Glencoe.

Spent a great couple of days in Glencoe during February. like always, it starts with planning and preparation. I researched many different locations along with tide times and weather charts. My main goal on this trip was to capture the beautiful mountain landscape covered in snow and hope the met office and local weather stations were correct. 

I had originally planned to set off at 5.00am so I could catch a glimpse of the sun rising over Rannoch moor, but decided against this as temperatures were down to minus 5 degrees. I have driven this road a few times before and it can be treacherous, especially with those temperatures in the dark, (I was extremely close to hitting a few deer on my last visit.) 

So I set off at 11 o clock with a perfect weather forecast ahead only to be hit be torrential snow half way there, I had to pull over as I couldn't even see the road! So much for the Met office!! 

I was planning to stop off at Rannoch moor on the way up but the lighting was terrible, dark grey clouds with a hint of mist, occasionally, this can add to the drama of the shot but visibility was about 150 meters therefor, the mountains behind the moor were none existent. 

I travelled further down the A82 to take the tourist snap of the black rock cottage with the mountain in the backdrop. As you approach, you can see why this image has been captured a thousand times, the setting is like a picture postcard! As the lighting was very flat, I chose B&W as the contrast of the white cottage against the snowy mountain worked well. 

There was spots of rain in the air and the clouds were thickening, I was thinking that this might be my only shot of the day but travelled further north stopping to take in the absolute majesty of Buachaille Etive Mor, (the great herdsman of Etive). I just sat in the car as the rain ran down the window praying for it to stop! My camera was all set and tripod at the ready just in case my luck changed. YES, that moment of magic! A slight break in the clouds and a hint of light was touching the top of the pinnacle of the herdsman. It really was a special moment and the reason I take photos and create images.

As these moments don't last, I pulled out the camera and took the shot, I couldn't risk the time delay to put on an Grad filter so all camera settings were, F8 and ISO 64 for sharpness and all the out to 70mm on a 24-70mm. I usually try to get the shot in camera but it was really easy to fix in Lightroom.  Everyone has preferences to photos but I love this one!

Very similar to the first shot, I stopped off at a little quaint cottage sitting below the mountains, so isolated amongst the grandeur of the range, I found it hard not to take it. Again I chose B&W due to conditions and camera setting were the same as the previous shot. 

Day 2 was a little better for weather, I was off to a little village on the outskirts of Fort William named Caol, to shoot a ship wreck. I wanted a long exposure with maximum cloud movement. It is very difficult to predict a scene, with never having been before so a bit of guess work is involved in regards to the tide. To give myself a better chance, I went the night before to gauge the tide but that didn’t help! I arrived to find the spot I wanted to shoot from was submerged in water and the tide had came further in than my estimates. I was forced to shoot at the side of the wreck nearest the shore line. This was shot at F8, iso 64 with an exposure time of 208 sec. I was using a polarising filter to see through the water as the pebbles added a bit of interest and a Lee little stopper, 6 stop ND filter to give me motion in the clouds. If you didn't notice, that is Ben Nevis in the background!

Back I went to Etive Mor to take another shot of this awesome mountain. I stopped at the side of the road having done research on google earth. It’s wasn't a lay-by as such but I managed to park quite close to the Kings house hotel near a bridge. I loved the leading line of the river leading up to the mountain. My intention was to shoot this at sunset as the sun falls just behind it, as checked with sun surveyor. 

It was bitterly cold, -4 degrees and the water had frozen which made for a lovely photo. With the polariser on you could see through the ice unveiling the small pebbles and rocks beneath the surface. All my usual settings applied but F16 for DOF taking two photos, one focused on the foreground and one on the mountain to get maximum sharpness, then blending in photoshop. 

Like I said though, this was a scene I wanted to shoot at sunset so I came back later. I surveyed the scene and came across another shot. In amongst with marsh, there was a frozen segment of ground which gave a great foreground. This was to be my spot for sunset! unfortunately, I had a half hour wait and temperatures were falling. I had two pairs of thermal socks on and had just about lost all feeling in my feet. The dark clouds were coming in from my left and Im fearing the worst, stuck in the middle of a marsh, no light, no sunset. Im so glad my remote shutter was plugged into the camera as there was no way I could have done it, my hands were completely numb beyond the point of being sore now, I flicked up the shutter and waited with anticipation. I only had one shot at this because of the long exposure and the good light. Job done! 

Don’t think I've ever been as cold as that! 

Day three and desperate to capture Rannoch moor in good light! the temperatures were still below freezing so I was very hopeful of a decent shot.The light was stunning and gave an almost pinkish and surreal effect to the snow, the mountains in the background were truly a sight to behold. The only filter used was a ND grad to balance the sky and shot at F16 with base ISO.

I visited a number of other locations but Im a bit fussy with the lighting conditions, during a three day period, there is only 6 times to shoot photographs and the window of opportunity during this is very small indeed. Kilchurn castle was stunning and one to re-visit, as was castle Stalker. I also went to glen Orchy but conditions weren't quite right. 

On my way home, I couldn't resist the urge to revisit Rannoch moor as the forecast was fantastic.

I arrived in plenty of time to find the best position for my shot. Temperatures had dropped further leaving the moor completely frozen. As i approached, I was struck by what seemed to be circles in the ice, almost as if i were on another planet. As strange as it were, the shapes gave me a somewhat unusual leading line. Again, temperatures were about -6 and I was having difficulty keeping my lens and filters from freezing, constantly wiping frost and condensation. 

All of these shots were roughly the same exposure of 3 minutes using a 2 stop graduated filter and a 6 stop ND filter with ISO 64.

I forgot to mention my wife! She had to bear every minute of the cold with me and helped get all my gear sorter for the next shot. After the last shoot she was shaking so much, I thought she was dancing:) bless!  honestly though, I wouldn't have got some of the shots without her! 

Glencoe is such a fantastic place a so much to photograph. I only managed to capture a tiny proportion of what I wanted but was well with the effort. I will definitely be back for more!

For any info on locations, just contact me and I will be glad to help!