So, today was my only free day of this week - a whole 24 hours where I didn't have to be any particular place at any particular time. Glorious.
Naturally my first thought was to pick up my camera (well, second thought, let's face it staying in bed eating pizza is fairly bad for the waistline...) and I decided to head for the beautiful Scottish Borders. I was in Penicuik for a craft fair last weekend and spoke to a couple who had gotten engaged at the Grey Mare's Tail waterfall near Moffat and were looking for a picture of it. Apparently now is a good time of year at the falls - plenty of water. So I figured it was as good a place to start as any - Grey Mare's Tail, then home via Innerleithen and Peebles. I had a plan!
I decided to take the A7, photo days are for scenic routes, after all. In fact, I was so busy peering about that I missed my turn off the A7 towards Innerleithen. Now, I am clinically incapable of admitting an error like that by turning around and going back the way I came - I'm a bit of a man like that (!) - so I had a quick squint at a map and realised there was another road on the right a few miles down the way. Which is how I ended up on the Heriot - Innerleithen road. I'm driving along thinking that any minute I'm going to end up at a dead end 'cos seriously, this must be a drive to some big house, there is no way it is an actual road - let alone one that deserves a rating (B rating, admittedly) but what a road! I feel like Colin McRae - or as close as you can get whilst driving a Daewoo. Honestly, the steering on that thing reminds me of doing Dressage on a carthorse - yawing right to left and nothing happens...
Anyway, after trying to avoid killing myself by crashing into sheep (or just plain crashing when peering at potential photo opportunities) I got back on the slightly-more-main-ish road (white lines! Whoop!) and eventually got to Innerleithen (stop for speedy and ludicrously small coffee) and on to the Grey Mare's Tail. Long old trek but nice drive - over the hills to the sound of Bob Dylan. Nice.
So, I arrive at the Grey Mare's Tail car park - dutifully coughing up my 2 quid, which I noticed hardly any body else did. Shocking - it's not about if you'll get caught or not, people, just donating to help support the work the rangers do there. Sorry, rant over. The waterfall is up a steep path behind a (quote) "Visitor Centre" (also known as "Shed"...) which is mercifully short - I forget just how heavy my camera is. Unfortunately, almost as soon as you can see te falls, one is stopped by a health-and-safety-bods type sign. something about path break up and danger of death etc etc... I decide that the day I am carrying my livelihood and most valuable asset is not the day to get brave so set myself up just on the obedient side of the sign...
Waterfalls are one of my favourite subjects - I think because the effects of making photographic changes are so obvious; the kind of thing that you can't do in Photoshop! I took a few different shots, all with fairly long exposures to blur the water just so (tripod essential for this kind of thing). Some zoomed in to fill the frame, some of the whole waterfall, where a neutral density grad is important to keep detail in the sky. I'll post pictures and exposure details as soon as I've downloaded them from the camera! There's also a few from the end of my little jaunt - I was just about to pack up (rain coming in!) when I noticed a few mountain goats had appeared near the foot of the waterfall (health and safety signs evidently don't apply to them!) so I stayed to get a few with them n the foreground, then it was back down the path and back to Innerleithen.
On the way through I'd noticed a sign to Pirn Hill Fort (photographers are all very aware of brown tourist signs!) so I thought I'd try it out on the way back. By now the light is a bit more interesting - longer shadows, dramatic beams through the rain clouds - perfect for hilltop landscapes. I had a quick check on google (iPhones and Google; what a brilliant combination!) and it seems to be a megalithic hill fort so I figure it's gotta be worth a look.
The path leads through pine trees, and with the scent of damp pine rising from my feet I come across a sign saying I should allow 30 mins to get to the hill fort from here. Not entirely part of the plan but I'm here now, so shoulder the camera bag and hoof on up the hill. Better be good up there. 10 minutes later I reach the top of the hill, and I must confess, wondered if this was it! For a start; 30 mins? For whom? I mean, allowing a bit extra is one thing, but there is no way that is a half hour walk - for another, there is not much to be seen of the ancient hill fort. There are some modern carvings of life in Innerleithen but hardly any sign of the original structures. Still, the views of the Tweed valley are pretty impressive and I get a few shots with the modern carvings in the foreground, when all of a sudden the light breaks through the cloud and some cracking shots present themselves with the megalithic stones in the foreground and striking sunlight-through-the-rain over the valley behind. All of a sudden I'm not disappointed with the hike up the hill!
Last stop on this trip is Peebles - my family is originally from here and I've been meaning to get some decent shots of Neidpath Castle for a long time. The walk along the Tweed at Hay Lodge Park is beautiful - fisherman, long autumn light and herons every 50 yards up the river. The best views of the castle are from low down by the river, so I perform a bit of undignified scrambling about to get the perfect spot (always making sure the camera is safe-never mind me!) but once I'm down by the river I simply can't think of a nicer place to be. I'm sat on a rock, with the river babbling 3 inches from my feet, and the castle sits on top of the hill, bathed in warm mellow light.
I must've been there a while 'cos the next thing I know, a big shiny brown trout rises not 3 feet away from me and disappears into the clear dark water.
I'm so glad I did this!
One more thing is visiting a family grave - my grandmother was born in Edinburgh and lived there her whole life, but her father was from Peebles and this place was always 'home' to her, so this is where she is buried. I'm glad. This spot was important to her and now I can't think of a nicer place to remember her.
So, now I'm back home in the city and instead of uploading the pictures, I went for a beer. Sorry!! Pictures soon, I promise.
Mickie
www.mickieimriephotography.com
www.prphotographyscotland.co.uk
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