Edinburgh Photoshoots

Locations

Where to shoot in Edinburgh

Victoria Street is the curved, coloured terrace everyone pictures, and it is best before about nine in the morning. After that the pavement outside the shopfronts is solid with people.

The Vennel is a narrow stair off the Grassmarket that frames the Castle on its rock almost perfectly. It is a handful of steps and it gets busy, but it produces the single most recognisable Edinburgh shot after the skyline.

Dean Village sits in the valley below the New Town — millstone cottages, the Water of Leith, and almost no traffic noise. It is a ten-minute walk from Princes Street and feels like a different town.

Circus Lane in Stockbridge is the cobbled mews with the church spire at the end, best in the softer light of late afternoon.

Calton Hill gives you the whole city at once, with the Dugald Stewart Monument in the foreground and the Castle, Arthur's Seat and the Firth of Forth behind. It is the sunset shot, and it is free to walk up.

The Grassmarket and the closes off the Royal Mile are the fallback when the weather turns, which it will.

Timing

The light is the whole argument for Scotland

Edinburgh sits far enough north that the seasons are extreme. In June the sun sets around ten in the evening and the blue hour runs for ages, which gives you an unusually long window of good light. In December the sun is gone by half three, but the trade-off is that almost the entire short day is low golden light.

August is the Fringe. The city is extraordinary and completely full, accommodation prices multiply, and every location on this page will have a crowd in it. Shoot early or pick another month.

Autumn is the quiet recommendation. Dean Village and Princes Street Gardens turn in October, the summer crowds have gone, and the light is low all day.

Whatever the season, build in a weather contingency. Edinburgh can deliver four conditions in an afternoon.

What to wear

Dress for the wind, not the forecast

The Vennel, Calton Hill and the Castle esplanade are all exposed, and the wind coming off the Forth is the thing that ruins Edinburgh shoots rather than the rain.

Strong, solid colour works against the grey and honey stone — reds, deep greens, mustard. Grey on grey disappears.

If you want the long-coat-on-a-cobbled-street look, bring the coat. It is almost always cold enough to justify it, even in summer.

Cobbles are everywhere and they are uneven. Heels are a short-term plan at best.

Before you go

Two things worth knowing

Dean Village and Circus Lane are people's homes, not attractions, and residents have had a difficult few years with visitor numbers. Shoots there work best early, quietly, and without blocking doorways or the bridge.

Calton Hill, the Vennel, the Grassmarket and Dean Village are all open public space. The Castle esplanade is open, but anything inside the Castle is ticketed and has its own rules.

Most of the good locations are walkable from each other, so an Edinburgh shoot rarely needs a car. That is part of why it works so well in a short visit.

Arranging it

How an Edinburgh shoot gets booked

Edinburgh shoots are arranged directly with our team rather than booked online. Tell us your dates, how many of you there are and which of the locations above you want, and we will confirm what can be arranged and what it will cost.

If you are coming in August, tell us as early as you can. The Fringe changes what is possible in every part of the city centre.