The challenge: to take a landscape photograph with evidence of movement – a dynamic landscape The technique is to put the camera on a tripod and use a very slow shutter speed to allow the movement of water, grass, leaves or even cars or people to blur. Easy, I thought, and left it to the very last minute.
But not as easy as I thought. My first location was Cruden Bay. However the bright sunshine would not allow me to set a slow enough shutter speed. There was virtually no wind, the sand was sparking, there were hardly any waves and the tide was at it lowest. I came home without a single picture.
The early morning sun today gave me a second attempt. I decided to revisit a couple of the sites I had used before, when researching the bridges over the Water of Cruden. The result is a set of atmospheric early morning (6.30 am) pictures in a little beech wood at Dudwick where the burn gurgles through the Den of Auldmaling, with the sun beginning to peep through the leaves. The light was low enough, and I managed to get the blurred water I was looking for.

From there it was on to the bridge at Mill of Auchleuchries. The sun was just in the right position and the water was sparkling – a big contrast to the moody beech wood I had just visited. The picture is all right, but not quite as sharp as I would have liked.

Maybe I will try the waves again on the shore, but for that I will have to wait for some more wind, and less sun. A photographer is never happy with the weather!