Oh the Scottish weather! What more can I say about my recent trip to the Isle of Skye.
As most readers of my blog will know, I have been to Skye on several occasions now. I try to go in different seasons to experiment and experience all the weather conditions. The one thing about the Western Isles of Scotland is that no season is predictable and this was certainly no exception.
I always have two options for my journey to Skye, one being the A9 and the other being the A82 which is about 45 minutes longer. Since I was travelling during the day and lacking “good light” I was sorely tempted with the shorter of the two routes. Ultimately though, I chose the A82 as it goes directly through Glencoe. I wasn't hoping for anything other than the scenic route through the mountains. The weather was pretty miserable but I stopped off at the Kings House for a break, it was gloomy, misty and drizzling so I was about to set on my way when this deer popped up right in front of me!. Well the setting was perfect with Buachaille Etive Mor as the back drop, I just had to take a couple of snaps.
Onwards to Skye! My main goals for this trip was to capture the conditions of the Scottish Highlands and what better place to start than Sligachan. A beautiful setting between Broadford and Portree where the rivers, streams and waterfalls all lead to the magnificent Black Cuillins hills.
The weather managed to clear slightly in time for a sunset shot but sadly there wasn't a particularly good sky. I made my way up the side of the river (wellies needed), the ground is completely marsh land, especially the further you venture. I had previously been to the same spot in October but was hoping for a stronger current of water to exaggerate the flow. I say they are falls but they are mainly just drops in the river, some only a couple of feet but do make for a great image. This first photo is wide angle covering the wholeupper scene, with so much cloud cover, the foreground was extremely dark while the sky remained somewhat brighter.
The second image was more difficult to get jumping onto the middle of the very slippery rocks to get much closer to the base trying to add some dynamism and drama.
As there was snow predicted in a couple of days, I decided that I would come back to the exact spot for Tuesdays sunset.
Monday and I headed for my favourite location on the Isle, Quiraing!. Unfortunately, the winds were so high I could barley stand. Maybe not my finest choice of destinations given the 50 mile an hour wind speed. There was no chance of getting a tripod to stay vertical on top of the ridge so took cover between the road and the lower part of Quiraing, not my first choice for sure but the light was reasonable and wanted to get a shot. I searched for a composition and found this stream, running down the cliff to the road, which in-turn, was leading to the pinnacles. Not my usual kind of photograph but I think it works well.
As I was staying in Broadford, the road back passes by Sligachan again so had to stop off for a shot of the bridge with beautiful light above. The winds had slightly dropped and was able to get about a 15 second exposure using an umbrella to shield the wind.
My final day on Skye and the Met office was actually spot on for a change, I woke up to snow!
I didn't want to travel too far that morning, but I did venture out. Unfortunately, the sky was filled with snow clouds, grey and with no definition.
Back to the hotel for a spot of breakfast! As I was still so early, I was the only person dining in the restaurant. The waiter greeted me andasked if I would like the window seat, with the gorgeous settings outside and the large windows, how could I refuse. Waiting for my pot of tea and anticipating the buffet breakfast, I went to make a slice of toast. On arrival back to my table, I started to butter my toast but spreading wasn't that easy, I opted for a different knife as I had four different ones at the table. “Yip, this one is sharper” as I could actually get through the butter.
The restaurant was still empty but I got the sense of being watched! I looked up the the waiter is standing centre floor just looking at me with a slight shake of the head. Feeling a little uncomfortable, I looked out the large windows onto the bay only to see a reflection of my jacket at the table behind me. “OH NO” I came back from the toaster and sat at the wrong table. By this time, other guests were being shown to there chairs, meanwhile Im doing my upmost to disguise my actions, swapping cutlery and wiping the table with my sleeve. Luckily the waiter was so nice, he had been watching me the whole time and saw the funny side of my cleaning escapades.
I have been to Skye many times in the last couple of years but never with snow on the lower grounds. The winds had dropped to a manageable level where I can actually use a tripod, so back to Quiraing. As I approached, it started snowing again and it was lying on the roads, my first thought was that I might not get up the hill to the ridge. It turned out to be fine and to my amazement, I was the only car! It was sunrise but no light, just a grey somber looking sky with not so much as a hint of colour. I went on the walk the ridge anyway as the whole area had a unique look about it almost painterly. I walked for about 3 kilometres, before the blizzards started, pondering how much snowfall would come? I stayed in the same spot for about 2 hours, just waiting on any window opportunity I could get with a clear shot. While standing about, I heard what seemed to be a dump truck unloading material or rocks, now this is a common sound in central Scotland so my brain didn't compute the noise initially. It took a few seconds to realise where I was, nope! “no trucks here!” part the the ridge had given way and collapsed sending boulders tumbling, eerie to say the least. In a bit of a rush now I fired off a couple of shots and headed back with thoughts of the slippery drive back.
By now it was snowing heavily, to the point where I couldn't even see the road! My car, a small front wheel drive, wasn't coping too well so I stopped at the Old Man of Storr for a break. A spot of lunch and a stupid brain wave, “ let’s go up Storr” no idea what I was thinking about I left the car and headed upwards with full winter gear on. Always the optimist, I thought I would get a break in the weather to get the camera out. Oh my goodness, how I wrong was I! snow, hail, strong winds, truly terrible conditions. I still got the camera out for one shot to showcase the conditions of a white Storr.
Back to Sligachan for a rest and to my surprise, out comes the sun! This is the shot I have been looking for. I started with the usual shot of the bridge as the light looked fantastic, from there I headed upstream to the waterfalls. It really is remarkable how snow changes the overall image as you can see from the photos. I stayed here until it was just about completely dark, not one of my better moves as trying to navigatethe swamps is very tricky.
Time to head home via Glencoe to get another shot of the famous Buachaille Etive Morbut this time, it wasn't going to be a sunrise or sunset shot. As this was during the day, I went for a long exposure to give it come drama. It was perfect conditions for this as the clouds were moving quickly.
