Sharon, myself and my sister-in-law were touring Linlithgow Palace, located in the town of Linlithgow, Scotland, 15 miles (24 km) west of Edinburgh. The palace was one of the principal residences of the monarchs of Scotland in the 15th and 16th centuries. It is also notable for the fact that Mary, Queen of Scots, was born at Linlithgow Palace in December 1542 and lived at the palace for a time.
It actually became one of Sharon’s favorite stops, and it yielded an image you will find in the B&W gallery, ‘Linlithgow Steps.’
But this image was taken out behind the palace garden, as I found these two fishermen in a boat on Linlithgow Loch, a very small body of water just north of the palace grounds. The stillness of the water gave the smooth reflections of the background, all in shades of green with a splash of orange and red.
I placed the subjects lower right in the composition, the silver of the boat and the brown of their attire contrasting with the overall verdant tone of the image, and then one of the men pulled his rod in and adjusted the line, or maybe the hook, at the end of it. The lean of his body, away from his companion, and standing instead of sitting, well, it was perfect.
The great photographer Jay Maisel has a book, the title of which echoes his mantra: ‘Light, Gesture and Color.’ I like to think that maybe this one has a bit of all three.
