Melrose Abbey, a photo from Scottish Borders, Scotland

Photographer's Note

The weather here in Scotland has been so dull, dark and wet over the past few days that I'm afraid I don't have any recently taken pictures to upload. So here's one of Melrose Abbey in the Scottish Borders, taken in October.

Here we see the great east window to the right and the south transept of the abbey church to the left.

This present monastery was founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks at the request of King David I of Scotland and was the first Cistercian monastery in Scotland. It was first staffed by an abbot and 12 monks from Rievaulx in Yorkshire, who set to work constructing the abbey buildings. The east end of the Abbey Church would have been built first, and a service of dedication for it took place on 28th June 1146. Other buildings in the complex were slowly constructed over a period of at least another fifty years.

In 1322 Melrose Abbey and the town that had grown up around it were attacked by the English army of Edward II. Much of the abbey was destroyed and many monks were killed. The subsequent rebuilding was helped greatly by the generosity of King Robert the Bruce and that generosity was later formally recognised when Robert's embalmed heart, encased in lead, was buried at Melrose Abbey where it still lies.

The ruins of Melrose Abbey are presently cared for under the auspices of Historic Scotland.

Royaldevon, snunney, macondo, timecapturer, PaulVDV, mkamionka, Noel_Byrne, macjake, jjcordier, delpeoples, saxo042, SnapRJW, annjackman, annjackman has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

dta (51334) 2013-02-11 0:18

Hello John ,
Simple , but effeective framing of this spectacular ruins of abbey , so typical of the British Isles . Excellent capture of the not so good light , and a superb cloudy sky as a perefct bacdrop .
Regards

korbee (6295) 2013-02-11 0:53

This is well presented John,and although the sun is not there you made all the best of it,mmm well...its Scotland so I bet you must be extremely lucky to find sun there:=]]

jan

carlo62 (12518) 2013-02-11 1:10

Buongiorno John
bella ed imponente Abbazia, anche se malridotta, conserva tutto il suo fascino.
Ottima la composizione che ci mostra anche i dintorni con le vecchie lapidi.
Buona giornata
Carlo

Royaldevon (17787) 2013-02-11 2:11

Hello John,

Using the gravestones as a lead to a religious building is very effective. It sets the scene, it adds to the history, it gives variety and gives a sense of depth and scale.
I really like this shot. There is a strong sense of silence (not sure how it achieves this!) and a sense of reverence. The details are sharp and the colour saturation just right for this partly cloudy sky.

Have a good day,
Bev :-)

snunney (67254) 2013-02-11 2:24

Hello John,
A very good capture of this still impressive abbey. I like the point of view and the inclusion of the gravestones that help give the scene depth and set the abbey in context. Lovely light and natural colours; very good sharpness.

jhm (122366) 2013-02-11 2:34

Hello John,

Also here in Belgium get we very bad weather, it's very difficult for to make everyday nice pictures through the heavy clouds to the sky.
But these picture is very nice, a pity that these abbey will disappear in future.
You did excellent addition the man between the graves, excellent for the scale.
Excellent composition, pleasant colors too.
Very well Done, TFS.

Have a nice Monday,
John.

macondo (17949) 2013-02-11 3:49

Hi John.
A very late new year greeting to you. I've been a bit lazy of late.
You chose an excellent viewing point and angle for this shot, capturing both the magnificent ruins and the cloudy Autumn sky. Of course, the headstones are absolutely vital to the picture, too, leading the eye towards the main subject. That east window is enormous. What beauty there is in such ruins, may they continue to be well cared for. Thanks for the interesting historical note - I saw a doco series on Scotland's history not that long ago, and remember being very impressed with what was said about Robert the Bruce.
Just noticed another intrepid photographer over there on the left, zig-zagging around the headstones!
Regards,
Andrew

npecanhuk (53881) 2013-02-11 4:26

Hi John!
Wonderful ruins!
Very beautiful picture!
Sharpness, exposure, colors, chosen pov and composition really pleased me!
TFS - congrats,
Cheers,
Neyvan

timecapturer (30256) 2013-02-11 4:52

Hi John
love places like this, they are so fascinating and atmospheric. A superb POV and moody sky to add to the atmosphere and give this shot impact. Strange how a ruined Abbey can look so beautiful, I suppose it is the history and vulnerability being left open to the elements that makes them so compelling as photographic subjects. An exquisite execution and presentation.

Have a good week - regards Brian.

PaulVDV (15017) 2013-02-11 9:05

Hello John,
Although the sky was overcast you managed to create warm tones on the walls of the abbey and on some gravestones.
The monumental abbey is wonderfully presented from an excellent angle and with an interesting foreground giving depth to the picture.
Best regards, Paul

mkamionka (24477) 2013-02-11 11:53

Hi John,
beautiful ruins, very impressive architecture and great composition with the cemetery making a nice foreground here. The light suitable, not too shiny but enough to appreciate the beauty of the place. Lovely colors too.
We had some OK days in the North East England but I did not have a chance to travel around so I also post some older photos on average recently.
Scottish Borders sounds like not far from here I guess as there is only one border which I can imagine Scotland may have. Still too far for me. May be if we get some summer this year and my daughter gets bit bigger I can try crossing the border...

