My Adventures – Page 7 – Knightshoots Landscape Photography

Whaligoe Steps, Keiss Castle and Bucholie Castle

Scotland Highlands 2020: Part Five

26 July 2020

Taking things a little easier, I found magic was to be had today..

Well, today was really pleasant after yesterday. The sky was perfectly clear, and I started fairly early so that I could clear the Whaligoe car park before too many people needed spaces. River didn’t want to come as it was early, and she may still have been annoyed with me for tying her up yesterday. In hindsight it was just as well, because the route to the peninsular for the shot I hoped for, ended up a little tricky!

I went through Sandys gate as he suggested, and found myself in a field full of sheep. As I made my way to the left I could see the first stile on Sandys land, but even from here, I couldn’t see the other one that should have been on the side of the Whaligoe steps car park, so I now assume the one over there has gone. I navigated round the edge of Sandy’s field, and kept clear of his sheep. Down the bottom of this, and the next, field however, there were no further stiles or ways to cross the fences, and I had to literally climb over the barb wire (despite there being a sign pointing you to the viewpoint in the second field!!). Sandy forgot to mention that…!! They were tricky but once safely over, I made my way down the narrowing finger of land, until I dared not go any further. When I looked at the view from there however, I was fully rewarded. It was gorgeous! I was very slightly disappointed that the waterfall was smaller than I had seen in other photos, and a second fall that Davy mentioned to me, was absent altogether. I guess this must be a winter/spring shot to get the best from it but nonetheless, the view was jaw dropping. I definitely want to come back here when there’s more water!! As I took my photos, the early morning sun behind me beamed down onto the waterfall at just the right angle to create a rather sweet rainbow at the bottom of the falls. I was kicking myself, because, to save weight, and assuming I would just want big vista shots, I didn’t bring the heavy zoom lens. Thankfully, my cameras file sizes allow for a tighter crop. When will I ever learn though?!! (at least I know for my return visit…)

The Whaligoe waterfall looking like it could be somewhere tropical!

Whaligoe by the way, gets its name from two words. Goe meaning inlet, Whali quite simply being Whale. When the place got its name there would be trapped or even dead whales occasionally, and the villagers would winch them to the top, using every bit of the corpses, wasting nothing. The steps were made back in mid 1700’s so that the locals could descend the 250ft cliffs to get to fishing boats. Herring fishing boomed shortly afterwards, and the local women would carry the fish up in heavy baskets when the boats docked. In all there are currently 339 steps, although apparently there were 365 at one point, ‘one for every day of the year’ – or so Davy informed me, and half way up you can still just make out a resting point for the ladies to rest the baskets on for a brief breather. One trip down these steps and you realise just how tough these women must have been… in poor weather at peak season, it must have been a hard task! Locals have maintained these steps for many years, and continue to do so, so that we can still enjoy the history of the place. The steps lead down to an artificial grassy area called the Bink, which was used to haul boats up for repair, as a docking point for loading and unloading, and as a safe store for boats in bad weather. Ruins down there were originally used to store salt, and the building at the top was used to make barrels (this is now a cafe, although was closed when I went). Davy told me that his grandfathers boat, one of the last, was finally pulled from the water in the 1970’s.

Whaligoe steps with the bink at the bottom, showing the salt store, and the barrel making buildings.

After what felt like a pretty fabulous start to the day, I left in good time, and filled up with fuel at Wick before moving further round Caithness towards Keiss castle. I had originally hoped for a nice moody shot of this castle with a high tide crashing on the cliffs that it perched on, but the weather and tide were definitely not on the same page as me. When I arrived the tide was out and the weather was very still and calm, although the blue from the early morning was beginning to break up, and the tide was coming in, even if it did have several hours to go. Since it was so pleasant, I thought I would simply go for a walk and explore first. There was absolutely no hurry or pressure today, and I had to remind myself to chill a little and to enjoy myself. The walk along the front was really pleasant, easy and flat, and I walked along the beach almost to the end. I stopped to look in some WW2 pillboxes that are sitting right on the front here, when I realised that basking on the rocks were a group of about 5 seals! Well forget about the high tide… I hurried back for my camera now! It was about 15 minutes to get back and by the time I did, the tide had started to cover their sunbathing spots forcing most of the seals into the water, but I managed to catch a delightful shot of one sharing his seaweed bed with a duck, before he too eventually slipped quietly away. I didn’t worry too much about the ones I missed, (secretly hoping they might return of course!) but I was just happy to have seen them, as the sight had been so unexpected!

when you are happy to share your seaweed bed…

As I chilled on the pebbles after this shot, I saw behind me on the horizon a hefty black cloud heading my way. I might not get the crashing waves, but if I waited I might get my moody shot after all! It looked ominous, REALLY ominous, but remarkably, as it went over my head, obliterating the blue in one harsh line, it only rained for a little bit.. and not hard at that. I was fully expecting to be totally soaked. No idea who got the rain, but it was definitely gonna be a wet one when it finally gave out! The cloud finally backed the castle, and I was treated to sun bursts that washed over the foreground, giving a really beautiful light across the scene. The first shots I took here had the light in patches, but then a long one swept over, and I managed to capture the whole of the mainland in light with the deep cloud behind. There is something I adore about watching the clouds and sun dance over a scene, and I stood for ages watching it here until eventually the blue sky took over again, and the tide started lapping my tripod. Before I moved however, I spotted a familiar head bobbing up, and continually looking at me. When I moved to a slightly further position, and started taking pictures from this angle, the seal continued to bob up and observe my shenanigans. It was so adorable. He clearly didn’t feel threatened in any way, and was quite obviously curious about me. I didn’t realise it at the time, but he’d been doing this for some time as I found him in one of my earlier photos too! (see header pic) Eventually he left and I could see that high tide wasn’t going to be especially dramatic, so being very content with my castle (and seal!) shots, I packed up, and wandered up the hill to get a closer view of the structure.

I was struck by its shape, as it reminded me of the folly, Broadway Tower in Worcestershire that I visited last year. That one came from an idea by Capability Brown and was built in 1794. Apparently its called a ‘z-plan’ design, and on reading further its not an unusual design. I haven’t seen any others myself yet. Keiss has two round towers built either side of a diamond central tower and each floor had only one room. Originally there were 4 floors and an attic, although the upper parts are now gone. As I got closer I could see it was fenced off as it is currently a dangerous structure, with bits still falling off. You can see the interior from the side where some of the North Eastern walls are now gone though. It looked intriguing. Having fallen into disrepair by the 1700’s, The land was purchased by Sir William Sinclair, 2nd baronet of Dunbeath and he built a manor house just across the field in a much safer spot. For me its really nice that he left this structure, rather than reuse the stones as was the norm, because I felt it was fascinating to see this shape rather than the more usual square tower, or sprawling encampment types of castles and homes.

I walked back to Fred, then walked on a little to see Keiss Harbour. It was a sweet one, but not terribly photogenic due to the number of cars parked all around it. So after a brief visit there, I left and headed to Bucholie castle, the next one on my list. Again, it wasn’t too far, but as I approached its location according to Google maps, I realised that a) it wasn’t signposted, and b) there was no parking. I drove past the area twice before I realised, and headed back to a derelict old cottage I had spotted, to work out what I wanted to do. I’d noticed parking spots for about 2 cars that took me safely away from the road on my last pass, so parked up there for now to look at my map.

Curious, I had a quick look around the cottage. There’s an idea for a photo that I have had in my head for a while now that I really want to try in one of these, but it all depends on what belongings are still available. Sadly, other than sheep poop, rubble and broken glass, there was nothing in this one, but it was lovely to walk around inside and imagine how the residents might have fared. As I got back to the Fred, I noticed fresh tire tracks on the ground so realised that others had parked here. Tired and hungry, I decided that maybe this should be my last stop for the day, with the idea of checking the castle out in the morning. I ate, and rested, but as the evening drew towards its close, it looked like it might be a nice sunset, and since, so far, I haven’t had a good one, I thought that maybe I should drag this tired old body out after all, just in case. So, off I trundled..

Turns out that there were no real foot paths, and only a pointer on Google maps that I could follow to get me there, so I was actually very glad I did this first visit to find it! I struggled to find the way over, travelling down one field too far, then missing the lightly trodden route across another. Eventually I found my way there, and as there was enough light to show where the cliff edges were, I didn’t fall to my doom either! (Yay!) The sunset didn’t flare up, and the light that did, came from the wrong direction putting the castle into darkness, so I wondered if this might work for a possible dawn shoot. For now there was just enough light for me to have an explore for viewpoints for the morning, and a quick videoed message for the kids to tell them a little about the history, (as this one is quite fascinating..)

Bucholie Castle, looking very shocked at my presence this late into the evening!

As I walked back, I passed a group of derelict houses together, maybe three of them? Some cars were pulling up outside and a group of youngsters were piling out of each for an evening of fun no doubt. I followed the single lane track/road they had used, back up towards the main road, and realised it came out near to where I was parked. It was pretty dark by now, but I wondered if that might have been a better parking spot. Another time maybe – tonight I really didn’t fancy moving any more. I was too exhausted and once tucked up in bed, fell to sleep very quickly!

