The Forth Rail Bridge, Scotland

This was the first image I took after buying my camera at the end of 2017. I hadn’t been on any courses yet so was fumbling around guessing the settings and committing all my spare time to learning everything I could about my camera settings and landscape photography.

For years I had been having recurring dreams I was taking photos of sunrises which was what inspired me to finally buy a camera. I went for a Nikon D3400 which was a good entry level camera for starting out and just had a standard lens which came with it. I don’t think I even owned a tripod at this point!

This was taken in November 2017. I was on my way to visit my Grandma who lived under The Forth Rail Bridge. (She wasn’t a troll. Although my mum may disagree)!

It was her 96th birthday and just as we pulled into North Queensferry I saw the bridge surrounded by fog and just had to jump out the car to take this image before the fog disappeared.

I was pretty happy with it for my first landscape image. This hotel is all boarded up now so I’m so happy I captured it on that day.

In March 2020 it won the place of runner up in the Urban category of Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year and a place in their annual book and exhibition which I was delighted with.

Sadly my Grandma passed away a month after taking this image so every time I look at this photo now it reminds me of the last day I got to see her and celebrate her 96th birthday with my family.

“We live in a society where we are always racing at 100mph through life. What can we do to set the pause button and fill our minds with stillness? For me that’s photography. The moment I look through that viewfinder, the world slows down and in that moment it’s just me, my camera and the view before me.”