highlands – Page 4 – Knightshoots Landscape Photography

Duntulm Castle and Bay

Skye 2019: Part Three

20/21 June 2019

With my sat nav finally finding me at Mealt falls, I typed in the address for Duntulm bay, and set off, aiming to drive past the Quiraing, then turning north at Uig. (in hindsight, I could have just stayed on the A855! Duh!!) Anyhow, according to the sat nav, I clearly needed to drive back past most of the route I had taken, but it almost immediately tried to turn me down a dead end road, just past the road I needed to take. It actually did this three times over the week, before I recognised the proper turn off. If you are using satellite navigation to get to the Quiraing, do not follow it down the dead end road where the residents have kindly put a hand written sign up stating ‘this doesn’t lead to the Quiraing’, because, funnily enough, they are right! If you are heading towards a small group of houses, its the wrong road. If coming up from the Mealt falls/Portree direction, its a small B road just before then, that heads off towards Sartle, and Uig. My apologies to those residents for turning round there so many times…!

Once on the right road, finding Duntulm was pretty easy, as it was just along the one road at the top of the Trotternish peninsular. As I came around the bend. I saw the bay, and was pleased to note that there was a long lay bay for cars to park so they could visit the area. I wasn’t so pleased to notice exactly what NO advanced planning does for a photo shoot. There was no beach…and the tide was coming in. The nice pebbled beach shot I had hoped for, was out of the window clearly! (I didn’t learn from this either – I forgot to look up tide times (and indeed, sunrise/set positions) all week – not that the internet was reliable enough to check). Maybe I should be thinking of planning a trip a little better next time, rather than just travelling on a whim with a few basic ideas while I am actually away in situ…

On arrival, I decided to scout the area out with River, and found that the castle was within a few minutes walk of the parking spot. The castle was a ruin, sitting on a rocky outcrop and the area was blocked off with signs warning of danger. Looking at the castle position, I didn’t think it was going to have many years left here.. and indeed, some of it may have already fallen to the sea beneath. It was a bit hard to tell as the remaining castle was just a few low walls that were over grown, or in pieces. I saw some people had ignored the signs, and were having a look over the site, wandering about fairly easily. I decided to join them eventually. I had seen a stunning spot that one photographer had used, which had a fantastic rocky foreground, looking out to the sea and the little island out there (I believe its called Tulm island). I couldn’t find the spot anywhere, and was totally perplexed as to where the photo had been taken from, thinking in the end, that maybe it was an older photo, and that the bit of wall had fallen by now. As I went to leave, I was blessed with a burst of sunlight over the ruins, which really brought the place alive. Thankfully I had my mobile phone on me, and caught it. (*Edit* I have since found out that the photo I liked, was actually taken in Tulm Bay, which appears to be the other side of the castle)

From here, River and I hiked down the hill towards the sea, to see what the view might be from below the castle looking up at it. I liked this view a lot, and started across the rocks towards the cliff base, to get an idea of shots. River began to struggle a little, so I eventually just snapped a photo of the Castle from where I stood. (this is the shot you can see on the Skye location and map page) My thinking was, that in the morning, I would try again for a sunrise, hoping too, that the tide would be lower, so that I might get further round. The idea may have been a good one but I wasn’t bargaining on the night I was about to have.

I returned to the camper, and decided to have a go at a beach shot anyway. I had seen some really nice rocky lines heading out into the ocean, and thought that these might at least make a nice foreground to practice on. Seascapes are not my strong point and I don’t feel as comfortable with these, so I felt this would be a good opportunity to give them a practice, even if they didn’t have a nice sandy bit in the photos. As I walked down the road, I couldn’t see any obvious paths to the beach, so ended up just carving my own way through the grass. There were very large pebbles lining the beach between the grass and the flat rocky spurs I was aiming towards, so River and I carefully picked our way across, finally coming to a bit I liked. I crouched down, and framed up what I thought might be a nice shot, and started working on these, using my ND filters to slow the waters. I moved a little, and took some more. These weren’t as nice as I hoped, and the tide was heading in pretty quickly, so I had to move back in a bit of a hurry. As I grabbed my bag, I hadn’t noticed that I left one pocket open, and half my batteries flew out, two right into the water. I fished them out, but for the duration of the rest of the break, they refused to charge properly. Gagh! I am such a clutz!! As I moved back I saw another rocky spur and took some shots of that one, feeling slightly happier with this composition. I think I still have a lot to learn in this field of Landscape photography, but feel fairly happy with my early attempts.