Wick Lighthouse, Lifeboat House and Old Castle, and Whaligoe…

Scotlands Highlands 2020: Part Four

25 July 2020

What happens when you don’t listen to your exhausted body?… Today I was going to find out.

Having stayed right by the harbour overnight, I was in a really nice place to explore Wick South Pier Lighthouse (a cute diddy one!) and the lifeboat house. Turns out I was the wrong side of the bay, and on top of this, I totally missed a second viewpoint I had hoped to use, that WAS on the side I was on. (ugh! Great start!) As the light wasn’t exactly exciting, I guess it wasn’t a real issue in the big scheme, since I could always try again on another trip. I drove the short distance to a road nearer the lifeboat house, and took the short walk down the hill to explore it. The tide was out as I explored, and it quickly became obvious that it needed to be in to make any nice shot work. I looked around anyway to find a nice viewpoint, and took pictures on the phone as a memory aid. The weather was very still, but a flat grey, so I decided to try again a bit later in the hope that I might have better luck. For now, I drove to Wick Old Castle instead, to while away the time. I was so glad I did, because I found the boards giving its history to be quite fascinating!

The castle is on a bit of land that juts out into the ocean, pretty much the same as Castle Sinclair Girnigoe, (and, as it turned out, several others) Much of it has fallen and disappeared, leaving just a square tower, but there are areas that are unexcavated, so there may be more footings under the ground. Its history is pretty obscure, but the bit that caught my attention was that its likely builder, way back in the 1100’s was half Norse. Apparently during this time, Caithness, Sutherland and all of the western Isles islands were actually under control of the Norwegians (or more accurately the Norse, whose land back then included areas we now know as Norway, Denmark and Sweden) Their ownership of this part of Scotland followed a treaty that had been passed shortly after Edgar became King in 1097. It wasn’t a hard fisted control, with the local land owners being pretty much left to their own devices, but I found it fascinating to consider that the far north east of Scotland may have been ‘Norwegian’ at one point nonetheless. Harald Maddadsson, the likely builder, was Earl of Orkney and Caithness, and this castle may have been built to mark his territorial rights on the mainland. As I hiked over the peninsular, I took a photo of the remnants of the castle looking back along the path I had just walked, but I was really nervous of River on this peninsular as she seemed intent on exploring the edges. Eventually I moved back to the mainland bit, and walked along to an end viewpoint instead.

I loved the view from here and took several photos, waiting in between each for the few tourists to clear the scene. It was quite relaxing, and by the time I had taken a few, I happily went back to the camper for a nice cuppa. There were still a couple of hours until high tide by this point, so I chilled even more by having a nap! Totally unheard of for me, but well needed obviously, as it was no effort to fall asleep.

When I awoke, the sky was even more grim looking but I made my way back to the Lifeboat house determined to try a shot there. The grey meant that no sunset would be likely, so I didn’t think it would be worth waiting for that, and I was just going to have to try and work with the flat grey look and the high tide. I could see the weather working for the shot I hoped for however, so wasn’t deterred. As soon as I was in position though, it seemed everything started to work against me. The best position to photograph the lifeboat house was right by a tall wall with a ledge that was just the right height to see over, but that was as far as my luck went. I couldn’t work out which lens was best, as none seemed to do what I wanted – turns out I needed a lens in between the ones I owned (something that covers a 70mm-100mm focal range!) The wall itself proved to be a really complicated issue, with it being too high for the tripod, (even at its lowest position) and too low to work without one. It didn’t help by forcing me to balance on a slim ledge while I worked either. I tried putting the camera directly on the wall, nope, it tipped downwards to the sea only. I tried propping the lens a little with all my drying cloths to get the house in position, then I couldn’t see clearly enough to focus properly, because I was too high to view it without crouching (on a thin ledge remember). I tried handheld. That was a disaster, as I really struggle with that even in the best conditions. I tried all sorts, but simply couldn’t get my head around it! I just got myself riled up and angry instead!

Then River began playing up. She ran off into the road eventually, resulting in me having to climb back down, tie her to a lamp-post and feeling really guilty for doing that. It started drizzling, so I then had to try and keep the lens dry (with the very cloths I was using to prop the lens up on) – off came my jacket (to use as a prop up tool instead) as I continued to fight with myself for this shot. Eventually it just out and out rained. I could feel a fierce temper rising inside, borne out of the feelings of complete frustration and inadequacy, and then I finally realised that today, this wasn’t going to happen if I continued. Irritated with myself and River, and now completely angry and fed up, I packed everything away and stomped back to the camper in the foulest of moods. What I really needed to do was to just jump over the wall, and take the shot. But the rain, River, and a high tide all prevented me from doing that, so I left it before I ended up throwing stuff around!! On looking at the photos after the event, none of them are even in focus. I have absolutely NO idea why even THAT failed, as I was sure I had it pin sharp in the viewfinder. (probably where I couldn’t see the screen properly now I think of it)

poor focus, too low, too high, and finally, rain… just a handful of the frustrations!

The South Pier lighthouse was equally uninspiring now the rain was here, so I decided to abandon the shoot altogether, leaving Wick completely. My mood was that low.

Once away from the area I paused to look at my map and have a sensible think about where I wanted to go from here. I thought I might try Whaligoe steps as my next destination, as I knew it wasn’t too far, and that there were some lovely shots taken here by other photographers. If I was lucky, there may be parking there for the night so I could simply chill out and explore in the morning.

When I arrived I realised that parking was very limited… maybe 6-8 vehicles, less if big ones pulled in. As I had arrived later in the day, most tourists were already gone, so parking wasn’t an issue for me thankfully. In the car park I was met by local resident Davy (David Nicholson) If you have ever been to these steps I doubt very much if you missed this man! He is an absolute character, and we stood chatting for an absolute age, with him telling me all the history of the area, and the steps. He invited me over to his cottage (right by the steps) and pulled out a photo of his grandfathers boat, telling me what to look out for while I was down on the bink (the area where the fishermen pulled their fish and boats to) He excitedly filled me in with so many tiny facts, that by the time I went down the steps it was edging into evening, but I was too excited myself, to see all the little bits he had told me about! His manner is really joyful and infectious and it totally washed all the Wick frustrations away. I asked about staying overnight, and he really kindly told me to move the camper over to a residents spot, so that getting out in the morning after my photographic shoot would be far easier, then added that ‘if Jimmy asks, you are an old friend’. Apparently Jimmy tries to manage the car parking to mixed success, and he didn’t want to see me getting stuck trying to get out. At that point Jimmy came over, and Davy immediately went into a big spiel about me being his old friend who he hadn’t seen for 6 years (giving me a massive wink) Playing along, I added ‘well lets make sure I don’t wait another 6 years eh?!’ Jimmy nodded and walked away again. I moved the camper over then went down the steps. I totally forgot to bring the camera in my excitement, but sent a video to the family speaking in a very similar, excited manner to Davy, missing half the facts, and not finishing sentences where I was talking so fast. Davy knows how to entertain a crowd, and talk for England (Scotland??) that’s for sure!!

I found this on you tube… seems everyone gets the same excitable, informative chat!!

Once I had been down the steps, I was quite pleased to realise my climb back up all 339 steps went without too much effort (woo go me, I’m getting fitter!), and with a little daylight left, I thought I might try and see how to get to the end of the peninsular on the opposite side, as from there I knew you could see a waterfall. This wasn’t as easy as I hoped. The path from the car park was really overgrown, and trying to find the stile Davy told me about, proved impossible. I walked round to the houses that fronted the peninsular and tried to find a route there. There was none. As I explored however, a man came out and asked if I needed any help. As we got chatting, he told me he was the landowner, and that for tomorrow, I could use his side gate, although he was sure the stile from the car park was still there. (I did try a second look to no avail however) As we chatted, he told me his name was Sandy and that he was a farmer here, farming sheep, telling me a little more about the area. It was quite fascinating to hear how his family lived in days gone by. We chatted for a while and as we did I found out that he only farms sheep for lamb these days, as wool didn’t even bring enough money to cover the sheering of the sheep. I thought that was so sad to be part of a dying industry that I guess wool must be these days! I thanked him in advance for letting me use his gate, and went back to the camper, where Jimmy found me again. He looked a bit shifty, until he suddenly (and rather shyly) went ‘here you are!’ handing me a pack of cakes. ‘as you are a friend of Davy’s I thought you might like this to go with your tea’. Caught totally off guard, I thanked him as he scuttled quickly away, and I entered the van feeling really guilty.

All in all these 3 encounters cheered me up completely, ending the day on a far more positive note and I couldn’t wait for the morning so I could shoot the waterfall and continue my adventure. And for those wondering how I didn’t loose any weight with all this hiking… I blame Jimmy. ;-p

Noss Head Bay, Dunbeath Strath, Broch and Prisoners Leap

Scotlands Highlands 2020: Part Three

24 July 2020

Peaceful bays, Escaped prisoners, and perilous river crossings… today was gonna be a good one!

