Photographs and commentary by Dick Snoke
Introduction
I booked a trip with Backcountry Journeys (BCJ) to parts of Scotland I had not seen before. I had been to Scotland in 2014 with National Geographic, but that was a hiking itinerary adapted for photographers. The key failing of that trip was that we spent a lot fime travelling to places and not as much time actually photographing things. This trip appeared to be better suited to my desires since it was organized by photographers for photographers. However, this was my first venture with BCJ so I had not real expectations; just hopes.
Traveling To and From
My journeys to and from Glasgow were smooth and uneventful. The longest wait I had was at the bag drop on my leaving Atlanta. The flights were smooth, and since I had paid a bit extra I was seated in the class just below first class. I was comforatable, the food was good and I had no complaints. I can’t sleep on airplanes, so I was tired on arrival, but that’s normal for me. So I read some from a book series titled “Witches of Scotland” and dozed as I could. We had dinner and breakfast on the flight. I don’t recall the food details, but it was good.
I left at 1040 pm on a Friday and arrived at the hotel in Glasgow about 5:00 pm on Saturday. The room was comfortable and well equipped with electric outlets and USB ports for my various devices.
So I unpacked what was necessary and went to the bar to have a pint. We used a group chat on WaatsApp to communicate, so most of the group assembled in the bar before dinner. We had dinner reservations in the hotel dining room, and since it was raining, that is where we ate. I had fish and chips. It was very good and hit the spot. Since we had all spent the day travelling, dinner was short and we went to get some sleep.
Day One (Easter Sunday)
I got up, got cleaned up, and had breakfast with Phil and Paula Stone. We discovered too late that Tiffany (our BCY guide) had a large table reserved. So we joined the group there after eating. That did not last long since we all had to be packed and checked out by 10:30 am.
After check-out, the whole group convened for introductons and orientation. That did not take long. Three rules only: be on time, no religious talk, and no political talk. We all complied. We did drift into reliegion in discussing diets, allergies and preferences for food, but that was about it.
We were nine paying photographers and three guides. Two married couples and five folks travelling alone. From Cnnecticut (one of the couples), Oregon, Texes, North Carolina (on of the couples and one other)m myself and one for whome I can’t recall a location. Seven men and two women, both the women being married to others in the group.
Our guides were Tiffany Taxis from BCJ and two Scots: Marcus McAdams and Nick Hansen. All three are accomplished photographs in their own right. As a group they were very good for us. Marcus has a business (https://www.skyephotoacademy.com/) guiding phtographers in Scotland, and Nick works for him. They all had cameras along but used them only sparingly. We traveled around in two eight-passenger vans provided by Marcus. Very comfortable and plenty of room.
After the orientation, we loaded up and embarked for our first photo shoot. As we loaded and left we had a good bit of snow, which surprised us all. We traveled north past Loch Lomond to the town of Killin to photograph the Falls of Dochart. Loch Lomond was large but not very picturesque. So we did not stop, but I can say I have seen the :bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.”
The falls is right in the middle of the town of Killin, and the bridge over the river has no space except the roadway. So we all had to be very mindful of passing cars particularly since we were not accustomed to care on the wrong side of the road. But our time at the Falls of Dochart was quite “interesting”. We had two cycles of clear, rain sleet, and snow in a couple of hours. And we had quite a wind the whole while, probably 20 mph give or take a bit. That made it difficult to keep the precip off our lenes. I, for one, failed quite a bit at this. But I got some good images.
We got out of the weather for a midday snack at the local bake/coffee shop, and old building with low ceilings but great scones. Since I don’t drink coffee, I often drank IRN-BRU, and sort of orage cream soda.
We stayed in Killin for a couple of hours alltold.
Then we journeyed on to our home for the next three nights: The Bridge of Orchy Hotel, a bit south of Glen Coe.along highway A82 and the River Orchy in Glen Orchy The bridge was built in the 1740’s by the British as part of their “pacification” of the Scots following the Jacobite uprising. The bridge is still in active use today.
