Where the Water Runs Red

A small waterfall spills through the slot canyon at the Devil's Pulpit, where the Carnock Burn has cut a narrow gorge down through red sandstone in Finnich Glen, Scotland. Moss covers the walls on both sides, and the rock throws a warm, rust-colored cast into the water below. We were driving from Edinburgh to Oban and pulled off to find it, then climbed down a steep, slick path into the gorge, where the light drops and the air goes cool and close. I set up low to the water and let the shutter stay open just under a second, long enough to pull the falls into soft white ribbons while keeping the texture in the pool. The red in the stream is the sandstone, not a trick of the light.