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On opening day as we
head to the isle of Mull
I make a point of stopping short of Inverary on Loch Fyne to explore
this type of close-up
among the rock strata.
One looks for pebbles that have been washed into crevices of
'flowing lines', and all that is left is to create a pleasing
composition. |
Light permitting, this is THE shot
when taking the ferry from Oban to the Isle of Mull. The subject is
Duart Castle which sits on Duart Point on Mull's northeast corner.
As the ferry putters past, all that is needed is a steady hand and a
long lens.
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On my first trip to
Applecross in the 70's there was only one road in and out, but it
still retains that out of the way feel. |
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At the end of a
pretty 'monochromatic' day on the Isle of Iona I stepped out for
some air. I wasn't expecting anything like this but when it was
offered I said "I'll take that!" This was two images stitched
together with Photoshop's photomerge. |
Following
the bagpipe, kilt and even whiskey, Heather is another Scottish
icon that blossoms in August and September each year, and is
usually found on mountain slopes and moors.
Selective focus isolates the Heather from the busy background. |
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I literally lived
among sheep while in Wales a few decades ago, and had 'almost'
captured something like this back then.
28 years on, and my patience was rewarded on the Isle of Iona!
I had to prepare though, which meant seeing the image coming,
increasing my ASA on the digital camera so that I could freeze the
action, setting it on drive, and then anticipating that special
moment. |
| A rare
sighting of a Fallow Deer north of Applecross. The backlighting and
background which fades from light to dark is just fortuitous. |
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Perched
on the corner of Skye is the Neist lighthouse.
A short 'up and down' walk is needed for this viewpoint though. |
Take a ferry
ride among the many Scottish Hebridean islands, and you'll be
accompanied by flocks of Gulls.
Wait and they'll come to you, but be ready with a lens in the 200
to 300 mm range coupled with a fast shutter speed. |
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Kilchurn Castle on Loch Awe is very
foreboding, but needs just a little bit of light to set it off.
I opted for some foreground interest with this one, and needed to
stop to down to at least f.16 for sharpness from front to back.
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rarity is the Golden Eagle. The Scottish moors are an absolute
perfect match for this airborne predator. |
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The
Connel bridge at the mouth of Loch Etive completes this image
taken as the last light of the day faded. |
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Cuillin Hills on the Isle of Skye, just yards from our remote hotel.
On some days this is a very dour scene, but this dawn shot was worth
waiting three mornings for. |
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A completely opposite view of the
Cuillins, shot across Loch Scavaig. The low angle with foreground
interest carries more impact than does an image standing up at the
same spot. |
| Oh,
talking of ferries, these small ships chug between the inner and
outer Hebrides and provide photo ops of their own. |
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Tobermory harbour has a history of
sunken ships and lost treasure, but I'll happily settle for
photographic treasures such as this instead.
Exposed with a lens in the 200 mm range to compress the perspective.
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On the opposite end of the spectrum
is this wide-angle perspective.
Tobermory is 'Balamory' in a TV series put out by the BBC. |
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Sometimes one just gets to meet the
locals head-on. I suppose you could say he didn't see me coming!
He's a Highland cow, and quite harmless. |
Looking back to Skye from the west coast
mainland.
The thing about changeable weather is that you get this kind of drama
between passing weather fronts and storms. Not all the time of
course, but it adds up to images with 'character' which you don't get
with constant blue skies. |
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A distressed Odanata Dragonfly -
notice the loss of front legs - gives one the opportunity to get
close.
A 200 to 300 mm lens on a tripod, plus the use of macro or extension
tubes will give you this kind of magnification.
Go easy on these fellows as they consume vast amounts of Mosquitoes!
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OK, OK, I confess, it does actually
rain in my homeland!
This was a client returning to the van, shot through a rain-soaked
windshield.
Here the 'softness' works, but a landscape shot with this
'technique' is called 'art' by some. I wouldn't go as far as to
suggest that an out of focus, camera-shaken image is art too though.
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Aahhh, the blessed Isle of Iona off
the Isle of Mull. It's a tiny, spiritual place with plenty to point
the camera at.
I chose this contemporary wide-angle for the photo essay, coupled
with an angle of view that was guaranteed to distort.
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More in
keeping with the Isle of Iona's heritage is this Celtic cross that
is around 10 feet high.
The shadow is cast by the Abbey behind me, and adds a bit of depth
to an otherwise 'standard' shot. |
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Highland cow, and a whitewashed
cottage . . . this must be Scotland! We're back on the Isle of Mull
for this one, and you can just about make out the Heather in the
foreground.
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Glen
Coe may ring a bell as it was the spot where the Campbell Clan
rose early to slaughter their MacDonald hosts back in February of
1692. Revenge came several centuries later when the MacDonalds
opened a slew of fast-food restaurants.
Oh yeh, boulder, cottage, f.16 and the use of a tripod . . . but
you still can't get over my awful joke now can you?!
On a serious note, Glen Coe translates as 'Weeping Valley' in
Scottish Gaelic, which is very appropriate. |
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With so many Sheep about it follows
that wool and tweed production is a major industry in Scotland. A
shot like this can be found at most of the many small wool producers
that are scattered throughout the islands, and western Scotland.
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This is
Eilean Donan castle which is nestled in a photogenic spot on the
shores of Loch Duich.
There is a restaurant behind the camera position, and on at least
two occasions the group has finished dinner, and suddenly an
overcast period has turned into great light like this. |
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Artifacts such as this can be found
just about anywhere in the British Isles, but if they tell as story
and are side-lit, then all the better.
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could be anywhere again, but you still have to 'see' the shot,
choose the best composition, and expose it properly. So who was it
that said that photography was a relaxing hobby then?! |
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Typically British again, but it still
needs to be handled with the right approach. I was shooting more or
less into the light for this one, but still managed to retain some
contrast in the flowers.
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'monster' of a castle sits on the shore of Loch Ness, and this
twilight image of Urquhart Castle was supposed to be secondary to
the first light shot the following morning. As it happened it was
fogged in, so it was especially good to have got this one in the
bag. |
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The standing stones of Callanish on
the Isle of Lewis date to the same period as Stonehenge, but their
remoteness in the northwest corner of the UK dictates that a lot
fewer folk have seen or heard of them.
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can't have a Scottish photo essay without a bagpiper! There are
many pipers who make a living posing for such shots, and if you've
been to Loch Ness you've probably pointed a camera at him. |
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A sucker for pattern shots, I found
this 'finger' seaweed on the west coast of Scotland many years
before I started leading photo tours there. I haven't seen it since,
but will keep on looking.
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Back to
Eilean Donan castle for a different perspective. This one is a
silhouette with my exposure being made for the dramatic clouds.
Dour, and consequently extremely Scottish. |
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One of my favourite
Scottish moments is the return of the fishing boats to Portree
harbour on the Isle of Skye. The flocks of hungry Gulls are what
sets images like this apart. |
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