Excellent work!
M

Noel_Byrne (7301) 2013-02-11 12:16

Hi John,
The colour contrasts iN this between the church, the sky and grass all work so beautifully well. It is an amazing place and a really fine ruin, and you chosea perfect point of view to capture the height and depth of this wonderful place. Amazing that so much of the delicate tracery in the windows has survived when the rest of the building is so damaged. The benefits of stone I suppose.
Best wishes
Noel

romanaa (7372) 2013-02-11 12:34

Hello John,

these old roofless churches are so impressive, there is kind of mysterious feeling into them. The execution of this shot is flawless again, but the composition seems to me rather too tight. I wish there would be more space around in the picture leaving more space to the beautiful clouds and to some surroundings.

It is still a beautiful shot.

Best regards

Romana

macjake (39207) 2013-02-11 15:22

Hi John

What???
I was expecting a "hot nun!"
haha
perhaps in your next post? lol

This is a true keeper John, really really like this photo. My eyes lit up right from the moment i first got a look at it.

everything is so smooth, not blurry, but its the illumination or something..the photo quality just has that smooth-clean look to it that i like.

it looks like an hdr but without the hdr!

I suppose its free and available to walk inside? take photos? what a subject this is John. Beautiful and elegant, and still has a sophisticated presence and ambiance. Coming to Scotland, i'd put this on my photo-list for sure.

great photo quality.
See you around!
craig

jjcordier (62280) 2013-02-11 22:18

John
Une photo de très bonne qualité de cette magnifique Melrose Abbey. Le cadrage est très bon et tu as bien maitrisé le conditions de lumière pas faciles.
Amicalement
JJ

delpeoples (44904) 2013-02-12 4:28

Ciao caro Giovanni

Aw this subject is just the dog's olfactory organs and whilst it may not be a hot nun, at least you got the abbey they came in. Excellent POV and control of the light all those old higgledy piggledy graves are such a wonderful element and lead the eye into the photo so skillfully. Excellent colours and sharpness. Thanks for sharing, have a great day.

Un abbraccio
Lisa

holmertz (26900) 2013-02-12 5:29

Hello John,
Melrose Abbey seems to be a favourite of a kind and I can understand why. It is an impressive building which captures my imagination, probably even more in this state than had it been as good as new. The gravestones - most of them cleary very old - increase the impression of looking into history. The light brown colour of the abbey and the gravestones match the green foreground very nicely.
Kind regards,
Gert

saxo042 (31794) 2013-02-12 8:04

Hi John
Beutiful colours of this defunct abbey. I like the strong vertical lines and the fact that some of the gravestones break the pattern a bit. An interesting note about this impressive place.
Kind regards
Gunnar

ACL1978 (5755) 2013-02-12 18:03

Subject matter here that reminds me of Noel Byrne's work, John - it seems the British Isles never run out of ruined abbeys! Did you people ever build anything else? :)

I really like your framing choice here, with the tombstones - seemingly much more modern and well-kept than the Abbey itself - in FG. The Abbey, of course, is the ultimate headstone in this arrangement. Beautiful clouds behind it make it stand out magnificently. Thanks!

Andrew

PS - no Panoramio version of this one?

emka (58078) 2013-02-13 23:06

Hi John,
Sometimes it seems that such ruins are more impressive and mysterious than preserved places. fantastic place and no people around, only one man walks there. I like such graveyards, with tables rather than crosses thay look so different than in Poland. You had fantastic light here giving the ruins this nice colours. It is famous, probably because of Robert's heart and
Alexander II and other Scottish kings and nobles that were buried at the abbey. Unfortunately I had not enough time to go there. marvelous shot.

Warm regrads

MAlgo

Silvio1953 (98051) 2013-02-14 5:54

Ciao John, great POV on fantastic abbey without roof, as our San Galgano, superb sky, splendid light and wonderful colors, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

annjackman (13183) 2013-02-22 0:05

Hello John,
I missed this one of yours. At first glance of the TN I wasn't sure that it was 'my cup of tea' but opening it up I can see how well this is composed. There is also lovely colours and detail on the stonework and gravestones. The sky was kind to you and serves as a super BG for this Abbey. We were at Tintern Abbey recently in dull weather and I took loads of photos and almost all were rubbish! So I know how hard taking a good picture of these wonderful old Abbeys can be. Very well done John.
Best wishes, Ann

rdalfovo (471) 2013-04-07 8:07 [Comment]