The sky was getting fairly cloudy by now, and it was clear that if it continued, there would be no nice sunset, although I thought I would keep an eye open just in case. Luckily the camper was parked close enough to the castle and cliff that it wouldn’t take me long to get into position if things changed. As I started back for the evening, I noticed on the far side of the bay, that a small group of people were setting up a bright yellowish tent. They would have a nice view of the bay in the morning, I mused, especially if the tide was out…

Oh how wrong I was.

Over the next hour or so, the sky got greyer, and night felt to have crept in much earlier than the previous one. There was a slight wind picking up, and eventually it started to rain. As the hours progressed this got steadily worse until I realised that I was sitting in absolute fear of the camper being blown off the whole edge. The rain hammered down so loud, that sleep was nearly impossible. I did eventually manage a few dozes in between the lulls of the intense, punishing rain, and the now howling wind. The van rocked pretty aggressively from side to side for several hours, and my thoughts turned to the poor guys in the tent… I didn’t expect them to have anything left of the canvas in the morning at this rate… If, indeed, I was still around to witness it myself…!

Eventually, at about 4ish, the worst of the storm passed over, and the wind finally died down. I managed to get to sleep at the now gentler sound of rain, only to be rudely woken up an hour or so later, by something outside the camper, scraping against the side. It stopped and I managed to start drifting off again, only for the sound to return. I laid in fear of what it might be, my now tired brain going fully into overactive overdrive mode. Eventually, I heard a sheep bleating, and realised the sound was a sheeps horn scraping the van. Envisaging deep creases being carved into the side of my camper, I jumped up, threw open the door and yelled ‘FECK OFF!!!’ I have no idea where ‘feck’ came from, and I am pretty sure the sheep wouldn’t have cared less for my manners in not using a full swear word… but they all just stood and stared at me (in my head, they also stared at each other with that ‘what did she just say?’ ‘No idea!’ confused conversational look – such that an overtired, sleep deprived, delusional brain invents). I was too tired for this and stomped out in a foul mood an attempt to scare them. They just casually wandered away instead, giving me the occasional disdainful look. So much for me being scary…

By now the rain had eased right off, but I was too awake to do anything but try and push on. I got myself ready, and let River sleep in, as I stepped out to try for a dawn shot of the castle. I made my way down to the base of the castle and looked over to the campers. I was astounded to see the guys casually packing the tent down! They’d survived the night! The gorgeous view I assumed they would have, was completely non existent. Hopes for the tide being out were dashed when I realised that it was in fact, coming back in again and was at present only a little lower than last night. My dreams for a sunrise shot were also dashed by both a) the still heavy dark clouds overhead and b) the lighter sky showing up behind the castle pushing it into silhouette. Today was definitely not feeling like a good day.

