Blue Sky, Sunshine & Bla Bheinn

Bla Bheinn from Loch Cill Chriosd (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS lens at 24mm, ISO 400, 1/160 sec at f/16, handheld)

This morning dawned bright and sunny with beautiful blue skies and still some snow on the higher ground.  I could not resist heading out to try and get some shots of Bla Bheinn with snow on it but also some colour still in the landscape as Autumn has not quite passed just yet.  Anyway, I stopped at Loch Cill Chriosd for the wonderful reflections, givent he complete lack of any breeze.  I was not alone of course, as you never are these days on Sky, but it was still a pleasure to be out.  These shots are a collection of the best ones I managed to capture, including the remnant moon shining just above Bla Bheinn and reflected in the water.  The reeds also make the reflections more interesting rather than just an expanse of open water.

Bla Bheinn and Reeds from Loch Cill Chriosd (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS lens at 93mm, ISO 400, 1/200 sec at f/16, handheld)

For the following shot I tried something a little different. It was taken through the reeds but still focused on the background with a small aperture to try and keep the reeds sharp.

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Bla Bheinn through the reeds on Loch Cill Chriosd (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS lens at 35mm, ISO 400, 1/200 sec at f/16, handheld)

Bla Bheinn from Loch Cill Chriosd (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS lens at 65mm, ISO 400, 1/160 sec at f/16, handheld)

Bla Beinn Reflection (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS lens at 85mm, ISO 100, 1/80 sec at f/11, tripod)

For this shot I just took the reflection and I think it works really well, but it does mess with your mind a little.

The next one was taken on the way back to the car, looking back towards the church at Cill Chriosd.  It was a difficult shot to expose properly as it was looking towards the sun and a bit washed out.  I liked the vibrant colour of the bracken but the grass was still frosty and very pale, as was the water and the pale blue sky.

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Cill Chriosd Church from the loch (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS lens at 105mm, ISO 400, 1/100 sec at f/16, handheld)

I moved on to Torrin and the shore of Loch Slapin for the classic shot of Bla Bheinn.  Not very imaginative but it is still a fantastic view.  With the bright colours of the seaweed on the shore and the fading colours of autumn and just a little dusting of snow the hill was looking rather splendid.  This was taken with my widest angle lens to try and capture the grnadeur and scale of the landscape.

Bla Bheinn from the shore of Loch Slapin (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 17-35mm f/2.8L USM lens at 17mm, ISO 100, 1/80 sec at f/11, tripod)

For the next one I composed the shot with the end of an old wall in the foreground to add interest, and also to hide the road which was just in front of me when I took this.

Bla Bheinn with Stone Wall (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Yongnuo 35mm f/1.8 lens, ISO 100, 1/40 sec at f/16, tripod)

I have taken a few shots of this tree with Bla Bheinn in the background but today the sky looked a little uninteresting.  However, when I got down low to the ground the fanne dout light clouds became more apparent and even more clear wen converted to black and white in Nik's Silver Efex Pro with a red filter to darken the sky a bit.  I really like this shot, with the moon just showing above the hill and to the left of the tree.

Bla Bheinn with Stunted Tree (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS lens at 24mm, ISO 100, 1/125 sec at f/22, tripod)

Just to the left of the stunted tree there is a lovely old bit of dead wood which provides lovely leading lines into this picture.  Again I think this one looks better in black & white as the textures on the wood show up better

Bla Bheinn and Old Dead Wood (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS lens at 24mm, ISO 100, 1/40 sec at f/22, tripod)

Finally, another shot from the shore, in balck & white this time.  I am not sure if I like this that much as the reflection is lost in the mess of seaweed floating in the water.  It definitely shows up better in colour.

Bla Bheinn from Loch Slapin (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS lens at 24mm, ISO 100, 1/160 sec at f/11, tripod)