This was one of my most favorite places to visit as a kid, I am sure it drove my parents nuts as I could not get enough of the place. The ruins, the magnificence of all sparked my imagination and I could almost “see” what it must have been like in its heyday.

Today, there is little left of the majestic buildings other than ruined and crumbling walls. The nicely kept greens make for a stark contrast – manicured lawns vs. broken brick walls.

As you can see, I have again applied some textures to the background, after initially blending three images as an HDR process. The dramatic sky, the evenly exposed buildings are all hallmarks of HDR processing. I also like how these images present themselves as Black & White, but I will save that for another post.

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I remember scrambling over these ruins as a boy and always loved going there every time we visited my grandmother who used to live in Aberdeen.

Other than the “normal” HDR treatment here, I decided to blend in some textures, giving that that “mottled” look. I find it adds some extra drama to the picture.

This castle lies near Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, north east Scotland.

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As you can see, Dunnottar Castle has an awesome position on top of this rock that sticks out into the sea. Access is via a narrow land bridge. It perhaps no surprise that this castle has played an interesting role in Scottish history. Perhaps the most famous is the event of a small garrison holding out for eight months against the mighty army of Cromwell, saving the Scottish Crown Jewels from destruction. The crown, scepter and sword are now on display in Edinburgh Castle.

William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots, the Marquis of Montrose and the future King Charles II, all graced the Castle with their presence at some time in history.

This castle lies near Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, north east Scotland.

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It’s situated on a little island called Donan (Eilean Donan means Donan’s island) that is connected to the mainland via the stone bridge you see below. The surrounding waters rise and fall with the tide as the open sea is just a few miles miles away.

I took this shot just after heavy rains (it rains a lot in Scotland) and the tide was in. Just a few hours earlier, when the tide was out, kelp-covered rocks are exposed making for a less interesting scene.

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