Loch Dundreggan in its Autumn Colours

Autumn Light on Loch Dundreggan (Canon EOS 250D, Sigma EX 10-20mm f/3.5 DC HSM lens at 10mm, 1/1000 sec at f/8, ISO 400, handheld)

One of the perks of living in this wonderful part of the country is that I sometimes have to travel for work purposes.  Today, I was returning from a trip to Inverness, up Glen Morriston.  At this time of year the woodland at Dundreggan is always spectacular in its full autumn glory.  Loch Dundreggan was looking particularly impressive, with perfect reflections, and an interesting sky as well.  I stopped and  scrambled down to the loch-side and captured the above shot while the good light lasted.  The lovely leading lines created by the combination of sky and the rocks and broken tree stems in the foreground really make this a lovely composition.  The slight warm glow in the sky adds to the dramatic impact of the scene, balancing the yellows and oranges of the trees.

The image below was an attempt to capture the lovely textures of the birch bark on the foreground trees along with the backdrop of the loch and the woodland on its banks.  I opted for a smaller aperture (f/16) to maximise the depth of field, focusing on the birch tree to optimise the sharpness of the bark textures.  I think it worked really well and makes for a different perspective on this landscape, showing the detail close-up as well as the wider context.

Birch Tree by Loch Dundreggan (Canon EOS 250D, Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DiII VC PZD lens at 10mm, 1/100 sec at f/16, ISO 400, handheld)

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