This morning when I woke, I realised there was still no chance of a nice sunrise, so I had another fairly easy start. I looked at my map and wondered where I should go today. As I looked at it, I realised I had driven past a location I very much wanted to find, so thought that maybe I might backtrack a little and go back to Dunbeath. This would leave me the upper part of Caithness in one easier trip, rather than me driving back and forth, top to bottom.

Before I left here however, I was determined to find that little sandy bay I missed yesterday! There was no fog this morning, so my first port of call, was back out to the cliff face to find out where it was, and today it proved much easier to find. I walked/climbed down the equally steep slip way to the one I did yesterday, and when I finally got down to the beach bit, I was really, REALLY pleased I bothered. It was absolutely gorgeous, small, cute and SO incredibly peaceful! I guess this wasn’t a regular beach for visitors, as it was so unspoiled, and other than one couple, River and I had it all to ourselves for the complete duration of my visit.

I had a little explore first, and River had a refreshing paddle in the gently lapping waves. There were more rocky outcrops, and the beach itself was made of a really interesting blend of yellow, red and black grains. Normally you only see one of these, so finding a beach with a mix, felt unusual – it was quite lovely to look at though. I found the rocks that curved out to sea to be the most interesting this morning, and wondered if a minimalist treatment might work here since they were far more picturesque than yesterdays ones. As I got the camera out, I became mindful of the tide. If it was coming in, I had to be aware of it because there was a chance I could get cut off from my exit route if I missed my timings! As it goes, the shot wasn’t very inspiring because the tide was so gentle and didn’t splash on the rocks in the way I envisioned. Its strange how a view can be gorgeous to the eye, but to the camera, it just doesn’t quite work for you. In the end I tried to capture the one little area where the water seemed to flow over the rocks instead. Looking at the back of the camera I didn’t feel too excited by what I was capturing and was not totally sure if the shot was any better than yesterdays one in the end, but I certainly had a lot of fun trying, perched up on some other rocks as I was!

Once I had tried a few different shots, I noticed that the tide was definitely coming, in, and I was also aware that Dunbeath was calling. I had seen only one or two shots of the exact area I was looking for online, so wasn’t totally sure how to find the specific spot. Without that knowledge, I didn’t know how long it would take me to find either, so I decided that I should head off, quite excited at the prospect of trying to explore a location! This bay however, would easily be one I might try again. maybe focussing on the dramatic diagonal of the rock striations next time?

The prisoners leap at Dunbeath has a great story. Legend has it that way back in the day, an Ian McCormack Gunn was held prisoner by the Clan Keith at Forse Castle, some 6-7 miles away. He escaped and ran as far as the gorge at Dunbeath with the Keiths hot on his tail. Once there, he was trapped, so they jeered their taunt of ‘jump, Jump!’ then he was told, rather mockingly, that if he could jump the gorge he would earn his freedom. I assume they thought that one way or other, this man would be no further bother after today, fully expecting him to die of course… It IS quite a leap – but I guess Gunn had little choice but to either try, or die by the sword. So he jumped… and miraculously, made it to freedom.

Aside from the story, the location had struck me as stunning in one particular photo that I had found by photographer Gordon Mackay. I desperately hoped to find the same spot, and some 50 minutes or so later I was parked up in a small car park by the old mill at Dunbeath, and excitedly preparing to follow the walk up. I had found a walking guide online (www.walkhighlands.co.uk – my new best friend!) that apparently went to the leap, and was hoping to follow that. In theory this should be pretty easy. The walk was lovely, as was the weather! The sun was now beaming down on me as I walked alongside the river flowing down the strath, and the peace was so perfect I couldn’t help but stop and take a few photos on the way. (including the header pic) Before long the path turned into a little track, then into a well trodden trail. It took me over a bridge, past a turn off to a broch, and then through some gorgeous trees, that I now know were Rowan, Hazel and Birch. I don’t know my trees, but together this section was so full of character, that I kind of regret not stopping to take a picture. I have no clue how to shoot woodland effectively though, so just left it for my eyes to enjoy. I continued on, and then the internet suddenly cut out. Thankfully, I had memorised the next bit, but it had me concerned that I might not find the spot I was desperately looking for. As I reached the end of my memorised bit, the internet briefly came back, so I quickly did a couple of screen shots of the instructions to the remainder of the route and ventured on with greater confidence. Eventually the route started a steep climb, and I found myself at the top of the gorge looking at the likely spot of Gunn’s leap. From here I doubted his success.. it looked like quite a stretch!

Prisoners Leap viewpoint from the top, where Gunn is likely to have jumped

I pulled up the photo I hoped to capture for myself, looked down at the river and tried to work out the spot that Mackay had stood, realising to my disappointment that he was likely on the other side of the river. I had two choices, give up, or cross. Like Gunn… I opted to cross. Well… I was here wasn’t I?! Soooo.. Should I jump…??? Errrmmm… maybe not! (well… you now, I had the dog and all…)

I hiked back down, and timidly struggled over to the other side of the river. At points it reached well above my ankles, and was fairly fast moving water, so I was very grateful for the choice of wearing my new hiking wellies. River crossed dutifully behind me, but she didn’t seem altogether confident – once over she was much happier however. We walked for a bit up the other side then realised we couldn’t get any further because of an adjoining river this side, and a deep pool. I looked at River, apologised, then proceeded to cross the river again… then when passed that point.. crossed a third time. I started to struggle a little. It seemed that no matter what I tried, I couldn’t marry up the shot Mackay had taken to the area I was walking in. I eventually found myself back on the original side again, close to the gorge. Whilst here I spotted a gorgeous reflection in the water. I was having a break for a snack, a drink and a think, so I decided to take this photo before trying to continue looking for the other spot – it was rather eye-catching!

We rested a bit longer before I tried the crossing yet again, and made my way up on the other side until I was directly underneath the place where Gunn had likely jumped. It had also started getting to a point where River thought she couldn’t manage the climbs, and was very reluctant to try swimming in other parts, so kept crying until she realised she could do it after all. I chuckled as she overcame her fears, because it was clear she was more than capable! When we found ourselves underneath the leap point, I looked up at the sight. As I did, I thought that perhaps this jump, legend or not, might actually have been possible after all. Not easy – but possible!! The distance across didn’t seem quite as great from down here as it was from the top. For River and I down here however, it became clear I wasn’t going to get any further. Both sides of the gorge were now steep without any chance of walking/climbing points either side, and there were deep, fast moving pools lining the cliff edges of both sides. I couldn’t understand this… where WAS this photo taken then?! I sat for a bit gathering my thoughts, and looked at the picture yet again… and then I spotted it. The water wasn’t coming towards me in the photo… it was going away! This was taken from the other side of the gorge completely!!!! (DUH!!!) I looked up the gorge, following the river with my eyes, and immediately managed to spot where Mackay had stood… a nice, clear, easy spot… but from here, there was no way I was going to get there. I was gutted!!

I remembered that when I had stood at the top looking across, there was a meadow with a clear trodden trail on it. THATS where he must have come from! With no idea where he might have started the trail, I decided to backtrack and head back up the hill to where I had turned around. Maybe I could find a spot round from up there? I climbed it all the way back to the top again, and followed a wire fence along away from the river. This led me to a private road with a huge gate across it and a smaller kissing gate next to that. Going through there I followed the road for a bit, suddenly aware of how exhausted I felt. I tried to cut across the hill, but it seemed to go into some more of the hazel/birch/rowan trees, to another steep drop, and another river. I looked at the distance, and had to stop for a rethink. I could go back to the road and continue following it even more, but I had no idea how far it would go before it led past the second river, a way down, AND all the way back to the gorge. I was already exhausted, could I realistically get all the way down there and back to the camper again easily?? My sensible head took over. No. I was totally on my knees already. I’d (stupidly) brought no food or drinks with me, so had no source to replenish my energy. Very sadly I sat for a bit, and decided that I would have to do this trek another day. For now, I’d had an awesome time, but I was really just TOO tired to keep pushing forward, and I didn’t want to spoil such a great day.

Rather than just go back the way I had come however, I looked on google maps which thankfully had a good signal up here, and it seemed there might be an easy route back following this road. So River and I trudged at a much slower ‘Sandyplod’ speed back along here. I kept checking my position on Google maps, feeling like this road was endless, but eventually I found my turn off, and cut across a field towards Dunbeath Broch, which I knew had a route back to the original path I had taken. When I found myself at the Broch, I was quite taken aback. I had seen some of these in my research, and although interesting, they hadn’t quite caught my imagination enough for me to plot any of them onto my map. To be fair, there are hundreds in Caithness, so I had an inkling I would likely pass some on my routes regardless. I clearly wasn’t wrong. This one however, still had a lot of bricks in place, and had had some repairs done to give a better idea of what I was looking at. The circle of the lower part of this tower was still pretty much clear, and signs of where a second floor might have been, an entry point, a small guard cell, and back chamber were all clearly visible. Given this was an iron age structure (historians seem torn as to their actual purpose) I felt this was really well preserved. It peaked my attention and I had an interesting time exploring the ruin, reading about the changes it had experienced over time, and finding out about the preservation they had been doing to keep what is left, safe enough for people to explore.

Dunbeath Broch, an Iron age round house or tower.

