I walked from Cellardyke to Crail on April 30th on a glorious, blue-sky day. I was carrying a camera with a 300mm lens on it but, when I got to Caiplie Caves something wider and shorter was needed. I had consciously decided not to carry a second camera but, I always carry my phone; it’s an aging Samsung S10 but I love it AND, ….. no AI (ish)
So I decided to grab several shots of the caves and surrounding area on my phone and these are the (edited) results.
I really liked the coil of rope and associated detritus lying on the grass but, does anyone else see a dog lying down with its head on its fore paws?
Those were taken as I approached from the Cellardyke direction, you can see the perfect blue sky above so the light was quite harsh.
You may not notice it in those shots above but there’s also a very weathered thorn bush just in front of the rocks.
I had the entire space to myself for a good while so I took my time and wandered around, looking at all angles and wishing I’d brought the other camera 🙂
Notice how the rocks change shape as I move around them?
The shapes and colours in the rocks are amazing, I could spend a long time here I think; might have to come back 😉
I have to admit I was totally in the zone here, completely lost in looking for the shots.
The dark shadows only added to the effect.
Just moving my feet and turning the camera changes the view completely, as I look at these I’m trying to remember where I had moved to and it wasn’t very far at all.
There are several crevices through the rock, which is pretty soft Sandstone and some pass right through, making interesting caves.
You can see one arch running right through the rocks here.
There was a decent breeze blowing in off the sea, it had been picking up as I walked.
I still hadn’t actually passed through any of the caves yet, staying on the shadowed side for some time.
That shot is looking back the way I had approached from, you can see that coil of rope to the right and Cellardyke / Anstruther just around the headland.
I was now starting to enter some of the caves, looking at the colours, structures and views created by them.
As I passed through one arch, I spotted another opening through to another cave. The rocks above all of this are still part of the headland, scattered all along this shore are huge Sandstone boulders that I assume have broken away from the cliffs in the past.
The grass in the background of this shot comes right around and onto the roof.
Look at those patterns and colours. I was standing in a tall crevice and took a shot through to the other side but, when I looked up, I had to get another and stitch them together.
That is now my phone screen 🙂 The light and shadows definitely made this wee session for me and I can image many different looks in different light. Night sky behind? Hmmmmm
As I wandered through the arches I started to hear voices and walked into the shot of a chap with his camera 🙂 I don’t mind people in some shots but I slipped out of the way, just in case. We stood and had a natter later anyway.
And there he is, crouching in the mouth of the biggest cave, I had stepped back to take in the entire formation from the other side.
In this case, I think the people add a sense of scale to the shots. See the face in the rocks at the left end?
I was now slowly making my way on along the trail, heading on to Crail and a cup of coffee 🙂
On the way back, I was power walking and did the entire walk Crail to Cellardyke, 3 miles, in one hour! That included wee natter stops; I met all sorts of people from all over the world on this walk.
There’s that face again!
I carried on into Anstruther to meet Jo for lunch so the entire walk was around 4.5 miles.
Once I started looking at these shots on my phone, I got an overwhelming urge to convert some to black and white.
But, my favourite is …..
I see the shortcomings of the phone shots in these but also the ease they can be taken and created. Next time I will carry a wide lens and do it all again 🙂
The entire walk around 8 miles with a good coffee and bacon ciabatta in The Crail Harbour Gallery & Tearoom, followed by the best Fishcake and chips ever, in The Wee Chippy in Anstruther.
wanderings
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