Two weeks ago the seafog settled here on the East Coast, and I knew that sunrise that weekend was going to be a blow. I decided to give sunrise a miss and have a well deserved lie in. Instead, I headed to the East Lothian coast at high tide, in the early afternoon. The first stop was Belhaven bay near Dunbar. Belhaven bay is a nice but frankly not very photogenic beach. It is the Belhaven bridge which steals the show. This bridge is used to cross the Biel burn at low tide to access the beach. At high tide, it serves no purpose other than pleasing photographers. The long exposure in combination with the fog, which concealed the Bass Rock and other features which would lead to a busier background, led to slighly surreal and abstract results. The last time I was photographing the bridge, which was on a great evening with a spectacular sunset, I only used my wide angle lens. While I liked the results, here I have deliberately used a longer objective.
When I was setting up my tripod, an older man approached me and asked whether there was a special bird around, as he has seen many more photographers that day. I replied: “I am just here for the bridge”. I don’t think he took me seriously…
Belhaven bridge at Belhaven bay, East Lothian on a foggy day
Bridge to nowhere at Belhaven Bay, East Lothian
I thought that the foggy conditions made a black-and-white conversion an excellent choice. During post-processing I also tried to give the sea that high-key look while at the same time giving the sky a broodier appearance. I had to spend quite some time getting the selections and masks right though, so I’m not so sure this is post-processing style that is suitable for high-throughput shooting.
Belhaven bridge at high tide, Belhaven bay near Dunbar
If you’d like to see more of my black and white photographs, please click here.