The exploration was pretty restful, so once I had seen enough, I felt energised enough to get myself back to Fred and a well earned cup of tea!! As I sat drinking it, I pondered my next options, and decided that rather than cook, it might be nice to try some local fish and chips. The next port of call for me was Wick Lifeboat house tomorrow, so it seemed sensible for me to go Wick for the takeaway, and for the night, in readiness for a possible dawn shot there. I had no idea where the sun would rise, but it seemed like a good plan at least. The drive was very chilled, and I found the takeaway easily in the harbour, opting to have a ‘fish supper’ and to try one of the rather infamous ‘battered mars bars’ as a desert on top! (Ohhh YUMMY indeed!|!) THAT was interesting… warm and gooey is the best description there… and, rather oddly, the batter complimented the chocolate! The food was really tasty, and the portion huge. Lucky too, because I was ravenous!

After eating, I found a spot for the night, parked up behind another motorhome, and went for a short walk to explore the area I was in. On my return I collapsed into bed for a very well earned sleep!

Today felt amazing.

Noss Head Lighthouse, Geo bay and Castle Sinclair Girnigoe

Scotlands Highlands 2020: Part Two

23 July 2020

I woke up at 4am to the sound of rain. Glanced outside. No chance of sunrise. I went back to sleep.

What a good start!! Actually the sound of rain on the camper roof was really, REALLY soothing, so going back to sleep was incredibly easy. Also, without any pretty sunrise sky, I could do so without feeling any guilt. I am prone to inflicting guilt on myself, as are many of us I guess. Its a weird thing we do to ourselves, and I had many conversations with myself about the pointless ideas, ideals and emotions I had unnecessarily forced upon myself over this trip. Hopefully with all that admonishment I have learned a thing or two about being kinder to myself…

Anyway, when I eventually did get up, It looked grim, and visibility was poor, so I was very reluctant. I made myself breakfast, and a cuppa, and having a pretty chill start really. The time came eventually however, when I finally made myself go out. Initially it was just for a walk to look at Noss Lighthouse, which was also on this site… but after one look of the misty light house, I hurried back to get my camera. Why on earth was I being so silly? I should be looking for a shot, not just waiting for one to jump out at me… and if it didn’t work? So what? Its the experience of looking that I was hoping to learn, on top of reminding myself of some of the basics. Here I go again, telling myself off…

What drew my attention, wasn’t just the lighthouse, faded a little in the now rising mist, it was actually the really pretty grasses in front of it, heads hung with the weight of the water droplets that dripped from them. I thought I might try a low shot, taking in the grass as a featured foreground, having the lighthouse, almost as a second thought in the background. I wasn’t altogether sure whether the idea would work, but it was worth a try at least. I was kinda shocked that I was actually thinking this through… that’s not a normal trick of mine! I took several shots, both in Landscape and Portrait orientation, (but I much preferred the portrait ones) then I tried 3 different focal positions, foreground, mid, and background so that I could attempt a Photoshop merging with everything in focus front to back. The merge didn’t come out too bad for a first attempt, although, in future I probably need to make more focal points if there are a group of plants. It didn’t come out 100% sharp in a few areas between the focused areas. but its good enough for a first effort I think!

Mists lifting off the Noss Head Lighthouse

After that I wandered around in the mist, (which had dropped again and reduced visibility quite considerably) looking for a sandy bay that was apparently here. I entered a field, but really struggled to see very far, so abandoned that search for now. I didn’t quite feel up to blindly walking off a cliff this early in my trip! As I headed over towards the castle, I got sidetracked by a little bay I thought might be it after all. It seemed a little steep getting down at first, but in hindsight, I suspect it was just me not used to the outdoors after such a long time in lockdown! There wasn’t much to see down there really, and it certainly wasn’t the bay I was thinking of, with no sand at all and the view narrowing down because of the high cliff edges. The sight in front of me only showed a small rocky area further out in the ocean. It was completely fascinating to see all the layers of rock though, laid down in some long distance past and highlighted by the light hitting all the separated levels. Little critters scuttled in among the crevices, and I spotted what looked to be a giant Woodlouse, about the size of my index finger scurrying to hide as I got near (eek!!!) I also spotted dense spider webs in several areas, which surprised me. I didn’t think they would build those in such a damp area, which may well be under water as the tide came in. Slightly creeped out (not a bug person!!) I decided to focus on trying to get a photo instead.

With such a restricted view, I thought I would try a fine art type of minimalist slow exposure shot. I really like these, I think they are just beautiful, and could hang on any wall without issue. What a dream to be able to perfect that style myself. But it all starts with the landscape of course and I thought that this might possibly work. I took several shots trying to get it right, but was very unsure whether this rock was interesting enough in the end. I vowed to try some other locations as the trip progressed, perhaps I could find the dream rocky outcrop somewhere else if this didn’t work for me. I did chuckle at one shot with two young seagulls just staring at me though, and wondered whether I might be able to merge a shot with them still in. This was also something I hadn’t really had much experience in, but I thought it might be worth considering at the time.

As I finished these photos, I spotted River laying on the boulders behind me, and felt terrible. She was shivering quite heavily, and hadn’t bothered me one bit while I was working. I immediately packed everything up, and we climbed back out. Instead of going to the Castle, I thought she should get in the warm for a bit, so I went back to the camper for a warm cuppa, some lunch, and for both of us to get out of the wet for a bit. To be fair once she got moving she seemed much happier, but I felt much better if I gave her a little break from the cold.

After a bit, the sun started coming out and the mist finally lifted for good, so I changed into dry clothing and ventured out to the castle for a second go. There were quite a few tourists there by now so I decided to just walk along the cliff edge to see the view from there. I met a sweet young Chinese chap and we chatted for a while. Seems he was very well travelled for a man his age, (just about to go to uni in Europe) but his journey had halted here when we went into lockdown and he hadn’t managed to get home, or anywhere else, in months. Like me, Scotland was his bid to get out with a camera. It was this young man that gave me the now familiar ‘ What? You are on your own? That’s quite brave!’ question/statement, only here I was able to express that I was no braver than he was with his global travel, which he understood as a fair comparison. After we had taken a few photos of this viewpoint together, he wandered off to the castle, and I walked over to a nice viewpoint of the Lighthouse, and the rocky stack near it. (see Header Pic)

Castle Sinclair Girnigoe from the cliffs

Once I was done there, I finally wandered back over to the castle. There were still several tourists milling over the site, so I narrowed my vision, taking a photo of an interesting derelict window that really grabbed me. As I continued round the edge, I took several more pictures, patiently waiting for people to clear the frames, and I ended up in a corner surrounded by tall grass. River loved wandering through this, and I was reminded that I needed to keep an eye open for tics, and to treat her with some nice smelly repellent mix before coming out. Perched in the tight corner, I changed lenses to a wide, and somehow lost my lens cap in the process. When I had taken the shot, I searched everywhere, confused how it could have disappeared so easily. In the end I gave up. There was another grey cloud coming, and I really wanted a shot from a further perspective before that cloud decided to relieve itself of its load on top of me! I continued the walk round, and found a nice spot after trudging through lots more tall grass. It occurred to me that during lockdown, without tourists to tread well worn paths, nature had been given a bit of a breather, and as such, many little people paths may well be absent while I continue this adventure. That’s going to be interesting! The shot from my final position was quite nice, but would definitely be better with some interesting light, so I made a mental note of that for future reference for a return trip sometime.

I finally decided to stop there for the evening. The cloud was looking more and more grim, and I didn’t want to get wet again. My drying spaces in Fred were limited, and I had no idea how long drying might take so I definitely didn’t want to add to the problem just yet – instead, lets get these wet socks sorted first….

Achnambeithach Cottage, Corpach and Castle Sinclair Girnigoe

Scotlands Highlands 2020: Part One

22nd July 2020

The adventure begins! A month to tour the highlands, what will it bring?!

With Daughter all settled into her new digs in Glasgow, it was time to leave for the Big Tour! Using the NC500 route as a basic starter for all the locations I was hoping to try and find, all I had to decide was which way to do it. East or West. I actually had no idea, so decided to try and retrace my steps from a family holiday from back in 2012, in the hope of identifying a loch I had photographed that I desperately wanted to re find. I wanted to retake this picture as a RAW file, so that I could enjoy a better quality version. This meant that if I started in Fort William, and drove towards John O’ Groats, I would hopefully recreate the route I took back then and come across it. As it goes, I didn’t, so that mystery remains unsolved, and I am still confused by where it might be! – but at least it gave me a start. East to West, with Caithness being the first Highland county to cover.

Unknown Scottish Loch captured in 2012. I hoped to find this! I didn’t… 🙁

As I got to Fred, I picked up a bit of litter by his front wheel, and saw it was a £20 note (!!) so this felt like a fantastic start to the day… yes it was raining, but it didn’t bother me one bit. Off I headed, with a big happy and excited grin on my face. The drive was easy, with some lovely sights by Loch Lamond (I really need to work out what that big stunning waterfall is that you can see across the Loch between the trees), and before I really knew it, I was driving through Glencoe. I had had a pretty grim time here in January, but I felt no bitterness or reluctance to visit here again, although it didn’t look much different today from how I left it back then!! Only the strong winds were absent. I drove past a little white building I hadn’t notice before, with a gorgeous reflection in the loch next to it, and I imagined the shot in my head, then the edited version, then I stopped myself. Why on earth was I only thinking this?!! I was on no time limit, or restrictions of any kind, so I stopped the camper, turned round, and went back to actually take the photo!

