East Renfrew – Knightshoots Landscape Photography

Whitelee Wind farm, Balgray Reservoir, Woulkmill glen, Littleton and…

South West Scotland 2021: Part Nine

12 September 2021

Today was so still that none of the windpumps were working… and after the two nights seeing and hearing them moving constantly, it was really, REALLY eerie! As I got ready to leave Whitelee, I had every intention of making a second trip back here one day. There was so much potential here, it was so interesting, and so incredibly peaceful.

It ended as being a very reluctant departure, but eventually I did, and I started the day by going to Balgray Reservoir. As I approached the reservoir I was met by a gorgeous, pure glasslike reflection when I drove past. Perfect!! This got me really excited. Unfortunately, I struggled to find a parking spot here, since the few provided were already taken. I ended driving up and down the road several times before finding a singular spot just big enough for Fred – much further down the road, but at least I did find somewhere eventually.

River and I walked all the way back up to the pumping house on the reservoir where I hoped to take some photos, but I could immediately tell I had missed the optimum moment. The breeze was just beginning to pick up, and the reflection started to disappear in small bursts – in hindsight I wished I had come here a little earlier than I had. With the sky back to cloud cover, I hadn’t felt the need to rush out though. Silly girl!! Note to self… early mornings arn’t just for sunrise – they are also really good for still water and parking spots! River and I walked around the reservoir anyway – well I was here right?! I tried to take pictures from both sides of the pumping house. Although the dream reflection was now gone, I managed a fairly decent moody shot here, using a 5 second long exposure to still the water enough. It was almost perfect. Almost. Maybe a bit of light on the pumping house, with perfectly still water? Maybe a little light mist to soften the background and seperate it better? Maybe even some… yes, yes… I know, there’s always something else we would like to make any photo ‘the dream one’ right??

Balgray Pumping House, not quite as glassy a reflection as 10 minutes earlier, but a nice moody shot anyway..

We walked back to the road, crossed and then headed to the other reservoirs in this area. Right at the start of the walk there was a really pretty waterfall on Brock Burn, and it had enough water in it to actually bother shooting – Woohoo! Little did I realise how lucky I was with this one! River kept barking at all the other dogs that came past though, so I started getting really irritated with her. I tried what I could, but with her being so annoying, I ended up abandoning the spot to get her moving and focussed on varying views and scents rather than any other doogies coming into ‘our’ space.

Waterfall on Brock Burn, at the start of the Ryat Linn reservoir walk

As we walked around I found some other spots that looked quite nice, although the light was really naff in them all. The join between Ryat Linn and Woulkmill Glen Reservoirs was supposed to have a spillway waterfall, but the water levels were very low and there wasnt even a dribble today. Rivers angst was not easing up, and I found my frustrations really getting the better of me with every dog she went for. I struggled to focus and enjoy myself, and found myself wandering aimlessly between the rest of Woulkmill Glen, and Littleton Reservoirs. With the light being so poor I found my mood really dropping big time. I kept trying anyway, since these would be memory photos if nothing else. Because the light so flat, I even tried attempting some hand held photos of some bees, and gorgeous butterflies that were enjoying the flowers here. Handheld was clearly a terrible idea too, as every photo was awful, which just frustrated me all the more on top of everything else. My mobile did a far superior job! (see header) Eventually, everything seemed to get the better of me. Today felt like one of those ‘nothing is working!’ days, and frustration just built to a peak. Even tho in theory this spot had some lovely opportunities that could have opened up to me, I really struggled to find them.

We left when I couldn’t cope any more, and as I got to Fred I realised that part of my problem was where I hadn’t eaten anything yet. I was obviously very tired because my inner fuel level was just far too low! So I made myself a ham, cheese and onion toastie in my Ridgemonkey, and soaked each side in egg. Yum! I felt much better after that. As I ate, I looked at map to see where my last location for East Renfrew was – Harelaw Dam. Looking at the location I felt very uninspired due to todays visit being much the same subject, so I scoured the map that Google was showing me, to see what else might be in the area instead. In doing so, I spotted an iron age hill Fort that looked far more interesting. It looked to be near some water too so I felt there might be some possibilities here and drove to that location instead.

