Category Archives: Scotland

Old Man

Dec
02
2014
by Adrian | 0 Comments

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Old Man of Storr

This is properly the most famous walk on the Island and definitely the busiest. The ‘Old Man’ is a large pinnacle of rock that stands high and can be seen for miles around. As part of the Trotternish ridge the Storr was created by a massive ancient landside, leaving one of the most photographed landscapes in the world.

If you look closely you can see people at and around its base, this gives you a good idea of the scale with the Old man standing an impressive 165 ft (just read this back and I know it sounds very rude but you get the idea).

The walk from the car park on the main road is they say 1 hr 15 mins non stop, probably is if your a racing snake but certainly not for a big lad like myself carrying camera etc, more like 2hrs to be safe, coming down is a fair bit quicker probably 20 mins tops. It goes without saying that any visit to Skye must include this climb/walk and with good weather (not very often) the views are astounding and must be appreciated. Its child and dog safe apart from the area between the Old Man and the rock face, signs warn of falling rock danger. While we had a rest seated at the Old Mans base there was a loud crack and rock came hurtling down in the space between, the heat from the sun expanding the rock. (be careful)

Iconic shots abound the internet and I’ve yet to see anything different from anybody though on our descent we did see a couple of guys with drones so  they at least have a different angle on things to us mere photographers, after scouting you-tube on my return there are quite a few drone films about the Old Man and surrounding area so nothing new really.

Just waiting for my delivery from new sponsor Kinafoto in Spain posted yesterday and it’s out for delivery today, how amazing is that when my local Asda takes 3 days to get things from depot to branch.

Adrian

 

New Sponsor – Kinafoto.com

Dec
01
2014
by Adrian | 0 Comments

Skye-RocksHappy Monday all

 

And some great news…..

New sponsorship in the form of Profoto lighting equipment, which is simply the best location kit there is has been given from a great  company Kinafoto. It’s amazing how much faith and commitment they have provided, their extremely helpful staff and on-line chat box really helps you through the minefield of choices they provide.

Price wise they are pretty much the best I have found and sell through Amazon UK too so no nasty import costs or long delays, they have a Black Friday deal on at present including a 5% discount so even better if you’re in the market for any accessories or lighting kit.

The kit I have gone for is the Profoto B1 500 Location kit, by far the best there is for its weight and durability and lets face it I get in some pretty remote and scary places so I need robust lightweight gear, this ticks all the boxes.

Massive thanks to Ana and the team at Kinafoto so pleased to be part of your team and the kit will be extensively used on the book shoot from now on.

Adrian

Elgol Go

Nov
26
2014
by Adrian | 0 Comments

Elgol-Jetty

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Morning all

Wet and windy Wednesday here in Yorkshire….so I thought a nice wet and windy shot from Skye would be in order.

This one from Elgol looking across to the Cuillin range, Elgol is on the shores of Loch Scavaig towards the end of the Strathaird peninsula.

This was the scene of our run in with the team of sheep and the shepherd photography teacher, looking back it was so funny and I could imagine a TV comedy about how the teacher herded his attendees round from location to location having run in after run in with jobbing photographers. We were crouched down next to the jetty wall on the left when this guy came storming down calling us ignorant blah blah blah, they were all lined up some 50m away to the left so we were only in shot if stood up, they were there 30-40mins we in turn took a mere 10mins, some people need to learn they don’t own these locations. We were again berated as we left by a full on Irish man, I did not have a clue what he was saying but with our patience run dry I informed him where best to go, he didn’t reply so I guess he got the message, the rest of the shoot was uneventful other than being stunningly beautiful………and breath!

Adrian

Old Man of Storr Sunrise

Nov
25
2014
by Adrian | 0 Comments

Old-Man-SunriseWalking up to The Old Man of Storr on the beautiful Isle of Skye I had to take my now usual “fat boy” stop to catch my breath and as I turned to look back this is the view I was greeted with. Very Gothic in its appearance The Storr forms an imposing feature overlooking Portree.

