Travelling through Scotland 2018 (mostly images)

I love following along with your adventures. The photos have been excellent.

Excellent series of pictures, and a great narrative as well. I'm visiting Caithness right now, and the weather has been amazing - looks like it is clouding over now though.

Today, a different set of images - some stroll photography from Kirkwall because I was in the mood for it; I was - and had to stay - in town anyway to follow a different vice of mine - tasting and collecting whisky, which, by the way, brought me to Scotland the first time, years ago ... I found the Highland Park 18 years a wonderful drop, not to be missed; I didn't buy a bottle because I'll have to fly home and have experienced desasters in the past, but I will definitely get one at the next opportunity!

I love these simple sights - not because they're beautiful in any specific way, but because they're true and convey a perspective on life that is different from the one I'm used to. Chronology doesn't help the presentation this time, so I'll try to link them by impression

There is no need for neclect to result in ruinous decay - here's a little biotope instead (slightly cut off on the bottom - I had to be quick with composition here because I had to step out on the street ...)



... nor for plumbing to be internal or ugly (by the way, rangefinder composition here, no cropping or corrections whatsoever - from a "mediocre lens", too: the Voigtländer 35mm f/1.4 Nokton Classic - so much for the wisdom of online reviews ...).



Even in the most humble front porch, you'll see magnificent roses - here, there's a hint of them in the window in the background as well.


And finally, another quick composition of some fooling around contre-jour resulted in impromptu street photography.



Very relaxed day today - in the light of the taxing day I'll have tomorrow, cruising along the whole of Scotlands northern shoreline to Lochinver (or rather, Stoer, which is couple of miles to the north-west). Not sure how much photography will be possible - arriving there safely is the order of the day.

M.

P.S. @Briar I have yet to encounter the midges (or midgies, as the Orcadians call them) in any meaningful manner; we'll see how it goes tomorrow.

What a day - exhausting, but quite successful in the end; unfortunately, no WLAN, so posting images today is out of the question (I'm using my phone's travel data to post this - no problem, but I have to be careful enough); I'll go into detail as soon as possible. I'll probably stay in the area to shoot in the morning and head for the same restaurant as tonight for lunch; if that's the case, I can post from there.

Just one thing: I ended up on a single track B road in the north-west of Scotland (look up Stoer and the B869 if you want to know where and how) - I've done similar stuff before (Swiss mountain roads can be narrow and tricky as well), but never took it this far. I'll try to capture that as well tomorrow ...

M.

Okay, here are yesterday's images - which means that I'm waiting for my lunch in the very nice restaurant I discovered yesterday evening.

I arrived on Orkney in the sunshine and left it overcast to find a very(!) rainy and foggy Caithness coast, so I didn't get to shoot until later in the day. Besides, driving was more demanding than it would have been in good weather, so I had to mainly concentrate on getting to my next destination. In theory, it shouldn't have that long a journey, but in the end, it took more than five hours (with breaks, of course) to get from Thurso in the north-east to Stoer on the western coast.

This is my only satisfying take on one of the most photographed spots on the Orkneys, the Auld Man of Hoy. I tried several angles, and I do have a lot of shots from less distant points, but this one conveys the mystical impression when it appears out of the fog. The phenomenon itself isn't that uncommon - I'll get back to that in today's post.



After I had passed Tongue on the north coast, the weather cleared up a bit - which means that the fog lifted and the rain ceased to be permanent. I came across lots of magnificent views, but due to lack of time only got to grab a couple of quick shots from viewpoints along the road.



The weather and changing light made it difficult to get a lot of good shots on the fly; I just picked two of the very divers impressions that I came across; often, I would have had to invest a bit of time to find a better vantage point to get really good images - but it isn't exactly a new idea that successful photography takes time and patience, both of which I lacked during the long drive in the afternoon.



The last part of the journey got a lot more adventurous than I had thought - due to the single track B road I mentioned in my previous post. I have now driven on it for a couple of hours (to Lochinver and back, and back again today) and feel a bit more comfortable, but even so, it slows you right down - not a bad thing, but you have to keep your eyes on the road and your head on the driving, so exploring has to take the back seat, so to speak. I now know where I would stop and go back to - but only because I passed it twice, and to be honest, I don't think I'll return there today because it's overcast again.

Anyway, once I had arrived in Lochinver, I was in for a very pleasant evening - great light at sunset (a true golden hour), gorgeous sunset.







