My initial plan was to visit Elgol on the way home tomorrow, however and rightly so that would cause two issues. 1. It would add a lot of time to the return journey and 2. I wouldn’t be there at the right time of day so a leisurely trip today with no time pressures was best. The conditions weren’t the best but when are they, us Landscape Photographers seem to moan a lot and find something to be negative about, just watch most of the Landscape Photography vlogs on YouTube. This isn’t right, that isn’t right…. Boring. The fact is, it’s hardly ever perfect and us Landscape Photographers have or at least should have some form of pre-visialisation ability. Perhaps people are dreaming of ideal conditions and anything less than perfect is a failure. Perhaps they see what a fellow photographer has “got lucky” with and expect to get the same when they visit. I believe it’s better for us as people to just adapt to the conditions and see what unfolds. One thing I’ve learnt in my personal life is we can’t always control every aspect of life. We just have to give ourselves the best chance of success. Which is relative to what’s defined as success but for me success is being able to visit places I connect with and see something that inspires me to get my camera out. On that note here is what I saw today on Elgol beach…

All of the vertically inspired images are available as Archival quality prints. Please contact me for details….

Lagangarbh Hut below the magnificent Buachaille Etive Mor, captured in April in a snow shower.

Lagangarbh Hut below the magnificent Buachaille Etive Mor

Aonach Dubh – One of the Three Sisters of Glencoe

Blavin above Lock Slapin on the Isle of Skye.

Rays over Rùm

Rùm Sunset

Sgurr na Stri detail.

Sgurr na Stri.

Sgurr na Stri detail over Loch Scavaig.

Bloodstone Hill on Rùm and Canna over Lock Scavaig.

Askival, Hallival and Ainshval the highest peaks on Rùm.

Gars-Bheinn in the cloud.

Gars-Bheinn almost volcano like.

Gars-Bheinn top to bottom.

The Black Cuillin over Loch Scavaig.

Waves crashing on Elgol Beach

A mono take on a classic scene over Loch Scavaig on the Isle of Skye.

Pebbles on Elgol Beach, Skye.

The Black Cuillin over Loch Scavaig after Sunset.

Sgurr an Fheadain above the Fairy Pools.

Mono Sgurr an Fheadain

Loch Slapin and Blavin.

Neist Point Lighthouse at the top of Skye.

A Shooting Star on Skye.

My first sighting of the Northern Lights. Was a real highlight of the year.

Aurora above one of Macleod’s Tables on the Isle of Skye.

A fantastic display of the Northern Lights over Fiscavaig Bay on the Isle of Skye in April.

Here you can see more of Landscape Photography Prints from the Scottish Highlands and the Isle of Skye. All of my prints are available as high quality Framed Prints or Stretched Canvas Prints. More details from my Scottish Photographic adventures are here.

I feel incredibly lucky to have Landscape Photography in my life. The past couple of years photography as meant more to me than it ever has before. It’s an escape, a driver and a purpose, simply without it there would be nothing. I am still to this day, 16 years after I started consciously getting out into the Landscape to make photographs as excited if not more so about what I’ll see, what I’ll capture and the feeling of peace I get from just being in places like this with a camera in front of me is very satisfying.

Landscape Photography isn’t a hobby or a job, it’s me. It’s who I am.

I will miss this balcony, despite it not been warm and sunny to sit out, its been a fantastic viewing platform over Elgol towards Rùm, Loch Scavaig and the Black Cuillin. What an amazing place.

My last view of the Black Cuillin and the wee cottage. It has been an amazing few days that I will never forget.

Hopefully the next time I see the Isle of Rùm it will be from Laig Bay on Eigg in 2016.

Big Sky over Rùm.

Buachaille Etive Mor – A magnificent mountain scene.

Lagangarbh Hut Glencoe.

Buachaille Etive and Lagangarbh Hut Mor Panorama

Lagangarbh Hut

This brings a conclusion to my Scottish adventures in 2015. I feel fortunate to have made it this far North twice this year. I will as usual be desperate to visit again over Christmas and who knows. In the meantime I shall look forward to Sprint 2016 and a trip to Eigg all being well.

If you’ve enjoyed my Scottish landscapes and would like a print of your own, I’ve made a small selection available here.

I’ve been watching a Buzzard around the house for a few days now and on this occasion I managed to photograph this fine bird, along with a pleasant surprise.

A rain shower passes the Black Cuillin.

Gars-Bheinn in the cloud.

A fine looking Buzzard.

Gars-Bheinn with interesting clouds blowing off the ridge.

Gars-Bheinn. Beautiful.