I settled myself in at the position I wanted, and decided to just wait out the weather, and to shoot what I could. I managed a few shots low down, then moved a little higher as the tide rose. I found the shots to be really dramatic. with the low light and fast moving angry clouds really helping to add to the drama. I sat through several heavy downpours, but none really lasted long enough to make me think of returning to the camper, and I found them strangely exhilarating to sit through. It helped that I loved what I was seeing in the back of the viewfinder, so I stayed and kept shooting. Eventually, patches of blue sky started arriving in among the grey cloud, and the day started to feel a bit better…

My Adventures

Dunvegan Castle, Rha River Falls and Mealt Falls

Skye 2019: Part Two

20 June 2019

After Neist point, My intention was to go to Dunvegan castle, as a good friend had recommended it. Photos online certainly looked like it was a good location, and I found the drive over to be easy and pretty straight forward. As I drove nearer, however, the area became wooded, and it was obvious that getting a view of the castle might be trickier than I thought – indeed as I arrived at the castle car park it became clear that unless I wanted to pay to get in, I might not get a shot at all! As this was a cost saving trip, I had to make the decision, and so decided against paying anything out at this point. I left the car park feeling a little deflated, driving up the road a little more to see whether there might be a viewing point further up. I couldnt find one sadly, just more trees, and fences preventing any access, so I unhappily abandoned this one from this particular trip, just feeling confused on how to reach an opposite shoreline that gave lovely shots of the castle by the water that others had captured. Maybe they were taken in the grounds by a lake, I mused..?? (on my return home, I read online that there is a position that grants a free view, but it looked to be even further on than I drove, so next time I will check that out)

With this site a bust, I decided that I would head over towards Duntulm Castle and Bay, with the aim of trying to do some nice low level, coastal shots, that I haven’t really managed to get to grips with yet. As I drove over towards, and then through, Uig, on the way, I got lost in happy memories of 2012 of when I had camped here with the children – I couldn’t see the site now though, sadly, and wondered further when it had ceased trading. Still lost in my memories, I blindly followed the road round a tight hairpin curve then continued on for a little bit before realising that the sat nav was doing that wonderful thing of ‘You haven’t been paying attention to me really, have you? You haven’t noticed that I have stopped working have you?! Well, try and find out where you are now, SUKKAAAAaa!!!’… all I knew right now was that I was driving down a long single lane road, in a very open flat bit of moorland type countryside… somewhere in… Skye…

After thumping the screen and trying to restart the bloody thing, it was clear that I didn’t really have much choice but to continue forwards and hope that I would come up to a crossroads or signpost telling me where I was. After a bit, I drove over a cattle grid, and then noticed to my right, a gushing waterfall that was right by the roadside. I didn’t recognise this from my list, I didn’t recognise it from any other online Skye photo I had seen either, so felt the need to stop and explore! There was a parking spot for about two cars, right by the falls, and with a short walk down to the river, I was there within a minute of leaving the Camper. It was lovely down here. A pleasant, flat, green grassy area right by the river, and the falls to the left, it would make a perfect spot for a private picnic in the height of a gloriously sunny day I thought, as there were no other visitors here at all.

As River was sniffing around the whole area, I wandered around seeing if there was a good position where I could get closer to the falls. I suddenly heard a loud splash behind me. I turned round quickly to see my puppy, nose in the air, paddling around blindly in the river- I wasn’t sure if she was panicked (I certainly was!) or having a ball! I had never known her to do this before, so I was frightened that she had gotten too close to the edge and fallen in – also terrified that the mass of water from the falls might sweep her away! I immediately ran to the waters edge and tried to encourage her out. She was a good girl, and came back to the edge straight away, and managed to climb out giving herself a good and happy shake, coating me and my camera bag in lots of water droplets and she did. She was clearly not bothered in the slightest about falling in, although, I did notice that she padded behind me for the rest of this stop, and didn’t attempt any further swimming trips…