So, all in all, quite a successful day - if a bit on the tough side.

M.

I've enjoyed two cups of coffee this morning while taking in your trip. Thanks for sharing...lovely photos, too.

For wharever reason, i am often drawn most to your vertical shots... Perhaps because they appear to be studies in (progression of) texture, more than "trying to take it all in". I need to make note of this for my own shooting!

I'm a sucker for atmospheric shots and these don't disappoint. I also really like the ship on the horizon in the last. Very enjoyable!

Very nice pictures and glad you made it through safely. Those NW roads are a real trial - luckily we had good visibility the day we were on them but it was still pretty nerve wracking.

Thanks everyone for the encourament and support. It is a very intense experience in many ways, and it was today, too, though a much less taxing one than yesterday. I'm getting used to things - like the roads and people driving all over them instead of holding their lane, but I have to take things as I find them anyway, so it's no use complaining anyway. For instance, if you go to the north-west of Scotland, you have to expect weather as it is now - so please, don't think I'm put off by what is happening; it limits what can be done, but by no means takes away from its value!

A little warning: This will be a lengthy one - bear with me or just look at the images. I have some time on my hands, arriving at my next stop (the little ferry port of Ullapool) rather early ...

I didn't mention my Google Pixel as a camera before, but since I've started using it with the Footej Camera app (no idea who came up with the name, the company's called Semaphore which is a lot more sensible in my view, but anyway) I really quite like shooting with it, and the images are usable more often than not. Footej offers full manual control (of a limited set of controls, ISO, shutter speed, and focus - but that's the Pixel's fault, not the app's), but since the aperture stays the same anyway, I mostly use AE and AF because I can get a measurement (which does AE and AF directly) with a tap on the screen and after that, I can reposition the two circles for AE and AF individually and independly! This works really well, so you'll get two Footej JPEGs as well (unfortunately, Polarr can't decode the RAW files - even though they're DNGs). For what it is, I'm quite pleased with the results.

But first, here's a glimpse at the single track B road - in one of its better repaired and wider parts, on the northern entry to Stoer.



On my morning hike, I went to see the Old Man of Stoer, which, you may have guessed it, is another stone pillar along the very same lines as the Auld Man of Hoy I showed you in the previous post. The walk was not too difficult, but it's boggyl, waterlogged ground with lots of quagmires and muddy areas, plus it gets steep in some parts (never really dangerous, though, if you're careful and wear appropriate boots). It was treacherous enough for me to stow away the Leica after taking two half-hearted shots, though. (in the only two minutes of the sun breaking through, unfortunately). So, nothing to show from the headline camera ... The G1X III was a good camera for the occasion anyhow.

The parking lot is situated close to the old lighthouse (that you can now rent for special occasions - or even to live in!); you'll spot that in a couple of images later.

As a side note, sheep are everywhere, not only on the roads, but also *on* the cliffs, above sheer drops. I don't have a good image to show you that (I wasn't able to get anywhere close enough without putting myself into danger), but it's really astonishing.

Here's the pillar as I first saw it.



From above. As you can see on the bottom, there's a rope for getting over to the pillar - in order to climb it!



This was the closest I could bring myself to step to the cliff - the drop is absolutely precipitious, and the wind was buffeting me the whole time. In spite of the conditions, there was a middle-aged couple I had seen earlier preparing to climb the rock pillar - I had lost them from view at that time and don't know if they succeed (or even tried).



On the way back, there was a sudden squall - not too bad, but I had to put the raincover on the backpack, meaning I didn't have any more access to the cameras; the smartphone had to be transferred from the back pocket of my trousers (which got very wet in a short period of time) to the jacket to keep it dry). So I had that ready. On returning to lighthouse, I took two shots.

The first one is interesting because what you see in the foreground are not flowers - they're tiny bits of sheep's wool directly deposited there; this means that the little depression in the image is a preferred sheltering spot for the animals.



The second image shows a small ridge richly overgrown with what is probably Ling; before that, there's a chasm with a sharp edge, half-hidden in the grass in front of it.



That's about it for the morning.

TO BE CONTINUED ...

M.

Lovely images and great report. I must still read the last few posts, not sure how I’ve missed this thread up until ow...

Here's today's second post. I didn't think much of this afternoon's little walk - the light was dull, and I was unsure about how to go about this. Actually, some of you had given me food for thought as to why I compose like I do ... but at least for some of my usual shots, it didn't really come together.

