The Falkirk Wheel is a fascinating and beautiful piece of engineering.

Designed to replace a series of locks, boats float out along a viaduct from the top of a hill, then enter one of two “baths”, 180 degrees opposed on the twin arms of a wheel. The wheel then rotates 180 degrees, swapping the top and bottom bath. Out the boat moves, 35 metres below/above its start point.

Falkirk Wheel 1 - Canon 40D + EFS 17-55mm + B+W 110 filter
I used my recently acquired B+W ND 110 filter to get some nice skies and reflections in the water.

Falkirk Wheel 2 - Canon 40D + EFS 17-55mm + B+W 110 filter + Silver EFX Pro 2
Falkirk Wheel 3 - Canon 40D + EFS 17-55mm + B+W 110 filter + Silver EFX Pro 2
Falkirk Wheel 4 - Canon 40D + EFS 17-55mm + B+W 110 filter + Silver EFX Pro 2
I processed the black and white images using Nik Silver EFX Pro 2. I was pleased with the results, and plan to write something up to show my workflow with it soon.

P.S. I’ve had a few requests to show where this is, so I’ve included a map.

[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=falkirk+wheel&aq=&sll=55.987309,-3.72509&sspn=0.019901,0.038538&vpsrc=0&ie=UTF8&hq=falkirk+wheel&hnear=&ll=56.000332,-3.841667&spn=0.07959,0.154152&t=m&z=13&iwloc=A&cid=9955335572735394783&output=embed&w=425&h=350]