Shoot with Howard Ashton-Jones

I was lucky enough to have the afternoon out with Howard recently, this was our first shoot together. We have been chatting for a few years now and I really love working with local photographers. Its actually rare for me to work with fellow Scots - No idea how that works but hey ho.

The weather was awful over in my area, even on the route to the location the snow was piled up at the side of the road. I really expected the worst weather so was ready with hot waterbottle and all sorts of warm up aids but during the first half of the shoot I didn't actually need them.

I really loved the location and the history behind it, its called Elie Tower -


"To the east of Elie, lies Ruby Bay so called after the garnet or red gemstones which still wash up here. From here, you'll be able to see Elie Lighthouse and the Lady's Tower, built as a summer house for Lady Janet Anstruther in the 18th century. To preserve her modesty, she used to send a bell-ringer around Elie to warn locals to keep away from the beach before she took a dip. Bad as this sounds, in 1771, Lady Anstruther actually had the entire hamlet of Balclevie removed because it obstructed her view from Elie House! Unsurprising, she and her hen-pecked husband were rather unpopular. An Elie fortune-teller got her revenge by putting a curse on her, claiming that no more than six generations of the Anstruthers would live in Elie House. Believe it or not, her prediction came true"

(taken from tourist information)

Its great finding out the history of places - especially buildings. When I go into an abandoned place I wonder what it looked like when it was first built, I try and picture it years gone by with people living there or working there. Thats the great thing about photography being accessible to most people, and the internet. It means in 100 years from now people can google and it will be so much easier to see images of buildings from "back in the day".


xxx