Bazooka

The power of a long lens

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Last night’s sunset over Edinburgh started with a long pause…as the sun was obscured by a big grey wodge of cloud. The gap underneath that cloud promised a bright future so I trodged up one of my favourite bits of hillside and pulled out a favourite weapon.

My Nikon 200-500mm lens is a beast, in size and weight, but also in the results that it gets. I carry it most places I go and it often rewards the effort. It pulls together separate objects and scenes and assembles them into seemingly impossible compositions of shape, colour and texture. Thus the spire of an ancient cathedral in Edinburgh can sit nestled snuggly beside the Forth bridges wrapped in the comforting heathery slopes of mountains 50 miles away. In these “forced perspective” captures the sun often looks as if a graphic designer has dropped it in as a final, and most unlikely flourish. You’ve gone too far there mate.

The final bit of work is to pare it down, crop out the unnecessary, shave edges…until only the juiciest bit remains. Same image below but different feels.

St Giles, the wifey selling donuts on the BoS dome on The Mound, the Forth Bridges and the faint outline of Ben Ledi in The Trossachs

There was a final flourish from the sky after the sun dropped below the distant mountains. First we had dramatic blasts - sometimes called Crepuscular Rays - which backlit the mountain shapes as if they were scenery in a theatre.

Crepuscular rays beam from behind mountains 50 miles distant from Edinburgh

Then as the sun dropped lower, the clouds closer to us caught the last of the red sunlight on their lower fringes.

I’m gonna have to keep dragging the 2.3kg of heavy Nikon glass all over the place. Unless Nikon want to send me a newer, lighter model for me to thoroughly test?

Stay tuned for future slices of unlikely juxtapositions.

Someone emailed to suggest I add a wee tips payment option - for those of you who don’t want to subscribe but would like to offer something as a “Cheers mate, enjoyed that” option. So here it is.