January: month in review
Each month I aim to pick an image that, in my mind at least, captures the flavour of that month. It might not be the best image from the month, or the most spectacular of subjects; it just needs to illustrate something about the month.
Chapel Royal, Stirling Castle
Fujifilm X-T3 | 25mm f/5.6 1/200s ISO400
What’s this month’s image? An interior view of the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle.
Did you do anything to it? The light makes this image, with the low winter sun beautifully illuminating the warm tones with the chapel itself. The trick was to avoid blowing out the highlights in the window, so the original was under-exposed and the shadows lifted a fair amount. I could have tried an exposure blend, but the ISO performance on modern sensors is so good that it wasn’t needed.
What’s it doing here? Stirling is relatively close, but we’ve not really spent much time exploring the sights. With January (the Monday of months) in full spate we decided we needed a change of scenery and somewhere we could shelter if the weather, as it often is at this time of year, turned out to be hostile to human life. So, we headed 45 minutes up the road and did all the tourist stuff in Stirling, including the Castle and the Wallace Monument, which is also well worth a look.
If you’ve never been, what strikes you about Stirling Castle is the sheer size and obvious opulence it enjoyed in its day. The Chapel Royal illustrates this perfectly; a chapel had stood on the site since 1501, although the Chapel was rebuilt to celebrate the birth of James Vi’s first son in 1594. The building is still in use today and, indeed, we were lucky enough to see our youngest singing in the chapel a few years back with the National Youth Choir of Scotland.
I’m pleased with the shot; the chapel walls give it a lovely warm feeling, emphasising the richness of the building and decoration, which is offset by the hint of blue coming from a bright winter’s day.
Have you been up to much else? I’m really not a fan of January - it always feels uncompromisingly bleak and relentless. That said, we did manage to get out on a couple of the rare bright days. I’ve also been getting used to a new toy, which I’ve bought to photograph stuff that moves and is quite far away.
I’ll be using it later in the year for a few days out at Knockhill and possibly more speedway, but to test the beast out I’ve had a couple of days down at Troon photographing the kitesurfing. It’s a proper challenge for the camera; the light can be quite difficult given the time of year and the subjects move quickly and erratically. Good tracking auto-focus is essential, but when you get a shot right it can be quite dynamic. That said, Barassie Beach in December is bloody cold…
Coming Up
There’s some stuff to be done around the house, which will probably keep us busy, but we do have a trip up to Oban planned which could be quite picturesque… or unremittingly grey. It is February, after all!
