Day One: Friday 17th December I only happened to glance at my phone, on Thursday night, when I saw the synoptic chart that had just been published by the Mountain Weather Information Service. There were those magic words: fog in valleys. A temperature inversion was predicted. As soon as I knew that, not going toContinue reading “The Great Inversion, Part One: The Scallywag and the Pilgrim”
Category Archives: Photography
Rime Ice (A Mountain Poem)
Heading home I saw the hillsFrom the North the Cairngorms display their true size. From other angles pretending at being small. Vast, precipitous, and they beckon. Lairigs draw breath The great spaces of The Interior, my heart with it.Golden birch trees flashed by.A streak of white across the high places.Shining silver layered on slopes ofContinue reading “Rime Ice (A Mountain Poem)”
Woods, Mountains and Rainbows – A Great Day Out for Photography
Last Saturday was the day of the long anticipated Torridon and Loch Maree workshop, which I had been especially looking forward to. Autumn is arguably the best time of year in the Highlands, and the hills, woods and lochs of Wester Ross look particularly superb at this time of year. I did feel a fewContinue reading “Woods, Mountains and Rainbows – A Great Day Out for Photography”
The Most Beautiful Loch in Scotland? – A Hike across Cairngorm to Stunning Loch Avon
Starting Out A few days after my photography mission to Braeriach it seemed that the warm settled weather had no intention of leaving the Highlands. The Cairngorms were bathing in sunlight day after day. So, after letting my legs recover for a few days, I headed back to the hills to visit a very specialContinue reading “The Most Beautiful Loch in Scotland? – A Hike across Cairngorm to Stunning Loch Avon”
How to Read a Histogram and Why It’s Vital to Good Photography
In digital photography there are these things called histograms. They look a little bit like this: As you can see, it’s a kind of graph with lots of peaks and troughs. Most cameras have an option to display these when you review the image. On some, you can see a live histogram that changes asContinue reading “How to Read a Histogram and Why It’s Vital to Good Photography”
Why Is the Sky White In My Photos?
We’ve all experienced the disappointment of photographing a gorgeous scene, only for the photo to come out looking horrible. One of the most common problems encountered is the White Sky. Like in the image above, all the detail and colour is completely lost. So why does this happen? And how can we deal with theContinue reading “Why Is the Sky White In My Photos?”
What are the best camera settings for landscape photography?
I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with modern cameras, I’ll admit. For one thing, they are far more complex than they need to be to shoot landscapes. It seems that there is no end of buttons, menus and controls that perform functions which vary from the gimmicky to the downright arcane. The realityContinue reading “What are the best camera settings for landscape photography?”
Camera Exposure – A Primer in Photography’s Most Important Fundamental
Understanding exposure is the most fundamental knowledge in the world of photography. This short primer will explain all the terms and what they mean. By the end of this article, and with a little practice, you should be confident in understanding how and why to control the exposure on your camera and how it affectsContinue reading “Camera Exposure – A Primer in Photography’s Most Important Fundamental”
Diving into the Fantastic Beauty of Scotland’s Purple Heather.
Heather season is well and truly here at last in the Highlands, with the tiny pink flowers drenching the landscape in colour. I got out a couple of times in the last few days to do some exploring around the forests near Loch an Eilean. Around six weeks ago I hurt my back and hadContinue reading “Diving into the Fantastic Beauty of Scotland’s Purple Heather.”
My Perfect Night Out – Cairngorm Solstice
A certain euphoria came over me as I dashed back and forth. This was living. My heart was bursting with the joy of the mountain. My lungs breathed the clarity of the air. My blood flowed with the purity of the water that flowed and pooled in the rocks. My eyes sparkled with richness of the morning light. My body felt the coldness of the wind and stone, but met it with its own life and warmth. A part of everything. Not apart from it.