The falls were unbelievably full with it being nearly impossible to get a shot where it didn’t look like a great white mass! I was also really pleased to see that I could get really close to the falls themselves, and that there were several large rocks that allowed an easy path towards an even more central position. I wished I had put my wellies on however, as I was just one rock short of getting to a nice central position. I wasn’t prepared to risk it on this occasion however, and satisfied myself with trying a few shots from the positions I could get to. The cloud was moving in at some speed, and it wasn’t long before I thought that I should get to the camper for cover, as it was soon going to pour with rain for sure! Not knowing the name of these falls, I tried to remember the landscape as best as I could hopefully identifying it later. On my return home, when I tried to find the name of these falls, and couldn’t find any. I ended up following my route on google maps and found that the river was the River Rha, and that further down there are actually far nicer falls, which ARE listed as a photographic beauty spot (Gagh! how did I miss those?!) My photos aren’t the ‘Rha Falls’ as listed everywhere, but I will certainly try to find them next time! These falls on the river can be found along an unnamed road that runs between two points on the A855 – just after a hairpin turn at Uig, right across the Trotternish towards the Quiraing to Sartle and rejoining the A855 at Brogaig. If it helps anyone, Google maps pinpoints the parking spot as https://goo.gl/maps/cEUSw3av7cRa7Qug8

Onwards! After the waterfall, I continued on in the direction I had been heading, and eventually recognised where I was from everyones photos online. I was at the Quiraing! I pulled over for a brief stop, and realised straight away, that I needed to make this stop a good full day trip. It was as beautiful as everyone had declared it to be, and there were stunning photo opportunities in every direction you looked! I snapped a couple of pictures on my phone quickly, and then continued the drive along the road. Eventually I found myself back on the A855, but took a turn in the wrong direction where my sat nav was still frozen, finding myself now driving down the road towards Portree. When I reached Mealt falls, I realised my mistake, and pulled into the car park there, and quietly beat the stupid toy up. I knew Mealt was going to be a quick stop at some point on this trip, so I thought I may as well do it while I was here!

The car park was a well worn decaying gravel space. There was parking for quite a few vehicles, (even buses), but even then, I had to wait for a space. I didn’t wait long however, and the walk to the viewing spot took barely a minute. I immediately realised there were severe restrictions to this shot…basically…well, there was only one place it could be taken from. After standing behind a lot of tourists for several minutes, I got to the singular spot, and snapped a photo on my phone. Being mindful of all those that were waiting behind me for the same shot, I moved away fairly quickly after that. The view was exactly the same as every photo I had seen on the internet, but I thought I would, nonetheless at least try a shot with my Canon camera. I walked back, picked up my kit, waited a few more minutes for another very heavy downpour to pass, then went back out for a second go. This time I waited a long time. I knew I would be using a tripod, as I hoped to still the waters, but the stream of people was unending, and it proved impossible to just wait for a break in the crowd. Bus after bus kept pulling up, and as fast as one group left a second arrived. Eventually I just bit the bullet, and moved in, set up and just allowed people to snap photos around me as I sorted myself out. I wasn’t the most popular person there, it had to be said – although River, sitting dutifully next to me, pretty much was, and distracted a lot tourists from their frustrations with her puppy dog eyes. The railing proved to make matters really complicated, as I tried to prop the tripod around, on, against it, and in just about every other position, in an attempt to get a stable position. Nothing worked well and the barrier just got in the way. I think maybe a gorillapod type of tripod might manage this a lot better – if there was one that could hold the weight of a heavy SLR camera, plus lens, plus filters…. Eventually I got there, and I was able to get a few photos, leaving as fast as I could afterwards. The Photos felt no different to the ones I had caught on my phone, so I did wonder whether it had really been worth the rather stressful effort. My recommendation here, would be to get here early, or come later to avoid the crowds, and to allow yourself time to set up properly. Also, try to check the best time of day for the sun to rise or set against the cliff face.. that might add something to the shot, as might a bit of drama in the weather or the sea below..as it was, for me, I left feeling a little ‘meh’ about it, and didn’t even bother to return.

Now… which way was Duntulm from here again???

My Adventures

Neist Point and Blackhill Waterfall

Skye 2019: Part One

19 June 2019

After a massive 18 hour drive, broken only by a short sleep, dropping my daughter off in Glasgow, and a quick stop at Eilean Donan castle, I finally arrived in Skye and headed for the first stop on my list, Neist Point, inspired by the stunning photograph taken by Laurance Norah (which can be found in his Skye guide at www.findingtheuniverse.com).

