Elements of Balmacara Estate

Boat on the Shore, Plockton (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 24-105mm lens at 24mm, ISO 800, 1/100 sec at f/20, CPL Filter)

I had a few chances to take some interesting shots today with at least three trips to Plockton at different times of the day.  The shot of the boat above was taken mid afternoon just before the weather front began to arrive from the west so I caught the last of the good light.  We have had a few days of strong-ish southerly wind and the clouds reflect this quite clearly, adding some real interest to what would otherwise have been a bit of a boring blue sky.  I decised to try converting this to black & white using Nik Collection's Silver Efex Pro (below) but am not sure which I prefer, both have their merits.

Boat on the Shore, Plockton (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 24-105mm lens at 24mm, ISO 800, 1/100 sec at f/20, CPL Filter)

I also took a shot along Harbour Street which I quite like in black & white.  The houses lead you into the image from left to right and the pampas grass adds a focal point in the foreground too.

Harbour Street, Plockton (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 24-105mm lens at 24mm, ISO 100, 1/13 sec at f/18, ND8 Grad Filter)

The following shots were taken on the croft land at Duirinish loking towards Drumbuie this morning.  The ground was lightly frozen with the grass a bit on the frosted side and the sun was just rising above the hills to the south.  The first shot was taken just as Sgurr Coinneach was lit up in the distance but the foreground was still in shade.  The second one, I took several times but this one had a mix of sunny areas and shade in Drumbuie but the Cuillins in the background are nicely lit up.

Crofts, Drumbuie & Duirinish (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 24-105mm lens at 105mm, ISO 800, 1/200 sec at f/11, ND8 Grad Filter)

Drumbuie from Duirinish (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 24-105mm lens at 105mm, ISO 800, 1/125 sec at f/11, ND8 Grad Filter, Panorama of 3 Shots)

Finally I stopped for this shot of the Cuillins from the road at Badicaul.  The hills were pretty murky as the weather started to come in from the west but the islands provide a bit of foreground interest as well.

The Cuillins from Badicaul (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 24-105mm lens at 80mm, ISO 200, 1/30 at f/8.0, Panorama of 4 Shots)