Quiraing

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

SCOTLAND 2014 - Skye

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Quiraing, Isle of Skye

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

Quiraing Isle of Skye

Quiraing, Isle of Skye

The Quiraing (in Gaelic: A' Chuith-Raing) is a landslip on the eastern face of Meall na Suiramach, the northernmost summit of the Trotternish on the...

Quiraing, Isle of Skye

The truly spectacular Totternish Ridge caught in the spotlight of the sun breaking through the cloud after several days of rain. This was the third day in a row that I had tried to get this shot, it's one of Skye's 'Must do' places for 'Togs!

Quiraing, Isle of Skye

I'm in a period of enforced archive mining at present, so here's my take on the Totternish tree from a few years ago. As you can see it was a bit of a mixed weather day, mostly rain but with occasional short breaks in the clouds. I was fortunate to catch the famous little tree when it was momentarily lit up in one of those short breaks in the cloud, and it's brightness contrasted well with the gloom on the hills of the Totternish ridge beyond.

Another photo from the archives. I still remember this morning very well. It was the first morning with magic light on the isle of sky. The 6 previous mornings I got up 4am just to go back to back - rain. Even this morning had it raining but I went to the quiraing anyway and was rewarded. The clouds broke up and I finally had my magic moment.

tech: hoya HD Pol + Lee 0.6 hard GND.

Edit: Thanks to various comments I've done a little adjutment to the saturation of this photo. In parts it's now slightly reduced

Decided to take another shot of the well known tree at the Quiraing since I missed it out last time I was on Skye in Feb.

Quiraing, Isle of Skye

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...

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Quiraing, Isle of Skye

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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largest active landslip in the UK on the Isle of Skye, Trotternish Peninsula.

Quiraing, Isle of Skye

Another from my wee wander up behind the Needle and on up to the Table. Skye and its weather really playing interesting. It's funny what a wee...