The hotel is very nice. We had rooms in an addition since the main building is locked an alarmed at night. We would not have been able to leave before sunrise if we roomed there. The rooms were very nice and spacious. I had on problems. The hotel has both a bar and a didning room, and we ate as a group in the dining room. Our guides had arranged service to meet our schedule, but that did mean we had to order our breakfast the evening before. I usually had scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, toast and sausage. Very tasty.
After dinner the first evening we traveled a bit north to Loch Tulla to watch the sunset. But Ma Nature had other plans. We got there is reasonably good shape, but then the wind picked up and the snow/hail began. Fortunately, we found some shelter under and behind a stand of large trees, and the storm did pass after 20 minues or so. But the clouds stayed around and the sunset light did not amount to much.
But is was an exciting first day.
Day Two (Monday)
After a good night’s rest, we had an early breakfast (7:00 am), loaded up and head out. Our fist stop was across Lochawe from the ruins of Kilchurn Castle, once home to the Campbells of Glen Orchy. The building dates to the 1450’s but has been unused since about 1770.
We walked, if you can call it walking, across a boggy pasture to get down nearl the lochside. Walking was tricky to say the least. The ground was clumps of grass separate by mud. The trick was to walk on he clumps with out slipping off. Most of us slipped into the mud more than once. We were visited by one Highland Cow and several sheep, although none of the animals bothered anyone.
The photography was limited. We spread out along the loch according to the background we each chose. I tried a few different spots and elevations, as did most of the others. The light got better while we were there, so I go an image is really like.
Then we carefully made our way back to the vans and went on to Black Rock Cottate. This is a well-known landmark in Glen Coe owned by the Scottish Ladies Climbing Club and available only to their members. It is easy to access but offers limited angles and view for pictures. I chose to use it as the background for a small stone marker where an electric line runs along the road. I also got a shot of the broader moor, plain as that is.
Next we went on a waterfall in Kinnlocheve named the Grey Mare’s Tail waterfall, . It was a very nice falls although we did not get too close as the trail was treacherous. The picture shows the trail, including having to cross the creek on ropes.
Then it was on to Glencoe Lochan. Lochan means “small loch”. It was a very nice walk around the lochan on a paved flat trail. The wooded hillsides offered some interesting view of woodlands with only mosses for an understory. I took the opportunity to get some images I plan to process into abstracts. There were some mallards in the locahn, and I took some shots. However, none of them turned out to be particulary interesting.
Somewere in there we stopped for lunch at a pub called Gasta. The food was good although I did not record what I ate. But I did get another IRN-BRU to drink.
In the late afternoon and early evening we climbed a hillside near the Three Sisters in Glen Coe to watch the setting sun. We got up a couple hundered feet abofe the road and bottom of the glen, so we had a nice angle. I took some pictures, but I did not stay around as long as most of the group, choosing instead to return to the hotel. The images cam out nicely. I had hoped maybe for crepuscular rays, but none materialized while I was there. But a very pretty view.
We had a late dinner and went to bed.
Day Three (Tuesday)
I had decided Monday evening that I would skip the sunrise shoot in order to get a full night’s sleep. So I slept in, and it was worth it. I felt much better for the remainder of the trip. However, I missed the best sunrise of the week, if the images I saw are any indication. The group went to Loch na-h Achalaise on Brannok Moor. They found still water with the Black Mountains as background, and they had excellent reflections in the water.
After breakfast we drove to Oban, a relatively large town and ferry port on the coast. Our main goal was a tour of the distillery and a whisky tasting. Note: Scotch whisky is spelled with no e. I had done this tour on my 2014 trip, and things had not changed much. Still not fond of Scotch. Still and interesting tour, and I came home with a glass for drinking Scotch.
While in Oban we ate lunch and walked around McCaig’s Tower, also known as McCairg’s Folly. McCaig stated out to duplicate the Colosseum in Rome. The walls were built, but then worked stopped, never to continue. I was not able to find any interesting images although the view of the town, harbor and nearby islands were interesting to see.
Working our way back to the hotel, we stopped first to see Stalker Castle, apparently famous as a set for some of the Monty Python show(s). Marus was agast that some of us did not know this or were not Monty Python fans. Our view was along a rocky very uneven beach at low tide, so the foregrounds were very messy and uninteresting. And the footing was tricky as on all the beaches we visited. I took a lot of images, but only a couple really came out well. We ended up quite close to the castle and a ways from the vans, but we had a paved path to return to the vans.