With the weather having been so poor last time, it was probable that I hadn’t noticed this beautiful reflection, so when I stopped at a good parking spot, I took the dog and my kit out, and walked back to it. I found it to be both an enjoyable walk and a very beautiful sight.

I didn’t know it at the time, but this was Achnambeithach Cottage, one of the cottages I had been trying to locate when I first visited Glencoe. I had gotten confused, and mixed the name up with what I now realise was the equally photographic Lagangarbh hut. Achnambeithach Cottage dates back to around the 1900, but I can find nothing else about it! Is it a home? is it a rented holiday cottage? is it a bothy? I will have to see if anyone else knows!! Whatever its history, this area was SO peaceful today, that I took some time to just stand and take the scene in before I picked a couple of spots to take some pictures. As I started to set up the tripod and camera, I framed up and took the scene in again, before turning to River to say ‘isn’t this just the most beautiful sight?’ to find my dog nowhere to be seen. In a slight panic, I strained my eyes looking in every direction, fearful she might have wandered to the road while my attention was diverted. I stopped and really considered the options, then realised I needn’t have worried – I just needed to look at the obvious spot…and sure enough a moment later I saw where she had gone. My perfect flat reflection started to slowly disappear in a growing cascade of ripples coming from one spot. Aha… there’s water – and if this dog loves one thing over anything else… its water.

Hmmnn… I wonder where my dog has gone…??

I snapped the shot quickly before the ripples affected my framing and called her name. A second later her head popped up from behind the reeds and she bounded back to me all happy and dripping. I kept her near me while I took some other shots, and prayed hard that the cloud would lift just a little to reveal a hint of the mountain behind. When it did, just for a couple of minutes, I really felt my luck was in, and finished when both a truck pulled up outside the cottage, and the cloud started descending again. I walked down to the waters edge, and allowed River a proper swim until she was happy. This felt like a good start.

From there I drove to Corpach, just a bit north of Fort William and had a look at 2 shots I hoped to take here. The boat was as boring to me as the photos I had seen, and had lots of people milling around it. However, as a ‘bucket shot collector’ I knew this was one I would need to pick up on. I saw a nice possible shot by the nearby waterfall which I’d not seen before in photos (or hadn’t noticed it) so was pleasantly surprised to see it. As I tried potential shots with my phone, I realised I would need to navigate weeds and chicken wire holding rocks in place, but thought I might be able to make something of it if the light and tide were right. I also found the little lighthouse/pier bit, and worked out how to get the nicest viewpoint. I found the spot but was disappointed to see there was building work going on, so diggers, and fencing, and piles of hard core littered the view. This might spoil the final image I hoped to get in time, but I would just have to work with it, or come back another time completely. I decided I would try again on my way back through at the end, as right now both shots needed a high tide for the best view anyway (or one that wasn’t fully out as it was right now), and the light was looking pretty flat and lacking. I noted it all, along with a good parking spot for them and went back to the camper.

I pointed the sat nav to John O’Groats, and started the drive to Caithness to start the first leg of this trip proper. I hoped to pass the loch I was looking for so drove back through Fort William, around Loch Ness to Inverness, and all the way up the coast road towards Wick. I didn’t see it anywhere along that stretch, but loved the coastal views that I had going this way. The temptation to keep stopping was huge, but I kept going very mindful of the time and my aim to cover each county in turn, rather than darting between several. I hadn’t really thought of a specific location I wanted to start with, and as I approached Wick I saw the time was getting on, so plumped for Castle Sinclair Girnigoe. I picked this simply because it was out of a town, and more likely to have a parking spot where I might be able to rest up after the long drive. I got there easily enough, but it was nearly 9pm by the time I arrived, so after parking up, I decided to just stretch my legs with River, and simply scout the location for this evening. If I was lucky, there may be a nice sunrise that would give the ruin a nice glow in the morning. The castle was very easy to get to, and really nice to look at with several boards showing how it used to look in its day, and giving a good idea of the history of this place. I read each one, and walked all over the location, finding some nice points of view that offered a variety of shots. As I did so, I realised the sun was setting, and that it might actually be visible from under the blanket of clouds, with some colour off to the far horizon. Gutted I hadn’t brought my main camera, I took what I could with my mobile and hoped the file size on this new phone would be good enough to work with. It seems the castle had a warm glow after all!

capturing the last bit of the setting sun at Castle Sinclair Girnigoe

Back to the camper for some well earned food and sleep followed and noting a couple of other campers here, I felt safe. With my first night on the road, my latest adventure began.

Eilean Donan Castle

Skye 2019: Part Twelve

24/25 June 2019

As I left Skye, I felt a weight lift. I am not at all sure why that happened, perhaps I was loosing the pressures I had been putting on myself or maybe it was just that I would be heading home. It was half past 7 in the evening when I left Portree, and after an hour and a half of driving, I passed by Eilean Donan castle.

The first time I had seen this castle in person was on my way up to Skye. I had only stopped off then for just under an hour, to see what this place was about, and it had totally captured my imagination. I can see why so many people photograph it. It’s set in an absolutely perfect photographic setting, jutting out into the loch, with a fantastic backdrop of the hills behind. The first flyby visit, saw the tide fully out, and masses of tourists… but as I headed towards it tonight, I could see that the tide was in, the sun was setting, that the castle lights were alight and it would likely be tourist free. I had to stop to investigate! I took a quick walk around, and realised that although I had just missed sunset, the shot that I wanted most was going to be a blue hour one (the name given to the period of time after the golden colour of a sunset had gone but before pitch black of night sets in. This happens just before dawn too). I had seen a number of these shots and really wanted to try one for myself. Another photographer pulled up, and also walked around for a bit. The light was still a bit too bright for me at the moment, so I thought that now might be a good time to grab a quick bite to eat and make a cuppa. Food at last… my body was extremely grateful – and as I calmly waited, I felt the whole world come to rights again.

I watched the other photographer for a bit, he took a few shots, disappeared into the back of his van, then reappeared in what looked like a complete beekeepers kit. When I eventually got to speak to him, I questioned the outfit. He explained it was to keep the midges at bay, as they normally cover him with bites and he suffered a lot with them… damned good idea that one, I thought, as I started scratching at my newest bites for this evening. I didn’t seem quite so plagued by them however, as I had been that morning, so maybe as the sun sets, they also drift off… anyway, as the sky darkened, I eventually got my kit out and walked over to my chosen position with River at my heels, firing off shots that I loved. This reflection was awesome, and the blue light just made it all the more magical. It was an easy shot to capture for once.

I think my only disappointment was that one of the lights seemed to be out of order, putting one of the buildings into darkness. It didn’t spoil my time though, and after my fill here, I wandered around to the other side, and took a few shots from there. Unfortunately, although this would have been nice too, there were a small group of teenagers there dancing around in front of the beams of light. This cast great big people shaped shadows across the building, which although, quite fun, wasn’t really a shot I was after! As I finished my wander around the second side, I went back to the car park side, and joined the other photographer again. He was out of his midge prevention kit by now, and looking a little more like a regular photographer, perhaps the net facemask had been getting in his way. He told me he wanted to try something different, that this location would be perfect, and on seeing that my curiosity had been peaked, asked if I could I watch his camera while he picked up a few bits from his van. I did so, highly intrigued by what he was hoping to do. When he came back, I knew immediately what he was hoping to do.

Fire spinning!!!

Now I have experienced this once, as part of a big group some time ago, so I recognised his equipment… a balloon whisk, steel wool and a rope. Oh yeah, all highly technical equipment in this game you know! I was most fascinated with his set up in doing this alone. He sorted out where he hoped to focus, set his camera on a timer, and did one test run. He used a lighter to set fire to the steel wool (which he had stuffed into the balloon part of the whisk), jumped into position, then started spinning it in a big circle. Where his camera was set on timer it meant he was in full spin when the shutter fired. Once lit, the steel wool burns in seconds. By spinning the whisk that you’ve tied to a rope (or dog lead), tiny hot embers flick out, giving us these awesome photos… but the time you have is very short, so working on your own is very difficult! How he managed this all on his own, was quite interesting, and it actually amazed me! I always assumed this needed to be a two person job but he proved me wrong here. I bet this wasn’t easy the first few times he tried! He repeated this twice more, and seemed happy with the shots, then as he loaded the last bit of wool into the whisk, he asked if I wanted to take a photo of my own. I had been so mesmerised, I hadn’t thought to ask! I said a grateful ‘OH! Yes please, thank you!’ and then realised I had no idea what I needed to set the camera to. With very little time to work it out and only one shot, I hastily set my camera up next to his, fumbled my way through the settings in the dark, guessing mostly, and pressed the shutter. I feel my shot should have ended up a longer exposure than I did, (15 seconds) and maybe it would have had more drama at the top of the circle, perhaps a 20-25 second exposure…and maybe a lower ISO at that speed to help keep the background dark enough to highlight the embers. (I took this with an ISO 0f 500) but all in all, for a sudden rushed shot, I cant say I was unhappy in the slightest! Perhaps I WAS learning after all!

