Highlands of Scotland photography trip, February 2010

One of the first things that started my passion for landscape photography was the grandeur of the Scottish highlands. In early 2001 I was fortunate enough to spend two days on Rannoch Moor near Crianlarich photographing a pristine snow covered landscape. Ever since I've been itching to return in similar weather conditions, but I've never visited with deep snow cover. On that first winter trip I was shooting with a 35mm film camera, but now I had a Fuji 6x17 panorama and a Mamiya 6x7, both of which I knew would be ideally suited to the grand scenery found in the Highlands.

I finally planned a trip and booked myself into a log cabin near Callander for a week in February. A couple of days before I was due to leave Devon for the long drive north, I logged onto the live webcam on the Kings House Hotel looking out onto Rannoch Moor and was thrilled to see heavy snow falling. Excellent news!

Unable to wait another day, I drove up a day early in order to get the best chance of some good snowy photos. Often I've witnessed the rapid thawing of snow from the landscape, and the day immediately after fresh snowfall is usually the best looking, with snow clinging to tree branches resulting in a winter wonderland.

After travelling all day, I decided to spend the night on Rannoch Moor in my van in order to be ready to go first thing in the morning. Wow, it was cold! Fortunately I had a warm sleeping bag and a couple of blankets, but at -15 degrees outside it was more a case of survival than a good night's sleep. Definitely too hardcore for me these days, until I get a heater installed at least!

Frozen landscape

Stars were visible when I got up and due to the incredibly low temperatures the snow had crystalised on trees and grass forming a stunningly beautiful winter landscape. There was almost too much to take in and I had to decide on a location and stick to it as dozens of beautiful scenes caught my eye as the sun began to rise.

The popular viewpoint across a lochan to Black mount is hugely photographed, partly due to its ease of access with the main road running right across Rannoch moor, but partly of course because it is a spectacular view. Cloaked in snow on a crisp sunny morning I couldn't resist the pull, so I set off with this as my first planned stop.

Unfortunately a thick layer of mist hovered above the lochan totally obscuring the view, so I decided to head for nearby Loch Tulla for the sunrise. Trudging over the frosty snow, I made my way though a deer gate and down to the loch side as the distant sky began to display pinkish tones of dawn.

Using a swirling pattern in the ice as a lead-in to my photo I quickly loaded my Fuji GX617 with a roll of film and started shooting. Using a neutral density grad filter to balance the brightness of the sky with the darker foreground.

After some further exploring by foot and a couple more photos nearby, I drove back to Rannoch Moor finding the view across to Black mount looking spectacular in the morning sunlight. Wandering around the snow covered area Looking for an interesting foreground, I spotted some grasses laden with frozen snow sticking from the ice which I decided would make a good photograph.

The time of year and Scotland's northerly latitude, meant that the quality of light was good all day. After shooting most of the day, with a break for some lunch in the Glencoe Ski cafe, I returned to Loch Ba in the afternoon. With yet more awesome scenery I was getting through my supplies of film pretty quickly! Taking one last image as the low sun bathed the snowy landscape, I finally packed my kit and set off for my accommodation, tired out but very pleased.

Sadly there was no snow in the area I was staying, so despite wanting to explore the area around Loch Katrine, and as Rannoch Moor was so stunning, I got up each morning to make the one hour drive back to the moor and the snowy conditions. The snow stayed around because the temperatures were so cold even with the sun out all day. At one point, I had removed my thick gloves to reload a film into my camera, and after just a couple of minutes my hands felt numb with the cold, resulting in painful pins and needles when putting my gloves back on.

After a busy first day, the forecast showed heavy snowfall overnight on Scotland's capital city, Edinburgh. I was keen to get a panorama over the city with fresh snowfall, so the next day I was up a good few hours before sunrise for the long drive. Sadly, the forecast was wrong and after a hazy start, the sun rose over a snow free city.

Concentrating my time on the Highlands for the next three days, I decided I needed more sleep as I was getting quite tired with all the early starts and driving, not to mention all the cold fresh air I was getting. As I was on this trip by myself, I was able to mentally set my clock a couple of hours fast, so that after sunset at 4:30pm or so, I ate an early tea and went early to bed. This meant I could get up long before sunrise every day feeling refreshed and not completely exhausted.

Elevated viewpoint

One morning I hoped to get a shot from higher up looking down, or at least across, at the impressive Buachaille Etive Mor mountain. Arriving in the pre-dawn stillness below the dark mountain, I gathered my equipment and started trudging through the snow to climb neighbouring Beinn a' Chrulaiste as the sky began to lighten.

Around half way up with the landscape all around becoming much brighter, I stopped on a small ledge and set up my tripod just as the sun was just getting ready to hit the mountain. Looking down on the road I'd started at, I could just see a thin line winding through the valley below. With silence all around me, the snow covered panorama of mountains were illuminated by the first rays of sun - it was an amazing experience. Making sure I spent some time just soaking up the experience, I also made sure I put plenty of film though the camera. After overcoming the problems of lenses and filters misting up in the cold, I made my exposure and continued climbing the mountain.

Once near the top, the deep snow covered with a crisp icy covering made progress hard, so I stopped to take in the view and compose another photo. Criss-crossing the mountainside were prints in the snow made by some of the many deer I had already spotted. I included some deer tracks in my frame, and realising it was 9am on Monday morning I decided this was a pretty decent view from the office!

I spent some time later that day exploring the rivers which wound their way across the moor. In many places, the cold temperatures had frozen a lot of the water so hard that it was possible to walk on it. This opened up some new viewpoints looking towards Buachaille Etive Mor, which I decided to return the next day at dawn to photograph.

As the sun rose and illuminated the scene, I was able to use both my 6x17 panoramic and my 6x7 for several different compositions. The spikes on my tripod feet were ideal on the slippery ice, although I nearly got a Mamiya viewfinder stuck fast when I rested it on the floor for a few minutes.

Later in the week the sky which had so far been an unbroken sweep of blue, began to cloud over. Looking at my map, I realised this weather would suit the Falls of Falloch waterfall nearby.

Icicles

Arriving at the falls I discovered there was an abundance of icicles over the partially frozen river and falls. With some other photographers near the water's edge, I looked around for an alternative view. Choosing a long 300mm lens on my panoramic camera I chose to isolate the falling water and icicles from their wider surroundings. I thought the moving water would contrast well with the sharp frozen icicles as it blurred during the longish exposure.

I then explored a little further down the river carefully steeping across the slippery rocks and made another image of icicles hanging from the bank opposite the frozen river and some snow dusted rocks.

The following night the clouds swept in across this part of Scotland and another heavy load of snow was delivered to the landscape. The bad weather looked set to continue however, and after a day spent mountain biking across the now snowy landscape near Callander, I decided to get a head start and return home a day early. This was just in time as the weather worsened yet again and caused travel chaos.

Looking back

All in all it was a very productive trip with many photographs I am very happy with, not to mention the experience of witnessing those amazing sights, often with no-one else around and only deer tracks in the snow for company.

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