Dreva

I have driven this stretch of the Tweed Valley regularly and had often wondered if there was a better viewpoint than a passing place on the Dreva Road. Parking just west of Dreva Farm, I scrambled up through the soaking bracken to the top of Dreva Hill, above the quarry of Craig's Hole, where a lone caravan sat below me surrounded by stone walls and a gate to keep out the sheeep.

The view south across the Tweed Valley was worth it, with beautifully clear air after a rain shower. In the distant forested slopes to the left lies Dawyck Botanic Garden, another favourite photographic location. The hill just right of centre is Vane Law, with Drumelzier Haugh Farm at its foot. Half way up Vane Law on a prominent knoll stand the ruins of Tinnis Castle, much of whose masonry is strewn down the slopes below. I climbed up to Tinnis Castle later this afternoon to enjoy the view back across the valley.

For the technically minded, this panorama consists of seven portrait shots stitched together in Photoshop Elements (easy but needs lots of RAM, and the resulting TIFF exceeded 500MB), tidied up in Lightroom and exported as a more useable 10MB JPEG.

Nikon D800 + 50mm f1.8 + grad ND filter + tripod