monk headed into the Clausura, a private nto which the laity are not admitted, no doubt grateful to escape the pesky photographers.
hapel is another popular spot for photographers in the Val d’Orcia, approached by a short walk s the Tuscan landscape. We spent some time here and I chose a location low down and a little way o be able to capture the trees framing the chapel. I combined a number of exposures on a tripod to ve the movement in the clouds and rendered the image in black and white, one of the few that I ed for this treatment in Tuscany, as it catches the wind and seems to give the image tremendous sphere.
s so named as it was taken at a location of the filming of scenes for The Gladiator, the 2000 epic ical film by Ridley Scott, near Pienza. The weather was changeable and mostly cool on this trip, made for some interesting cloudscapes and this day was no exception, but the sun was to be found ing across the landscape so it was just a question of waiting for the right moment for the light to on the fields. Tuscany is often about the wheat so I chose this angle to tell the story, using a ing to achieve focus between the foreground and the fields stretching away.
s an image of a small chapel by the roadside approaching Lucignano d’Asso, made (somewhat) us in a photograph by Charlie Waite. When he asked why the cypress trees had been planted directly nt of such a simple chapel, he was told that the chapel was important and warranted the statement. sited the village and I made a special pilgrimage down the road to make my own attempt at this , trying various angles but finding this direct frontal attack the most appealing. I have tried and ally failed to aspire to Charlie’s very simple but effective compositions but feel I succeeded with this Actually, I think I prefer mine.
or may not have invented the word ‘cloudscape’, probably not, but I think it escribes why I like this picture. It’s actually a very simple composition, just a farm house and cypress in the mid ground, but the cloudy sky is wonderful great combination of colours. It represents the great open Tuscan landscape nce I like to tell a bit of a story about my visits, I have included it in the tion.
I may or may not have invented the word ‘cloudscape’, probably not, but I think it well describes why I like this picture. It’s actually a very simple composition, just a small farm house and cypress in the mid ground, but the cloudy sky is wonderful and a great combination of colours. It represents the great open Tuscan landscape and since I like to tell a bit of a story about my visits, I have included it in the collection.
trip to take photos in Tuscany would be complete without taking images of clumps of cypress in the cape? It was cloudy and windy and mostly quite dull so there was not much sun to play with but the s were amazing so I chose to compose the sky as 2/3rds of the image. A bit of wheat and .Tuscany all over.
I first sorted my photos of Tuscany, I discarded this one, it had a big window in the composition with ng to show through it and did not work at all. After cropping out the window, although leaving an old er in the corner, the composition and colouring and textures on the wall make something of it. And it bit of a story about agriculture in Tuscany, somebody likes a drink anyway.
her cloudscape of Tuscany. It was May and we should have had warm sunshine but instead it was y cool and cloudy. No morning mists sadly but plenty of interesting clouds! I took a number of s here but selected the one with the tree and the track leading away. Normally if a sky does not add omposition, it is best to leave it out but in these cases, it makes the compositions interesting.
e next pages some more photos from Tuscany but not enough mist on this trip!
ncross pier is located near Farland Head in North Ayrshire. It has been bed as only the second concrete pier to be built in the world and was used to port locally harvested potatoes and day trippers. It was blowing a good sh wind when I was there so I used a long exposure to capture the movement clouds. It makes a simple composition, something I am not good at achieving. liked the catch of blue sky, the sun off the sea and the distant view of the Isle an.
