Red Arrows In The CarparkHere’s a photo I took a couple of weekends ago. Sit, dear friends, and I shall relate the tale of how and why I took it.ContextFirst off, an explanation of what this photograph shows. This is a view of a wide, helical, staircase in a carpark. Most of the frame shows the steps and surrounding columns, but you can see the parked cars and the concrete decks adjacent. The staircase itself is uncovered and open to the air so, framed by the circular cutout in the top level of the carpark, you get a view out of this space and up into the sky. Also framed in this view of the sky is part of Edinburgh castle, and flying in a V formation over the castle with coloured smoke trails behind them, and observed by a father and son silhouetted at the top of the steps, are the RAF’s flight display team, the Red Arrows.So this is a picture of a carpark, a castle, and some jets flying in formation. All three subjects are aligned as if they’d somehow intended it to be viewed this way but, as far as I know, I’m the first person to try to capture this particular alignment.And I’m pleased about that because this is a city in which there are a lot of very popular views. People have written several guides to the most ‘Instagrammable’ spots in Edinburgh and, because I’m a terrible snob, I find it very amusing to pass, say, Circus Lane or The Vennel,  or the Water Of Leith as it goes past Well Court Hall, and roll my eyes at the small crowds of people all taking the same shots. I can’t disagree with the idea that the views are nice, but somehow I have very little interest in trying to capture a particular view when so many others have probably already done it better. I’m by no means immune to the temptations of capturing a pretty view, but I clearly value a degree of novelty or personal interest on top of that. Why is that? Perhaps it’s something to ask my therapist.Anyway, the Red Arrows turn up basically every year at some point in this town, and I’ve tried to photograph them several times, now. They tend to come in from the East over the flat bit of Holyrood Park near my home, fly straight up the axis of the Royal Mile, and over the Esplanade in front of the castle as part of the Royal Tattoo, a sort of military show that takes place every August. Early attempts in my photographing them would involve my neighbour telling me they’d be flying over later in the day, so we’d go up to the roof and I’d put the Big Lens on. Fair enough, but I soon realised that shots of the jets alone in the sky didn’t actually interest me that much. The fact that they’re flying over a place as visually beautiful as Edinburgh is a bit more interesting to me, though, so I soon started trying to capture some of that context, too. The next year we were out in the park, and I tried to not focus just on the planes but on the enjoyment of the families over whom they were flying. The year after that I picked a viewpoint to show some of Holyrood Park, and this year I was seeking another new viewpoint.One thing you can be sure about the Red Arrows is that they’re skilled pilots and they know how to follow a flight plan. Their paths are mapped out in advance so it’s possible to have a good look at it and think about where might be a good vantage point.Several people have photographed them as they fly up the Royal Mile and it gets pretty busy up there in August so I opted to avoid that, and many others have taken shots which look up at them as they emerge over the Castle, most likely from the top deck of the adjacent Castle Terrace carpark. That’s quite a fun shot, but I didn’t want to just repeat it. Was there anything else in that area which might provide an interesting viewpoint with an interesting context? I opted to go exploring. Looking closer at the map, I couldn’t help noticing that right under their intended flight path was a particular feature of the Castle Terrace carpark that I’ve long appreciated on its own merits: the central staircase.Look at that thing! Honestly, we don’t build ’em like we used to, do we? It might be covered in signage and drip stains and exhaust grime and yellow paint and all the rest, but I swear that little space makes me think of Escher or Piranesi, every time. As an architectural typology, late 20th century carparks are under-appreciated. There, I’ve said it.And it’s not like this particular carpark is architecturally insignificant, either. It’s listed. It was the first multi-storey carpark built in Scotland. It’s used in T2: Trainspotting. Don’t just take my word for it: Historic Environment Scotland (who also operate the castle towering over this carpark) thinks it’s worthy of respect, too.ScopingAnyway, with the visual temptation of a nice grimy concrete carpark to look forward to, I set off to scope an interesting angle. Early on Saturday morning, as the farmers market stalls were being set up around me, I strolled around the carpark, scoping some angles. I’d tried the bridge over the Western Approach road but I didn’t think it was quite interesting enough. I’d strolled around the weird lifeless hinterland of the Sheraton and Conference Centre complexes. All potentially interesting (I enjoy the aesthetics of a cold lifeless hinterland almost as much as a dank carpark) but the thought of that staircase wouldn’t let me go.The difficulty is that Edinburgh Castle really does sit very high up on its rock. to get the staircase in the foreground and the castle requires a pretty alarmingly wide angle lens. To get the jets in frame too – even if you