Highland

So I ended up in Glencoe twice in the one week, first trip I didn't bother coming here as I knew when I came up on the Sunday my friends would want to stop here. That became an absolute definite after we ran into a snow storm on the way in which gave a nice fresh dusting of snow everywhere and was a total transformation from my trip on Wednesday, which was a beautiful Spring day.

Loch Duich Scottish Highlands

Eilean Donan (Scottish Gaelic: Eilean Donnain) is a small tidal island where three sea lochs meet, Loch Duich, Loch Long and Loch Alsh, in the western Highlands of Scotland.

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The Quiraing (in Gaelic: A' Chuith-Raing), Isle of Skye, Scotland.

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I was recently asked why the skies are always so ominous in my photos. The only answer that I can think of is this...

"And as he drove on, the rainclouds dragged down the sky after him, for, though he did not know it, Rob McKenna was a Rain God. All he knew was that his working days were miserable and he had a succession of lousy holidays. All the clouds knew was that they loved him and wanted to be near him, to cherish him, and to water him."Douglas Adams So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

This will be the last posting for a little while, but I will still be around to view and comment.

A view of the Three Sisters of Glencoe, taken from near the Ralston Memorial.

Thought this kind of sums up things today... :-D The old boat at Corpach once again serves as a great subject and Ben Nevis is not a bad backdrop!

Isle of Skye

View Large On Black here A small falls between Applecross and Loch Carron, Eas Ban Falls, horrible weather but great for waterfalls... The white of the falls cutting through the bleak mountainous landscape. 23 second exposure @ F22 ISO200

View my most interesting shots on Flickriver here: www.flickriver.com/photos/pete37038/popular-interesting/

After a week of hardly any Sun I got lucky this afternoon, as it was beautiful weather, quite a rare sight on Skye. ;-) No wind and a lot of sun. Towards the sunset though, the sun got behind clouds and the light got boring. Fortunately, a few minutes before sunset, there was a small hole in the clouds and the cliffs became red for a minute or two. And, that was it, no more colors after that.

Isle of Skye, Scotland

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Old man of Storr Isle of Skye

This is one of those wiil-it-work / won't-it-work shots. A strong wind from the sea made it difficult to stand upright, along with never-ending groups of tourists clustering around which made it impossible to set up the tripod, left me with one option: drop the ISO as low as possible, set the f/stop as small as it would go, brace myself against the fence and hope for the best. For a hand-held Long Exposure in such adverse conditions, I'm quite pleased with the result.

Many thanks to SkyeBaggie and SkyeWeasel for all the hints and tips, and it was great to have the chance to meet you both.

The Glenfinnan Monument sitting at the head of Loch Shiel. In 1815, the Jacobite cause was no longer a political threat. Alexander Macdonald of Glenaladale, a minor branch of the Clan Donald, built a memorial tower at Glenfinnan to commemorate the raising of the standard of the Young Pretender. The tower, which is surmounted by a statue of an anonymous Highlander, was designed by the Scottish architect James Gillespie Graham. The monument's location at Glenfinnan was made possible because in 1812 a new road - built by Thomas Telford - opened between Fort William to Arisaig.

Since 1938, the Glenfinnan Monument has been in the care of the National Trust for Scotland. The Trust have also constructed a visitor centre, which provides tickets, information and exhibitions, and a shop, cafe, and toilets. The tower has also become a monument to Alexander Macdonald, who died before its completion. Hundreds of Jacobite enthusiasts gather at the tower each year on 19 August to remember the Rising of '45.

Carrbridge's most famous landmark is the old packhorse bridge, from which the village is named. The bridge, built in 1717, is the oldest stone bridge in the Highlands. It was severely damaged in the "muckle spate" of 1829 which left it in the condition seen today. It is now unstable and is recommended only to be viewed from afar. Jumping off the bridge into the River Dulnain below had long been a popular pastime for younger locals and the more adventurous tourists.

SCOTLAND 2014 - Skye

The view from Elgol across Loch Scavaig towards the Black Cuillins, converted this shot to b&w as the sky was kind of featureless

Quiraing, Isle of Skye

The very fine Falls of Kirkaig in Assynt, North West Scotland. Well worth the walk along the river into the wilderness to reach them, and also to continue further to get a good view of that iconic mountain, Suilven. I quite liked the little Mountain Ash tree, so included it to give a bit of balance to the picture - but I appreciate that some may feel it is a distraction from the main subject. See what you think.

Just when you think it's safe to go back to the car....

This had been one of the best shoots for a long time, with hours of great light, and crazy conditions, the sun had dropped down below the horizon and I was just skirting along the coast looking for potential compositions for (possibly) dramatic black and white images, I never ever leave the scene until about 30 mins after the sun has dropped, today was no different but nothing much was happening in the sky until this epic scene just kicked off for about 5 minutes with breaks in the clouds, some absolutely beserk and very unusual colours came and went quickly, thankfull I'd already found this little spot and was pretty much set up to shoot so I just stayed until it was over and fined tuned the spot I was in a few times to get it exactly how I wanted it.

An absolutely fantastic end to a completely epic day.

Hopefully I'll be uploading quite a few more shots than usual due to being housebound most of the time, stay safe out there folks.

Lots more images from this shoot, and others, on my website here - updating regularly

Going back to Scotland again, this time the fantastic Talisker Bay, Isle of Skye.

I was lucky to get this image as we had got here later than we would have liked due to Mike's car unfortunately getting 2 punctures from a massive pothole the previous day and the resulting need to be recovered from Portree to Broadford to the only place that had 2 tyres the right size.. Complete nightmare but at least there were 2 tyres on the Island that fitted or it could have been a whole lot worse....!

When we got here after a walk on a path that was more like 'ice rink' the sun was already really low and I had to work really quickly to try and get it 'bursting' against the cliff in the gap between the sea stack.

All fingers and thumbs I managed to drop my polariser several times, somehow it landing on sand (thankfully) each time instead of on the big rocks dotted all around the place.

But it all worked out and I'm pleased with this one, we managed quite a few shots from this location as even after the sun had dropped the light remained decent for quite a while, followed by a really stormy sky that rolled in after sunset, amazingly no kit broken at this location, which is getting increasingly rare for me !

Mike has done a great vlog of this trip to Skye in several parts, well worth a watch, they can be found here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN25teBiXYA

My website - new images now uploaded

An old decommisioned boat on the banks of Loch Linnhe, looking towards Ben Nevis in the distance.

The view from Elgol across Loch Scavaig towards the Black Cuillins, although the sky is pretty featureless I kept this shot in colour due to the little bit of colour from the sunset creeping in on the left handside.

Neist Point

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...also known as the old bridge at Sligachan. As you can see, the height of the central span is not inconsiderable - and no Paul, I've checked, there is no Indianna Jones style invisible bridge stretching across from the new bridge to the old one. I can however see how one would be completely taken in with the spectacular view across the river to the iconic three Munros of Sgurr nan Gillean, Am Basteir and Bruach na Frith. God, I love this place!

Quiraing, Isle of Skye

Please View On Black Click Here Sligachan Bridge, February snow covering the Cuillin range, just over an hour later here it was sunshine and clear blue skies, rare at the best of times!

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Glenfinnan Viaduc

River Etive, Glencoe