As it goes, it was a much better choice, I managed both reflection and viewpoint shots here. The short but steep hike up the hill that the fort originally stood on, was enjoyable enough in itself, and made for a really pleasant last visit in this area. It completely lifted my spirits above the grumpy morning that I had experienced. The view was really gorgeous, and tho I could see sunshine dancing across the hills in the distance, they never came any closer towards my position. It seems this area was just destined for grey flat light for the day but I counted my blessings that at least I didn’t get rained on! When we descended, River and I were accosted by a small herd of cows. They were only curious about us, and not at all aggressive, but them all coming at us at once was a little nerve-racking, before they then wandered off to the waters edge. A short walk further and I found and fell in love with some very small knarly red berried trees, that stood at the bottom. I am not well informed about trees, but these were really gorgeous, so I took a small leaf and berry sample to identify them later on. I found out they were Hawthorn trees, and considered one might make a lovely feature in my garden back home…

As we were edging to later in the day, I hoped for a sunset reflection shot here, but it didn’t really happen. The dappled grey cloud cover was just that little bit too heavy, going a soft peachy pink on the edges of the clouds instead. It was still quite pretty. On top of this a bunch of swans keep swimming across my reflection, rippling up the water forcing me to wait longer. I swear they were doing it on purpose in the end! I waited for ages trying different shots with the water as still as possible, and praying for something before the sky lost its colour. In the end I managed to capture one image that will at least work as a good record to remind me of future possibilities.

Duncarnock Hill Fort. Thank you Google for helping me find this spot!

After that I decided East Renfrew was done, so headed for the Barr reservoir in West Renfrew ready for the early morning shot I hoped for there. I arrived in the dark, but as far as I could tell, there was no parking anywhere nearby, except for members of the fishing club, that, I guess, owned the land. So I drove on to Semple, my next location on the West Renfrewshire list, arriving in the pitch black, very tired and very relieved to have somewhere to stop!

Sleep this night came swiftly and easily!

My Adventures

Whitelee Wind Farm and Lochgoin Monument

South West Scotland 2021: Part Eight

11 September 2021

Wind farm day… Only when I woke up early hoping for the sunrise shot I dreamed of, the cloud was SO thick you couldn’t see out of the window!!

I went back to sleep.

I eventually woke up to rain a couple of hours later. With the view still quite restricted, I simply took things easy and waited the weather out. The predictions were looking a little more promising as the day went so on I felt there was no rush today. The cloud lifted a little eventually, and it made for some nice shots from the camper window… Was that cheating?

Grim view from the window as the last downpour finally headed off

Eventually the rain stopped down to a light drizzle, and the clouds were above the turbines, so I decided to go on a long walk with River to guage some nice moody compositional spots. I headed in the opposite direction to yesterday, walking past turbines 40, 24, 9, 8, 78 and down towards the Lochgoin Monument (see yesterdays map). This monument commemorates John Howie the author of The Scots Worthies, a book from 1775 that documented notable Covenanters and ministers. (Covenanters were a group of people in Scotland who had signed a petition against the interference of the Stuart kings in the Presbyterian church affairs, back in 1638. What followed was over 50 years of horrific persecution, violence, torture and murder)

I took some photos there, but I was sure that I could get nicer pictures in better weather and/or light. For now however, at least this documented my visit. After I had taken photos from a few different positions I realised that this exact spot was no longer in East Renfrew, but actually in East Ayrshire instead. This meant that, after all that walking, I couldn’t mark this spot off the East Renfrew leg of my county challenge … Oh well. One in advance…

As I took the pictures, I noticed a couple of breaks in the clouds, dancing small pockets of light across the Eaglesham Moor. While the light danced, it hit the occasional turbine. This looked SO pretty that I hoped to maybe capture one lit up against the grim grey sky as I turned to continue my walk around. For now, the walk ahead had no breaks in the cloud, so I aimed instead to get to a good viewpoint as soon as I could.

I started towards the Lochgoin Reservoir, only to realise several minutes later, that I was heading down to the farm by mistake. I walked back as quickly as I could and continued the hike round past the water and towards a marked lookout spot near turbine 43. My destination was Blackwood Hill.

I confess to feeling a little tired by the time I got there, and realised that it was pretty close to where I had ended at last night. Here River and I finally stopped for a good long sit down, some fluids and a lunchtime snack. It was a wonderful position. I could see for miles, and the distant hills and towns were bathed in glorious sunshine. Above us, the heavy skies remained. I saw more and more patches of sunlight come across the fields right over to me now however, so I positioned myself looking at a group of turbines, hoping that 3 of them might catch the light at once. I took loads of pictures of them all individually catching the sun, but for one patch to hit my complete grouping in one go, proved annoyingly elusive – then suddenly, after what seemd an age of trying and waiting – it happened!! I was over the moon, but realising the composition wasn’t quite right, tried to re adjust the shot. I was too slow though – the light had already gone off two of them. I waited, but it didn’t happen again, so I re-evaluated the shot I had captured and decided that I might be able to crop it to help it work better.