This is a little surprise just above the east end of Loch Assynt - a leasure path with nice facilities, just the right thing for a family's relaxing walk (it's fully accessible for wheelchairs as well). I wasn't in the mood for documentary, though - I sort of wanted a recompensation for all the shots I hadn't been able to get due to rain and/or unfavourable light. But the latter wasn't that nice, either, so I sulked - something that never helps with shooting. I only got into a bit of a swing towards the end of that walk. Here's a little overview; I'm above the nice little lochs on a continuation of the main path, walking back towards the accessible area.



Just after re-entering the more overgrown areas that you can spot in the background of the image above, the path led through a copse of birch trees - bent and gnarled like I had never seen any before. And there I found a really nice subject.



We call it "fairy's hair" in German - no idea what it's called in English, though (maybe "dryad's hair" would be a more fitting translation ...). Here's a detail shot - and the image that made this little outing worthwhile in terms of photography (in spite of the blown sky - in this case, it fits).



btw. I tried forced flash here and still can't really say if the whimpy little flash on the G1X III fired or not. Anyhow, the images are much better lit than those I took before.

So, where are the lochs - well, I only got mediocre shots, not well composed on the whole, and not well exposed at all (I blew out the sky way too often, I just wasn't paying enough attention at first). So you have to take my word for it. Oh, and still no midges ... I seem to be lucky (I heard other people complain about them in the same area just this morning).

M.

Matt, great travelogue and images. Those views of the coast line are awesome.

I know Canon takes a beating these days on perceived lack of innovation, but damn I love their color science. The G1X pictures impress me. Really nice images Matt.

@donlaw Thanks a lot - though I have to say that I'd have liked to get a bit more diversity; the rockscapes are amazing, but hard to photograph in marginal light. Things will improve a bit over the next couple of days, apparently, so I should be able to balance things a bit. Not today, probably - another sea voyage was the main feature of the day.

@blucity I really like the G1X III - it packs a lot of punch for such a small and unassuming camera (but I think its price betrays all the effort that went into making it what it is). That said, I'm more pleased with the images from the M10, but it's really impressive how well the compact camera keeps up. And it's true that it's easier to extract hints of colour from the Canon's files - though the M10's are richer and more versatile. Both cameras share a weakness, though: They really do blow out those highlights quickly, and in contrasty situations, both are a bit more limited than I'd like (I know my Nikon D750 does a lot better in that respect). But that just means watching your highlights with the M10 - with the G1X III, it sometimes means compromising or not getting the shot (shadow recovery is good, but not amazing). Today's last shot shows best what I'm referring to - this was actually underexposed by one and two thirds of a stop, but still the sky is blown out.

Back to reporting. Today, I awoke to nice weather and reasonably good light (though changing as usual), so after breakfast and checking in my car for the ferry, I went for a prolonged stroll to the harbour and along the shore, using the Leicas. It was really nice - though a good part of the images are on film and not yet available for sharing.

The first, however, is more of a documentary shot: littering, tourist style ... Who else would choose an American and a Mexican bottled beer in a Scottish harbour town with lots of local beers, ales and stouts on the tabs? And they didn't even drink up - supposedly ... It doesn't hurt nor help that I decided to crop this one heavily - aesthetics can't make this any less annoying anyway ...



The rest is just a set of mostly playful images I was able to capture. These were reordered slightly (in terms of chronology) to bring out that fact that I did something I rarely do: compose symmetrically (that's another reason for the crop above ...). Of course, the vertical shots are different.









On arriving at Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, the sky was overcast again and has remained so while rain has been increasing. I went for another walk around the harbour and the castle grounds (Lews Castle is a privately owned venue - for weddings and ceremonies and the like; the museum was closed), but these shots are a bit more whimsical and at the same time subdued than the ones from Ullapool.





M.

P.S. I don't know if anyone has noticed, but I decided to retire the Panasonic for this trip a few days ago. It's not that it doesn't work or doesn't deliver; mainly, I feel I don't really need it, and now I'm trying to find out if I can actually travel without a long tele - for the sake of better files; admittedly, the issues with Polarr play a part in this as well. As of yet, I haven't missed anything decisive or even major in terms of images. That said, I do miss the ability to zoom quickly at times. But so far, it's working out alright. We'll see how things turn out ... I may also change my mind again if the light gets consistently better, thus making the limitations of the superzoom less of an issue.

