Dave Roth, a professional American photographer had reached out to me to assist him in touring some of the best Scottish locations. He was over form the USA for just one week and we decided to take the VW camper to some of the locations.
In Scotland, the weather is king. This requires quite a bit of planning with plenty of plan B’s for sudden changes in conditions. The wild goat in the image below knows this better than anyone else. He and I spent a miserable afternoon on top of the mountain just before I met up with Dave.
I will probably post a video in the next few weeks to give people an idea on how to shoot the Highlands. It will be aimed at people who are planning on photographing the area for the first time.
Wild goat in Glencoe
Dave already had an idea for the locations and types of images he wanted. Top on his agenda were highland cows and cottages in their environment, as well as those iconic landscape shots. Most of the time I sat and watched Dave stalking his cows, but in the end, I could see he had a point and getting them in the right environment did look cool.
Once we had stocked up with whisky and food, we climbed Glencoe to shoot the classic Buachaille Etive Mor. The best way to do this is from the mountain opposite called Beinn a Chulaiste. This is quite an easy climb but a bit slippery in places. We set out in the dark and got up there for sunrise.
Dave Roth in action at Glencoe at sunrise
Buachaille Etive Mor
After this we headed for breakfast in Glencoe and some serious abuse from the waitress after we demanded sausages that were not square. Apparently, there are only square sausage’s in Scotland. Trying to explain the logic of a square sausage to an American is quite a task. (By the time Dave left for the USA he was still struggling with the square sausage and haggis concept.)
Then we headed to the Isle of Skye. This is best visited out of the holiday season. In recent years the island has become choked with tourists being bussed in from all over the world.
However, if you are prepared to climb a mountain or hike for a few miles you soon get away from the masses who are being force-fed square sausages and will find yourself in some of the remotest mountain and coastal landscapes in the UK.
For a true adventure, you can’t go far wrong at the village of Elgol in the South of Skye. In the past I have walked to Loch Coruisk and Camasunary from here, which takes a few days. These trips are full of excitement such as “The Bad Step” and freezing deep rivers to cross. A great night has been had in the past at the bothy on the route, meeting other wet and cold travellers to play cards with and share a bottle of whisky in the candlelight as a storm hits the coast. Dave and I only had the afternoon this time to shoot across the Loch where the awesome Black Cuillin mountains dominate the skyline. This is a great sunset location.
Highland Cow - Skye - Dedicated to Dave!
We spent the night in the VW camper in Sligachen before heading off very early in the morning to climb up to the Old Man of Storr. What a wipe out that was. The weather was appalling. This is the Isle of Skye so weather like this should come as no surprise, you just have to make the best of it.
Old Man of Storr - A wet Dave (See my Scotland page to see what it really should look like)
Back down to the town of Portree for more square sausages. Then we headed off to catch the ferry from Uig in the north of the island. Before that, I had noticed a location for some waterfalls that looked good. We bagged our shots and boarded the ferry to the Isle of Harris as the sun set over the Isle of Skye.
Waterfall - Isle of Skye
There is always amazing food on the Caledonian Macbrayne Ferry. Never eat before you get on one of these ferries. A beer and the canteen food will set you up for the rest of the trip.
Dave shooting from the ferry. I saw my first whale there.
On Harris we camped in the VW. Morning sunrise was OK. Not the best I have seen. Luskentyre beach was our morning location. The best part was a visit from the Highland cows and a big fat boys breakfast in the van after a quick swim in the ball clenchingly cold waters of the Atlantic! It is only another 500 miles to Iceland from here.
Dave on Luskentyre Beach
Luskentyre Beach with full moon setting
The afternoon was spent going around the Golden Road and then heading for sunset at the North of Isle of Lewis and its stunning sea stacks.
We got to the sea sacks just in time for sunset. One of the best locations to shoot from has become impassable in recent years as the cliff path had collapsed. I decided to make an attempt on this lower location. Dave was handed over the van keys, a map, a fridge full of food and a bottle of whisky. If anything should go wrong for me on the climb down, he would be fully equipped to cope by himself. I then used some of my climbing skills to bypass the rock fall and get to the bottom for a quick snap. I had to be quick as it was starting to get dark with the tide lapping at my feet.
Isle of Lewis sea stacks
We headed towards the Callanish Stone Circles which are 5000 years old and older than Stonehenge. Dave and I hit the stones, dog-tired, just after midnight. However, it was a great experience with the moon, which was still there when we revisited for sunrise in the morning.
Standing Stones - Isle of Lewis
A bit of a road trip through the Isle of Lewis and we hit the ferry back to Ullapool on the mainland. A great evening was spent drinking and eating at the Ceilidh Place Hotel/Bar. We managed to sort ourselves out while Dave recovered from a middle-aged hot flush. In reality, we had very little sleep by this point and it was not going to get better with a 4 am start to climb Stac Pollaidh the following morning.
Assent on the side of Stac Pollaidh
What a sight awaited us as we slogged our way up the side of Stac Pollaidh. A cloud inversion was below us in the valley next to Mt Suilven with the sun rising above. These were technically difficult conditions to capture the images in, so we set to the task before reaching the summit.
As we summited, a lady doctor from the Cairngorms clambered past us and got the top spot for sunrise. (If you read this, I will send you a copy of the shot)
Summit of Stac Pollaidh
Back down the mountain we hit Ullapool again and treated ourselves to another big breakfast at Ceilidh Place Hotel/Bar
Then it was along drive back to drop Dave off and the ned of out trip. We did get the odd image on the road trip as the sunset again.
View towards Loch Ness