Light breaking through to hit some of the turbines

After this I wandered back and as I did, I spotted the Lochgoin monument in the far distance. I realised that from near where I stood, it would be perfectly positioned to sit in the middle of the silhouette of Ailsa Crag even further away, so I walked a few paces over to my left get the best view. I put my long lens on, zoomed to the max, and rattled off a few shots, moving an inch this way, half a foot that way until the position was perfect. The image on the back of the camera was really pleasing to my eye. I chuckled to myself…was this technically a 3 in one county shot? I was standing in East Renfrew, shooting the monument in East Ayrshire, against Ailsa Crag that was in South Ayrshire. How do I mark this one off?! Satisfied I’d gotten the best shot that I could, we finally headed back to the camper for a much needed rest. I’d ponder that question later if I really needed to.

As the hours passed, the heavy clouds cleared quickly so I made the call to head back out for either a clear sky sunset shot, or even a colourful one if I was lucky. Either one would do! River was exhausted (well we had just done 6.5 miles) so I left her behind to rest up while I trotted back to the spots I wanted to try for sunset…

As I walked, I spotted a lone tree on the horizon some distance away. With a lovely evening light bathing it, the blue of the sky behind, and a pink tinge to the cloud above, it looked lovely to my eye, so I hastily set up and tried to take a few photos. I needed to zoom in to the max, but even with an extender trying to help, it still looked small in the frame. (see Header) I felt it was still worth stopping for though, even if it did cut the time to sunset considerably closer than I was comfortable with.

Since I hadn’t picked a nice spot yet – and I only had a rough idea at that – I quickly headed on my way but soon found myself stopping a second time. This time it was to photograph the sun dipping below the hill, with a delightful starburst in the making. This spot proved rushing any further would be a waste of time, since I now realised I was in the wrong place to actually see the sun dip below the horizon itself. As I positioned myself for this shot, I saw the one I would have loved to have taken… but sadly the water level in the reservoir was far too low. I think that maybe a reflection in the water would make a strong image and that this would be much better after a period of rainfall. For now, I concentrated on trying to get the best angle for the sunburst.

Once I’d managed this one, I saw that I still had 5 mins to the actual sunset. I suspected it might be worth re-trying the monument shot I’d taken earlier, but I realised chances were going to be slim once I spotted that the sun was now behind a cloud. Any colour there a few minutes ago was already fading to a dull blue and quickly at that. I tried the shot however – gotta be in it, to win it, right?! Unfortunately the lens extender (which slightly restricts the amount of light that can get to the shutter) and the rapidly fading daylight, made it very hard to focus. Eventually I had to admit to myself, that I wasn’t going to get this one. Maybe I could just cheat the earlier shot, and put the colour that I was now looking at, into the image when I edited it…

Matching the bit of colour I saw in the sky later on, this was taken earlier in the day.

I walked back towards the wind turbine I had photographed and used my phone to take a quick snap of the severely depleated reservoir. This was to remind me that when full, it might be worth coming back to try a good reflection shot. Finally, completely exhausted, I plodded back to the camper for a well earned rest tonight!

My Adventures

Pollok Country Park, Linn Falls and Whitelee Wind Farm

South West Scotland 2021: Part Seven

10 September 2021

After a good nights rest, a reset, and a gentle morning, I left Emily at mid day with a clearer plan of action.

I was hoping to finish Glasgow, but rather than take shots of the city proper, I turned to two country parks just on the city outskirts – still technically in the Glasgow City ‘county’ so these can be counted as valid locations in my county challenge! My first port of call was Pollok country park, recommended by Emily’s flatmate. Parking was easy to find, and free, so I got there quickly, and walked towards the river, gauging a couple of extra shots as I walked along. It was as lovely as I hoped here. The most surprising discovery of all though, was the fact that THIS was the exact spot that I had actually tried to find two days ago!! The river I followed along here was White Cart Water (this river was clearly longer than I checked!), and the spot I had seen in the photo was the weir and old saw mill along the river right here! Clearly the original photo I used for reference had been slightly mis labelled as Renfrew when it wasn’t, or the poster thought that this spot was within the Renfrew boarder. Either way, I was overjoyed, and took no time at all setting up and taking multiple images of this beautiful location. It was still very cloudy, but it didn’t rain so I was really happy. I am determined to come back here at some point, and capture this image in prettier weather. I bet it will look really lovely with a bit of sun to bring this scene alive!

