Sometimes photography outings can far exceed expectations and this was one of those days.
I’d been planning to do a scouting visit to Loch Clair and Loch Coulin for a while. These are two lochs that sit in Glen Torridon opposite Beinn Eighe. The objective after a recce of the walk was a revisit under ideal conditions for reflections, knowing the surrounding scenery would make some classic photography subject matter.
During the week preceeding the planned recce, the weather conditions continued to improve in terms of low wind speed, and some optimism with dry conditions as well. By Saturday the wind speed was really low and I headed off in the dark to get to the location. Disappointingly arriving at the layby it started to rain with low cloud over Beinn Eighe - not a good start. There was some colour as the sun rose, and eventually the rain eased. The weather apps indicated there was going to be significant improvement in the conditions with wind speed down to almost nothing at all. So we headed off…
Reaching Loch Clair we were treated with a superb view. The loch was like a millpond. The rain clouds were starting to clear with some mist around the surrounding mountains. Little did we know what we were in store for.
By the time we reached the end of the loch before heading onwards to Loch Coulin, the skies were clearing leaving some stunning views of reflections back to Glen Torridon with Liathach and Beinn Eighe in the background, still with mist hanging on their slopes.
The low lying mist created some super atmosphere.
Heading onwards to Loch Coulin the conditions were just perfect. Surrounded by such stillness and amazing views - the reflections couldn’t have been better! Here’s a selection:
And more ….
Perfect conditions for some panoramic shots of the stunning views.
What was planned as a recce turned out to be an absolutely stunning morning with such rare, perfect conditions. The second part of the day was another ascent to Beinn Alligin … the next blog!