Helloooo. It’s been a long time. I’ve just returned from a 16 day trip to Scotland. And yes I’ve taken lots of photos with which I’m gonna bore you over the next time ;-) ok hopefully it won’t be boring but it will be quite a few shots from Scotland I’ll post here.

First of all, hell it’s so true what’s told about the scottish weather. So unpredictable. In 16 days I had 5 decent sunsets and only 2 sunrises. Else it was rain or fog in the morning and a downpour in the evening. Not what I had imagined. I knew the weather would be rough but the timing couldn’t have been worse. Damn but I like to shoot sunsets and sunrises, the weather just didn’t let me.

Besides we did have quite fine weather, during day there’s usually rain followed by sun followed by rain and so on which creates sweet light and the possibility to shoot even on midday. A thing which I normally don’t do. But with those dramatic landscapes around, Scotland really provides for a landscape photographer. So even if I didn’t get all the shots I had planned for I’m quite satisfied with the result of the trip.

The first photo I’m showing here is a very special one for me. It was the first decent sunrise during the whole trip. I was in Scotland for 10 days then and quite frustrated because every time the alarm clock ringed at 4am I looked out of the window and saw rain and grey featureless skies. I checked again every hour but usually no change. We had been in the Trossachs 1 day, 3 days Glencoe and now already 6 days on Skye but I hadn’t taken one sunrise shot with which I was totally happy. This unnerved me quite a bit. The first morning in the Trossachs I was out shooting sunrise but it wasn’t the dramatic light and the colors I like. Maybe I’m a bit spoiled ;-) On the morning I took this photo again I woke up to be greeted by rain but it was only one more day left on Skye, so now or never. If I’m not gonna get the Old Man of Storr I’ll at least try the Quiraing and hope for a little clearing in the east to let the light through.

During the 30 Minutes drive north I went past the Storr where again thick clouds were hanging as low as the Old Man, a sight I was quite used to by now. But beyond further north the sky cleared up and I became very excited. I might get a good photo this morning. I parked the car and started shooting, first facing east and then I walked to the more classic viewpoints. The Quiraing is a place where it’s very hard to get a unique photo. I think nearly every comp was done before but I so wanted to shoot this place and damn I don’t care if this view isn’t a special comp nobody has ever come up with. It’s just beautiful light which only for about 1 minute painted the clouds in the south with those nice colors. A fleeting moment but I had the shot and then went on exploring some other comps. What made this moment even more satisfying was that I was the only photographer there and had the whole place for myself. This is not so usual in Scotland and especially not at such iconic views. So that’s the positive effect of the bad weather ?

Details: Hoya HD Polarizer, Lee 0.6 hard GND

cheers

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Another from a recent trip to Skye and the sunrise on the Quiraing.

The landscape is beautiful but the light was awful, I'm not at all happy of this panoramic stitch, but I don't know if I will go back there in the...