Off to Scotland in 11 days.Went there last year and went down with a vicious case of psoriasis.Spread all over me and got so bad that I couldn't even hold the camera,came home early and nearly ended up in hospital...took nearly eight months for it to clear to a manageable level.

So back we go a week next Saturday to stay in a log cabin near Fort William.So guys and gals any suggestions for good places to visit...not really into towns so its going to be coast and countryside.Not interested in going into castles but like to photograph them from outside...get some feeling of what's around them.Thinking of going to the Isle of Mull and the Isle of Skye...if there is any petrol about.I know Glencoe is attractive...managed to see it on the way back last year but was too bad to bother getting out of the car.Like things like fishing villages so looking for any great suggestions.

Thanks

Eddie 

The curved rail bridge from harry potter is nearby i seem to recall, and if you havent done loch ness then you kinda have to... a couple of waterfalls around the western shore into the mountains. There are a few nice driving roads around fort william... there is a castle on a loch to the west somewhere - i remember driving to it on a twisty road and then being led down what looks like a private driveway to come to a small car park, a beach and beautiful scenery with the castle on a tidal causeway (no it wasnt Eilean Donan...). If you have a look at a map the A830 goes west from fort william, i swear that is where i came back in from, and i started out going down the west shore of the loch going south from Fort William... so from above it looks like i just did a loop around that area to the west.  Kinda nice scenery as i remember it, windy roads tho, so it takes longer than you think it would. 

Good luck on seeing the top of Ben Nevis ;) isnt it an average of 5 days a year or something that the summit is clear of clouds? (Ben Nevis means cloudy peak i seem to recall)

Hi Rich,
Yeah did the route around Loch Ness...we stayed at the top and walked to the pub one evening..saw a glorious shot but didnt feel good and didnt have the camera....the psorisas had reallt taken a hold by then....totally gave up that night and came home the next day.
Strangely for a place so big and wild I havent seen a great deal that inspires me.I have been on Google for ages and OMG there are some crap images.I see better on Renderosity...maybe all the creative guys and gals are here :-)
I did get a good shot of Ben Nevis...well the lower part was bathed in amazing light but the top was covered in thick menacing cloud...got a nice image of it but not in my opinion good enough to put on Rosity....hate failures dont we.
Thanks for the info..maybe it will just be a natural holiday and not dominated by photography..be a change for the wife :-)  

Yeah walking around the area without a cam is always good too (but you might kick yourself for not having it to hand if a shot presents itself).  It might be the scottish blood in me but i love the place and the people are great - i think i got infected during my time in st andrews ;-)

Hi Rich,
Don't misunderstand me..I loved the time we spent there and I am really looking forward to going back.Had some great chats with the locals as well...stayed at a place called Dores just below Inverness..lovely city.
it was just that when we go off to somewhere unknown you can usually get some ideas of where the best places are for pics but i could't seem to find much on the net.Just have to do it as it comes.Went over to Mallag...superb drive from Fort William to the coast..if you havent done that then do it.now for me I could have spent days on that route photographing the steam train from Fort Wiliam...OK so some of us never grow up:-)
I was just hoping to see some insprationa; photos so as not to waist too much time in the wrong place..you know us photographers.....everything else is secondary. 

I see that ejn is,

Off to Scotland in 11 days ...
back we go a week next Saturday to stay in a log cabin near Fort William ...
Thinking of going to the Isle of Mull and the Isle of Skye

I took a look at Google maps to get an idea of the overall location you will be visiting. 

One of my interests (and someday I will see some) is Standing Stones -- Neolithic Monumental Art/Architecture.  One of my references books is "A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany" Second Edition (Paperback) by Aubrey Burl -- actually, I own the first edition ... but you'll want the later one.  The same book is also on amazon.co.uk [link]. 

If you are interested, I'll scan the map for that section of Scotland and list the site names from the book.  There are about 10 significant sites in and around that area.  OTOH, around Inverness, there are about 30 sites listed. 

