A Day Out on Skye

The Stac at Talisker Bay (Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, M.Zuiko 14-40mm f/2.8 Pro lens at 23mm, 1.6 sec at f/5.6, ISO 400, Hi-Res mode and Zomei ND1000 and ND9 Grad filters, tripod)

I had a great day out on Skye today, with a couple of fellow photographers from the Lochalsh Photography Group.  The day was cold but beautiful, with some spectacular light.  We went to Carbost and Talisker Bay initially, capturing a range of images, including some old boats on the shore at Carbost (see further down this post) and some long-exposure shots at TalisKer Bay, then after a cuppa we headed home via the shore at Waterloo where we had amazing late afternoon light as you will see at the end of the post.

The first shot was taken using my olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III camera in Hi-Res mode on a tripod, with a long exposure  of 1.6 seconds using my Zomei ND filters.  The Olympus Hi-Res mode takes 16 images in quick succession, moving the sensor slightly between shots, then blends them in camera to produce an 80 MP RAW image frm the 20 MP sensor.  The result is a large file with incredible resolution.  This process also creates a soft image when using a relatively long exposure, misting the water as you can see above, and incredible dynamic range and noise performance.  The effect is quite arty and I like it.

I tried the above image, converted to black and white to see how that worked as well, see below.

The Stac at Talisker Bay - B&W version (Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, M.Zuiko 14-40mm f/2.8 Pro lens at 23mm, 1.6 sec at f/5.6, ISO 400, Hi-Res mode and Zomei ND1000 and ND9 Grad filters, tripod)

On the north side of the bay there is a lovely waterfall which today was almost dry as we have had very little rain recently.  I thought this made a nice composition against the rocks on the shore, and tried another long exposure shot.  The sunlight on the cliff was illuminating it very brightly compared to the shaded shore, making for a lovely contrasty image.

Allt Mheididh Waterfall at Talisker Bay (Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, M.Zuiko 14-40mm f/2.8 Pro lens at 23mm, 1.0 sec at f/5.6, ISO 400, Hi-Res mode and K&F ND filters, tripod

On the way to Talisker Bay we stopped at the shore at Drynoch and I captured this image of one of the boats and another of the amazing light on the houses across the bay.

Old Boat at Drynoch Bay (Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, M.Zuiko 14-40mm f/2.8 Pro lens at 12mm, 1/125 sec at f/8, ISO 400, Hi-Res mode and K&F Magnetic Polarising filter, handheld)

Carbost (Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, M.Zuiko 14-40mm f/2.8 Pro lens at 12mm, 1/320 sec at f/5.6, ISO 400, Hi-Res mode and K&F Magnetic Polarising filter, handheld)

I captured the next three images on the way back to Carbost from Talisker Bay.  The opportunity was just too good not to stop and at least try for something worthwhile.  I am not sure the moon image quite worked as well as it looked in reality, but it is still a lovely contrasty image.  The two shots of the Cuillins in the misty cloud work really nicely I think, caught with my 300mm lens which I quite enjoy using from time to time for landscape shots.

The Moon from Gleann Oraid, Talisker (Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, M.Zuiko 300mm f/4 Pro lens, 1/640 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200, Hi-Res mode, handheld)

Afternoon Light on Sgurr a' Mhadaidh, the Cuillins (Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, M.Zuiko 300mm f/4 Pro lens, 1/640 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200, Hi-Res mode, handheld)

Afternoon Light on Sgurr na Banachdich, the Cuillins (Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, M.Zuiko 300mm f/4 Pro lens, 1/800 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200, Hi-Res mode, handheld)

Finally, after a cup of coffee we headed back home via Waterloo in Broadford.  Down by the shore the late afternoon light was fantastic, and there were a few waders and ducks feeding around the water's edge, including this curlew and a redshank.

Curlew (Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, M.Zuiko 300mm f/4 Pro lens with MC-20 2x Teleconverter, 1/800 sec at f/4, ISO 2000, handheld)

Redshank (Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, M.Zuiko 300mm f/4 Pro lens with MC-20 2x Teleconverter, 1/800 sec at f/8, ISO 5000, handheld)

The very last image was captured on my Honor 200 Lite mobile phone in Hi-Res mode, reputedly 105 MP, but I don't think so!  Anyway, the setting sun was producing amazing light and I had my big lens on the Olympus and was a distance from the camera bag which I left in the car, so the only option was to use the phone as I didn't want to miss the shot.  I think it was worth it, and this only proves the old adage that the best camera is the one you have with you!

Sunset, Broadford Bay from Waterloo (Honor LLY-NX1 mobile phone in hi-Res mode)