Once the last of the wire wool had gone, he packed up, said his goodbyes and went on his way. I had the place entirely to myself by now, so I took a few more photos from the car park, wondering whether the castle lights stayed on all night. As I wandered up and down, I decided to see what a low to the water shot might look like, so carefully stepped down the rocks to the waters edge… A few seconds later I heard a massive ‘SPLASH!’ to my left, and realised that River had decided that now would be a good time for a midnight swim. In any other lake, ocean or river this might have been OK, funny even – but this place was just FILLED with seaweed. Apart from feeling concerned that she might get snagged by weeds in the now, nearly pitch black, this place smelled anything but fragrant…!! I called her back out and as I did so, saw the lights at the castle wink out. Oh, OK, I assume the lights go off at 11 then! I looked down at the stinky dog that I assumed was next to me (judging by the smell) and packed everything down. I made my way back to the camper, and moved to a spot for the night. As I settled down into bed, I considered going back briefly in the morning before leaving for home. I was hoping a high tide may give a pretty daytime reflection. As I turned off the lights, River decided that I might need some extra company, and tried to jump on the bed. Wet and stinky, she had an almighty shove in the opposite direction… NO WAY was she getting in MY bed tonight!!! Sorry little girl…

I got back to the car park very early next morning, feeling fully refreshed (even with just 6 hours sleep) and was disappointed to realise that the tide had gone completely out. We were back to a castle surrounded by a bed of seaweed and mud. (I really should check these things out !!) Nonetheless, I took the opportunity of an unpopulated scene, and took photos from every angle. Where the tide was right out, I was able to get down under the bridge and on both sides, even crossing where the water would have been, onto a small bit of raised land. Whilst taking this shot, the sun beamed through the overcast morning clouds that hung behind me for a brief moment, to shine directly onto the castle with a soft diffused glow. I was grateful for that, as the castle had looked a little dull in front of the blue sky behind it. I finally felt that things were working in my favour again, and that maybe this photographic lark was a good thing for me to be doing after all…

The great joy of photographing Eilean Donan was that there are still other opportunities I could try at another time – A daytime with a high tide, views from two other spots that I have since discovered, a proper moody, misty shot perhaps. I ended leaving on a high, and although very tired as the day drew on, I didn’t have a repeat of the mood overload I had suffered the day before.

I felt this trip had, after all that, been quite a success.

Loch Slapin, Elgol and Portree

Skye 2019: Part Eleven

24 June 2019

As I drove, I finally found myself at Loch Slapin. Now here was a place worth stopping for, not least because I needed to stretch my legs. (well OK… that’s just polite speak for this old lady bladder needed emptying, alright…?!) As I rounded the bend and came down the hill, I saw a lovely big area where I could park safely off the main, single lane road. As I looked around me, I immediately noticed a white house across the Loch, standing alone with a gorgeous backdrop of trees and mountains. It was a lovely sight, and totally worthy of a photo for sure. This would only serve me as a memory note however, because the light really needed to be much nicer for this to be anywhere near a stunning shot. But for me, I certainly felt it had the potential to be just that at some point. I took my photo and then went on my way again. According to my satnav, I wasn’t going to get to Elgol until gone 4, so I didn’t want to waste much time here now I had noted it for future use.

As the hills climbed and dropped, I found myself squeezing past buses and other vans, but very few cars which surprised me because I thought this would be a really popular place for visitors. Maybe it was a little late in the day for them? It felt like a long trip down that road, and after Slapin, nothing particularly drew my attention. To be fair, I wasn’t really looking… I arrived in Elgol and initially parked up just before really steep hill down to the bay. The sky looked pretty grim – not characterful grim, but certainly not pretty, and no way was there going to be any chance of a nice sunset. I felt tired, totally uninspired and his hill looked steep with the prospect of walking up it with all my kit on my back being the furthest from encouraging! My mood continued its route downwards and I just sat in the drivers seat considering my choices. I could a) stay and see what I could do here b) go back toward where I had been or c) park closer…

I decided to see if I could park closer first, then consider. I had to drive down the hill as gently as I could, as this was, I think, the steepest one I had done in Fred (the camper) to date, and it worried me. I struck lucky and found that there was one small area that I might be able to squeeze into in the bay car park. From here you could easily see the rocky beach, and I decided that, as I had actually made the effort to drive all this way, I may as well stay and see what I might get. My seascape photography was still poor, as I hadn’t really tried it much on this trip, so here was another opportunity. I was here. Why waste the chance? It took a lot of persuading to get me out of the seat, but I did eventually get out.

An hour later, I left even grumpier than I had arrived and in a very similar mood to the one this morning. The same problems had returned in major style, and I didn’t feel anything was working. Sorely disappointed that I had yet another view in front of me without clear mountains, or that fitted in with the shot I hoped for, I found it hard to see the scene. to see a composition I liked, to work the settings to my satisfaction or to enjoy anything about where I was. I basically felt like I was forcing everything, and struggled with it all.

In hindsight, all I needed to do was ease up on myself. All this pressure to get something was hampering my enjoyment, and I struggled to see the wood for the trees. I didn’t like anything in my viewfinder, and although tried, felt like I was a useless, and terrible photographer, and I wondered what I thought I was even trying to do. I forgot one of the golden rules. Slow down, take a breath, and just chill. This should never have been about ‘getting a shot’, but in checking this location out! It was about seeing what was here and taking it all in for what it was. I had totally forgotten. Being a subject I didn’t consider as a strong one for me, probably didn’t help, although on reflection, all things considered, and without my hopes for the day in my head any more, I really needn’t have been quite so uptight with myself…

I feel now, that I had totally overdone everything and I had just ended up developing a steely determination to just get there and take the photo. This attitude stank as far as I am concerned. That’s definitely NOT what I wanted this to be about. I feel that perhaps it was all part of the big bag of tiredness, lack of food (when had I last had a proper meal??) and over saturation from the days where I had been packing multiple locations in. This was a very bad habit I was to find myself repeating over and over whenever I went away. When will I ever learn?? There’s no rush, these places will still be here next time I come here… and I had every intention of coming back. I forget that rest, food and the enjoyment all add to the end product. I have still SO much to learn…

I got back into Fred, and headed back towards Portree, where I hoped to get a photo of the harbour houses, and find somewhere to stop for the night. As I drove my negative frame of mind hammered at the nail, nearly sealing the fate of my Skye visit. I got to Portree, and (as I had experienced every visit to this small town) struggled to find anywhere to park. I ended up parked in one bay (residents only- oops) and wondered if I could even get find where the shot I had been seeing online had been taken. I walked up and down, and back up again, but to no avail. The only shot I eventually got was looking down from the roadside and when I looked, was absolutely no better than the tourist shot I had caught way back in 2012. This just crippled me, and I snapped.

I got into the camper and left Skye.

This was all just too much.

Loch Fada and Bheinn Shuardail

Skye 2019: Part Ten

24 June 2019

After such a long day, I ended up just staying parked up at the foot of the Old Man. It was gone 11pm, dark, and I hadn’t plotted an overnight spot to stay, where I had made a spur of the moment decision. This meant I needed an early start to vacate. So at half 5 despite my tiredness, I roused myself, made a quick breakfast and left so that I wasn’t imposing on anyone. Today I was aiming to go to Elgol. but before I left this area I really, REALLY wanted to try and get a dream shot at Lock Fada… literally just down the road. This may be my last chance, I mused, as so far the weather hadn’t been especially helpful in getting my shot from any loch and I wasn’t sure how many more days I might be able to stay on this break. The sky had a light high cloud, but I hoped for, dreamed of, a sunrise shot, with smooth water, stunning reflections maybe a perfectly placed rock or two… Oh yeah… the works please.

Today, however, was NOT going to be that day.

I arrived at the spot, and was a little disappointed to realise that there wasn’t going to be any colour because the high cloud was building fairly quickly and basically just whited out the sky. A second disappointment was that the wind was dancing about all over the surface of the water, so my glass like reflections were not going to happen either. The third issue disrupting my plans? Summer + water+ Scotland = Midges (I keep forgetting this!)… oh, and a fourth. tiredness. This all mixed together to form a highly entertaining view of a grumpy, plump, older lady cussing the camera, the wind, the light, the boats, slapping herself every two seconds, feeling frustrated, totally inept, chronically unable to think this thing through and eventually, just stomping off with the biggest frown on her face imaginable, leaving a few colourful words floating around on the air behind. Oh today was gonna be a corker… I could just feel it!!!

