A Missing Tree

Snow Dusted Bla Bheinn & Autumnal Trees (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens at 170mm, 1/30 sec at f/11, ISO 100, handheld)

Stunted Tree & Bla Bheinn (2017)

Today involved a quick visit to Torrin, while we were on Skye, to check out a rumour that the stunted tree in my 2017 photo "Stunted Tree & Bla Bheinn" had recently disappeared.  Sadly, the rumour was true, so there will be no more shots of this wonderful mountain with that stunted and twisted old tree in the foreground. 

However, it was late in the afternoon and the late sunshine was producing some lovely light.  The main shot above was taken on the way home, from the Torrin to Broadford road.  I always like this spot on the road when travelling to Torrin.  You come round a bend and Bla Bheinn is just standing there, looking massive, when it is not shrouded in cloud and mist.  Today, the contrast between the grey and white of the snow dusted mountain and the last of the autumn trees in the foreground, the latter being lit up by the suinshine, made for an excellent shot I think.  I tried a few different compositions, but really like this one, which was taken with a bit of zoom (170mm), focusing in on the detail of the most spectacular bit of the hill, and foreshortening the distance to add a sense of the dramatic.

Earler, while in Sleat at the An Crubh Centre, I took this shot of Beinn Sgritheall.  I used my brand new Zomei glass ND4 grad filter to darken the sky a bit, allowing the foreground to be better exposed.  This is my first glass ND filter, having previously been restricted to the cheaper resin ones, and while Zomei may not be Lee, they are much more affordable, and as you can see the quality is very impressive I think.  The image is very sharp and I did not need to make any post-processing adjustments to correct any colour cast which commonly result with the cheaper resin filters.

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Beinn Sgrithall from An Crubh (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 24-70 f/2.8L USM lens at 70mm, 1/4 sec at f/16, ISO 100, Zomei ND4 Grad Filter, tripod)