were in the right place and took your shot at exactly the right time – would be some very awkward framing! Maybe, but probably not.I’d been talking about it with a friend of mine, Iain, and he’d wondered if going down the stairs might offer an opportunity for framing the view, so I had a look. Honestly it’s almost even trickier: if you stand on the stairs you can’t see the castle. If you stand on the parking deck you can’t see enough sky. And no matter where you stand there’s only a very tiny frame of the sky visible – you’d have to hope that the Red Arrows are going to fly over exactly that bit of the castle and that you capture them in exactly the right split second. If I could somehow get the camera down low enough from the parking deck, maybe poke the tripod through the railing… If I used my widest-angle lens, could I get enough of the carpark and the castle and the sky and the jets all in frame at just the right moment?Well, it all seemed incredibly unlikely so I thought I needed to at least try…SetupThe flyby was scheduled for 18:15, so at 17:40 I set off on my bike with my camera and my tripod cases slung over my back. At about 17:50, as I cycled past the balmoral hotel, I realised with horror that I’d left my phone at home. How was I going to keep an eye on the time? I already knew there’d only be about one second available to capture the action, and those jets move quickly – you can easily miss seeing them and only notice the sound after they’ve already flown over! Oh well. I’d just have to pay really close attention to what other people were doing…At (I guess) about 18:00 I parked up my bike and noticed quite a lot of photographers milling around on top of the carpark, chatting, clearly having scoped their own particular angles in advance. I hopped merrily down the staircase and was pleased to see that nobody had yet claimed my intended viewpoint. Some might say that I shouldn’t be surprised: bent double, camera poked through a railing, wedged tight behind a parked car and leaning on a grimy concrete wall in what is basically an undergound carpark is probably not the most obvious place to photograph either a castle or jet aircraft flying in formation. Well, I had a (very silly) plan, and I was going to try it anyway!Because I’d forgotten my phone, I couldn’t capture my exact setup on the day, but I went back and revisited it for the sake of this blog post. It looked something like this:…In this position I could barely see the camera screen. I certainly couldn’t get my head down there to get a decent look through the viewfinder. If I was better prepared I might have tried shooting tethered to my laptop or controlled over wifi with a tablet, but I didn’t even have my phone with  me that day, and I was frankly relieved that NCP security staff hadn’t tried to stop me from wandering around looking suspicious with a tripod. Shooting in carparks is not always as easy as I’d like.Crunch timeAnyway I’d managed to set up the camera in a way I’d hope might work. Now all I had to do was wait for the planes, pray that they were flying exactly where I wanted them, and hope I capture them at the right moment! At (maybe) about 18:12, a father and son came running up the stairs and plonked themselves at the top, eagerly looking up at the sky in anticipation. THEY had phones, so if I kept an eye on them, maybe I could spot when the planes were coming! Once they raised their phones, I started shooting. About a dozen exposures and then I noticed I could hear a cheer from the crowd up at the castle (who had a better view to the east than any of us down below) and at that point I just held down the button on my cable release. Sure enough, about a second later, the red arrows emerged over the castle, flew right over the staircase, and disappeared off out of view! I could barely see it, but I got a few shots in as they passed, and I hoped the camera had a better view than me! As the father and son came back down the stairs, we chatted briefly about the flyby, and I thanked them for (unknowingly) being my advance warning that the critical moment was approaching. I really like that they’re in my shot – they give a sense of human scale and spectacle to it, and their own focus helps direct your eye towards the castle and the planes.I eventually got home and was able to see if my gamble had paid off, and was pleased to see I’d captured almost exactly what I’d aimed at. Now I just need to think of another new angle for next year!PostscriptThey filled in some residential gardens to build this carpark. I can’t pretend I’d like the idea if they proposed it today. But I also think there’s something of real aesthetic and architectural value to it, even in its current rather grimy state.The Red Arrows are a part of an exceptionally well trained military air force able and ready to execute some pretty nasty jobs, but their formation flying is undeniably visually striking. The castle looks the way it does and is positioned dramatically atop that rock because of its defensive qualities, but there’s no denying it looks impressive, too. And this carpark is doing an exceptionally pragmatic and unromantic task, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t aesthetic qualities to enjoy about it.Perhaps one day this staircase will end up on one of those lists of Edinburgh’s most Instagrammable spots? I’m sure I’ll be revisiting it from time to time, while I look for the next new angle.#Architecture #carpark #castle #Edinburgh #europe #Photography #redArrows #scotland #travel