Scottish Lighthouse Series

I have started in earnest to capture all the Scottish Mainland Lighthouses and I am up to about 15 or so currently – I will start with the mainland and move on to the Islands and finish with those off shore that require boat trips – I fully expect to photograph them all several times – I am not limiting myself to creating a record but more an artistic diary maybe even eventually a seasonal shot for each lighthouse – so this not so much a big project but a huge one more than likely a lifetime project – keep watching. I have of course photographed Covesea (my home lighthouse to death) many many times. I have shots of Covesea in every light I have witnessed and loads of different angles. You can always find a new angle however and this was a real scorcher of a day. Enjoy

The colour grey being both motionless and emotionless, grey is solid and stable, creating a sense of calm and composure, relief from a chaotic world. On a more positive note The color gray is subdued, quiet and reserved. It does not stimulate, energize, rejuvenate or excite.

Come on there has been at least a few shots since my last proper Lighthouse – this however has 2 red rings and some wicked moody sky – seriously what more do you want from me 🙂 Oh did I mention we were off to see Wishbone Ash in Concert – enjoy

The original lighthouse tower is listed as a building of Architectural/Historical interest. According to records, the original light at Kinnaird Head was established on 1 December 1787. It was installed by Mr Thomas Smith of Edinburgh, who was the father-in-law of Robert Stevenson who succeeded him as Engineer to the Northern Lighthouse Board (Robert Stevenson was grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson). A lantern was set at a height of 120 feet above the sea on a corner of a tower of an old castle in Fraserburgh owned by Lord Saltoun. Fixed lights only were shown at this stage, produced by arrays of lamps burning whale oil, each of them backed by its own parabolic reflector made up of a multitude of facets of silvered mirror-glass set on a plaster mould. Kinnaird Head was the most powerful light of its time, and contained 17 reflectors arranged in 3 horizontal tiers. In clear weather according to Murdoch Downie’s New Pilot of 1791, the light could be seen 12 or 14 miles off. It operated in that position until 1824 when internal alternations were made to the tower to accommodate a new lantern and additional buildings were constructed for the Lightkeepers. In 1906 the light was converted to incandescent operation. The present light stands within the framework of the original tower. Two ‘firsts’ for Kinnaird Head were (a) the first Lighthouse built in Scotland by the Commissioners of Northern Lights (founded in 1786) and (b) the first Radio Beacon in Scotland was introduced in 1929 at Kinnaird Head. A point of interest regarding the original light is that in 1787 a Mr James Park, Ship Master, was appointed “Keeper of the light” at 1/- per night, with the benefit of some ground, on condition that he had another person with him every night, who he was to instruct in the manner of cleaning the lantern and cleaning and lighting the lamps. During the war, Kinnaird Head Lighthouse received only one near miss by enemy bombers, which was rather surprising for the town of Fraserburgh was known as “Little London” because of the heavy bombing and machine-gunning attacks on the town due to the ammunitions work, also work carried out on Rolls Royce aircrafts engines and part for Bofors guns etc. The near miss happened on 19 February 1941 when two bombs from an aircraft exploded 50 yards from the Lighthouse Buildings. No one, fortunately was injured and the material damaged due to blast was as follows:- “3 Lantern panes destroyed, the Radio Beacon aerial cut and several insulators broke, 41 panes of glass in the dwelling houses broken and frames damaged, 1 sliding bolt of balcony door broken. The Supernumerary Keeper’s room ceiling was cracked and the ceiling of the first assistant’s Kitchen was also cracked.” What possibly saved the Lighthouse from further attacks was the tall, solitary chimneys of a fish processing factory behind the lighthouse promontory from which the enemy raiders took their bearings in the black out. A legend connected with Kinnaird Head and the adjoining Wine Tower situated on the edge of the cliff, tells a “Romeo and Juliet” type of story. The daughter of the owner there had the piper imprisoned in the cave beneath the tower onto the rocks below. To this day, visitors to the Lighthouse and the Tower can see the place where she fell, marked on the rocks in red paint. The story goes that, in the Piper’s cave as it is known, the ghost of the piper can be heard playing for his lost love. A further item of interest regarding Kinnaird Head is the following quotation from “General History (Early)”: “The bluff upon which the Castle of Kinnaird is built is held to be the Promontorium Taixalium referred to by Ptolemy, who was an ancient Egyptian who lived in Alexandria in 140 AD. Kinnaird Head was geographically known nearly 1,500 years before the present town of Fraserburgh was founded by Sir Alexander Fraser towards the close of the 16th Century.” The identification of the place if further confirmed by the ancient geographer in question saying that the eminence stood at the entrance of the “Aestrutum Varariae” which means, Moray Firth. Kinnaird Head must have been an important landmark in ancient days, when mariners had no compass or other nautical instruments to guide them on their watery way. Trade by sea was confined to Europe and the African and Asian coasts abutting the mediterranean, and it is possible that comparatively speaking, Kinnaird Head was a more important shipping landmark 1,750 years ago than it is today. Whether Ptolemy ever stood on the Castle Green and admired the Moray Firth on a beautiful summer day, there is no means of knowing. He wrote very familiarly on the subject. The Fog Signal was discontinued in 1987. The original lighthouse at Kinnaird Head is now home to The Museum of Scottish Lighthouses. A new automatic light was established beside the original light in 1991.

