There Are Worse Places to Stop

Back in March I went on a photography adventure to Harris and Lewis in Scotland. It’s a very long journey from Devon to the Outer Hebrides so an overnight stop somewhere will always need to be on the itinerary. Fortunately, Devon to Glencoe is about doable in a day, so me and my friend decided a quick overnight there would be perfect. We’d be there in time for sunset, and we could sneak in a quick sunrise shoot before continuing our journey north.

It may sound like an odd thing to say, but when you only have a short amount of time in a location, particularly a location like Glencoe, deciding what to shoot is not as easy as it might appear. You are literally spoilt for choice so there was a lot of debate on where to shoot, both on the drive up and at the hotel. A decision had to be made though and after a bit map scrolling, we spotted a loch that if the weather forecast was accurate, it could be still enough for reflections.

The evening forecast was a little unsettled so we sacrificed the evening shoot to go and recce a spot on the loch. Best be prepared for the morning rather than turn up and then be in a panic when the conditions are good. As it turned out, it was a beautiful evening. There was plenty of drama in the sky with lots of clouds lit up by the setting sun, and there were also so nice reflections on the loch. The only thing missing was light on the landscape. But our time there wasn’t wasted as we both agreed that if we get great conditions the next morning, this will be the place to be.

We headed back the following morning and we weren’t disappointed! The loch was perfectly still, there was plenty of cloud in the sky, and though we had to be patient, we did finally get light on the hills and then magically on the trees! What a perfect way to start a two week photography adventure.

Just for fun, I’ve included two versions of my favourite image that I captured that morning. The first is the uncropped version. I love this version as it shows how good the reflections were. I also love the panoramic crop version. I’d be really tempted to print that version to have on my wall. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.