What a year it has been so far! At the beginning of the 2020 no one would have envisaged how the world was about to change. The Covid-19 situation continues to impact so many lives, but one positive result however seems to be a much greater appreciation for nature and the great outdoors - a point raised in the recent episode of the BBC program ‘Countryfile’ here in the UK. It therefore felt a privilege to be able to return to the Scottish Highlands for a couple of weeks this summer (August) after a scheduled holiday earlier in the year was not possible due to the lockdown in the UK and no travel possible at the time.
After a heat wave in the south of the UK, we ended up with two weeks of much cooler temperatures and a lot of cloud cover and fair amount of rain after getting to Scotland - I shouldn’t be surprised I suppose! Even so opportunities were available to get out with the camera which seemed like the first time for a long while!
These first two photos were taken from the back garden of our accommodation on one of the few clear night skies. A reminder of how small we are in the scale of God’s creation, when considering the vastness and multitude of stars visible just from a digital camera (and a lot also visible with the naked eye)! The centre of the Milky Way only comes just below the horizon in the north of Scotland around April time each year, so these photos are of the tail.
After an uneventful rest of the first week in terms of photography opportunities, the weather looked as though it would be perfect of a sunrise expedition at the start of the second week. Consequently the alarm was set for 4.00am and off we headed to a location I had previously scouted the week before.
Arriving before sunrise gave a beautiful view during the blue hour:
It was an ideal viewpoint to capture this beautiful morning:
The photo below was taken on another section of the same ridge but looking west over Strathpeffer during the golden hour:
The weather was really calm this particular morning, so we headed north west to a loch to see whether there was any chance to get some reflections in the early morning light - I was not to be disappointed!
The weather was absolutely perfect - such peace and tranquility with mist rising off the loch and beautiful reflections:
The local mallard ducks also enjoying soaking up the early morning sun rays!
Over the two week period I took opportunity to get out for some road trips - with some great panoramas on the way. The clouds tell the story of the weather!
The final trip was up a glen that I’ve never visited before and turned out to be extremely scenic - Strathconan. The road seemed endless and follows a beautiful river up through a loch and then onwards to its source further up the glen to another loch:
Another great time in the Highlands, which never fail to inspire and refresh.