--
Martin

Hi Martin,
Sounds very interesting although I have to say I never seem to get good shots of stone circles...did Caslterigg a few weeks back and it looked ...well naff...my pics not the circle.But yes it would be nice to know the locations as there are usually other interesting sites,churches or something in the areas of these structures.A scan would be helpful,you can email it direct to me at eddie@landscape-images.co.uk.
Thanks for the help.
Eddie

I see that ejn responded,

A scan would be helpful

Sent by eMail as requested. 

ejn also mentioned,

I never seem to get good shots of stone circles

That is a worthy topic of discussion ... here is the little that I know. 

IMO, there are 2 main issues when taking pictures of rocks ... contrast and saturation on the one hand and shadow or texture on the other. 

--contrast and saturation-- rocks in the picture can look rather dull ... much less interesting than when you were there to get the shot. 

Don't shoot in the middle of the day; don't shoot with direct sunlight on the rock(s); they will look really lousy when they are dry -- try to get them with morning dew, fog, mist, possibly even light rain.  That might be a long exposure using a tripod and perhaps an umbrella. 

--shadow or texture-- here you want side lighting; early morning or late afternoon sunlight to throw long shadows.  In this case, step back to get the stone(s) and the associated shadow(s). Sometimes Standing Stones have ancient markings (cup, starburst, spirals, ...) side lighting would enhance that ... even if you had to use a flashlight or other artificial light source.  Getting one of those images with some nearby lichen for contrast would be even better Again, that would be long exposure with a tripod. 

Does anyone else have suggestions? 

Comments, Please ...

--
Martin

Hi Eddie

Depends what sort of holiday you're on and how compliant your travelling companion(s) are?

I did the west coast back in the 90's. We also did Fort William to Mallaig, stopping at Loch Morar, stayed overnight at Glenfinnan and got a lovely early morning shot of Loch Shiel with an early morning mist. We went to Ardnamurchan, the most westerly point on the Scottish mainland, views of Atlantic Ocean, there is a lighthouse and beach, but it is a long drive and quite remote. There are'nt many stone circles or standing stones in that part of Scotland they seemed to prefer cairns. There is one called Temple Wood but it was too far off our route to visit.  You need to go to Orkney or North East/ East coast for better examples. Travelled further north before heading back home to Dundee. We did a lot of sleeping in the car and woke up in some weird places looking down on some spectacular views enhanced by the low lying mist. We had a few 'Brigadoon' moments. On the whole the west coast involves a lot of travelling on minor roads between places of interest, which if the weather is fine, you don't mind doing. Most people do a 50 mile radius of Fort William and unless you go remote or get to the attractions early or stay late you get those pesky tourists in your shots... and then there's the midgies, horseflies, etc! 

Anyway enjoy, hope you find something to shoot. I'll be heading up to Scotland in three weeks. We have booked a cottage in Meigle so I'm just hoping the weather improves and I get a few good shots around Fife, Perthshire, Tayside and the Glens whilst squeezing in family visits.

Regards

Mike

Well just about the whole area is a photo op.
Anywhere on the A82 road, especially between Ranoch moor and Glen Nevis is spectacular.
What must be the most photographed cottage in Scotland is along here . Black Rock Cottage - Just take the turn off to the ski centre and park opposite the cottage for spectacular shot of mountain and cottage.  A Google image search will show you the pic. 
Isle of Skye - well countless photo ops there too.  Eilean Donan castle next to the road on the way there,  then on Skye just about everywhere you look. Elgol and Portree being very popular places.
All around Loch Levin you will find great places to photograph there are just too many to even contemplate listing, it will take you many years of happy snapping to get around them all.

If you pass Glencoe and you take a halt, try to feel the spirits of the  McIains who  were slaughtered there.

Imagination is a very powerful tool to give meaning, and meaning brings a photograph to life.

