Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye, Scotland –
116mm, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/60sec; Nikon D7100, Tamron 70-200mm G2
Scotland
Fairy Pools
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8mm, ISO 100, f/11, 1/25sec – Nikon D7100, Sigma 8-16mm f4.5-5-6 DC HSM,
The Fairy Pools are one of THE highlights on the Isle of Skye. Everyone has heard about them, everyone wants to see them and everyone has most likely seen these dreamy, colourful, long exposed images of the pools and waterfalls.
When I was there it was crowded and the light was little to non-existent. That’s a shame. You can wait and you can come back, but things did not really pan out for me during my stay on Skye if it comes to the Fairy Pools.
That doesn’t mean I’m unhappy with the end result. In fact I do love the image. The colours of the grass, the most beautiful blue in the water – all there. Though a bit of proper light, a bit of sun shining into the pools…. it would have been too nice.
Kilmuir Cemetery
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Kilmuir Cemetery – where Scottish heroine Flora MacDonald is buried.
Beauty of the Isle of Skye
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The week here on the Isle of Skye is flying, so is the wind…. or the rain and sun in an ever evolving game of who wins the battle for supremacy for the day.
So photographing Skye isn’t an easy thing. The light changes constantly. The same moment you find a composition the rain may well force you away from it as soon as you have your gear ready.
I haven’t taken many photographs so far. But the ones I got are meaningful. None more so than the image of the Old Man of Storr – of course – but this one here is also an image that evoked emotion when processing the RAW file in Adobe Lightroom.
It’s an image with a small story behind it. As it goes I was taking in a smallish hike along the ruins of St. Mary’s church outside of Dunvegan. During the way up I looked back down into the valley and immediately the vista stroke me as the perfect picture of what Skye is all about. Rolling hills, lush green grass, rain clouds and fog hanging low in the mountains….
But the light wasn’t there. It was a nice vista for the human eye to see in flesh then but appeared flat and dull as a photograph. So I finished the hike which was a loop and lead me back to where it began. All the way promising myself to head back up again if the light would change to see whether I could capture the image as envisioned in my mind.
The outcome is the lead photo above. It started to rain minutes after pressing the shutter.
The Old Man of Storr
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I am currently on the Isle of Sky. A week long holiday, immersing myself in the spectacular landscape this part of Scotland has to offer. High on the “must see” list is – of course – “The Storr”. It’s the one image many will most likely have in mind when they think of Skye. So do I.
Photographed in the millions, to get an image of the “old man” that is unique seemed a distant dream. My idea of getting a sunset image went to pieces the first evening I tried. Masses of people hiking up there, the mountain top hardly to see under a thick cover of fog.
Getting up early the next morning, the hope of a beautiful sunrise image with soft light and sunrays illuminating the mountain – shattered upon arrival. No light, only fog. At least no other people around. Now I’m here, let’s get up anyway.
Efforts were rewarded. Eventually. It took a while and it was only a brief moment. Yet a moment of glory. The sun breaks through the clouds while the fog gives way – a matter of seconds. The world around me is glowing in the most beautiful flush green. I get my shots away, a pano in mind, and bang gone is the light as quickly as it came. It never came back….
Shoot It Now 