Copy by Andrew Winter
This selection of images taken by members of Irvine Camera Club show some of the sights from our recent trip around Ailsa Craig. Leaving from Girvan Harbour, the boat headed out and around the volcanic plug that sits 10 miles off the coast and is a feature of much photography and many viewpoints in Ayrshire.
If you have never been out there, it is well worth the trip. You really don’t get a sense of how big it is until you get up close to its steep granite walls and only then do you see how many birds live on it. It’s an impressive sight to see up close, being home to one of the largest gannet colonies in the world and a growing number of puffins. There’s also the lighthouse, the foghorns and the castle that provide some non-wildlife related interest.
As the skipper threw fish over the side, we got to see how magnificent the gannets are and how adept they are at fishing, able to streamline their bodies as they enter the water. There’s other wildlife to see as well, notably the seals that are often seen bathing and sunning themselves on the beaches and plenty of gulls.
Trying to photograph anything on a moving boat, let alone birds flying overhead and swooping down into the water is technically as challenging as many other techniques, with the added challenge of trying to stay onboard and dry to worry about along with settings, composition, lighting, timing, subjects and of course the weather. Never let it be said that photography is easyand I hope these images inspire you to go out exploring with your camera.
Irvine Camera Club prides itself on being an inclusive club, open to anyone, any age, who is interested in photography, whatever you use to take photo’s. The social aspect is an important part of what we do and who we are as club, and making friends and spending time doing something we enjoy is always at the heart of everything we aim to do.
So, if you would like to know more about photography or if any of these images have inspired you pick up a camera then you’d be very welcome to come along on one of our summer social walks.
Please check our website for information and to get in touch. https://irvinecc.co.uk/programme