Gars-Bheinn towering above Loch Scavaig.

Then out of nowhere appears…..

A magnificent Sea Eagle. The largest bird in the UK I believe. What an amazing animal. Look at the size compared to the Buzzard.

Not my sharpest image, not being prepared and hand holding my camera at 400mm hasn’t helped. Higher ISO and a faster shutter speed may have resulted in a sharper image. Nonetheless a beautiful White Tailed Sea Eagle. What a treat it was to see such a fine bird.

Meanwhile in the other direction.

I headed down to the Beach later i the day as the conditions looked promising for the last hour of the day.

This was great. The Black Cuillin over Loch Scavaig and fantastic warm afternoon light. Perfect.

Ideas on a theme of composition with the dynamic element of the Tide coming in. Something I don’t get to experience in the Lake District.

Probably my favourite evening in Elgol this year and certainly one I am proud of. this trip has given a rich variety of weather to experiment and create Landscape Images form this beautiful place.

I’ve put together a collection of my favourite Landscape Photographs from the Isle of Skye which you can see here, framed prints and stretched canvas prints are available to purchase online.

]]> https://www.jamesbellphotography.co.uk/blog/shoots/isle-of-skye-elgol-beach-day-6/feed 0 https://www.jamesbellphotography.co.uk/blog/shoots/isle-of-skye-elgol-sligachan-neist-point-day-4 https://www.jamesbellphotography.co.uk/blog/shoots/isle-of-skye-elgol-sligachan-neist-point-day-4#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2015 10:49:27 +0000 https://www.jamesbellphotography.co.uk/blog/?p=10396 After taking it easy the last 2 days day 4 allowed me to venture a little further around Skye. Today’s plan was to take a relaxing boat trip from Elgol over Loch Scavaig to Loch Coruisk directly below the Black Cuillin. Things, unfortunately didn’t work out to plan which gave me an opportunity to leave Elgol and head up Skye to Neist Point.

Thomas and I headed down to Elgol Beach for what I had hoped would be my first morning Landscape Photography shoot on Elgol Beach.

My first proper morning view of the Cuillin Mountains this week on a clear morning.

Details on the rocks at Elgol Beach.

The interesting cliff on the Beach.

Gars-bheinn

Sgùrr na Stri

Gars-bheinn a fine looking mountain.

Lewis waiting for our Boat.

Eventually it arrives, however….

It’s broke, and despite the assistance of this kind JCB driver Tourist it stayed broke, which was a real shame as I was really keen to see Loch Coruisk on this trip. Nevermind, I decided to head up to Neist Point instead, hopefully I’d make it in time to catch sunset.

Sligachan and the River Sligachan with Sgùrr nan Gillean above.

Around the other side of the Cuillin now at Sligachan.

En Route to Neist Point. The Outer Hebrides on the Horizon.

I made it just before Sunset, however I could have done with being half an hour earlier. I was hoping to catch the face of the cliffs below illuminated with the glow of the setting sun as I did on my previous visit earlier this year.

Nest Point is always a popular location for Landscape Photography.

I made this short video below form my time at Neist Point. Make sure you watch in 4K for the best quality.

You can see more of my Photographs from this Trip to Skye here. And a collection of my Isle of Skye Prints here.

Day 2 was a rest day as I needed to recover from the journey on Day 1.

Day 3 was spent locally around Elgol, not wanting to over-do things I stayed close to the house and reacquainted myself with this amazing place. The reason I chose to stay in Elgol and specifically this house was due the fact that on days where I can’t go out or venture far I can still enjoy the beautiful landscape.

Here’s what I captured around Elgol on Day 3

Details on the Cuillin as the morning light cast across these magnificent rocks.

I use this handy App called PeakFinder which uses GPS to highlight the names of the Mountains your looking at.

A short drive from Elgol on the road back to Bradford is Loch Slapin and one of the most magnificent mountain vistas anywhere in the UK. Bly Bheinn is the fine Peak to dominate this fine view.

Bly Bheinn to Belig one of my favourite scenes on Skye.

Note the White house in the foreground and the telegraph poles that follow the road for scale.

Back at the house for a rest and with views like this form the windows it’s not so painful to stay in.

Rùm from the balcony.

Rum and Eigg. I am hopefully visiting Egg next spring all being well.

As the day draws to an end changeable conditions over the Cuillin present a dramatic scene.

Sunset out at Sea as Rain hits Rùm.

Something different everyday.

Rum and a great display of colour as the sun disappears behind cloud.

Another great day on Skye and already I am feeling very lucky to be here and even more so to be photographing scenes like this. It is truly a pleasure to photograph scenes like this.