Hound Point

[Donald]

Thanks to those who commented so far on 'The Forth Bridge' which I posted up earlier today.

But my real purpose in going to that location very early in the morning was to fulfill a commitment to someone to try and make an image featuring Hound Point. Hound Point is an oil loading terminal about half-a-mile downstream from the Forth Bridge. Crude oil, pumped ashore from the North Sea is then loaded onto tankers from the terminal.

For those of us up here, Hound Point is invariably viewed through the rail bridge from the Forth road bridge. So I had to incorporate the rail bridge in the image.

I've been trying to get this image for the last 3 months. I hope you think the effort was worth it. The second one was an opportunistic image in that I had not previously been at this location and had not pre-planned the shot.


40D, Sigma 120-400 F4.5-5.6 APO DG OS @149mm. ISO 100. 8s@f22.


40D, 70-200mm f/4L IS @ 111mm. ISO100. 1s@f16.

[NoCard]

Cracked it with #1 Donald!
Great DOF and I really like the framing of the terminal by the bridge. The terminal lights and the atmosphere are very well captured.
There is something happening there...it is not just a "static" shot.
An inspiring image.

#2 is a bit "so-so", for me.

[arith]

I like the top one; I don't really say much do I. If the bridge was a little hazy, not as much as the terminal. Maybe.

[Donald]

Rob
Steve

Thanks for commenting. I was quite keen on the idea of just using a part of the bridge to add context. But I was also conscious that a lot of people around the world will not know the Forth bridge and just see this as some sort of metal structure. So I wanted to try and make it a nice bit of metal infrastructure.

[Shadowman]

Well worth it, at first I thought those were pedestrians walking across the bridge and needed a second look.

[Donald]

Well worth it, at first I thought those were pedestrians walking across the bridge and needed a second look.

I wondered that as well, John. Interestingly when I was out this morning (and produced this), I did see guys walking to work on that walkway that runs just underneath the top platform where the trains run. There is a permanent maintenance squad on the bridge working 7 days per week.

[MiniChris]

The bridge looks like something I would have made with my trusty Erector Set I had when I was a kid. (I wonder if they still make that.) Marvelous, as per your incredible standards. Anybody who does not at least make attempt to emulate your style at least once in their photographic career is missing a great learning opportunity.

[Donald]

The bridge looks like something I would have made with my trusty Erector Set

Thanks, Chris, for your comments about my image..

I suspect that toy you refer to is the same thing as we used to call Meccano (don't know if it's still made). That's what it reminded me of as I was making the picture. The statistics for the steel in that bridge are phenominal. Unfortunately, so are the number who died in its construction! Health & Safety wasn't top of the agenda in the latter part of the 19th century.

[RockNGoalStar]

Love the first one Donald. I get a great sense of the scale of the bridge from your crop, the (tiny) people walking accross it, and the ships etc in the background. I also like the lines and shapes created by the structure of the bridge and the exposure and processing is up to your usual high standards. Excellent stuff

A quick Q: What has prevented you from getting this image over the past 3 months?

[Donald]

A quick Q: What has prevented you from getting this image over the past 3 months?

Many thanks Tommy.

Firstly, I wanted a drab, grey morning so that:

1. the land that would otherwise be showing in the background, was obliterated ... but no such misty that I couldn't see the Hound Point Terminal
2. the sun, which was rising just at about the 1 o'clock position (almost right into the lens), would be taken out, but ther would still be light behind the mist, so that the bridge would stand out against a light background

Secondly - time. Just getting a couple of hours on a weekend morning

Thirdly - Weather conditions were right a few weeks ago. So I went to the location. And there, right in my line of sight, blocking the view was a b .......y big cruise liner. Those that are too big to dock in nearby Rosyth or in at Leith Docks in Edinburgh, dock in mid river just underneath the bridge. They then disgorge their thousands of passengers small boats and bring them ashore to close by where I was shooting and then load them onto buses to spend a day in Edinburgh and around.

So, thankfully, it all fell into place last Saturday.

[Shadowman]

I wondered that as well, John. Interestingly when I was out this morning (and produced this), I did see guys walking to work on that walkway that runs just underneath the top platform where the trains run. There is a permanent maintenance squad on the bridge working 7 days per week.

The capture in the linked thread is just as impressive.

[RockNGoalStar]

Thanks for that Donald. It certainly all came together for ya!

Just realised that those small hooded figures on the bridge aren't actually people at all. They look like people though and I thought initially that they added to the sense of size of the bridge.