Basically my issue was simple, there was quite a strong breeze blowing across the water. This caused a few problems… mostly that I was completely unable to get the glass like reflection of the boats on smooth water. I tried a long exposure shot to cheat the water movement a little. This might have worked if the boats weren’t blowing around and moving in every shot, spoiling the image. Then there was the constant tickling, distracting the addled brain still further. All I needed now really, was a full bladder to distract me completely and utterly… oh… wait… From start to finish, I barely spent half an hour here and then left. I was totally annoyed at my inept skills, questioning everything from my abilities (or lack of) to my whole life, and especially my inability to solve a simple problem or find a suitable alternative. It wasn’t even 6.30 am and I had the whole of the day ahead of me yet… Part of me wasn’t looking forward to this.

Blurry boats are a pain…and they spoil pictures.

I cut my losses and drove back down the isle and headed towards my final destination Elgol. I had with me my self made guide book, and another one, a Fotovue guide to photographing Scotland that I had flipped through. In this book was a place that I was going to drive past, and that I intended to stop at en-route. The picture was of an abandoned cottage in front of a mountain, and I hadn’t seen one of these yet, so I really hoped to find and photograph it. Nearby was an old church too, so a possible double opportunity excited me. A few hours later finding it was fairly easy, so I started with the church, literally on the roadside with a car park right next to it.

As I walked around the site, I found it was standing in a awkward spot, on a bit of a hill that didn’t allow for the mountain behind to fit in the frame – nor anything in fact. The book had the church with the Milky way behind, but there was obviously no hope of that right now…and the cloud was still building, so avoiding just getting white sky was totally impossible. It just looked drab. I didn’t even get my mobile out. Disappointed yet again, and even more frustrated, I decided to try and find the abandoned cottage instead. The description I had noted on getting to the location was mildly hard to find, and as I have absolutely no sense of distance, I ended up feeling like I was just walking around lost on the Scottish Moors for ages… My distress just kept growing.

Then I spotted it, and the sight just lifted every ounce of tiredness and bad mood away. The cottage looked amazing.

With nature on its way to reclaiming it, it had small trees or shrubs growing up the walls inside, and grass all in the interior floor. I could see where an upper floor might have been, although I could only see windows facing the front upstairs. I saw two tall fire places, so tall that they obviously heated the top floor too, one each end of the cottage – clearly this can be a cold place at times! I noted a wall at the front just laying, near complete, across the whole floor. Had some strong winds just caught it at the right spot and pulled it down in one go? I tried to imagine a family maybe living here, the crumbled walls all around outside, maybe a smallholding for animals? I would have loved to have read something about the story of this place, but it was just in the middle of nowhere, completely on its own, its silent history blowing away with every hour that passed. Maybe I should have read the page before this one, in the Fotovue book… it did actually give a suggestion of what this house might be linked to. Later, on my return home, I discovered that this was, in fact, part of a marble quarry works for a very short period at the start of the 1900’s so maybe this was a workers cottage for them to have a break, or to meet and start the day. Did someone live here full time to keep a watch on the place for thieves I wondered? I would love to get back, and find the rest of the quarry, apparently still evident, with a small rail line used to transport the, then, highly popular, stone away. Lost in the magic of the place now however, I tried to photograph it in a way that would highlight its isolation, the thing that struck me the most. A little mist would have helped the view I feel… but on the moorland it still looked pretty bleak. Once the pictures were taken, I turned and my heart stopped.

Oh ****!

Without me even realising, the mountain behind me had been slowly gathering a hugely impressive cloud, and as I watched, frozen on the spot, the cloud darkened, with huge great fingers clawing their way around the top of Beinn na Caillich. I didn’t quite know what to do, hold my spot, or, literally, RUN! This was surely going to bring some extremely unpleasant weather my way… possibly lightening… and out here, with no cover, standing here would most definitely NOT be the safest of places to be. Realising the length of time the walk (run!) back would be, I decided to hold my spot, and to photograph this instead. This was what I was out here for after all… using whatever the weather threw at me, right?! Part of me even secretly hoped that there would be a little lightening… (but only over there please…!)

The pictures looked amazing in the viewfinder, and after a short while it did indeed roll right over me, and downpour in the best possible fashion. It was a quick downpour, no thunder or lightening though, and the remainder of the black cloud just ended up fizzling out, and filling the whole area with a light misty drizzly rain the lower down the mountain it came. River and I made our way back to the camper. I felt a little invigorated by this experience, and looked forward to seeing what Elgol might offer. I was still physically exhausted however, so as the drive progressed, I felt its grip slowly clawing at my resolve to keep positive. I drove on past several really beautiful views, but with my main aim solidly set in my mind, and the clock ticking away now, I stubbornly refused to stop at any. I have no idea why I did that. to this day it confuses me. My single visioned determination to get there, had blinded me to all the possibilities that were flying past my windows, and in hindsight, that was a decision I sorely regretted

Lealt Falls and Old Man of Stor

Skye 2019: Part Nine

23 June 2019

After the glorious sunny day at the Quiraing, it occurred to me that we may have an equally glorious sunset to match the one the previous evening. Added to the fact that there were still at least 4 hours to sunset, I decided on the spur of the moment, to try and get a shot from the Stor, and squeeze two big spots on my list into one day. Again, my lack of planning, and in fact, lack of understanding of the locations, really proved to be my biggest challenge. This visit to Skye was a good learning curve in a lot of respects. It seems to me that there are possibly two ways to do Landscape photography- In my situation, as the complete noob that I am, I was plumping for one of those ways…turn up and see what you get, react to the conditions, and be surprised. Possibly very pleasantly so. I suspect this is every beginners route, and its not a bad one to learn to react and just deal with the things being thrown at you. The other side of the coin is to plan a trip around all the details, you hope for. This can also work extremely well of course, although the weather, and other conditions, can always throw a curveball, and you may go to great expense in cost or time, to come away completely disappointed. Ideally you kinda want to utilise a little of both for the best chances, but I suspect that’s a skill for further down the line as I learn both aspects. In this instance, I had two different issues I hadn’t planned in…first one?..err…the sun doesn’t set this side of the island (kind of important really if you want a sunset shot!!) and two..a glorious day, doesn’t mean a glorious evening… BUT, neither necessarily means that its a completely wasted journey, because this isn’t just about the shot…its about the JOURNEY. Its the journey that gives a photo the meaning it has for you, the photographer, and hopefully in time, you learn to translate this to the viewer if you do your job well.

shot of the viewing platform overlooking the Lealt River

So I left the Quiraing with quite a bit of time on my hands, and headed over towards the Stor. On the way I made a quick pit stop at a location that caught my eye from the road. Lealt Falls. I spotted it because of the car park, literally on the roadside, and decided to have a look. I didn’t take my camera, as this was only going to be a very quick visit, and I left River resting in her bed. As soon as I entered the site I saw that there had been a specially made viewing platform. The first specially made tourist control thing I had seen here during my visit, other than the barriers at Mealt falls. It offered a nice view over the waterfall to our right, and certainly helped keep people away from the edge that pretty much led to a steep drop from what I saw. I personally found the top most big, horizontal, wooden bar on this platform, to be at a bad height for my not so tall frame, so grabbed a photo with my phone as best as I could over the top. (I tried under it, but it was just awkward, and a naff view) I doubt very much if it would be worth trying to get a nicer shot from here, as the position and heights makes it pretty hard to do so. I would love to know if it IS possible to get to the bottom of the falls however, as surely a shot from below would look awesome. After a quick wander around the rest of the site, I made my way back to the camper, and drove on up to the Stor.

I arrived at the car park, and then had the joyful experience of trying to coax a stroppy toddler out for the next walk. Well that’s certainly how River acted. Firstly she wouldn’t get out of the camper, choosing to hide her face with just her backside hanging out of her dog bed, then after the first drag out, she ran back in, hid at the back of the bed giving me an ‘I don’t wanna’!! eye, peeking out from the side mesh. Once I managed to get her out for the second time (camper door immediately closed this time), she crawled along at such an impossibly slow snails pace, that I felt very much like I was literally dragging a dead dog behind me (pretty much akin to all the best comedy sketches)

I got the hint… she didn’t want to come.

I left her with a bowl of food, water, a puppy pad by the door in case of emergency, and started the hike on my own instead, letting her have her way.

I started my walk up the Stor when the time had gone 6pm, and after about half an hour in, became rather concerned that there may be a problem with my self made guide book’s advice on timing. ‘The hike is aproximately 45 minutes’ said the note I had copied from somewhere. Yeah. Right. OK. Really? It became evident very early on into the hike that this was quite possibly not the case in SandyPlod mode. By 45 minutes into the hike it became clearly evident that this was definitely NOT true in my case, and that I was running a risk of missing any sunset. On top of this, I was only roughly aware of where the famed photographers viewpoint actually was. I pushed on nonetheless, my mind wandering over a number of things to keep it off the aching legs and breathless proof of my unfit state.

I had been here once before about 7 years ago, and thought I had walked through a forest at the start that time. There was no forest here now, and I had passed decimated stumps that absolutely broke my heart. At this point I had no idea what had happened to the trees or why, but the site looked ugly, and sounded dead. No birds sang, no animals scurried around me, no leaves rustled in the breeze… The breeze. There’s a cold breeze…I suddenly stopped focussing on the dead route and my physical tiredness, and looked up. To my complete and utter sadness I suddenly noticed the sky… at least 1/2 of it was covered in cloud, and when I followed the direction they were coming in from, there was a lot more coming.