Like that one with the red Reliant Robin Matt.

@rayvonn Thanks, didn't know what that was ... it did look unique and interesting, shame about the state it's in.

Today, I toured Lewis and Harris; it's a bit misleading that both those regions are on one island - at least I didn't have to cross any causeways or visible water between the two. It is fitting that they have each their own name, though, because the landscape is clearly quite different.

As Orkney, these island(s) have a long history of human settlement - so in a way, at least Lewis was much like a slightly less appealing version of Orkney - mostly green, but no (or very few) trees. It sports comparable island weather: windy, rainy, changing all the time (and quickly).

Today was a bit special in that I actually felt like the sun was evading me for most of the morning; I often saw patches of sunshine quite close to where I was, but somehow, I never got any. This changed somewhat after lunch, though I still drove in changing light and weather. I have some shots to work on later to bring that out, but they didn't stand out as especially noteworthy, so I'll stick to documentary for the morning.

In Lewis, I travelled mostly through only mildly hilly landscapes - it's possible that there are more mountains further north, though.

There are brochs and standing stones here, too - and sheep, of course. In many ways, Lewis and Harris are (northern) Scotland in a nutshell - especially Harris. The further south you get, the more rugged and mountainous it gets (I went no further than Tarbert, though).

This is one of the best preserved brochs anywhere. I forgot the name - sorry, everything's Gaelic here, and I have a hard time remembering the unfamiliar names and spellings (and it doesn't help that I left the map in the car).



The steps between the outer walls are still partially intact. It's supposed to have still been intact in the 16th century - so it would have survived 2000 years of use before it partially crumbled ... not bad for dry-stone walls of this height.



The stone circles are a bit smaller, but more elaborate than those I saw on Orkney; these are called "The False Men" - I wonder if you can spot why ... (this is from a linear feature of the stone circle in question - again, forgot the Gaelic name)



I left the main road and tried to reach the coast, but it went on and on and on until I decided to double back. This is something I regret somewhat - I didn't have the guts to just keep on going and explore today, but in all fairness, the weather didn't help, and I might have ended up with nothing for my troubles. Anyway, before I went back to the road to Tarbert, I was able to grab this very typical image (winding road, lochs, sheep on the side - they were on the road when I saw them first, but didn't like me approaching and ambled off). This is the only time it felt safe enough to break out the M10, btw.



Lewis and Harris is good for sweeping vistas. Here's what I saw on approaching Harris.





Finally, you know what they say: Don't shoot and drive. But I just had to take this shot ... (most of the road was pretty curvy - this part was straight as an arrow for more than a mile).



One thing I have to say: I handled Lewis and Harris the wrong way: This is a place to stay and hike for some days, not just drive through and grab a few impressions (or shots, in my case). Harris specifically is very beautiful and would deserve a much closer look and a lot more time and dedication.

M.

P.S. I'm uploading via my smartphone's 4G - let's see how much bandwidth this'll eat up; this may be the last time I do this ... But I am very wary of unsecured WLAN networks like the one they use in this hotel; better play it safe ...

P.P.S. No problem whatsoever posting over 4G! I shouldn't do that every day, but it's certainly not an undue drain on my 2GB quota for this trip. Great to know

I suspect that’s Dun Carloway Broch, and possibly the Calanais(Callanish) standing stones. You’re right, Harris is lovely especially the west coast.

BTW I’m beginning to prefer landscapes in portrait orientation, so I really like those. I’m quite envious of your trip. Are you visiting the Uists nexts?

theoldsmithy said:

I suspect that’s Dun Carloway Broch, and possibly the Calanais(Callanish) standing stones. You’re right, Harris is lovely especially the west coast.

BTW I’m beginning to prefer landscapes in portrait orientation, so I really like those. I’m quite envious of your trip. Are you visiting the Uists nexts?

Click to expand...

Spot on in identifying these monuments - both of them! Thanks for that, very much appreciated.

I'm headed back towards the Highlands already - I'll take the ferry to Skye tomorrow (that's why I went to Tarbert), taking the long way around the island to leave it for the night (Balmacara is just a few miles down the road from Kyle of Lochalsh), then Onich (near Fort Augustus), then Glasgow and Edinburgh (two nights each).