I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures when you get back.  Scotland is one place I'd love to visit and I also love the standing stones.  I saw a wonderful image of Stonehenge at what I think was sunset that was absolutely beautiful.  I know that's farther south from where you're going though.    If I ever manage to drag my husband to Scotland it'll be the distilleries, the golf and the photo ops.  :) 

Hi Kendra,

Nice to see your husband has his priorities right but for us it will be just the wilds.I am fortunate in that my wife dislikes shopping malls and crowds as much as I do.We went last year but as you may have read in my first post I got pretty ill so we are hoping that this will be a better holiday.Having said that the weather seems to be turning a bit.Been glorious in the north of England where we are...just hope it stays good until the end of next week.Strangely enough I didn't see a lot I wanted to photograph.It is a beautiful place but having spent hours on the net looking for good locations I have to say it has been hard to find a lot of good images.Found the best on Pbase and a few in Rosity.Yes I have seen good images of Stonehenge but I think you need to get it just at the right time other wise it just looks like any other holiday snap.Stonehenge is quite a haul from us as we are in the north west of England and even the drive to are holiday location is going to be about seven hours.That's without too many stops for a break so it will be even longer for us as there are locations on the route we will stop at.After about three hours drive we hit just two way roads all the way along Loch Lomond and into the hills..no motorways where we are going and if you get stuck behind anything that's it,very little chance to over take.if you get the chance to look at a map ( Google maps are good ) we have hired a cabin near a place called Strontian over looking Loch Sunart.Thanks for your email.

Eddie

I see that ejn suggested,

if you get the chance to look at a map
( Google maps are good )

Very true

we have hired a cabin near a place called
Strontian over looking Loch Sunart

Found it! ... and I can see Oban on the same map ... line of sight is about 15 to 20 miles ... but with the lochs ... who knows how far it would be to drive?

Have a good holliday. 

--
Martin
p.s. Did you have the time to try any of the techniques I suggested? 

Hi Martin,
havent tried any techniques...havent been anywhere yet.As petrol prices fly upwards and we are retired we have to be a bit more choosey on what we do.I can see this trip running to about 1200 miles.We live in Lancashire UK...quite a drive to Strotian

Hi Eddie

Have you heard the latest about the proposed strike?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4103812.ece

Don't know how much this may affect your holiday, especially being based at Strontian?  Let's hope it doesn't happen. 

Hi,
Yeah been following it and yes a bit concerned but the only alternative is not to go.Don,t really fancy being stuck in the wilds but will fill up regularly en route.Bit of a bummer as we had planned to have a day on the Isle of Skye..bit of a haul but worth it I think.
Then of course there is getting home so yes a big worry but I guess we are not the only people going to Scotland this weekend...will they all pull out.
Had this problem some years back when we had our studio.Was on holiday in the north and had to get home during the last fiasco.Had a wedding on the Saturday to photograph quite some distance from our base and spent the whole journey home worrying about letting the bride down.Stress...some people don't know the meaning of the word.
Don't you just love these little problems in life.

Jerry Can... ;)

Hi Eddie

Sorry, but had to post this ;) . Just had vision of you, having driven for 7 hours,fighting at pumps for fuel, finally arriving at your log cabin to find this:-

http://www.natura.org/natura2000management/img/uk_sunart_sitepic_03.jpg

and then it starts to rain...heavy! LOL

Quote - Hi Kendra,

Nice to see your husband has his priorities right but for us it will be just the wilds.I am fortunate in that my wife dislikes shopping malls and crowds as much as I do.We went last year but as you may have read in my first post I got pretty ill so we are hoping that this will be a better holiday.

Well, the distilleries and photo ops are for me, golf for him.  :)  I do hope you feel better for this trip.  I have psoriatic arthritis so I can empathize.  I take enbrel now though and it's 98% gone but certain climates always did affect it.  I hope you have a much better trip this time around. 

So Rich reckons a Jerry can...haven't got room in the car....have to take lots of John Smith's with me...a man has to know his priorties.Plus if I filled a jerry can some jobsworth would probalby report me as a terrorist...don't you love life in the UK now.
I see michaeldonnelly1963 has found our location...I really wonderd why it was so cheap this time of the year :-)
And Kendraa sorry to hear about the  psoriatic arthritis.I am still waiting for the body upgrade to come out...sort of a Mark 2 human update...but then again there must be a lot of people wating on that.
This morning my wife has toothache...getting old really sucks :-)
 

Heard on the news just now that it only affects Shell garages... and that (even tho shell is a big name) accounts for 10% of the UK market.  So you should be ok... crosses fingers