Gutted, I realised that I had actually made it over 3/4 of the way, so had to make a decision. I chose to continue. You never know I mused… there might be a lovely glow from under the clouds that will look fantastic… I day dreamed my way through the next bit of the route. Hope is a nice thing sometimes. Sometimes.

Towards the last part of my walk I met a lovely lady from Singapore. We chatted as we walked, and she was incredibly interesting. At one point I mentioned to her where I was aiming to walk to, showing her a photo on my phone of the view I hoped to see. She loved the look of the sight and hurried off to the rest of her family who were at the rocks of the Stor itself, telling me she would see me up there. This encouraged me to keep going despite my growing disappointment at the weather. There wasn’t too much further to go I told myself… not much further…

As I climbed my last steps onto the viewpoint, the remains of my daydream fluttering away with my exhausted sigh of relief at having made this trip finally, and my realisation that the cloud had indeed come in much more. I was alone at the point to start, and was joined a few minutes later by the lady and her family. After spending time chatting to them, and laughing at the antics of the 3 teenagers, they had their fill of selfies, photos and funny video antics, and started to make their way back down again. I was left alone to enjoy this sight all to myself. The view, despite the weather, was everything I was hoping for. It takes your breath away, and I just soaked it up for a while before getting my camera out and snapping my first photo.

Shortly after, I was joined by another photographer, and together we spent the next hour just casually chatting, taking the odd photograph, offering each other advice (not that I had much to give), swapping stories and kit info, and getting all hopeful or excited together about how the cloud was looking, or how the light was reflecting on the water of a loch, or even… might we get a sunset??? I think this was one of just a handful of times I had ever experienced this kind of interaction with a fellow photographer, and it was the most joyous experience. It was peaceful, quiet, innocent and completely without any pressure or expectation. Both of us were fairly new to landscape photography, having come with a little experience from other places, so we were pretty much learning and enjoying the scene in front of us together. Moments of silence were understood without explanation, and the time went both quickly, and yet slowly at the same time, if such a thing is at all possible.

My pictures were not what I hoped for, and the dreamed of sunset, definitely didn’t materialise. Interesting cloud formations did however, and thankfully, no rain. Off in the distance way behind us, we saw a pretty pink sky, and as it gradually faded, clearly not planning to show here, my companion for the last hour packed his things away, and bade me goodbye. I myself followed shortly after, but instead of going directly down. I decided to walk closer to the Stor itself, and see what the shot might be like from there. I quite liked the view, so took everything out again, and took a few more pictures, just for the hell of it.

The light really began to drop now. it was gone 9.30, and estimating at least an hour and a half to get back down, I decided I had better get my backside into gear, and get off this big hill before it got too much darker.

In the end, the highlight hadn’t been the photos at all… they were far from the ones I dreamed of… but this reminded me that the simple experience of connecting with strangers, of working alongside another photographer, were all part of the experience. They had made what might have been a hugely disappointing evening, one that felt so warm and satisfying, and I arrived back to the camper feeling far from disappointed with my evening.

Tonight was most definitely not about the photo, it was totally about The Journey.

Oh, and I wasn’t in the dog house with River either…I was greeted with a yawn, a stretch and a happy waggy tail. Phew!

The Quiraing

Skye 2019: Part Eight

23 June 2019

OK.. I wont lie. I pre judged the Quiraing. Based on photos I saw online, I was left with a rather ‘meh.. its pretty, but no different to anywhere else pretty’ I was far more interested in Skye for the other, interesting, dramatic hotspots it had to offer, and the Quiraing, actually didn’t even make the cut on places I wanted to visit. Yea, yea…I know! I can hear you all screaming at me….. (Lesson. Do not judge a place based on others photos or your own preconceptions.) Actually.. that’s not a bad lesson for life either. One shouldn’t judge anything or anyone at all…

The Quiraing ended up on my back up list… the ‘I suppose I should go, just to tick the ‘I’ve been there’ box…’ Oh how foolish I was eh?!

Needless to say, when I drove through this random unnamed road on 20th June having taken a wrong turning, I was quite taken aback by this unexpected, stunning landscape that came into view, so much so, I had to stop for a quick snap so I could revisit later on. As I stopped, I noticed lots of other people and cars. What IS this place? I asked myself…

Then I recognised it. ‘THIS is the Quiraing! Oh. My. God. I had misjudged this place COMPLETELY!!!!’ The Angels of Fate had clearly been tutting at my stupidity, and felt the need to intervene to highlight this stupidity to me personally… thus distracting me with old memories and disabling the sat nav deliberately, so that I would take a wrong turn.

Thus a new love affair began, and it immediately went to the top of my must see and explore list. (am I forgiven now?)

Despite the way I had perceived images on the online photos, the Quiraing is huge. The land around here is a massive landslide, that’s still slowly slipping down at a rate of about one cm a year, and this gives this area its beautiful appeal with beautiful slopes heading down to Staffin, and the torn, craggy rocks and stacks at the top. My understanding is this was also what formed the Old Man of Stor, although the land there has now settled, and isn’t slipping any more. (rock falls do still happen of course, but they are caused by different events) It makes sense now, that the two areas look very similar.

On the morning of the 23rd therefore, I parked up at the top, and began my exploratory hike across following a very easy footpath. River happily plodded on behind, and although the day started fairly cloudy and chilly, it actually opened up to a blisteringly hot one. I totally underestimated the walk, and went without much fluid and only a couple of basic snacks (trail mix essentially). On hearing water falling somewhere, I just resigned myself to letting River drink from those. As the hike progressed however, every area I thought was a fall, looked dry, so I have no idea where the water was falling from, or indeed where it was going to, and in the very rare puddle we did find, the poor pooch just laid in them to cool down. 3/4 of the way across, we found a small dribble of a waterfall, and the poor dog filled up her reserves by essentially licking rocks and waiting.

I took the camera out from time to time, although I wasn’t really trying to get ‘the shot’. The light was either very harsh, or very muted due to the haze, and it left the land looking pretty flat. Today was just about going on this walk, and seeing what was here. I wasn’t going to worry. I eventually planned on scouting to the end, and photographing anything of real interest on my way back. I had heard of a few specific areas that I hoped to reach, although I had no idea how far they were. These included a lone tree, and the different rock formations named The Needle, The Prison and The Table. I spotted the tree (nearly missed it actually) and mentally added it to my list to grab on the way back, as it wasn’t far from the start of the walk. It is a classic and popular shot, and as I stood looking at it, I could understand why. Its a pretty perfect composition!

We continued on, regularly pausing to look at the view. Hours later, as we approached the Prison, the path turned to scree, and proved a little slippery (and steep) to get up, so I took my time, and we got half way up before bumping into some other tourists coming the other way, just as we were catching our breath. Seeing River panting, One lady in their party offered to give her some bottled water, and River just lapped every drop up. I never felt so much like a bad mummy, but was SO eternally grateful for the offer. The lady was understanding, and I didn’t feel like she was judging me… You find the nicest and most thoughtful, generous people on the top of hills and mountains sometimes!! As they left we ploughed onwards, and made it up to the back of the prison formation. We were pretty exhausted by now, and the heat and Rivers lack of water was beginning to concern me. We still had to get back, but I hadn’t reached the Needle or Table yet…Oh the dilemma! As luck would have it, the hike was brought to an end by a stile across the path not long after the Prison. Under normal circumstances River might have been able to get over it, but someone had thought it a good idea to add a wire fence to the top, so that none but adult humans could step over. I think even children would struggle, and would have had to have been lifted. I wasn’t about to attempt to lift River over though! She’s a heavy girl!!!

So, after yet another pause, we turned and started to make our way back. We had taken about 4 hours so far, but the walk back didn’t seem to take that long, perhaps it was because I didn’t stop every 5 minutes to soak up the view (!!)

On the way back, I found myself walking with a greater purpose than the wandering I had done so far. I mostly forgot about the camera on my back, and was just desperately aiming for a cuppa back at the camper. River seemed better, and in all I think it was only another 1.5 hours to get back. The water from the hikers bottle, and the small dribble waterfall on the way seemed to revive her, and she was happy to keep this (slightly) faster pace. Lets face it..even at speed I am a plodder…so when I say ‘pace’ I don’t mean the one everyone else walks at! I wonder how long that walk I did, would take most folks… 2-4 hours in total????

At the end, I got my camera back out to snap the view there at least, then realised I had forgotten to photograph the tree. Was I going to go back for that????…Nahhhhh! The light wasn’t that good, and there was no hope for a nice sunset for quite a few hours yet, so in all honesty… was it worth it…? I didn’t need to persuade myself really. The next time I might get here, I would plan things better to (hopefully) get more out of my shots.

As River sat happily resting with me however, I did snap a picture of her on my phone, and it ended up being my favourite picture from today. Her face pretty much summed up how relaxed we were, and how enjoyable the hike had been despite the heat, and lack of water.

River after our walk. You can see ‘The Prison’ formation in the distance behind her.

This is definitely a walk I will do again. even if I leave the camera behind. I wonder how much further The Table and Needle might be…..?