'Alloway Kirk', by George McNaughton

What inspired you to take this shot?
It is a rare occasion that there are lights, smoke effects together with ideal weather conditions in such a venue as Alloway Kirk and I simply couldn't pass the opportunity to take some shots of the kirk that night.  It looked awesomely eerie and you could just have expected Meg with Tam on her back to come charging out the mist towards you..

Why are you particularly proud of it?
I took maybe 60 odd shots that night, about 10 of the kirk from 1 or 2 angles, but this was the best with the red and white light shining on the many branches of the trees in the graveyard really giving a ghostly wintery atmosphere to the night shot.


I had the camera set to quite a high ISO so that it wouldn't need as much light to expose correctly and had to balance it carefully with my hand against a wall using a slow shutter speed on time release so to eliminate any movement my finger might have made when pressing the button.  I guess its a technique I've played with before when I've not got a tripod, with mixed results.  However, on the night it worked a treat and I managed to get the composition just about right aswell.  I knew it was a good shot and I haven't enhanced the picture at all, it remains as it was taken on the night, so I am quite proud of it .. !

What does this particular location mean to you?
My family are Ayrshire farmers and we have farmed just outside Ayr for a number of generations now and continue to do so with myself and my father now running the business.  I have always been interested in Burns' life and feel quite proud to be connected with his life in some way.  I don't live in Alloway but drive through fairly often, we are about 3 miles away.  Although I have travelled far and wide, I was born less than quarter of mile away from where I've lived ever since, and I cannot think of more fitting place for me to live on the west coast of our great country and more particularly Ayrshire.

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