Friday March 9

Whinny Hill and Dunsapie Loch are indicated by starred markers

I would like to save Queensferry for another day, and pay a bit more attention to some hidden away parts of Arthur's Seat, as we didn't really get very far last week. I also think that it can be very effective to explore one area from different angles and directions.

I would like to meet at Dunsapie Loch at 2pm. You can get there quite easily by following the road from the Palace and Parliament, past St Margaret's Loch, turn right and follow it up and round the hill to Dunsapie on the east side of the hill.

Contact me - kbrame@blueyonder.co.uk if you are in doubt about finding Dunsapie Loch.

It's a bit tricky to judge the weather and light conditions. If the blue, cold weather front has passed through, as the chart says it should, we should have nice, cool, clear, fresh light again. Which would be great. Bring sturdy boots/shoes and waterproofs too.

I would especially like to explore the Whinny Hill area, and I have put a little marker on the map at point 178, just above Dunsapie Loch. We could also take in Dunsapie Fort, the main summit of Arthur's and Crow Hill.

If you look at the map, Whinny Hill shows lots of little contour rings. This means it has a varied mix of small summits - or knolls - and hollows. It's an interesting area that hides and then reveals the city in the distance. 

This very shapely terrain can allow us to try techniques that emphasise foreground to background focus, and try to convey a three-dimensional quality.

Detail of the map - the circular 'ring contours' near the market at point 178 show the shape of the land: hummocks and hollows.

So the visual idea for the day is to show depth from foreground to background. Tools that help with this are wide-angle lenses, small apertures, maximum depth of field, and (if you're in the mood) hyper-focal distance. You might want to bring a tripod.

View from Whinny Hill - the shape and textures in the foreground are dominant in a wide-angle lens picture. The city of Edinburgh is in the distance, but the foreground is also sharp, emphasising the light and texture of the grasses.