I’ll admit right away that i prefer the West coast, i think most people do. From Glen Coe to Torridon to Loch Lomond, it has so many natural treasures it would be hard to beat anywhere in the world. But for my recent trip, i decided to head East, at least at first, and give some new locations a try in what looked like a decent few days according to BBC Weather. And they were right.
The Plan
I started off slowly, scanning my Google Map saved locations, seeing what I may have missed, zooming in on all the large bodies of water and looking them up individually. It didn’t take long before i came across a rather impressive monument, and not too far from it a pretty huge Loch i’d never heard of before… well that’s good enough for me. I set off later that night and arrived just in time to set up my bed in the back of the van, cook up some dinner and settle down with an episode of The Office with my alarm set for 6am.
The Shot
The ‘sunrise’ was tame, but it gave me a chance to have a look around.
It was a long morning, the walk through the dark forest was a scary at times, seeing a deer run and jump about 20 feet in front of me almost had me going back to the van to change pants, but the hike was great and definitely somewhere id come back to for a proper walk.
The ‘sunrise’ was tame, but it gave me a chance to have a look around. Play with some angles and fly the drone around, see what it all looked like from above. It wasn’t until about 9am the skies cleared and the morning light had its chance to shine through.
I was super excited and panicked, afraid id miss it and not get my shot! I sent the drone back up and took fresh shots of all the same angles i’d just done, now with glorious golden sunshine backing them up.
I spent quite a while waling and shooting after that. It was getting warm and i had to place to myself which is always a bonus.
I headed back to the van for some breakfast and coffee, found some cows (which i obviously stood and photographed for way longer than i needed to) and made my way to another place i’d never heard of before. A great Loch in the sky!
The drive here was fantastic. All old farmland, nice winding roads, nothing but rolling hills and mountains to look at, the odd farm animal and so many pheasants! Honestly no wonder they keep getting run over by people, they can’t stay off the road.
The Hike
This was possible the worst part, the hike was tough, lots of incline, lots of rocks, lots of walking! It’s definitely not hard, but with a large bag of camera gear and a general disgust for cardio, regret was creeping in to my mind. But i don’t turn back, so i had to choice.
The scenes offered up much of what Scotland is all about. Beautiful valley’s, colours, lochs, cozy homes and cheerful hikers all along the way. I didn’t entirely know what to expect at the top but after a little searching around i found an angle i was super happy with. I don’t think of myself as a great photographer, so making a composition work is still a big deal for me, and i feel I made something genuine and original.
I don’t turn back, so i had to choice.
The Castle
Every time i’v made it to Dunnottar Castle something is went wrong. Usually horrendous weather, in fact, always horrendous weather. Brutal rain, immense winds or a cocktail of both.
But this time, it was kind perfect, i was pretty surprised! I decided to park up for the night and get some rest. Watch a show or two and passed out pretty early. I wanted to make the most of these great mornings and it looked to be another clear one the next day.
It was a lovely morning, and i’m sure there were shots to be had, but i didn’t feel i got them, so i left Dunnottar defeated once again. But I’ll be back, and I’ll get what i want, eventually.
The Pause
It had only been two nights but i was beat. Lot of walking and lots of driving, i had time enough to slow down, so headed north to Aberdeen, found a nice coffee place on the edge of town and settled in for a bit of work and editing.
I find i always get a lot done when i’m in these places, there’s no distractions at all and i can sit for hours with all the power and coffee i can need. I even went next door to Asda for some fresh bread for dinner. This was a great day! At about 4 i packed up and made my way to my highlight of the trip, Rattray Head Lighthouse. I had just enough time to get there for sunset, but i wasn’t expecting much with the sun going down on the other side of the country. but id get some prep work done, scout out the locations i wanted to get the next morning for what promised to be the most epic of sunrises.
I even went next door to Asda for some fresh bread for dinner. This was a great day!
I wanted to conclude this post with everything that happened at Rattray but i feel its worthy of saving for part two… plus the is already much longer than i’d ever read myself. So congrats to you if you made it this far!