April: month in review
Portencross Pier. Sea, sun and Arran in the background; what’s not to like…
Fujifilm X-T3 | 16mm f/8.0 1/250s ISO160
What’s this month’s image? It’s Portencross Pier on the Ayrshire coast, taken in the week after travel restrictions were lifted.
Did you do anything to it? Scotland did most of the heavy lifting for this image, providing sea, sun and a stunning backdrop. The colours are pretty much how they came out of camera (perhaps boosted a little) and the contrast on Arran has been lifted to remove some of the haze.
What’s it doing here? The Scottish travel restrictions, which had limited travel to within the local authority area, was lifted in the second half of April. Our first trip for non-essential purposes was a trip down to the Ayrshire coast and a walk along the shoreline by Portencross. Happily the sun shone, the clouds lifted and we were blessed with glorious views across to Cumbrae and Arran. Portencross is only about 45 minutes drive from home, but after nearly five months of travel restrictions it felt like a different country.
This pier at Portencross is a well photographed landmark and works in a variety of weather conditions. When the seas are up, the waves can come crashing through the gap in the pier which provides a dramatic shot. The day that we went was beautiful, with calm seas and idyllic views. All I needed to do for this image was go wide and use the pier as a strong foreground element. Nature does the rest…
The picture, I hope, is a positive image; the weather and colours convey a vibrant, optimistic feel which reflects the relief that we felt at actually being able to range a little more widely. Hopefully an indicator for the coming year…
Have you been up to much else? Very much a month of two halves… the first half, while restrictions were in place, felt like a more of the Winter’s Groundhog Day; the second half has been much more productive. We have managed trips up to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs and I’m looking forward to travelling further afield in May.
Finally, we also managed another walk along the Clyde; infrared images below…
