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I have been meaning to go to Smirisary an abandoned township or village for about five years. I made it this year and it did not disappoint. Smirisary township was a victim of the highland clearances from what I can understand. You can see one of the abandoned houses in the foreground along with it's customary rowan tree to ward off evil. It is about a two mile walk from where you park the car and good foot ware is a good idea because it can be boggy in places.  In 1973 Smirisary comprised of eight unroofed, one partially roofed, two roofed buildings and some field walls. These days there are at least six roofed and restored houses. There are however a good few abandoned buildings dotted about the area still like the one below. All in all it was a very pleasant walk in on a lovely autumnal day with no midges. Thanks for looking.

 

 

 

I try never to be put off from shooting at any time of day you do not need golden hour to take a pleasing image. A growing love of black and white images is also no bad thing and midday sunshine can offer light you might not be able to get at other times of the day. I prefer to intentional shoot with a monochrome image in mind rather than thinking the light is to harsh for colour so I can change it to monochrome. This was the case with this image of Bauchaille Etive Mor. I just loved the cloud structure at this time of day and included the bridge to try and add a sense of scale. 

Thanks for looking.

 

 

 

 Force of Nature

As can often be the case with photography sometimes you have to FORCE yourself to go out and shoot. The past few nights had just been cloudy and grey, but there was a sunset. Tonight was no different looking above just grey to the east grey to the west a hint of pink. Surely there could be no sunset with all this grey, so out with little hope. It paid off though with this image there was a break on the horizon.

 

A slightly complex to edit image comprising four 10mm shots blended. Two for a small pano for the fore ground and two for the bright sky and blended together. Thanks for looking. 

 

 

 

 LOCH TROOL

 Probably not a hidden gem? That said Loch Trool near the village of Glentrool is perhaps overlooked by many photographers. It has so much to offer in one small area with wild woodland many burns (scots for rivers streams) waterfalls a plenty and lets not forget the Loch itself. The main purpose of this trip was to photograph the Buchan Burn.

 

The idea was not to shoot the three tiered falls just up the hill from the Buchan bridge but the often more overlooked rapids and falls upstream.

 

One good thing about this time of year because the bracken is still low and not filled out yet means you can find areas of the Buchan Burn that are usually hidden. Most of these shots in previous years I have walked passed not knowing they were there. You could hear the water but with the bracken at shoulder height they just could not bee seen and wading through tick infested bracken is not to appealing.

 

 

Thanks for looking.