James Illing Photography

Dugald Stewart Monument – Edinburgh

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by

James
in ,
Exif
Aperturef/18
Shutter1/100s
Focal28mm
ISO200

The Dugald Stewart Monument sits on top of Carlton Hill. It has an impressive view over the heart of Edinburgh to the Castle beyond. This gives us a string of iconic buildings in the shot. The Balmoral Hotel, and the Scott Mounment, are also in the background.

Dugald Stewart Monument

This monument is to the Scottish Philosopher Dugal Stewart. He was the Chair of Moral Philosopy at Edinburgh University from 1786 until 1828. A key figure in the Scottish Enlightenment, and was consider one of the best philosophers of his time. He also taught economics, nautral philosophy and Greek, and logic.

The monument was commisioned by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and designed by William Henry Playfair. It was completed in 1831. Playfair’s design is based on the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in Athens

Location

GPS55.954793, -3.184130
Grid ReferenceNT 26160 74163
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Photography

When to shoot

If you want to shoot out over Edinburgh as is the above shot, it is a either a morning shoot. This will get the builds lit without the sun making the exposure difficult.

Tips

If the sun is out you will want a Circular Polarizing Lens. This is basically sunglasses for your camera. It also increases the overall contrast and enhances the saturation, reduces water reflections, and reduces atmospheric haze. Haze reduction will help as the will be a lot of UV haze across the city itself if sunny.

What to Capture on Camera

The shot above uses a wide angle lens, whilst it is cropped a little, it isnt much. The main thing here is the Dugald Stewart Monument. It is also important to keep the city behind it somewhat in focus. The angle can be changed, to change the order of the monuments.

Facilities

Food and Drink

On Carlton Hill there is a restraunt called the Lookout. Which does a fantastic meal if you prebook. If that is not your scene then the steps are just off the end of Princes Street, and Leith Street. These roads contain several restraunts and coffee shops.

Transport

Carlton Hill is just off Princes Street. Which is served by almost every bus which travels through the city centre1.

The nearest parking for cars is the QPark at the Omni Center2 which has about 1000 spaces.

  1. https://moovitapp.com/index/en-gb/public_transportation-Princes_Street-Scotland-street_1234708-402 ↩︎
  2. https://www.q-park.co.uk/en-gb/cities/edinburgh/omni/ ↩︎