I was really surprised to realise that after leaving Eilean Donan there was a huge 4 hour time difference until my arrival to the location. It certainly didn’t feel that long despite my tiredness, so I can only put it down to all the oooos and aahhhs that entered my newly awakened brain as I beheld the views that passed my eyes over that period! I did do one quick stop to take a look at the Blackhill Waterfall that a number of tourists were snapping at. There was an easy parking spot in a lay-by, but as its right on a tight bend, I had to make a quick snap decision to park up – now, NOW!!! I should say, this is not natural for my brain to do this, even less so for my body to actually respond accordingly…. so I was in mild shock for a bit before getting out of the van with the dog, not to mention heightened excitement at having actually acted on a spur of the moment decision! I apologise now to any driver that may have been behind me at that moment!!!

River and I (she was the Dog with me on these travels… a name which, in hindsight, proved to be ridiculously fitting) took a walk over to the falls to see what everyone was photographing. On seeing the waterfall looking even prettier, I decided to wander closer to see what the view was like close up. Possibly not the best decision I ever made… the ground proved to be heavily boggy, and my canvas shoes were soaked through in minutes. I did try an easier route, but ended up getting a bit stuck. River (white) also ended up looking black. I decided that maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, so snapped a single photo with my phone, and vowed to come back on a better day when I wasn’t aiming to be somewhere, and with wellies, and definitely with my full photographic kit. This waterfall is one worth photographing properly. As it goes the whole trip ended up about ‘getting places’ so, although I passed it a couple of other times, I never actually got the chance to do another stop. Next time!!

As I turned to leave I saw a group of 3 young men making their way over. One looked like he was being quite a bit cocky, as he jeered at his two friends who were being timid in their attempts at walking over. It wasn’t without some private amusement for myself, when I saw him slip and landed almost face first in the boggy mud, coating his clothes completely. His friends roared with laughter, and, funnily enough, the lad ceased his loud opinionated insults. Imagine that – oh hang on… didn’t one of his friends also have a phone up? …tee-hee…

After squelching back to the camper, getting my footwear changed, and River dried off, I continued both the drive and the oooos and aahhhs.

The road to Neist point (pronounced nEEst point) was a very long one. There are very few turn offs, villages or shops on the single lane road, but I liked all the passing points that I came across. These became very familiar to me as the days went on, and are highly efficient at keeping traffic moving everywhere on such confined roadways. As I got nearer to the end of my drive however, traffic seemed to come to a halt near a couple of buildings. As it slowly began to clear, one driver coming towards me, kindly lent out of his window, and let a few of us know that the problem was only due to the number of people leaving the point, and nothing serious. As I got to the place I was hoping to start, I could see there was plenty of parking, and a lot of cars parked up. Having no prior idea on what to expect up here, this pleased me immensely, as I had aimed at this being my stop for the night too. I was by now, far too tired to drive much more. I joined the parked cars and campers, and took River out for a good walk to stretch our scrunched up tired legs, and to have a look around to see what was what here.

The views were stunning. The sky wasn’t what I had hoped though – it was neither super dramatic nor looking like it might offer up a stunning sunset, but I knew I had several hours yet, so I wasn’t really worried just yet. I walked River around the top to see where I could set up later, and found some nice spots. Since we had plenty of time I thought I would take a walk down to the lighthouse itself, seeing see lots of people wandering around that area. It was a much further distance than I had originally thought… and it went up and down over two rather surprisingly steep hills. I may be out of shape, but I did manage these, albeit with some huffing and puffing, and plenty of pauses to catch my breath.

