More Photos from Coigach & Assynt

Suilven from the Inverkirkaig Road (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Lens at 75mm, 1/640 sec at f/14, ISO 400, Handheld)

I have been slowly working my way through the many shots I took last weekend so here is the next installment.  This one is of Suilven gradually being revealed from the low lying cloud which was hanging in the glens early in the morning on Friday.  The cloud soon burned off to leave a very hot and sunny day.  Canisp is also showing to the rear and right of Suilven.

The coast road from Ullapool to Lochinver is one of the most spectacular in the north-west with tantalizing glimpses of the famous hills which stand out separately from each other, unlike the hills further south in Wester Ross.  This creates a dramatic landscape with lots of moorland interspersed with broadleaved woodland, plenty of small lochs and lochans and occasional views of the sea and beyond.  This next image is of a paricularly scenic section of that road where it hugs the rocky shoreline and presents the motorist with tight blind corners and sheer drops into the sea.  It is definitely one of my favourite bits of road, albeit relatively short.

The Coastal Road (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 17-35mm f/2.8L USM Lens at 17mm, 1/80 sec at f/13, ISO 400, Handheld)

The next couple of shots illustrate the distinctive stand-alone peaks and small lochans that so characterise this wonderful area.  The first shows Stac Pollaidh while the second is of Suilven from Glencanisp.  I used a combination of my Zomei circular polarizing filter and ND8 full neutral density filter to emphasise the bright blue of the skye ad vibrant colours in the landscape, and to slow down the shutter speed to try and capture some movement in the foreground vegetation in the light breeze.  The first element worked well but the movement did not really work.  Still I like the shot.

Stac Pollaidh from above Inverpollaidh (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 17-35mm f/2.8L USM Lens at 18mm, 0.4 sec at f/22, ISO 50, CPL and ND8 ND filter, Tripod)

Suilven from Glencanisp (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 17-35mm f/2.8L USM Lens at 18mm, 1/320 sec at f/13, ISO 400, CPL filter, Handheld)

The next shot in this group was taken on my way to Achiltibuie from one of my favourite vantage points.  It shows the road to the Summer Isles in all its colourful glory with Beinn Mor Coigach on the left and Stac Pollaidh creeping in on the mid-right distance.  On a day like Friday at this early hour the landscape was illuminated perfectly by the sun and there is just enough cloud in the sky to add a little depth.

The Road to the Summer Isles (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 17-35mm f/2.8L USM Lens at 17mm, 1/125 sec at f/13, ISO 200, CPL filter, Handheld Panorama of two shots)

The final shot in this group was taken back at Achnahaird beach, or just above it on the machair,  in the early evening with the landscape lit by the sun in the west, looking eastwards towards the hills with the colourful grassland swaying in the foreground.  This was also taken using the CPL to emphasise the bright colours.

Coigach Hills and Machair Grassland at Achnahaird (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 17-35mm f/2.8L USM Lens at 23mm, 1/30 sec at f/18, ISO 100, Tripod)