Framedlight

In the flat where we were staying on Kilchattan Bay our bedroom had very pale thin curtains. I am not a good sleeper at the best of times and while we were there I was waking around 4.30am to put my nose out between the drapes to look at the view. On this particular morning I woke to see the curtains glowing red. I threw my clothes on and rushed outside before the spectacle had gone. So here is a rather vulgar sunrise!

It was late in the afternoon when we visited Ettrick Bay, a wide sandy beach but it was getting cold so there were only a few dog walkers around. Finally there was a bit of a sunset at Kilchattan Bay, although not until 10.30pm, so I battled the midges to take a few shots.

The morning of the 23rd proved to be sunny with stacks of cumulus cloud. We had planned a walk but I had time to slip across the road to the beach to make some more abstract pictures of the view across Kilchattan bay. Our plan took us again to the other side of the island, back to the Kyles of Bute. If you drive up the north west coast as far as you can, you come to a small car park where you can leave the car before carrying on by a footpath that leads to Kilmichael and another ancient chapel. We did not manage to get all the way there as Rene could not manage the distance, but the sides of the path were full of wild flower I photographed as we went. Here we have foxglove, yellow flag,  a picture of the coast looking across the Kyles, yellow pimpernel  and buttercup. Everything was flowering much later than at home in Essex, I even saw a few bluebells out.  

After we had had supper I had the chance of stepping outside to ward off the midges and take some pictures of sunset across the bay, with one intentional camera movement shot. But first a picture of the view down the garden of our holiday house.

This now abandoned church was built in 1836 by the Marquess of Bute to satisfy the Gaelic speaking population of north Bute, around 1400 of them, who used to attend a Sunday service at the church in Rothesay. However the Rothesay church stopped giving services in Gaelic and there was much dissent in response. Croc-an-Raer held Gaelic services until 1895 when the language had all but died out in Bute. By 1980 the church was in a state of disrepair and became too expensive to renovate. It still has a large and well kept graveyard. Here is a small selection of infrared photographs of it.

After visiting St Blane's we went up to the Kyles of Bute, an area of coast around the north of the island, mainly uninhabited, where the sea passage across to the mainland is very narrow. We parked in a lay-by next to a bench, handy for lunch. While Alan and his Mum read I had a stroll along the strip of beach, camera in hand.

Yes I am afraid I did take the infrared camera to St Blane's church, it was too good an opportunity to miss. It was a sunny day as well with large white fluffy clouds, excellent infrared material. I will not add any more details on the church itself but just present the photographs. They are all taken on my converted Nikon D3200 camera with the 16-85mm DX Nikon lens which produces no hot spots. It is inclined to flare and one photo has intentional flare to it. All the pictures have been channel swopped in Photoshop to give the entirely false colours seen here. The final picture is a monochrome conversion of the first one.