I got to the lighthouse itself, had a good wander around, and noticed where most of the photographers had gathered for their shots. After a short wander around the peninsular, I returned to the spot, and found they had all left, so snapped a couple with my phone. The walk had been very tiring, especially after such a long drive, and so little sleep, so rather than hike all the way back for my kit, I thought that I might come back for a sunrise shot. Where the sun would be setting behind the lighthouse I assumed it would rise in front of it… Hmmnn… nice idea in principle – maybe I should have considered a) the erratic Skye weather and b) actually checking! DUH!!! As it ended up, I still have no idea where the sun might rise – it rained all night and was still really cloudy the next morning!

My goal on this trip was to get out of my comfort zone. I was getting too fussy about only going out when the weather was clear, and it was leaving a lot of my photos fairly ‘pretty’, but lacking in any drama or emotion behind them for my taste. At the end of my trip I was very glad I did this, as the wet weather, cloudy moody skies, and erratic changes did me the world of good, forcing me to adapt to the changing conditions as each moment came up. Sitting by the lighthouse this evening however, I had no thoughts of the adventures to come, only the peace, and the beautiful position I was sitting in. I sat with River for quite some time before I finally decided that I should probably make my way back to the van to eat something ahead of my planned evening shoot.

After the long, even more exhausting, walk back, and a brief meal, I gathered my kit for the evening, and went to venture out. River was clearly having none of this however, and went to hide in her bed. No amount of coaxing would get her out, so I decided that she might be best left, to rest her poor short legs! I went to my chosen spot, and found several fellow photographers dotted along the cliff. Unfortunately the sky lacked a little, not offering any dramatic clouds, being mostly light to moderate by now, with a few patches of blue, and not being clear enough to allow for a super pretty sunset. The wind however was pretty full on.. and very cold! I found myself shivering in no time, but I stubbornly refused to go back for hat, scarf, gloves or a thicker layer – well I might miss something!! I also had to find ways of weighting the tripod down to help reduce the possibility of blurry shots. As the sun started setting, it was clear the sky had no intention of flaring into a gorgeous colour, and several photographers slowly started drifting away. I stood my ground, and stayed, as did a couple of others. One was unfortunately in my shot for most of my wait, so I ended up having to move position to miss him. As I did, the wind unexpectedly dropped for a few minutes, and the sun finally gave a lovely burst of golden light against the cliff face. This made me really happy, as suddenly the point came alive with warmth and colour, and I managed a few nice crisp shots. What I missed however (although my camera didn’t – yay!) was a tiny rainbow that, for a brief second or two, started to bloom out to sea. Although feeling only ‘OK’ with the final photos, this rainbow shot did prove to be the one I was most happy with. After that, it was to bed in readiness for the morning.

The rain hammered most of the night, and at 4am I decided that it really wasn’t worth trying to get a sunrise shot, as that definitely wasn’t going to happen here today! By 7 however, the rain eased to pretty much an occasional light drizzle so I decided that I really should get up and get down to the lighthouse regardless. Tired and mildly morning grumpy, I sorted myself out and hiked down to the spot with River. Brain hadn’t much engaged, but I was quite pleased with the shots in camera, as for the first time, I got a hint of the pleasure I would get by photographing clouds in my scenes.

Tourists started appearing by 8.30, but satisfied with my morning, I decided to head on back. On the way I found myself chatting with an older American Lady the whole way. She had her whole family here with her as they were celebrating her recovery from cancer with one of her dream trips, and had treated her to her ultimate wish… a night in a Scottish Castle. She was an absolute delight to talk to, and the walk back seemed no where near as hard as it had been the night before.

On the way she asked if I was with anyone. After I replied that no, it was just me and my dog, she stared for a second and declared ‘You are SO brave!’. This is the second time that someone had told me this in the field. I have to confess to some confusion, as I cant say I feel particularly brave just because gone away on my own. Several friends tell me ‘but you are…’ when I recall these stories. Although I feel somewhat amazed that this seems to be such a common opinion, it does make me feel really sad, that as a woman, the general consensus is that I should be feeling afraid to do this. I am pretty sure that very few men get told the same…