Glencoe - One Location, 3 Compositions
It’s almost impossible to drive through Glencoe and not want to stop to take some landscape photographs. In the blog this week I make an unscheduled stop in Glencoe and take 3 photographs from one location.
Glencoe
There are some locations for landscape photographers that are virtually impossible to drive through without stopping to take a photograph. In my mind, Glencoe is one such location. It is stunningly beautiful and impressive no matter the weather. I still have many happy memories of my last visit.
Check out this video of my last visit to Glencoe.
A few weeks ago I was heading up to Harris & Lewis for a week-long photography trip. With such an amazing destination one could be forgiven for trying to get there as soon as possible. However, when your route takes you through the heart of Glencoe there was no way I wasn’t going to take at least one photograph.
Fortunately for me, my journey from Devon would allow me to arrive in Glencoe for around sunset. With so many locations to pick from in Glencoe, what would I photograph?
Stob nan Cabar and Lochan na Fola
I first discovered the beauty of this location on a workshop I attended last year. Despite its grandeur, it’s not that well photographed and can be easily missed despite its roadside location. As I photographed it at dawn last time, I thought I would try it at dusk this time.
I wasn’t feeling any pressure to take an image so I spent a little more time experimenting with my composition. While I would normally only post one image from a location, I thought it would be interesting to show you the three variations I have.
Stob nan Cabar from Lochan na Fola (Vertical), Glencoe, Scotland - Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 at 16 mm, 0.8 seconds at ISO 64, f/13, Lee Filters Circular Polariser, ND Grad.
Stob nan Cabar from Lochan na Fola (Landscape), Glencoe, Scotland - Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 at 18 mm, 1.0 seconds at ISO 64, f/13, Lee Filters Circular Polariser, ND Grad.
Stob nan Cabar from Lochan na Fola (Panoramic), Glencoe, Scotland - Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 at 16 mm, 0.8 seconds at ISO 64, f/13, Lee Filters Circular Polariser. 8 Image panoramic stitch, cropped to 6:17.
All three images benefit from the beautiful autumnal colours of the ground, and just the right amount of cloud cover to get some light reflected from the setting sun. While I do like all three, I think it is perhaps the first image I prefer the most. Though this scene would typically be shot in landscape orientation, the portrait orientation of the first image works well.
There are a couple of things I like about the first image. First of all the reflection is larger, and clearer giving it more impact. I also like all the triangles in the image. There is, of course, the mountain and its reflection, but also from the cloud in the top right of the image which leads you back to the mountain.
It was a long drive from Devon to get to Glencoe so I only had time to shoot this one location, but what a location. It was unfortunately dark when I drove back through Glencoe, but even this brief opportunity to photograph it again means its right up near the top of my list of locations to photograph again.
So which image composition did you like best? What is your favourite Glencoe location to photograph? Let me know in the comments below.
P.S. Harris & Lewis
Oh, that Harris & Lewis trip I mentioned at the start of this blog…well…I hope to have a blog and video posted right here in a couple of weeks time.
Grey Mare's Tail and Loch Skene: A 5 Minute Photo Adventure
In this blog post, I share with you the story, photographs and video of my time photographing Loch Skeen and Grey Mare's Tail. This is another location I discovered just off the M74.
If you've been reading my blog over the last few weeks you'll have seen that despite being on a family holiday I still managed to capture images from Dalveen Pass, Kilchurn Castle, and Glen Etive. I even managed to make the experiences into some 5 Minute Photo Adventure videos. This was far more photography that I could have hoped for or even planned for.
So when I finally finished my holiday in Scotland and started the journey back I expected that was the end of my photography activities for this holiday. However, as with the idea behind shooting Dalveen Pass, I thought I might be able to do something similar for the journey back.
Amazing scenery but…
So yet again I picked up my copy of Photographing Scotland and looked for a suitable location. Almost on the opposite side of the M74 from Dalveen Pass, I found the location called Grey Mare's Tail. It looked perfect. Only a few miles off my route it had a big waterfall and a beautiful loch. I had a plan. I would drop my family off at Glasgow Airport, drive down the M74 and then stop and grab some images.
I departed for Glasgow Airport early in the morning and I soon started driving along the banks of Loch Awe. To my surprise there the water was calm and there was a lot of low lying mist hanging over the water. I already knew before I got to Kilchurn Castle that the conditions for taking photographs there would almost be perfect. Glassy water, low lying mist and a ruined castle…what more could you want?
It broke my heart to drive past Kilchurn Castle that morning. I could have taken some amazing photographs but I had to get to the airport. There simply wasn't time to stop. The amazing conditions didn't stop there though. All along the route to Glasgow, there was mist and the low-level cloud hanging about over water. As I approached Loch Lomond I was sure there was a cloud inversion and if I'd had time to ascend Ben Lomond I would have been treated to an epic show!
Grey Mare's Tail
It was tough having to drive past all those amazing locations in those weather conditions but that's just the way it is sometimes. However, I dropped off the family at the airport and started my journey to Grey Mare's Tail. When I arrived and saw the waterfall and the surrounding hills I was not disappointed. It looked amazing. Here's what I got up to:
The conditions weren't ideal, and I was really short of time, but this is definitely a location I need to revisit. There is a lot of different spots along the path past the waterfalls and up along the loch side. I wish I could have spent all day there. However, now I know where it is and what to expect, it's definitely getting added to my custom Google locations map.
Have you visited Grey Mare's Tail before? Did you make the ascent all the way up to Loch Skene? Let me know in the comments below.
The Photographs
Here are some of the images I captured during my brief time at Grey Mare's Tail and Loch Skeen (Skene).
Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 52mm, f/11, 25 seconds at ISO 64, Lee Filters Circular Polariser and 10 stop ProGlass IRND.
Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 32mm, f/11, 13 seconds at ISO 64, Lee Filters Circular Polariser and 10 stop ProGlass IRND.
Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 34mm, f/13, 1/8th seconds at ISO 64, Lee Filters Circular Polariser.
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