The walk up is set as medium length and medium difficulty taking an hour and a bit to get somewhere near the area of this shot and certainly a lot quicker back down, quite steep in sections so not really for the unfit. It’s probably one of the busiest walks on Skye and although we were fairly early going up coming down there were hoards of visitors climbing up, the car park was overflowing and on covering the main road  for quite some distance.

Certainly one of those places I would recommend visiting, the earlier in the day the better I think to avoid too many tourists.

 

Adrian

Elgol Sunset Swirl

Nov
24
2014
by Adrian | 0 Comments

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Happy Monday all,

sun is shining and what a sunrise it was, pity I went to the gym after pooch walking otherwise I’d have been in The Peaks for a toggging session, yes I said Togging! thats before Pon says anything.

Another from Skye, Elgol looking across to The Cuillins as the sun set on our first night up there, got my feet wet but hey it’s worth it right? Still quite a lot to process so I think I have a great start to the book.

Be nice to have this weather all week.

Adrian

The Quiraing pt2

Nov
21
2014
by Adrian | 0 Comments

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Well it’s Friday at least and i thought I’d round the week off with pt2 of  The Quiraing.

After a brief drive from Uig we were greeted with the Quiraing bathed in this beautiful morning light, after making a right turn from the main road and passing the cemetery there is a car park high up on the left, a short walk leads you to this magnificent site. The Quiraing contains  features such as The Needle, The Prison and The Table, the surrounding terrain seems to be a never ending area of beautiful green landscape. Well trodden patch scar the landscape in various directions. Well worth a visit should you venture this far north.

Have a great weekend

Adrian

The Quiraing pt1 – or Middle Earth!

Nov
20
2014
by Adrian | 0 Comments

The-Quiraing-2

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The Quiraing – various pronunciations, non better than a local but I couldn’t understand anything then it’s a little like Kerrang you know the rock music channel/mag.

On our second morning we were heading from our overnight camp at  Uig on the West coast of Skye across to Climb the Old Man of Storr,  I spotted the sign for The Quiraing and could see the light was perfect, realising The Old Man of Storr would take time to climb and that the light would change I decided we’d do The Quiraing early while it was bathed in early morning sun.

Its a simple drive to a car park which is situated near the top and following a leisurely stroll across a path you gain the ideal position, nice to have an easy one for a change I thought and as the morning light failed to disappoint we were thankful for the decision to stop here first.

Bit from Wiki

The Quiraing is a landslip on the eastern face of Meall na Suiramach, the northernmost summit of the Trotternish on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. The whole of the Trotternish Ridge escarpment was formed by a great series of landslips; the Quiraing is the only part of the slip still moving, the road at its base, near Flodigarry, requires repairs each year.

Parts of the distinctive landscape have earned particular names. The Needle is a jagged 120-foot (37 m) high landmark pinnacle, a remnant of landslipping. Northwest of it is The Table, a flat grassy area slipped down from the summit plateau, with vistas of the Torridon Hills and the mountains of Wester Ross. Southwest is the Prison, a pyramidal rocky peak which can look like a medieval keep when viewed from the right angle – the ascent of this is an airy scramble.

Quiraing (in Gaelic, Cuith-Raing) comes from Old Norse Kvi Rand, which means Round Fold. Within the fold is The Table, an elevated plateau hidden amongst the pillars. It is said that the fold was used to conceal cattle from Viking raiders.

 

 

Neist Point – The most Westerly point on the Isle of Skye, Moonen Bay to Waterstein Head

Nov
19
2014
by Adrian | 0 Comments

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Todays image still from Skye is a classic view of Neist Point, definitely stood in tripod holes from other photographers and I make no excuses for this as 2″ in front of me was a few hundred feet drop onto the rocks below. But as the book is based on classic UK shots amongst other things this suits perfectly.

