View from Dysart over the Forth

This was one of those moments when the mist, light and sea all open up in front of you AND you have a camera to hand loaded with film. I've seen views similar to this a number of times from my bedroom window. A point exists where there is a thin slice of light between land and sky but it is fleeting, usually just after dawn. I've taken quick snaps and used them as a basis for painting.

This was later in the morning. The fog was breaking up and the sun breaking through, again offering a scene lasting only a couple of minutes. From down at sea level I also got a good profile of the ship.

Punta la Nau, Mallorca

No, I didn't lean out over the cliff face with my camera to take this. Not with my partner making spontaneous and shrill panic calls and holding the kids's arms so tight that their hands were starved of blood. With the retreating calls of a certain and spectacular death echoing in my my ear (she went back to the car) I held the Rolleiflex over the edge at 180 degrees and pointed it down, composing through the viewfinder in front of me. This is one of the many advantages that TLR cameras have. The idea originated from German army photographic observers in the first world war who wanted to be able to take photos without having their heads shot off, so a man named Reindold Heidecke designed a camera based on the principles of the periscope. (Info courtesy of Ian Parker's Complete Rollei TLR User's Manual)

Watching the firth flow

I've often wondered about what a firth is and now I know

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firth

The Firth of Forth is a bit of a tongue twister at times but not as good as the East Fife Four, Forfar Five football result. This picture was taken at West Wemyss just along the coast and quite what they were gathering for was a mystery, which is nice.

A view from Dysart

breaking the waves

I can stand for ages at the shoreline, just looking and listening to the waves come in and out. Some days the sea finds a rhythm that I like and the waves break better on the stones.

Clarence Pier

This is a kind of memory scene from my youth. I went to school in Portsmouth and spent many lunchtimes down at the Sally port and Clarence Pier. I live by the sea again, at long last, and I never tire of the feeling that out of season seaside resorts bring. Kind of like a blues for the sunny soul, if you understand what I mean.

the end of night

the December sky above the sea from my bedroom window shortly before sunrise, with the faint cut of the fingernail moon just visible

Sea dances

facing the waves

here are a few more from the afternoon spent on Kirkcaldy prom getting soaked

Boy takes on wave

It was great watching people enjoy the sea, and kids were getting drenched. I had a light rain jacket on which was proving completely inadequate and I had to keep turning my back to the waves and doubling over to protect the camera. It still got wet. Some of the waves were so high and I misjudged when the spray would land.

A wild sea

Saturday afternoon, and I was driving the family home along Kirkcaldy seafront and we are met by waves throwing themselves at the sea wall. I had to return with my camera. It's like this every so often but the light was great which made it extra special. I don't know about you, but this kind of confrontational weather gets me very excited. For some it's the full moon. For me, a sea storm.

The day of the Autumn Equinox