The old Sawmill by White Cart Water at Pollok country park

River entertained herself around me, and decided to rub herself in … muuuddd???. It could have been anything actually, so I didn’t take any chances and took her down to the water to wash it all back off again (much to her annoyance – she’d worked hard at getting that all in there!!) As I did this, I saw a chap taking photos of some bottles with the weir as a backdrop. I had a brief chat with him, and he explained that he was trying to take some advertising shots with his mobile. I asked how they were coming out and he said he was just an amateur and that the photographer he had hired couldn’t do it until October, adding softly ‘are you interested?’ Now, somehow I missed this question, only hearing it later, but I continued the chat, mentioning that I had seen shots like these before, that I bet the box was heavy, and further random conversations. It was only when I walked away a few minutes later, that I heard the question and I wondered if he had been serious, and whether I had missed a chance to earn a few pennies, and try my hand at still life and promo photography. Ahh, when you hear things back in your head after the event right?!

I went on my way, stopping to photograph the weir and old buildings from under the bridge (see header) then looked at Pollok House from the path. It was closed for the day due to covid restrictions, but the view from here was really nice and super symetrical which appealed to my sense of order… well apart from the gate being slightly oddly opened. I darted up the steps and evened the opening out before running back down to grab a quick shot with my phone. The lands here were the family seat of the Stirling-Maxwell family, and they lived here for 700 years in various castles before this house was built in 1752 (with a few extensions since then) In 1931 it was here that the first discussions were had to form a new National Trust for Scotland with the then owner, Sir John Stirling Maxwell 10th Baron of Pollok. He died in 1957, and the property was handed to the City of Glasgow by his daughter Dame Anne Maxwell MacDonald in 1966, and then to the National Trust for Scotland to care for in 1998. The family have retained the rights to still reside in parts of the house when they visit Glasgow, which I was really pleased to hear -it means that its still a living residence for this long line of lords and barons.

Satisfied with what I could get with my limited light for now, I marked Pollok Park as one to come back to at another time of the year or when I am next up here, and I then left and went to Linn Park, not terribly far from here. This was recommended by Emily herself, ‘its gorgeous there Mum, we went last summer, and you’ll love the waterfall…’ I duly listed this, and headed over with some hope that perhaps this waterfall might be as impressive as she suggested… but no, the water here was a fraction of the flow as I had secretly assumed. I sent her a jokey text with a photo, asking if there was more water when she was here (knowing full well there was) and she replied with a shocked face at seeing the levels. I wasn’t put off however. I did what I could, and actually really liked just focusing on one part only. The water that was falling here, had gathered to one side and formed a smaller section of falls that was in its own right, still fairly pretty. I really enjoyed this shoot. The low river levels allowed me to step a little further out into the water so I could get a better view. Photos online I have seen since, suggest that this isnt normally possible! Once this was done, I was pleased to be able to mark yet another county off my list.

From here I decided to go to East Renfrew. I wasn’t sure about doing another park, a waterfall, nor long walk, so decided to go to Whitelee windfarm instead. This was going to be an unusual one to do, and I was very uncertain as to what I could expect here – but as the prediction was for 24% cloud at sunset, I considered that maybe a turbine silhouetted and reflected in some water would look nice…? That was the thinking anyway. I arrived, saw a few spots to park up and then went for a brief walk to guage the place. I totally surprised myself by really enjoying it here. It truly was far more fascinating than I was banking on. Where I was expecting a bit of an eyesore location, with some interesting/different features to possibly photograph, I found myself in a very well thought out location, designed to be practical, preserving of nature, AND a pleasant place to spend some time walking or learning about these rather awesome structures. This place genuinely had it all worked out really well! I only did a short walk to begin with, just to guage the lay of the land… wandering around past turbines 40, 41, 54, 55 and around to turbine 43 (see map below) I spotted a possible sunset spot, and headed back to the van for some supper to wait the cloud’s departure before I aimed to go out a little later.

map of part of the huge Whitelee Wind Farm

The sky however, hadn’t read the same forecast as me, and I watched as the cloud got heavier and heavier until it was clear there wasn’t going to be any sunset, and that instead heavy mizzle would be the order for tonight! I moved the van to a safer spot, after seeing another motorhome move, and spotting a sign mentioning gates being locked. With miserable weather here now, I decided that I would stop for the night , and have a full and proper look at this site tomorrow… this was WAY more interesting than I initially expected it to be, and you never know, perhaps the sunset sky was slightly off by a few hours and the sunRISE would be the glorious chance I hoped for.