Oil Rigs off Cromarty

Old Oil Rigs Off Cromarty (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II lens at 24mm, 1/550 sec at f/8, ISO 100, handheld)

My wife and I had a recent day trip to Cromarty on a fine sunny September day.  We had lunch down by the harbour and I took the opportunity to shoot a few images of the old oil rigs that sit offshore in the waters of the Cromarty Firth.  These icons of Scotland's industrial heritage are not my normal subject matter, nor is the east coast to be honest, but I liked the way the ranks of rigs faded off into the distance, set against the mountains of Sutherland and Wester Ross in the background.  Despite the lovely bright sunny day I could not quite bring myself to reflect that in these images and generally opted for a more dramatic and darker style.  These are a few different approaches that I tried out.  I also took some shots using my Bronica ETRSi medium format film camera and will post some of those once I get round to processing the film.

Oil Rigs on the Cromarty Firth from Cromarty Harbour - Simple Processing

Oil Rigs on the Cromarty Firth from Cromarty Harbour - Black & White

Oil Rigs on the Cromarty Firth from Cromarty Harbour - Desaturated Processing

Oil Rigs on the Cromarty Firth from Cromarty Harbour - Desaturated Processing