hiking – 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!

My Adventures

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….

My Adventures

Fairy Pools

Skye 2019: Part Six

22nd June 2019

You cannot visit Skye, and not visit the Fairy Pools. Seriously, you can’t I tell you! Not only is it a really enjoyable, easy walk, but there are so many varying waterfalls, that you will have plenty to look at.

When I went, I found the car parking to be much improved since my last visit, and I read they are still hoping to do more…planning some public toilets was one improvement I heard they were thinking about. The car park now is much larger, and can accommodate campers with no issue, and it’s so close to the beginning of the walk, that it is the perfect place to start.

I parked up and noted that the weather was yet again pretty grim looking, so wrapped up well and started on the long hike. I saw my first waterfalls straight away, but decided that I would make my way to the last one first, then photograph them as I made my way back. In hindsight, this wasn’t the best idea, as I completely underestimated just how busy this area would get as the day went on, and as I started, it was definitely quieter.. although.. actually, maybe this wasn’t the wrong decision. At the end the prettiest of the falls was still very quiet when I arrived… so I retract that last line…or at least need to add that maybe there is no ‘good’ time as such. This walk can, if you want, take you all day so my advice would be to simply plan which falls you want the most, and pick either the beginning or end of the day for those, and simply spread out the remainder for the rest of your time there.

I did stop by each fall and see what shots I might be able to get with them nonetheless. I spotted one photographer taking pictures of one, standing in such a position that I couldn’t work out how he had gotten there. I ended up assuming he had crossed the river earlier, and had come down on the other side. He would certainly get a nice shot from where he was standing, and I didn’t recognise the falls he was photographing either, so well done him, they are clearly not ones that get snapped very often! I carried on walking, seeing a few other people on the way, interested that even this early there were several groups here. At one point, where it felt as though the falls seemed to come to the end of their best ones, and I heard at least two groups say that this was probably as far as they go, turning round and going back towards the beginning. If you come here, and you haven’t seen the main attraction.. my advice here would be KEEP GOING! I now realise that these people had missed the prettiest of them all… and you really can’t miss them when you get there.

As I got to the end, I was really pleased I had gone straight there. With just one other couple there, I pretty much had the falls to myself, and was over the moon with the view. The weather, though grim, had held off, and I had had enough wherewithal to have worn Wellington boots… the plan was to walk right into the river and get that well photographed shot looking straight at the falls. River plodded happily next to me, very pleased when it came to getting our feet wet, so I just let her enjoy the water as I started to set up.

This was where I felt a little sad, and worried.. I really wanted to get one of those lovely long exposure photos, with the soft water, but without my big stopper, I was really concerned how I would best achieve the shot I hoped for. I got everything ready, and decided to look at what filters I did have, and see what I could do for the best. I still had my little stopper, so put that in the bit of holder that just about still held a filter..it did help a little, but wasn’t quite enough to darken it to the level I needed…in the end I pulled everything out, put a polariser on, held the little stopper, then ended up holding groups of everything else I had together manually in front of the lens. It looked clumsy and ridiculous, but when the shot had finally taken, I could do nothing but stare at the screen. I had never taken a shot like it….it was everything I had ever wanted in a photo. The clarity was spot on, the ominous clouds bounced across the top of the mountain behind, the water fell with such a lovely soft flow, and the light was amazing. I just kept taking more of the same. Probably no point to that, but I really wanted to keep this image! Behind me, I could see lots of blue sky coming, but this photo had nothing but the moody clouds, and they simply stayed put, giving me plenty of opportunities to get high wispy bits, or lower angrier clouds. I felt on top of the world!

Once I had the all the shots I could get, I began the slow wander back…and as each moment passed it got hotter and hotter, as all the blue chased the cloud away. People arrived in their swimming costumes, and bathed in the deeper pools, many paddled in the shallower water…I trudged along in wellingtons, a jumper and a thick rain coat…much to the confused looks of all the holidaymakers! I didn’t care…I continued walking into the river on the falls that I could get to, and tried to catch as much as I could on my way back. As the crowds built it got harder and harder, but I waited patiently where I could, and just took my time. This was my plan for today, and I was in no real hurry. River was also having a ball, completely in her element she was in and out of the water, laying down, swimming, and just shaking all the drips off constantly, and really seemed to enjoy this hike far more than any of the others. In all, it took me most of the day.

The numbers of different types of falls, surprised me. They weren’t all gentle bubbling brook ones, some were high and thin, some came from different angles towards themselves, crashing down in one big mass of water, one came down so tidily, that the flow away was crystal clear, showing the rock formations, and colours clearly. Others were full on bubbling masses of water over the boulders. The variations were striking every time! This is a photographers dream for sure, and the challenges varied with each and every fall. Some were very easy and obvious shots, some only had one spot you could shoot from, but several others offered a few options if you felt a little adventurous.

One such fall was towards the beginning of the walk (or towards the end as I was making my way back to the start in my case). I noticed this one because of the photographer that had stood there earlier in the day. As I got back to it, I wondered how he HAD actually gotten to his position, and feeling brave, decided to climb down towards the river to get a closer look. As luck would have it, having wellingtons on helped massively, because I was able to navigate across the river, and get across to the other side after all. Round here I was able to walk back to the waterfall the man had been photographing, and I couldn’t help but fall in love with the location. It just felt SO calm and peaceful, and almost like I had a private little glen to myself. No-one else was here, and during the time I spent here, only one other couple ventured across. The light by now was very harsh, and it was really difficult to get a shot I was happy with, but I spent some time trying nonetheless. The atmosphere here was just so gorgeous, I didn’t really want to leave, and River obviously felt much the same, as she was just content to lay in the grass, sunning herself. I must find out when the light is at its best for this secluded spot, and try again… well any excuse really will do! I suspect, in times of heavy rain or snow melting, crossing the river will be MUCH harder so maybe I should just rejoice in my luck on this day, and remember the joy and peace I felt at this spot.

I eventually got back to the bottom towards the evening, and ended up shooting the twin falls at the start of the walk. These seem to get overlooked a lot, and yet they are so very pretty. I guess most people aim for the main walk at the start of their walk, and by the time they get back here, they are a bit waterfalled out! This should have been a pretty easy and straightforward shot, but I didn’t bargain on the famed midges coming out to play, and battled them terribly, as they tickled every exposed bit of skin I had in their attempts to land and have their meal for the night! I snapped quickly, and ended up pretty much running from the spot. Next time, I will try this shot earlier in the day, or at a different season!!

As a first serious scouting of the area however, I could see lots of potential at many of the spots I shot, and I could see a lot of learning curves, on where I went wrong. One of my biggest issues ended up being that stark, strong sunlight, which pretty much whited most of the falls out, and my skill set struggled to work out how to take the photos to show them to their best. I was over the moon, however, to see one of my best shots to date come out this walk, highlighting to me where my photographic learning is progressing.

I cant wait to go back!!