A Few Shots from a Great Trip to the North West

Sunshine & Rain, Strath Dionard (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 24-105mm f/4L lens at 105mm, ISO 500, 1/25 sec at f/11, CPL filter)

So, just home from a fantastic three-day trip north to Ullapool and beyond, as far as Durness.  This was a first for Aileen and I, no kids involved, quite a novelty.  I had the aim of capturing some good photos, helped by mixed weather and some very good light.  Meanwhile, Aileen wrote a few poems while I was taking my shots.  This first shot was taken just north of Rhiconich, headiong towards Durness.  The skies had just dumped a huge torrent of rain on us but there were a few gaps of sunshine like the one shown here.  It was pretty gloomy so I had to increase the ISO as I was taking the shot handheld due to trying to be quick to avoid getting soaked (me and the camera).  The result is that the original shot was pretty noisy and in reducing the noise (using Nik Define which is pretty good normally) the image has softened a bit, but the dramatic lighting makes it worth keeping I think.

The next shot was taken at Achnahaird looking across the expanse of peat bog northwards towards Suilven and Quinaig.  This worked quite well in colour, with the contrasting blue sky and yellow grass abd bog but I really liked the more dramatic impact
of the clouds in the black & white version.  The newly cut peat and the neat stacks show what might appear to some to be a wild landscape is actually managed by man and along with grazing this culture has defined these fantastic landscapes in many ways.

Peat Cuttings, Achnahaird (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 24-105mm f/4 L lens at 24mm, ISO 200, 1/15 sec at f/22, CPL filter)

The rest of the shots here represent the best of what I managed to colelct, digitally at least.  However, I did take a few on 35mm B&W film and 120 B&W film.  Finally, at Balnakiel, Durness, I used my new pinhole lens for my Intrepid 5x4 film camera to try and capture the expanse of the beach.  Once I get round to processing those, if the work, I will scan them and post them as well.

Achnahaird Bay (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 24-105mm f/4L lens at 24mm, ISO 200, 1/20 sec at f/22, CPL filter)

Boats & Bouys, Badentarbat (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 24-105mm f/4L lens at 24mm, ISO 200, 1/15 sec at f/22)

Boat Skeleton (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 24-105mm f/4L lens at 24mm, ISO 200, 1/15 sec at f/22)

Anchors & Boats, Badentarbat (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 24-105mm f/4L lens at 32mm, ISO 200, 1/15 sec at f/22)

Rusty Bouy, Badentarbat (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 24-105mm f/4L lens at 40mm, ISO 400, 1/10 sec at f/22)

Storm in Strath Dionard, Kyle of Durness (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 24-105mm f/4L lens at 24mm, ISO 500, 1/60 sec at f/11, CPL filter)

Sunset on Loch Assynt (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 24-105mm f/4L lens at 105mm, ISO 400, 1/60 sec at f/16)