Portencross pier is located near Farland Head in North Ayrshire. It has been described as only the second concrete pier to be built in the world and was used to transport locally harvested potatoes and day trippers. It was blowing a good Scottish wind when I was there so I used a long exposure to capture the movement in the clouds. It makes a simple composition, something I am not good at achieving. I also liked the catch of blue sky, the sun off the sea and the distant view of the Isle of Arran.
her workshop "Glencoe in winter" found me clambering across rocks to find space for my tripod legs ent distance away from the madding workshop crowd. I took a long six second exposure using an ter to smooth out the water and blur up the clouds in the process. That is what I wanted to achieve hat is what I got. There was not much sun around, the colour is a little flat so it’s not a classic photo, if had been different light, I might have made more of it. At least it was not raining.
s a very popular image, photographers queue up to capture it at all seasons. There is just one spot on verbank where this particular aspect fits together like this and it is necessary to take it in turns to er down the bank with all of your camera kit and set up for the shot with your tripod legs in well holes (I probably exaggerate). You have to take the light as you find it, of course, I have seen other s with the mountain with stunning light. I was careful to get the edges of the image just right: er reason why composing on a tripod is preferable, you can study all of the edges to ensure that is nothing intruding or cut off.
e entire workshop crew, I was the only one to decide on this particular composition with the old triangulating with the peak of the mountain. The cloud fits in nicely too. Ohh it was cold and icy but are lovely patterns in the ice so I later took some close up. Taken off a tripod, of course.
her workshop in Scotland and another unsettled weather day, chasing rainbows. This was a great on on the banks of Loch Maree looking towards Slioch with a sky that was a bit interesting. Sadly, o the wind blowing, the surface of the lock was not flat calm but there is enough of a reflection to be erest. I might have taken a long exposure to smooth the water out but I was worried that I would he rainbow so did not spare the time needed.
ame to this location the day before to scout it out which is just as well because we made our pre-dawn trip over here, it was pitch black as we set up our ds to wait for the dawn. A chilly windy September Scottish morning. We d for dawn with clouds scudding across the sky and eventually just as the sun came up, I captured this brief burst of the suns rays and then all too quickly s gone again. ‘Awesome’ was a word frequently used by Mark McColl, our sh leader.
We came to this location the day before to scout it out which is just as well because when we made our pre-dawn trip over here, it was pitch black as we set up our tripods to wait for the dawn. A chilly windy September Scottish morning. We waited for dawn with clouds scudding across the sky and eventually just as the sun finally came up, I captured this brief burst of the suns rays and then all too quickly it was gone again. ‘Awesome’ was a word frequently used by Mark McColl, our Scottish leader.
ocation was a trip away over on the west coast from our base in Glencoe and a bit of a drive to get there. However I think it was worth it as the evening as the sun set was great and the snow on the mountains in the background s the scene. We spent a few hours here as the sun went down to get this right.
This location was a trip away over on the west coast from our base in Glencoe and it was a bit of a drive to get there. However I think it was worth it as the evening light as the sun set was great and the snow on the mountains in the background makes the scene. We spent a few hours here as the sun went down to get this right.
ere driving back after our dawn visit to Upper Loch Torridon with the sun making brief fleeting rances. We pulled over to the side of the road, I might say on a whim but it’s possible Mark McColl, ader, was here before, and walked down a path to this location with the sun moving in and out and g light across the glen in a constantly changing pattern of light and shadow. I really like this osition although the judge at a photographic competition at the Marlow club did not share my siasm. Oh well.
opped by the side of the road again in the Scottish drizzle with the clouds ing across the sky. I parked myself under an umbrella and set up my tripod. nally got a brief glimpse of the sun’s rays moving across Ardheslaig and also stant hills around Loch Shieldaig. I captured it. I have to confess though that ngle file of sheep in the corner of the photograph was captured in a separate when the sun was not being so obliging. I wanted to include them in the graph and so I had to combine the two images.
e following pages are some further photos from these trips.
We stopped by the side of the road again in the Scottish drizzle with the clouds scudding across the sky. I parked myself under an umbrella and set up my tripod. We finally got a brief glimpse of the sun’s rays moving across Ardheslaig and also the distant hills around Loch Shieldaig. I captured it. I have to confess though that the single file of sheep in the corner of the photograph was captured in a separate image when the sun was not being so obliging. I wanted to include them in the photograph and so I had to combine the two images. On the following pages are some further photos from these trips.