Was a pretty good sunset albeit very brief as winter ones are with the addition of a bitter wind freezing your extremities, my Russian hat was a must (may look silly) but who cares, I’d rather be warm than fashionable.

iPhone picture courtesy of my very able assistant Chris Phillips

Adrian-Neaist-Point-HatAfter carrying out initial location searches I finished up at the cliff edge in the most dangerous of positions, which is about normal for me these days but it’s the only way to get “that shot” and so must be done.

Once settled down for the sunset we were joined by the throngs of other photographers and workshops…..always amazes me how we are first there and last to leave, I never go until I am 200% satisfied that nothing else will happen, I have learnt from driving away then  seeing a salmon pink sky in my rear view causing me to curse my misfortune!

Anyway as we completed our shoot and the other photographers had left we spent a last few moments soaking up what must be once of the most beautiful views on Skye,  I’ve been here before and seen the majestic sea eagle and pods of whales are known to frequent the area too.

After leaving we spent a while pondering whether to wait for sunrise or head back to Barnsley…………at 3am Sunday I rolled into my house with the best greeting a man could have, a loving and very understanding wifey and 4 huskies all wanting a cuddle, it doesnt get any better than this.

Waterstein Head

Waterstein-Head

Fairy Pool

Nov
18
2014
by Adrian | 0 Comments

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Second shot of the Skye series, the wondrous Fairy Pools with their beautiful tinted waters, gentle cascading falls and other worldly backdrop…….

Hmmm what they fail to tell you is that they are darn near impossible to find, getting their would entail getting absolutely soaked battling gale force winds and sleet like rain in your face and for lord knows what reason the wind and rain changes direction for when you are making your exit just to make matters worse and all this on top of a 9 hour drive…….

Well worth it I’d say!

We met countless couples/groups walking back down the path from the mountains who all had one question on their lips “where the hell is the fairy pool on the pictures?”, we quickly deduced they weren’t on the path and after what seemed an eternity of getting blasted with freezing wind lashed rain a slight glance to the right and our way back down gave us our goal…The Fairy Pools near Glenbrittle at the foot of the Black Cuillin Mountains on the Isle of Skye in the Highlands of Scotland.

We were quickly joined by other realising we’d struck gold and had to endure people in jeans and trainers standing ankle deep in the waters, fortunately they realised we were on a mission and graciously stepped aside when asked.

As for me and Chris we were wrapped up with all the right gear and had a great couple of hours stomping all over Glen Brittle and came away with our goal.

A shot of The Fairy Pool

 

Adrian

Elgol To The Cuillins

Nov
17
2014
by Adrian | 0 Comments

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Morning all

had a very busy and eventful weekend away on the Isle of Skye doing the book shoot North West start. Chris and myself set off at 2am Friday and drove the 450miles northwards, fast forward 9 hours and we were at our first stop, this being the Fairy Pools (picture to follow), very tired but when you’re greeted with the eventual view of the Pools all weariness  disappears and excitement takes over, I’ll do a full eventful story on the pools later.

Todays image is from Elgol looking across to The Cuillin range, eventful it was as we were being stalked by a group on a photo tour workshop of some description, unfortunately the tutor if that is what he was had his group of about 10 (way more than he could possibly deal and be personable with) all lined up and proceeded to hurl abuse if you got anywhere near in front of his sheep, I mean punters!. after an brief exchange of words I think mine and Chris’s blunt Yorkshire approach made him see the futility of pursuing any further conflict, and he moved away rapidly.

Anyway this shot one of many to follow was actually shot with my 70-200 lens from the car park, below the shot were a line of said tutors sheep, I mean clienst all taking the same shot, When I teach a workshop I actively encourage the guys to explore and attempt even at a location as popular as this to find a position of their own to give a certain degree of individuality, after all it’d be pretty boring seeing the exact same shot over and over wouldn’t it?. This team followed us round to our last shoot at Nest Point and again all lined up like sheep for the same shot, a great way to teach is a small group that you can give your time to and the client feels they are receiving your personal attention when they need it and so learn from you, large groups just make you money not friends.

 

Loads more to follow

 

Adrian

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