A chum and I drove down the coast to North Berwick over the weekend. It was glorious, autumn weather – the sun is much lower in the sky, creating a warm, golden light and long shadows, and the light quality was making the colours on the trees incredibly vivid.
As we approached North Berwick, though, we could see some haar (a Scots term for sea mist), drifting over the islands in the Firth of Forth, just offshore from the town. A few wisps of mist were wrapped around this island, while much of it still caught the autumn sunlight, creating a lovely effect, so I hurriedly got the camera out to use the big zoom for a shot, knowing the conditions would likely change very quickly.
And yes, it did indeed change rapidly. By the time we had a leisurely stroll along the beach, then up a small hillside path to follow the coastal route, we realised we could no longer see that island, or the nearby (and much larger) Bass Rock. In fact, by now the mist was heading inshore, and the craggy rock of land that sticks out between the two main beaches, where the Scottish Seabird Centre and the harbour are located, was slowly vanishing under this soft, grey, wool blanket too.
By the time we had walked back to that spot to look down past the lifeboat slipway to the crescent-shaped beach and houses overlooking it, the mist had rolled in over the beach and into the town. With the low sun trying to shine through from behind, it created an eerie and unusual light quality, and turned the whole world into soft-focus.
The tide was just starting to turn – I was a little worried since such misty conditions often lead to ghost pirate attacks, but with the tide out, we were relatively safe, I judged – but now it was starting to come in, and fill the small harbour. Some sailors were readying their yachts, although beyond the harbour mouth was only a glowing white fog, drifting across the water.
The golf course runs right along by the beach, and as we walked back, the haar blanketed this too, leaving golfers wondering where the 18th hole actually was, but it did make for an interesting photo for my wandering lens!
