A few months back my Mum, Dad, Auntie, Uncle and I spent the day wandering Roslin Glen.
This first shot shows the lovely curve of the bridge leading into the ruins of Roslin (or Rosslyn) Castle, you may recognise it from The Da Vinci Code, Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou did a scene here. The castle dates to various periods due to fires and sieges meaning it had to be rebuilt/repaired numerous times over the centuries. However, the ruins at the end of the bridge in the picture are the oldest part of the castle still standing and date back to early 14th century.
The only surviving building is the house you see in the background. It was built by William Sinclair when he extended the castle between 1582 and 1597. These days the house is available for lease by the Landmark Trust on behalf of the Earl of Rosslyn.
From left to right - My Dad, Auntie, Uncle and Mum standing in the arches of the Castle's west curtain wall.
The jagged roof and worn exterior of the house.
After a quick look at the castle we went for a walk around the rest of Roslin Glen. Thought the way these two trees had become entwined was nice.
Ideally I would have preferred the cars weren't in this one but I liked the look of this building with the posts out front so I tried to make the composition work with them.
As we went deeper into the Glen I switched over to my Contax G2 with Provia 400X. It was my first time using slide film and in terms of exposures I think I did OK considering.
Roslin Glen Gunpowder Mill, opened between 1801 and 1803. I'm not going to go into the history of the place since I wasn't happy with the shots I took of it (see below) and I plan to go back and focus solely on photographing it, rather than taking a handful and continuing our walk as was the case on this day.
I must say that I think Provia 400X is my least favourite film I've used so far. It looks decent at times but in general I was really disappointed with how the images on this roll turned out. That's not to say it's entirely the film's fault, some were just poor and others poorly exposed and just down to my inexperience with slide film. Definitely not writing Provia off, as I may like it shot under different circumstances but I won't be sharing many images from this roll.
The texture of this tree was so strange. It almost looks cel shaded.
After visiting the Roslin Gunpowder Mill we started making our way back through the Glen towards Rosslyn Chapel. For the walk back I shot a roll of Acros 100 in my Contax G2.
We eventually made our way back to Rosslyn Chapel and went into the visitor centre for something to eat. The visitor centre is a beautifully designed building and before we went in I took this picture of it.
Impressive wooden beam ceiling inside the Rosslyn Chapel vistor centre.
Took a few minutes to get this one as I wanted both my Dad on the right and the woman on the left to be drinking whilst the guy behind the counter was standing where I wanted him. Luckily it worked out and in the process I got a nice picture of my Dad
These actually have monitors inside but I managed to capture them in a way that makes them look like some kind of abstract art piece.
After having something to eat at the visitor centre we paid our money and went out to have a look at the Chapel. First thing I noticed was the lovely wee cottage peeking over the wall. After a bit of research I found out it is called Collegehill House (formerly the Roslin Inn) and up to 6 people can stay there for 4 nights for £335.
Rosslyn Chapel is a 15th century Chapel located in the village of Roslin. I took quite a few photos of the impressive exterior but you weren't allowed to take photos inside, but I may or may not have broken that rule with some well timed coughs from my Mother and Auntie covering the sound of my camera's shutter. Unfortunately, none of them came out very well since I couldn't look through the viewfinder.
The Chapel has beautiful architecture all around it with intricate stonework and some unusual colours.
The more I look at the pictures I took of the Chapel the more I realise I didn't really get the wide shots I wanted, partly due to not having a enough space with the 80mm on my Mamiya 645. The ones I did get were rushed with my Contax G2. Think I'd like to go back and take my time since I only spent about 15 minutes outside before going inside. I'd recommend visiting for yourself to see the inside since it's very impressive. Also worth a visit if you read/watched The Da Vinci Code since it has links to the Holy Grail, The Knights Templar and is where part of the film was shot.