Rattray Point, is a headland in Buchan, Aberdeenshire, on the north-east coast of Scotland. The dunes at Rattray Head beach can be up to 75 feet (23 m) high and stretch 17 miles (27 km) from St Combs to Peterhead. The 120 feet (37 m) Lighthouse was built in 1895 by the engineering brothers Stevenson David Alan Stevenson and Charles Alexander Stevenson. In February 1982 it became unmanned and self-working.[2][3] The lighthouse is accessible by way of a causeway that is usually underwater being only visible at low tide. It is wide enough for a vehicle to cross. Remains of several shipwrecks can still be seen on the beach. (wikipedia)

An exceptional morning on Lossiemouth West Beach, Covesea Lighthouse has just succumbed to the first light of the day. The tide is full out offering a glass surface reflection.

This lighthouse stands directly across the Moray Firth from Covesea (which you have seen here many times) This was recce trip before I return for classic shot during the Spring – watch this space. The loss of sixteen vessels in the Moray Firth storm in November 1826 brought many applications for lights on Tarbat Ness or Covesea Skerries, and the former was given priority as it had been named in 1814, and was regarded by the Caledonian Canal Commissioners as important to that undertaking. Tarbat Ness Lighthouse was engineered by Robert Stevenson and the light was first exhibited on 26 January 1830. James Smith of Inverness was the contractor responsible for the building of the lighthouse. The lighthouse tower is the third tallest in Scotland (North Ronaldsay and Skerryvore being taller) and bears two distinguishing broad red bands. (Northern Lighthouse Board)

This is a shot I have been after for while now but it had been to windy for lengthy exposures. The other challenge was only a new moon in the sky filtered by clouds meant using atorch to manipulate the settings. Most notable challenge was focus. with the autofocus insuficient light to hang on then it was back to good old fashioned manual focus – equally challenging with cross-hairs – but trial and error prevailed – I like the lick of cloud breaking up the starry backdrop. I learnt alot and am really starting to enjoy night photography full stop – there are some excellent results to be had.

The classic Scottish Golf tease it could be Turnberry to the uninitiated it is in fact a small 9 hole course called Covesea after the lighthouse in the early Spring not that long now the yellow sea of gorse comes alive and we know we are emerging from winters grip.

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guiding the Ferry home to Ullapool

Rubha

late autumn sun almost at the death lays artificial warm tones on the rocky eroded coastline of Moray – what you cant sense is how bitterly cold it is as the wind chill bites at me.