Julian Baird 01/12/2021 Julian Baird 01/12/2021

A Honeypot Location Does Not Guarantee Success

In my bog this week I share with you some of the photographs I took on a recent visit to Kilchurn Castle in Scotland. On paper, I had all the right conditions, but that doesn't necessarily mean the photography is easy.

Photographing Kilchurn Castle

Kilchurn Castle on the banks of Loch Awe is a well-photographed location. With a ruined castle, a Scottish loch, and mountains in the background, it’s no wonder why it’s so popular with tourists and photographers alike.

When a location becomes extremely popular with photographers it is often labelled as a honeypot location. Photographers have varying views on if you should shoot a honeypot location or not. I have shared my views on this topic in a previous video. Check it out to see if you agree.

While Kilchurn Castle could be considered a honeypot location, that is not the only reason I chose to photograph it. I have a personal connection with this location. I grew up just a few miles away from the castle, under the shadow of the very same mountain that dominates the background to the castle. As a child, I will have visited the castle, see it from the road, and passed by it on the train. The view of this quintessential Scottish castle has been engrained onto my brain.

Unfortunately, I became a photographer long after leaving the area, so I’ve only been able to photograph it a few times. I’ve had varying degrees of success and you can watch a video I made there below.

Returning to Scotland

After a break of over 2 years (thanks to things like COVID), I finally made a return trip in October. The purpose of the trip was to see family but as a photographer, there was no way I was going to leave my camera at home!

Given that Kilchurn Castle was so close to where I was going to be staying, I kept an eye on the forecast in the hope that an opportunity would present itself. Sure enough, one of the morning forecasts predicted mist and calm winds. While there are many shots of the castle in mist being reflected in the water, it’s a photograph that I hadn’t taken so I made my plans for a dawn shoot to see if I could put my own stamp on this classic viewpoint.

It was mid-week morning in October so at most I expected to see one or two other photographers there. To my surprise I got the last parking space when I arrived! As I walked down to the water's edge, I could see lots of photographers. There were probably at least two workshop groups there.

This didn’t spoil things for me. Far from it. I was still able to find a spot I was happy with, so I got my camera out and got shooting.

**A Misty Morning at Kilchurn Castle #1, Loch Awe, Scotland** - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 14mm, f/8, 1 second at ISO 64.

Nice Conditions But…

The conditions were just as predicted. There was mist floating about and the waters were mostly calm. You would of course think that this would make the photography easy, but that’s not the case. It’s always a combination of factors that make for the most interesting photographs. Mist, yes, but is it the right place to add atmosphere to the image? Calm winds, yes, but not everywhere so getting perfect reflections is challenging. Clouds in the sky? What clouds! And when I finally got light on the castle, it was harsh and most of the mist had cleared, and the wind had picked up.

**A Misty Morning at Kilchurn Castle #2, Loch Awe, Scotland** - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 30mm, f/8, 3 seconds at ISO 64, 16:9 crop.

It’s not to say that I’m unhappy with my images. Far from it. Each photograph has its own merits and I tried to make the most of the conditions at the time of capture. However, none of the images are successful in their own right. There is some sort of compromise in each one.

**A Misty Morning at Kilchurn Castle #3, Loch Awe, Scotland** - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 24-200mm f/4-6.3 at 48mm, f/11, 1/25th second at ISO 64, stitched panorama.

This is not to take away from the enjoyment of being there that morning. I loved it. Watching the reflections come and go, and to see the mist dance and snake over the landscape was a joy. But just because you are at a honeypot location with visually great conditions does not mean you can always make for a stunning image.

My advice is to always enjoy a location for what it is and make the best photograph you can. If you come away with an amazing image, it’s a bonus, but if not, don’t sweat it.

It might be a while before I get back to Kilchurn Castle, but no matter the conditions when I do, it’s a view that I will cherish.

Julian Baird 20/04/2018 Julian Baird 20/04/2018

Kilchurn Castle: A 5 Minute Photo Adventure (Special Edition)

In this blog post, I share with you the story, photographs and video of a near perfect morning at Kilchurn Castle on the banks of Loch Awe in Scotland.

More Landscape Photography on Holiday

In my recent blog post on Dalveen Pass, I talked about my desire to fit in some landscape photography while on an Easter holiday with the family. Dalveen Pass was easy to fit in as it was a short detour off the M74 while on the drive up to Scotland.

I was really looking forward to my family holiday but there was really no way I was going to spend a week in the highlands of Scotland and not do some sort of landscape photography! Fortunately, my family agreed (kind of) and so I was able to take a morning off from holidaying and take my camera out to capture some images. But where to go?

Kilchurn Castle

I was staying in a small village just outside of Oban in Argyll, so I could feasibly drive to any number of amazing locations. The obvious choice was to go to Glencoe. I had amazing photography adventure there last year, and normally I wouldn't hesitate to go back, but in the back of my mind, there was a location I wanted to visit even more.

Scotland has many amazing castles to photograph, but to me, Kilchurn Castle is one of my favourites. I grew up only a few miles away from Kilchurn Castle and so I had seen it from the road many, many times. I'd even visited the castle a couple of times. However, now that I am a landscape photographer I was desperate to revisit the castle to photograph it.

Picking the Right Day

With the exception of one day, I could pick any of my holiday days to visit Kilchurn Castle. A quick check of the weather forecast showed that the first full day of my holiday was for very light winds. This was ideal for the type of shot I wanted as there was a good chance that Loch Awe would be very still and provide some great reflections.

The only trouble was that I would need to get up very early and I would be tired from a long drive the day before. However, if the conditions were to be as predicted it would be so worth it!

Let's see how I got on.

As you can see the conditions were a bit of a mixed bag. I certainly got the glassy reflections on the loch, but these annoyingly disappeared for a while when the sun came up. The sky was also a little too clear. Some clouds would have added something a little extra to the images, but on the whole, it was a pretty special morning. Well worth getting up early for!

One thing you didn't see in the video was the other photographers that were there. I always enjoy having a chat with other photographers and the conversations I had were very welcome and good distraction from the cold. One of the photographers I chatted to, Dan Rooke, also has a YouTube channel, and I recommend you check it out here.

So have you photographed Kilchurn Castle before? Where would you have gone if you had just one morning to take photographs? Let me know in the comments below.

The Photographs

Here is a selection of the photographs I took that morning.