Everyone photographs the castle from Princes Street. It's fine. It's also the picture every other visitor already has.
Here are five better places to stand, with the time of day that works for each.
The Vennel
Climb the steps in the south west corner of the Grassmarket. Halfway up, turn round. The castle fills the sky above the rooftops. Go before eight. By ten the steps are full.
Phone tip: hold it vertical to get the steps and the rock in one frame, and tap the castle to set the exposure.
The Grassmarket
One of the most undershot spots in the city. Look up towards the castle, with old tenements on either side and the rock face rising above them. Come early in the morning or late in the afternoon, when the castle is lit from the side.
Calton Hill
The classic skyline. Stand by the Dugald Stewart Monument and use its round columns to frame the castle and the Old Town. Arrive forty minutes before sunset, face west and stay for blue hour, the twenty minutes after sunset when the sky turns deep blue and the city lights come on.
Camera tip: a short telephoto, around 70 to 200mm, pulls the castle and the Balmoral clock tower closer together. On a tripod at blue hour, expose for the sky and let the buildings sit slightly dark.
Inverleith Park
One of the best views in the city, and largely unknown to visitors. Walk to the pond and turn round. Castle, Old Town and Arthur's Seat in one line. No climb and no queue. It's next door to the Botanic Garden, so make a morning of it.
The Nor' Loft
For a drink with the view. A rooftop terrace on the seventh floor of the Market Street Hotel, with the castle straight ahead and the Old Town below. Go at dusk on a clear evening and give yourself twenty minutes just to look.
On a grey day
Don't give up. Overcast light is kinder to stone than bright sun, and wet cobbles double whatever light there is. Some of the best castle pictures are taken with the rock half lost in low cloud.
The full set, with settings for phones, DSLRs and video, is in Edinburgh and Beyond, the StoryLed photography guide.
Learn it with StoryLed
Want to get the shot yourself? Edinburgh Through the Lens is a small workshop for beginners. A plain briefing indoors, then out into the Old Town to shoot as you go. Phones welcome.
