IAIN TURNBULL PHOTOGRAPHY
  • About
  • Portfolio
    • Landscape
    • Black & White
    • Buildings & Architecture
    • Birds
    • Macro
    • Miscellaneous
    • Photo Painting
  • Sales
  • Photography Blog
  • Contact
  • About
  • Portfolio
    • Landscape
    • Black & White
    • Buildings & Architecture
    • Birds
    • Macro
    • Miscellaneous
    • Photo Painting
  • Sales
  • Photography Blog
  • Contact
Picture

Photography Blog

Challenging Times

8/9/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Sunset near Duirinish, Lochalsh (10th August 2020 - Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens at 24mm, 1/320 sec at f/8.0, ISO 400, handheld)
There is little doubt that everyone is facing challenging times at present.  For me, this has been a period of relative peace in some regards, and at others a time of great uncertainty.  Initially the lack of tourists to our area meant it was beautifully quiet, offset to a degree by the lack of ability to get out and enjoy it as much as I would have liked.  However, it soon became clear that changes were afoot at my main place of work, the result of which has been some redundancies  and loss of long-term colleagues.  Against this background, I have not really felt much like getting out with the camera, far less maintaining my blog and other social media platforms.  However, I have managed to gather a few shots from the last few weeks and these are my favourites.  There is a definite de-saturated style going on at present, perhaps related to my frame of mind, but sometimes quite effective.
The above shot was taken from near the Duirinish railway station on one of my fairly regular walks around the coast on the Duirinish-Dumbuie-Port an Eorna circular walk.  I framed this photo to capture the silhouette of the Isle of Skye and the Cuillins in the background to the left, balanced byt he trees on the sky line to the right and the angle of the colourful clouds leads ythe viewer's eye into the frame.  The colours on this image were very vibrant originally (see below) but I felt they looked a little over-saturated so I opted for my recent predilection for a de-saturated feel and I prefer the de-saturated version much more, more atmospheric.
Picture
This rose was shot in our garden.  It was such a delicate small flower and I deliberately tried to get a soft feel using the largest aperture to achieve a very shallow depth of field, and reduced the clarity a bit in post-processing.  I love the soft ethereal feel of this image.  Sometimes you just don't have to travel far to get a good shot!
Picture
Small Red Rose (10th August 2020 - Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens at 70mm, 1/100 sec at f/2.8, ISO 100, handheld)
Picture
Sycamore Tree and Dun Troddan, Glenelg (16th August 2020 - Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF17-35mm f/2.8L USM lens at 17mm, 1/160 sec at f/8.0, ISO 400, handheld)
The following shots were taken during a short camping trip with my middle daughter to the Ardnamurchan peninsula at the end of August.  Ardnamurchan is an area I have rarely visited, partly because it takes an absolute age to get there from anywhere.  As the crow flies it is only about 60km distance from our house but the travel time by road is c. 3.5 hours with a massive detour rerquired to get round the Knoydart and Morar peninsulas, or a ferry ride via Skye.  The peninsula hosts the most westerly point on the UK mainland and is very well known for its marvellous ancient oak woods at Sunart and Ariundle.
I had a little bit of work to do on the morning of the 29th but we spent the afternoon driving around the back roads and visiting likely spots around Kilchoan, Kilmory and Sanna, taking shots as the opportunity arose.  Essentially this became a bit of a photography reconnaisance trip. 

This old croft house and barn were located at the very end of the road to the north coast of the penisula, beyond Kilmory at a tiny little settlment of only a few houses called Ockle.  In the past you would really have had to like your own company in a location like this, especially in bad winter weather when the sometimes steep and winding road would effectively cut you off I suspect.  Nowadays, there are several holiday lets joining the few permanent residences.
Picture
Old Croft House, Ockle, Ardnamurchan (29th August 2020 - Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens at 55mm, 1/400 sec at f/8.0, ISO 100, handheld)
Picture
Old Barn Door, Ockle, Ardnamurchan (29th August 2020 - Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens at 42mm, 1/1000 sec at f/8.0, ISO 100, handheld)
We camped wild, with the campsite being fully booked, but it has to be said we found a fantastic, quiet place overlooking the  Small Isles and the Isle of Skye and with a magnificent panorama of mountains heading north on the mainland as well.  I took a lot of shots of the view but it was very hard to capture the grandeur of the settiing and the light was generally not great.  This shot was my favourite of the bunch, looking NW towards the Isle of Muck, the most southerly of the Small Isles, in the late evening as the sun was heading towards the horizon.
Picture
Evening Light on Muck from Fascadale, Ardnamurchan (29th August 2020 - Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens at 105mm, 1/2000 sec at f/8.0, ISO 400, handheld)
On the way home on the 30th we stopped at Ariundle oak woods, near Strontian, and went for a walk around the official trail.  This is not a strenuous walk at all, taking you through some beautiful old woodland with magnificent ancient oak trees, mossy carpets covering the forest floor, calling Jays and a fantastic range of butterflies in the more open areas.  For my regular readers, you will already know about my love of these old woods and the Celtic Rainforest in particular.  These woods are among the best examples of this kind of temperate rainforest, illustrated by the wonderful array of mosses, lichens and ferns growing on the forest floor and on the stems and branches of these ancient trees.  Well worth a visit if you have not been there before.
Picture
Old Oak Tree, Ariundle, Ardnamurchan (30th August 2020 - Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens at 24mm, 1/200 sec at f/2.8, ISO 100, handheld)
Picture
Ferns on an Old Oak Tree, Ariundle, Ardnamurchan (30th August 2020 - Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens at 70mm, 1/200 sec at f/4.0, ISO 100, handheld)
Picture
Oak Trees and Mossy Forest Floor, Ariundle, Ardnamurchan (30th August 2020 - Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens at 24mm, 1/100 sec at f/4.0, ISO 100, handheld)
Picture
Mossy Rocks on the Forest Floor, Ariundle, Ardnamurchan (30th August 2020 - Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens at 70mm, 1/320 sec at f/4.0, ISO 100, handheld)
This Harebell caught my attention as a beautifully delicate little flower in an open area near the river.  The petals are so fine and softly coloured that they make excellent subjects for close-up photography.
Picture
Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia), Ariundle, Ardnamurchan (30th August 2020 - Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens at 70mm, 1/640 sec at f/2.8, ISO 100, handheld)
While visiting the Ardnamuchan area we also took the opportunity of a flying visit to Tobermory on Mull, by ferry from Kilchoan on the afternoon of the 29th.  This was literally a whistle-stop visit in order to catch the last ferry back, but it was a beautiful sunny afternoon, which justified an ice cream - fantastic!  The place was very busy and that came as a bit of a shock as I have not really been to many towns frequented by tourists in recent months.  Slightly scary to be honest.  Maybe a visit at a quieter time of year next time!
Picture
Tobermory from the Ferry Pier (29th August 2020 - Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens at 42mm, 1/3200 sec at f/8.0, ISO 400, handheld)
Picture
Tobermory from the Pier (29th August 2020 - Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens at 47mm, 1/320 sec at f/16, ISO 400, handheld)
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    I am an amateur photographer who is also a Chartered Geographer with his own part-time consultancy business and I work as an estate manager for a national conservation charity in Scotland.  I am based in Lochalsh, Wester Ross, Scotland, just next to the Isle of Skye.

    Sales

    If you like my photos and are interested in purchasing prints, whether framed, mounted or otherwise please click here.

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    January 2025
    August 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    July 2023
    May 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly