Ruins of 13th-century cliff top fortress. Dunnotar Castle is a very popular location for both photographers and tourists. The castle has appeared in countless calendars and leaflets for promoting Scotland – highly understandable as the castle is on top of cliffs with stunning views over the ocean.

Any time of year you can enjoy a splendid sunrise with uninterrupted views due to lack of near land on the other side of the water. Sunrise was not meant to happen that day, or perhaps I should say that it did happen somewhere else.

I had seen many pictures of the castle before and they were all taken from pretty much the same place. I wanted to give it a try and add my own touch to it. It wasn’t really that hard to get halfway down the slop. This gave me the advantage of using the earth’s scar with the castle in the distance – the interesting sky filled the top of the frame nicely.