Queensferry Trip plus everything else on the side!

Well, would you look at the time!

It has been a moment since I done the first post here but here we are once again. Before I jump right into the meat of this update, plenty has happened but I still do not have my portfolio or albums up right now, same with the majority of the shots I took earlier this week.

Not quite sorted. That could about sum up a lot of things, regardless, let's continue.

I'll start with the obvious, I finally removed both right click save functionality on my site as well as the download buttons on the images I had not noticed. Something about being hidden on the actual image, as well as tucked away in my media manager options for each seperate section had escaped my view. With that glaring issue resolved I can start preparing watermarked images and content, most likely with future shoots and content that will be reworked for being sold. A far goal but a necessary one in my opinion.

Inbetween organising my website and local computer files so that they match (something which I had not previously done shockingly) I got an email address working and I plan to set up the integration after this post goes live, so i'll have an email for which I can be contacted on for photography stuff.

Finally, before I jump into the trip details, I wanted to share my goals here for my photography and website.

1. Im looking for the oppurtunity to take personal photographs for people or places, no charge here, with the only condition being i'd like to use them in the future for portfolio work. Depending on distance (outside of my reasonable travel here in Scotland) I may ask for travel cover within reason and up to discussion.

2. There will be photos I have taken myself that I will set up for sale, either that will be through a distribution company for the products to be printed on (like picture frames/cushions etc.)

3. Have someone do a guest blog for a few weeks/months depending on their scedule and content. Mostly just for the fun of it but to also share their perspectives on things. Also to change up so it's not only me here too.

With those in mind, i'm plotting the course and setting the sails, to see where this will take me. Now, without further ado.

The North Queensferry Trip

So this day was pretty fun, ended up heading out nice and early in the morning to catch some nice dim morning light before the sun hit noon, so that my 600mm lens wouldn't get absolutley overblown since it does struggle with strong midday sun.

A truck crossing the Queensferry Crossing

You can see in the image above, it does have a slight white tint to the image. It can make some photos I take seem overblown or dull but I am learning all the time with this lens.

While out there, I had thought I had run into a camera club, since they all were older, had larger lenses and enough cameras for two per person. What I did not anticipate was that I had stumbled upon a promotional shoot for the Fringe, with members of the press coming to take photos of the Black Blues Brothers, an acrobatic group.

The Black Blues Brothers, in a pyramid formation

These guys were pretty cool, and i'm considering going to see their act, which if this was anything to go by, it'll be good! .

Check them out here -> Home | THE BLACK BLUES BROTHERS

While there, I did get to ask some questions and got some tips and tricks in return which I will share one, since I do tend to replace my cap on my lens freqently when around others or in public places. The guy had said "Always keep your lens cap off, saves time having to remove it". Which is pretty sound advice, considering I had missed a shot earlier in the day because I had to remove my lens cap.

The Black Blues Brothers in a human knot

Safe to say, after that I did end up catching some nice shots because I didn't replace my cap.

After having had my interactions with the press and all the other peeps, I headed on my way and went off to catch some other shots, namely round the hill, looking out away from the Forth.

There was a pretty big cruise ship out there, the Regal Princess, and I am fairly sure they were taking on the passengers after an excursion. There was a lot of people and I am pretty sure as I was leaving later in the day, they were still loading people on.

Anyway, they had a concert going onboard, to which I had a few priviliged moments of, namely concerning the photo below.

The singer on stage onboard the Princess Regal

Afterwards, considering a cruise ship does take up so much space, so it was all I could really see from my vantage point, I headed back, over to the dock space, to see what I could see of the HMS Queen Elizabeth.

Can't quite share the photos just yet of that so, i'll replace this text with the image once I get the all-clear. The joys of shooting with a telescopic lens. Yay!

I did get some good shots of the ship as well as some nice scenery around the dock. I did consider going up on the Forth Road Bridge to get some better angles but a empty stomach and time did push for me to stay close to the train station. I was left sparce for choices, so I ended up actually heading into the Deep Sea World to see if I could spend enough time till my train arrived.

I would say, i'm not big on sealife but it was a fantastic little experience, with the underwater tunnel being a large attraction of the place itself.

Taken with my phone, while on the automatic catwalk conveyer.

The assorted sealife were pretty interesting and i'd recommend at least going once to experience it, in all its weird aquatic animals and stuff.

They did have a cafe, but £8.50 for a baguette is daylight robbery and I sourced a local corner store to tide me over instead.

I ended up with a little bit under an hour till my train, so I hung around at the station to see if I could get some photos of trains and anything else that peaked my interest. While I do think some of the photos were good and will go up with the rest, I can safely say this photo while great isn't my fave so it serves an excellent example here.

The Forth Rail Bridge from the train station platform

Now, I shall end this post here. I haven't had any inspirtation yet for the next trip yet, nor do I seem to have the freetime from work either, so while I wait for the impossible to happen, i'll continue working on this website and furthering my reach and skill.

See y'all soon

-Your very sunburnt photographer; Caia