4/21/2009
Lindsfarne Castle
Lindsfarne Island, the Holy Island, is accessible by road at low tide and several hours either side. The road runs across what amounts to the sandy bottom of the sea. The Island has been held sacred for centuries. I suspect it already had a reputation for spirituality when the Celtic monks arrived during the dark ages and turned it into one of the few seats of learning left in the western world.
It was the trump card of our trip to Scotland, though it is well south of the Scottish border and only by a generous detour on the way home to Manchester from Aberdeen. My guide and driver in this adventure kept hinting that there was to be one final treat, the one place he would not tell me about in advance. It is that special.
Of course we had no more than gotten out of the car when it began to pour rain. Not just a mist like the one that plagued us at Donnattor, but a real find shelter British downpour. We tried to keep dry under the trees of the graveyard around the abby buildings, and ended up pretty wet in the church, along with the rest of the tourists visiting that day. When we ventured out, it was still threatening, so this is as close to the Castle as we got.
A difficult shot, due to the light sky behind, and the mist in the air, but then that seems pretty typical of photographic conditions in England.
Sony DSC H50 at about 100mm equivalent (to frame the castle behind the sheep). F5.0 @ 1/250th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
This shot responded amazingly well to the graduated filter effect in Lr. Even using heavy Recovery, I could not get any blue out the sky, but as soon as I applied a graduated filter effect and cranked down the exposure in the top part of the image, the sky detail popped right out. Another graduated filter effect from the bottom to lighten and increase contrast, though I had to go gently as the sheep would not stand much of either. I also used the adjustment brush to increase the brightness and contrast of the castle itself, to counter somewhat the effects of the mist in the air. Normal Vibrance and Clarity settings. Landscape sharpen preset. A touch of noise reduction for the sky.
From Scotland.
Nice shot, Steve!
If Led Zeppelin were ever to somehow release an “Unplugged” record, this would be a good cover shot (that’s a compliment).
Interesting how you got the sky blue with the grad filter effect. Really gives this an otherwordly feel…soggy Scottish meadow with Arizona sky.
I don’t comment too often, but I enjoy these daily photos, um, daily. Keep ’em coming!
Jeff
The blue was there, even to the eye. We are just so used to washed out skies in our photos that we don’t expect to see it anymore. The Graduated filter in Lr is way powerful, but not magic. It can’t put back what was not there in the first place. Thanks for the encouragement.
Hi, Steve-
When I saw this photo, I thought, “when did Shiprock get an antenna?” Even the sheep fit a Shiprock scene. Only the grass would be out of place.