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Gamrie Bay


Gamrie Bay
Photo Information
Copyright: Niek Bouwen (SunToucher) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1213 W: 118 N: 1045] (5476)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-07-10
Categories: Nature
Camera: Canon EOS 350D, Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 DC EX HSM, Cokin P121S
Exposure: f/18.0, 1/100 seconds
Details: Tripod: Yes
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Travelogue: Summer vacation 2007: Scotland
Date Submitted: 2007-08-08 10:50
Viewed: 627
Points: 36
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
This photo was taken half way between Gardenstown and Crovie. The latter can be seen in this photo. Luckely the rain came from behind, which allowed me to shield the camera from most of the water. I did however had to keep the grad ND filter clean inbetween the photos I made at this spot.

I was a fun experience to get to this spot. I had to climb some very slippery rocks and even jump from one to another.

Crovie is built on a remarkably narrow ledge between the base of the cliffs forming the east side of Gamrie Bay and the sea. It sits looking across the bay to the rather larger and more securely located village of Gardenstown.

Crovie is unique. There may be other villages where the use of motor vehicles is discouraged. But as far as we know there's nowhere else in mainland Britain where it is simply impossible to use one. The shelf on which the village is perched is so narrow it only has room for a row of cottages and the footpath in front of them. Only a few feet from the cottages is the drop to the rocky foreshore and the sea.

Residents leave their cars at the south end of the village and walk. Visitors are strongly encouraged not to drive down to the village itself. There is a car park and viewpoint on the cliffs above, complete with an attractive wooden sculpture of a woman. However it is a fair walk from there down to and (especially) back up from the village.

Crovie itself was established by families cleared from inland estates in the late eighteenth century. Having been moved off their land to make way for their landlord's sheep, they then had the pleasure of operating fishing boats owned by the landlord, largely for his benefit and entirely at their risk. By the mid nineteenth century some fishermen had built their own boats, and by the end of the century some fifty such owner-operated boats sailed from Crovie.

The first half of the twentieth century saw a gradual decline in Crovie's fishing fleet in the face of competition from the larger, more effective vessels that could operate from other ports. However, the end of Crovie's fishing industry came, finally and abruptly, on 31 January 1953.

A storm that had been building since the previous night brought hurricane force winds and huge seas to the village. The path to Gardenstown was washed away (it has since been replaced), together with stretches of Crovie's sea defences and a number of houses and sheds. The village ceased to be viable almost immediately, and many residents simply moved round the bay to Gardenstown.

Crovie was left largely to be developed as holiday lets, and today it is a much more active place in the summer than at other times of the year. The restrictions placed by its location on development throughout its history, plus the halt to commercial activity in 1953, have left Crovie as one of the best preserved fishing villages in Europe.

How you feel about Crovie will probably depend on the sort of day you find it on. It can be an enchanting place, though with its backdrop of lumpy cliffs it will probably never really qualify as beautiful. But find it on a day when the sea is being pushed into the bay by a northerly gale and it is an altogether more exciting place to be.

www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk
samuraicamera, stery, GreenBaron, Pedros, toucan1967, go2stones, eyesthetix, allye90333 has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To ruudblok: RotsSunToucher 2 08-11 00:07
To Josine: ISOSunToucher 1 08-09 22:59
To GreenBaron: dorpje scherperSunToucher 1 08-08 11:35
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Critiques [Translate]

Not a bad spot at all. I wonder if its possible to get out onto some of those rocks in the water to shoot from too.

Beautiful earthy colours ... very well captured mood.
Thank you for posting it and giving such a substantional note, very interesting.

Karina:)

  • Great 
  • Pedros Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 290 W: 72 N: 231] (5253)
  • [2007-08-08 11:56]

very cool place well presented...

Hi Niek,
Nice shot, good POV, I like the rocks in the foreground the colours are good the only thing to make this better would be a nice sunny blue sky.
Well done
Tfs Andy

How nice to see you in the UK Niek.
An excellent picture here, you have captured land, sea, sky and mood with great authenticity. The composition and everything else is spot-on it seems to me anyway.
Congratulations and thanks!
Bill

Hello Niek,

A great scean from a gray day, which set a mood for the photo I can enjoy, I really like the composure with great colors bg POV well done and

TFS Kyle
PT

Hi Niek,
Een technisch uitstekende foto want je hebt er echt verstand van dat merk ik altijd weer aan de commentaren die ik van je krijg. Bij deze foto vind ik de rotspartij rechts iets te prominent aanwezig. Maar het moet heerlijk zijn om daar te staan de natuur om je heen te voelen. Dat is iets wat je van deze foto zeker mee krijgt.
Ruud

hello niek!
wonderful shot with excellent composition and colors, i like it.
tfs
zoran

pt

  • Great 
  • stery Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 330 W: 24 N: 71] (2036)
  • [2007-08-09 6:48]

Hy Niek
Very good picture...great color and pov
Congratulation
Regards
Stery

i like this moody composition niek :)
good use of the frame

koh

Good use of foreground Niek and even though its an overcast day, you have retained good muted colour in the shot. Love the foreboding sky.

Peter

Niek.. ik zie in je kritiekjes dat je eerlijk bent tegen anderen en dat is goed. Was wat nieuwsgierig, had je al eens op de TL meet foto's gezien. Je foto's zijn van goed kaliber, maar deze niet. Flauw, grijs en saai .
400 ISO is snel en beter had je hier ISO 100 en een hoger
diafragma moeten nemen plus een statief .
Josine

  • Great 
  • EOSF1 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1385 W: 122 N: 1975] (16655)
  • [2007-08-09 21:21]

Helo Niek ! What a lovely landscape ! Sharp, well composec with a lot of atmosphere. Well done ! Thanks !
Mario

  • Good 
  • Viking Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 996 W: 63 N: 782] (4383)
  • [2007-08-09 23:00]

Niek, sorry agree with Josine. Poor photo. (heel saai)
Rob

Hoi Niek,
Weer zo'n heerlijke foto, het mooie groen van de heuvels, de zee en het dorpje aan de kust. Geweldig uitzicht, maar heb toch de indruk dat er wat onscherpte in zit, in het bijzondeer het dorpje oogt alsof het scherper kan. Niettemin een fraaie inzending Niek.
TFS
Hans

:) Later....

Many interesting elements in both contrast and harmony. Well composed and executed.

TFS!
Reid

  • Great 
  • salmi Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 850 W: 5 N: 430] (4732)
  • [2007-08-11 12:18]

Hi Niek,
Beautiful POV in this picture, I love the colors also...and I read the note, how you did this picture, congrats!
All rhe best,
Mihaela

Hello Niek,
I like to see the weed growing on the rocks that are part time under water!
A well composed presentation, where the weather is varied and the surf hits the rocks...
Nice view to the village in the back, the lack of vegetation tells about harsh conditions!
Greetings,
Pablo -

Hi Niek,
your image is very authentic and absolutely captures the essence and the true feel of this area !
Absolutely spot-on "Scottish" light and view.
Good composition and photographic quality.

Best regards, Daniel

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