Our last stop for the day was at the Achnambeithach Cottage in Glen Coe. The sign named two cottages, but we could see only one. It was a very nice setting, and I got two really nice images. Best is the one showing the looming black cliff with a storm coming in. The other shows the very nice waterfall coming down the hillside. I might try to merge them.
Then back to the hotel for a late dinner and packing up for the move to Skye.
Day Four (Wednesday)
This was moving day. We packed everything into the vans again and headed for the town of Uig on the Isle of Skye. This is home base for Marcus and Nick, so they both got to sleep in their own beds for the rest of the trip. Along the way we made a few stops.
One of the possible plans was to go by the Glenfinnan Viaduct to see the Hogwart’s Express and then on to Malaig and “over the sea to Skye” by ferry. But the train is running on an electric locomotive now, so the pictures are not nearly as good as with a steam engine.
So we stopped by a beached ship/boat along the shore at a location I don’t have. Others in the group were enamoured with wrecked ships, and we stopped a more than one of them. This one was a large boat that may have broken from its mooring during a storm and washed up on the shore. There was some grafitti on the hull that appeared fairly fresh, and that detracted a little from the overall feel. I could have used a lens with a shorter focal length, but I like what I was able to do.
Tiffany chose this spot to take our group picture.
Our next stop was a set of locks, and opposed to lochs, collectively called Neptune’s Staircase. The locks allow navigation between the River Lochy and Loch Eil or Loch Linnie. We walked up to the top thinking we could get a view down the locks, but we could not get up high enough. A stepladder would have done the trick.
We then drove way out into the boonies (at least that’s what it felt like to me) to a small church and graveyard called Cille Chorill outside Roybridge. This is a small stone church on a hillside below the cemetery. A bit of a climb from the parking area, but worth it. Old graves with daffodils blooming among them and mountains in the background. I did walk around an photograph the inside of the church also. Very nice, and I suspect most in the group did not do this.
So we travelled onto Skye via the Skye Bridge. The only other way onto Skye is by air or by ferry from Malaig. Before we got to the bridge we stopped twice to photograph the Eilean Donan castle on Loch Alsh. The first stop was up the hill above the castle, and that offered some very pretty views of the caslte and surrounding area. We the drove down to the castle. Since I was there in 2014 a large ticket office/gatehouse ahs been erected at the land end of the causeway. The pictures I got in2014 are no longer possible. However, we had morOle time than I had in 2014, and so I got different and better images.
And then we traveled on to the town of Uig and checked into the Uig Hotel. After a good dinner, the day was over.
Day 5 (Thursday)
This was a long day. After an early breakfast, we drove to the Sligachan old bridge on the A87 and walked up the creek a bit to a very nice waterfall with the mountains as background. The trail was narrow, muddy and tricky, but no one fell. The view was pretty but had limited choice for where to put a tripod. We had to take turns in some spots. The wind was a definite factor here. Strong enough to affect your balance if you weren’t paying attention. Fortunately we had tripods with spikes on the legs we could jam into the ground.
We continued to work our way south on Skye to yet another set of wrecked boats. This one had better photo ops. There were multiple boats and a castle ruins on the hill behind. The rocks had colorfull stuff growing on them to add to the compositional possibilities. I’m not a big junk photographer, but this place was better than most.
And then we drove on to Elgol near the south end of Skye. This is a small place, mainly the docking point for boats going across the bay to Loch Couruisk, or for folks heading out to the Isles of Rum, Canna, or Eig. We were there to view the Black Cuillin Hills, the rocky beach and the surf (if there was any). This was a treacherous walk over wet stones. We took out time and everyone made it through. As we were getting back to the vans, we had a great rainbow to make things all better.
Then back to Uig for dinner and sleep.
Day 6 (Friday)
One of the best days of the trip. We got up early and arrived in the Quirange Hills a bit before the sun got up over the clouds. The plan was to walk a ways up the trail to the prime spot for a panoramic view. Unforturnately the night’s rain had frozen on the trail making footing treacherous. Only two intrepid photographers got past the “tricky bit” of the trail. The rest of us chose not to risk falling or worse. However, as the sun came over the clouds and lit up the hillsides, we all got awesome pictures. Truly a breathtaking experience. When I was here in 2014, we were completely fogged in.