As for composition, what I'd really enjoy would be a high-class tele zoom along the lines of the Nikon 70-200mm f/4G because it would allow me to really dive into these long-range shots and get at the detail ... I still like the Olympus 14-150mm II for what it is, a small, light superzoom with decent optics, but on the GX80, it isn't in the same league as the G1X III, let alone the M mount lenses; in spite of its merits, it's relegated to an also-run. The 70-200mm f/4G most certainly is competitive - in fact, it's probably the most sensible lens I own because it performs fantastically on the D750, is reasonably priced and quite compact and light for a FF zoom of that specification. But I'd have to take the D750 to get its full potential. The other lens I'm missing and will never again leave home without when travelling with the M10 is the Zeiss C Biogon 35mm f/2.8, but that's a completely different story (a story of three(!) 35mm lenses I will at some time tell on this board - when it's finished).

I'll get to my thoughts about gear at the end of this thread - with possibly surprising results for some. But it's too early for a complete assessment, and it'd spoil the fun - at least for me - if I gave away too much in advance.

See you around tomorrow

M.

Okay, here's today's harvest (and let me tell you that it's only a fraction of the whole yield ...).

I didn't manage to get any remarkable shots from the ferry port or journey except one: another traveller, overjoyed with the sun and whipping winds (she stood there for almost a quarter of an hour - i.e. I returned several times to find her in the same spot).



Skye gave me what the last couple of days didn't: Long periods of sunshine and the opportunity to walk around (even though I almost stumbled into a tourist hellhole a bit further along this loch ... I fled). I know the Elmarit-M 90mm isn't a wildlife lens by any stretch (pun intended), but what drew me first was the huge bird fishing in the foreground - so I had to make something of it ... layering helps, and so does the slight haze.



But basically, Skye proved to be like Harris, but even more so - impressive landscapes, moutainous, with huge shadows and dazzling light displayed everywhere. Unfortunately, traffic was pretty heavy, so leisurely stops were difficult. So, the next shot was only possible because I spotted a parking space on the roadside in front of me. It was dangerous enough, though - had I opened the door a second earlier, a car swerving dangerously over the guiding line would have hit me ... smartphone in action, I guess.



I made it safely to Balmacara - though it wasn't that simple to find my lodgings this time; there are limits to navigation devices in the Scottish Highlands, it seems ... After arriving, I decided that I would walk back the three miles or so to a restaurant I had passed earlier; there was even a sidewalk this time (though this meant I had to follow the road, with cars passing me frequently at 60 mph). But it was well worth it; more or less immediately, I happend upon this sight - fairyland calling ... (that's why I included the fence in the foreground - it wouldn't have been bearable otherwise).



After dinner, light was just fabulous. I could have gone on shooting if not for the temperature dropping. These are all from one single location - and I've left out quite a bit of what I was able to capture there.



This is the iconic shot - and this time, the wide-angle (the Elmarit-M 28mm) worked its magic; I had tried the 90mm and 50mm before, but I like this one best (btw. there is more shadow detail in the file - I just can't get at it using Polarr; I still like this version a lot ...).



I had eaten scallops a couple of times but hadn't seen lots of shells; now suddenly, here they were (though sadly, the restaurant hadn't had any on offer; thankfully, I think I've eaten my share this time ...). This is a more abstract shot (I have others that work the subject ...). [N.B. The bokeh shouldn't look this way, and it doesn't in the original - I double-checked; this is compression at work, I guess.]



On walking back, another rainbow - this time, a warning; sure enough, a couple of minutes later, it started to rain, but it was only a short and mild shower.



Finally, in order to round things off with a bit of tongue in cheek stuff (it was a bit on the dramatic side, I think), here's a bit of shadow play on my part ...



I must say that I love the two Elmarits (28mm and 90mm). The 50mm Summicron-M is reliable, but I'm not as big a fan of it as I am of the other two (and my other 50mm Leica lens, the Elmar 50mm - sadly, I'm wary about using it on the M10 because it's collapsible). Something that bugs me is that it actually frames a bit too widely for my taste - a 50mm should be tighter in my opinion (the Elmar sure is). But objectively, it remains a very good performer - easily matching the other two lenses I have with me, and of course, being a stop brighter, it's even more versatile.

I did a lot of thinking about my gear choices today - but I'll tell you about all of this after returning home, as previously stated; I'm actually glad I did this because there were things starting to really getting to me. But I think I got to the bottom of it now - which is a relief. Thanks for reading.

M.