Merry Christmas 2024

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!

 

 

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2024-12-23

 

After checking into our accommodations and grabbing a cafe lunch in Portree, we headed off to the Fairy Pools. What an adventure that turned out to be as the access road was rife with potholes and washed out badly in places. I managed to navigate one of the washouts in our low slung BMW sport sedan but gave up in the face of the second when I saw a legit 4x4 having difficulty.

Deflated at having plans scuttled to see our first iconic Skye location, we headed back towards Portree. On the way, Sligachan provided an opportunity for some photography of an old stone bridge, the river and the Glen area. Others must have been doing the same as parking was limited but I managed to squeeze in along the road.

The Old Sligachan Bridge was easily accessible and trails along the river provided some lovely vantage points to set up for some shots.

' Sligachan Old Bridge '

I first found a spot to photograph the old bridge using local vegetation in the foreground and mountain peaks in the background.

' Glamaig and the Sligachan New Bridge '

Battling the midges (my first ever exposure to the little bastards) while trying to patiently frame a shot proved interesting. With some images of the old bridge done, I turned around to see this view of the new bridge (the one that now carries the A87 over the river) with Glamaig in the background with it's summit shrouded in a cloud.

We spent some more time exploring the riverside trails for a bit while I found other interesting scenic compositions before the having enough of the midge bites to think the car would be welcome respite from the little carnivores.

 

Working my way chronologically through my images of Scotland, I was pleasantly surprised when I got to these. At the time of shooting, my disappointment at missing out on the Fairy Pools was overriding my ability to enjoy this location (or maybe it was the midges) fully. I must admit that I was not "feeling it" as much as I would have liked but I'm certainly glad we stopped and that I pushed through to make some images, I really like some of them.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2024-12-16

 

- The Shores of Loch Assynt -

 

In the Highlands, on the shores of lovely Loch Assynt sit the remains of a 15th Century Castle and a more modest 17th Century Laird's House built for a Lady who "did not care for the austerity" of the castle. Both proved a bit of a challenge to find interesting compositions during our brief stop as we turned onto A837 on the NC500.

' Ardveck Castle Remains Across the Loch '

' What Remains of Ardveck Castle '

' Calda House Remains  Across the Loch '

' What Remains of Calda House '

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

' Along the Shore to Calda '

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

' Ardveck from the Beach '

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

' Back Along the Path to Calda '

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2024-12-09

 

 

' Moine House III '

A very early start to our day had us in Scrabster to fuel up before hitting the NC 500 for 4+ hours of driving through Caithness and Sutherland. Our first stop to stretch legs and enjoy the scenery was at Moine House in Lairg.

' Moine House '

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

' Moine House II '

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The remains of Moine House, made a nice foreground element for Ben Hope and the distant peaks, though a bright mid morning sky proved  challenging to prevent from blowing out.

The stop had not been planned so we made it brief and headed off to Durness next.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2024-12-02

 

While researching locations to visit during our full day on Orkney, I discovered this seaside trail featuring a sea stack. This became our primary objective for our last stop of the day and it did not disappoint. I could have wished for bigger waves or better light but I think this turned out just fine.

 

' Yesnaby Castle Sea Stack '

The Yesnaby Coastal Walk was a wonderful conclusion to our full day on Orkney.

Here are a couple other views of the sea stack ...

' defiant '

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

' independent '

 

' last legs '

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

' Yesnaby - The Story in the Rocks '

 

DJE