After returning to the hotel for breakfast we drove to Portree, the largest town on the island. We walked around a bit, revisited a shot I had from 2014 of the harbor, bought a sticker for my water bottle and browed the shops. Many of the group bought souveniers.
Then we went on the Talisker Beach, not far from the Talisker Distillery (funny how that works.) This was another memorable experience. We had a gale (really, winds over 30 mph) blowing onshore. So we all kept our tripods low and sat or knelt so we didn’t get blown over. I didn’t get great images, but I had fun. The wind was blowing the waterfall back upstream almost, and the tops of the breakers were blown off into spray. Difficult but fun. Leaving was a trick too. We had to walk aways across the wind without falling. Slow going.
And then we returned, thoroughly windburned, to the hotel for dinner and sleep.
Day 7 (Saturday)
Another very windy day. Up early again. Two of the group, the same two who braved the Quirang trail) hiked up the Old Man of Storr in the dark, cold, windy time before sunrise. I chose not to go. Instead, the rest of us wen to a pasture overlooking Loch Fade with a view of the Old Man. Bitter cold/windy, but fun nonetheless.
We went on up the road to the Kiltrock Viewpoint. We have view of the cliffs with a waterfall, good sunrise light and a few swans in the pond.
Sadly, Phil lost his balance, fell and could not stand up. An ambulance was called, and we just worked to keep Phil warm and awake. The ambulance carted him off to the hospital. Turns out he broke a hip.
Marcus and Paula follwoed the ambulance. The rest of us piled into Nick’s van and head back to the hotel. We stopped briefly going through the Quirang because the hills were covered in snow. With the delay, it was late morning before we got to the hotel.
Laura and I got a quick tour of downtown Uig, all three stores and the ferry terminal. I bought a little highland cow figurine from the Quirky Clay shop.
After lunch and a break to look at pictures, we returned to the Sligach bridge in the afternoo, this time to a different view of river and mountains. Again the walk was slick and balance was affected by the wind. Further, the places to plant tripods was also limited, so we took turns. We waited through a number of changes in lighting as the clouds were flying around. Sadly, the hillsides never reallt lit up like we all hoped, but the images are still very good.
Our last stop of the trip was to watch the sunset on the hill behind the hotel. Fun, but not great light.
And then we had our last dinner in Uig.
Day 8 (Sunday)
Our final day was the drive back to Glasgow, with stops at Eilean Donan (a pit stop mainly) and a couple other nice views. Mostly a pleasant drive, but we did have a close call. A car attempted a three-point turnaround without being able to see what was coming. Nick had to hit the brakes hard and steer carefully to avoid hitting anything. He was visibly shaken and we stopped for a bit to let him regroup.
Back at the Holiday Inn where we began, it was time for drinks, dinner and a shower. Then to bed because I had to get up a 5:30 am.
Day 9 (Monday)
Travelling home. No issues. Customs was not a problem.
Photograpy Thoughts
I now understand fully the requirement for and utility of a really sturdy tripod with spikes in high winds. Most of my images would not have been clear at all if not for the tripod. Further, my little tripod would not have been sufficient. However, I will continue to use my small tripod as a matter of convenience when I am traveling. In the rare cases where I encounter winds like we had at Talisker Beach and the Sligach Mountains, I will either have to pass on the opportunity or find some shelter. Such is life.
I also observed that others in the group took many more pictures than I did. In particular, they took pictures from a great distance with telephoto lenses as well as images from closer to the subject with lenses of shorter focal lengths. My sense is that one should walk the scene before choosing the distance to the subject and the focal length to use. One of the reasons is that telephoto lenses tend to compress the image, making the background appear closer to the foreground than is real. That bothers me in many cases. So I will continue to walk around before unlimbering my camera.
I also learned to take pictures in places I would not normally consider. I’m not a fan of wrecked boats, but I worked on getting pictures in those venues. I think I was somewhat successful, but I still am not a fan of wrecked boats. I suspect that goes with my general lack of enthusiasm for architectural photograpy.