Just back from a couple of days in Glencoe shooting some landscape photos.  

As I have been to Glencoe so many times, I feel genuinely comfortable with the area and its surroundings. That said, you can sometimes become too reliant on the on common and most photographed scenes. 

I tried to focus on not getting any images already achieved in my portfolio while realising that every shot is different. 

I started my journey with with a sunset shot, I went to the Three Sisters. The forecast was meant to be good but you never know when you are in the mountains. I parked up and started to climb the hill on the opposite side to the Sisters to get a better vantage point of the valley. I have shot here in the past and knew exactly what  I wanted. There was slight colour at the end of the valley but I could visibly see the the snow drifting towards me. I am now getting storm alerts going off on my watch and with temperatures plummeting, I called it a day with 15 minutes to go until sunset. This is the very first time I have given up on a shoot. The shot turned out fine but I would have to give it another go the following day.

Day 2 and raring to go! Sunrise and Sunset within a about a 7 hour window. Rannoch Moor was the destination. I set off early with the Met Office promise of clear sky’s hoping for some star shots, unfortunately for me, there was complete cloud cover. I have no knowledge of forecasting but that was ridiculous, either that or they don’t update there apps that often. I arrived to find myself alone, no other photographers to be seen which is so unusual with a 8.15 sunrise on such a beautiful area.  With sunrise fast approaching, the clouds were dispersing leaving a solitary pink one directly above the glowing mountains. The composition was very simple and chose to shoot at 30mm to make the hills more prominent as oppose to my usual 16mm wide open.

Leaving Rannoch Moor, I went back to the previous nights position as the light was still superb with beautiful colour in the clouds. I managed to get a couple of shots in before the light changed dramatically. Everything went gloomy as I was heading further up the mountain. Another 100 meters up and it was getting darker, as the snow and clouds drifted across and down the valley below. I took these two pictures within half an hour of each other, It shows how quickly the mountain weather can change. 

For sunset, I ventured further down the A82 to get a full shot of Buachaille Etive Mor. I parked next to a wee bridge at the side of the road and headed for the river, about 200 yards along the marshy grassy embankment. I was hoping for another refection, its quite a popular choice of shot but still worth shooting. The wind had picked up a few miles an hour now which was very disappointing as that would ruin any chance of reflections. I was tempted to move location but having done this before and lost potentially good shots, I opted stay and the sun was setting in the perfect place, between the two mountains. Again, another straight forward composition, with the dominant mountain in the centre with the leading line of the river, the sun setting on the left and a hint of reflection. I shot a couple of pictures here with massively different results. The fist one as the sun was setting and the second, a much longer exposure creating a surreal effect. 

I am now absolutely freezing as having been standing in the same place for about 2 hours, it was time to make my way back to the car. With twilight gone and darkness set, torch in hand I made made my way back, with only the sound of the roaring cars from the A82 at my right hand side. About half way back, this wee creature darted past my foot! (Now for anybody that knows me, I really don’t do small creatures, especially furry ones.) I paused and pointed the torch at my feet, “A field mouse” my pulse now at about 150 and 2 seconds feel like a minute. The whole field mouse family decided to attack me. A quick shriek and I started running!! Now its not that easy with a 25kg backpack and tripod. With legs flailing, I danced back to the car with the occasional three metre step and extending my knees up to my chin. They were everywhere, Im not actually sure who was most scared, me or the mice. I can only imagine what the mice must have been thinking, “we are only little you big Jessy”  The passing traffic must have thought I was a complete lunatic. All I was thinking was “that photo was was never worth this” I was almost tempted to shout for help. 😁

On the third day I woke up to find not a breath of wind in the air, a perfect morning for some reflections. I went to the area opposite the Devil’s Staircase, an absolutely beautiful area with a small cottage, a stream and an imposing mountain as the backdrop. Most people normally shoot directly down the valley but as the sun was rising in the east, I wanted a bit of colour and impact in the photo so chose a spot further up the stream. It was a beautiful morning but there was still a band of cloud sitting on the distant horizon. I tried a lot of angles on this day before settling for this composition. To emphasise the reflections, I wanted quite a bit of movement in the clouds, I also wanted everything as sharp as possible. I shot this at F16 for DOF while using a six stop filter giving an exposure time of about 1 min 20 secs. I must say, I do like the way this turned out!

On my way home and with another freezing but calm morning, one last stop off at a previous shot I took on the first day, Rannoch Moor. I had just missed sunrise as I was at the wee cottage but there was still gorgeous light on the hills and beautiful reflections on the water. Although not a colourful shot, I still think it makes for a nice image.