23rd Oct - Another Hike in the Wilderness, Or is that a swim?

For months I have been talking about getting up to Glen Coe and the Rannoch Moor for some landscape photography, and what better time than late October when the hills are ablaze with autumn colour. I'll tell you when is better, it's better when it is not continually raining!

At the last minute I booked a hotel "20 minutes from the Rannoch moor" (turned out to be 40 - bah!) that had a cancellation policy that meant I could cancel up to 24 hours ahead if the weather was too bad. 26 hours ahead, the forecast was great...22 hours ahead, solid sheets of rain were all that was predicted. In fact Northern Scotland was in the grip of some really terrible storms, people were drowned in rural areas. So... I was in two minds, cancel and lose the price of the hotel or just go up and at least get to know the landscape and the routes for another time.

Off I went with an impressive array of waterproofs, driving up in remarkably dry weather on Friday. At the Trossachs the rain started. On I went and by the time I got to the Rannoch moor it was wall to wall grey, windscreen wipers at double speed and the only thing keeping my spirits up was the feast of chocolate and crisps that I had brought with me.

I stopped at Rannoch, got into my rain gear and had a wee hike about on the moor in the rain. My camera was in it's rain proof bag, I set up the tripod in the rain and held my golf umbrella above it while I juggled the camera, lenses and filters into position to take...a washed out driech photae of some bog... still I had at least learned that photos could be taken from under an umbrella without the camera getting wet. One of the blogs I had read before I went suggested that you should put a condom over the camera leaving the lens sticking out! I was awful glad that I found the "umbrella method" to be sufficient.

On I went and found myself at the foot of the Buchaille Etive Mor. That mountain that every Scottish landscaper must take a picture of. It looked good, with just a wee whisp of cloud around the summit. Quickly I got the tripod out, the umbrella and the camera bag, looked around, and the Buchaille had gone! Now, you might think it difficult for a mountain to disappear, with or without Mohammad summoning it, but the Buchaille has a sense of humour (as I was to find out). It was hiding behind dense cloud, just a wee edge playfully keeking out. Little did I know that in 3 wet rainy days, this would be the best view I would get. There was no time for paying attention to foreground interest, just focus and snap.
I finished the daylight hours in Glen Coe, with the last of the light, under an umbrella, trying unsuccessfully to get images of the 3 sisters, then it was off to my (really basic!) basic hotel for an awful curry and 2 welcome pints of Guinness while I sat down with an unabridged Mr Defoe and read all about Robinson Crusoe's 28 years of hardship. Kind of cool reading words written 300 years ago over a pint :-) while out on my own adventures. At least Robinson got some decent weather!

I was up early on Saturday, 50 mins before dawn and driving through the dark, very conscious of the threat of deer jumping out at the car. I've hit a deer up there before and it's a truly scary experience. I just made it into position at the foot of the Buchaille for dawn, bereft of any breakfast and guess what... bereft of any Buchaille! The cloud was LOOOOOOOW!. Of course it was only low around that damned mountain, snickering away at me from behind it's petticoats. Glen Etive on the other hand looked brighter than anywhere and I decided to make in that direction. Off I went and caught some dawn light and dry weather looking down the glen. Lovely. I spent the next 90 minutes driving from passing place to passing place snapping river and mountain landscapes with some real joy in my heart and a rumbling in my stomach, which was speaking to me. "Bacon butty" it kept saying, but when you get the light, everything else has to go by the wayside. Up and down the glen I went, having a ball, till finally the rain came on again. As I made my way back I say a bunch of canoeists start putting their kayaks in the river. But it was raining, are they mad, they'll get wet!!!! Ahem... the folly of that thought struck me. I couldn't pass up their bright canoes and the chance of some action shots, I changed to a 70mm prime lens, jumped out the car and held the camera under my coat. Off I scrambled through the canoe club members, nodding and smiling and pushing myself to the front, scrambling over the rocks and getting myself a prime spot down stream to watch them plunge through the white water and waterfalls. as each one came down , I whisked the camera out, took a grab shot with autofocus and thrust the camera back under my coat again. A successful approach in the end! This looks like exactly the sort of minority sport photography that could give you great images, given the scenery and the action!

But that was it, the rain was on steadily now and the first set of falls was conquered. Back in to the car for another drive about, scouting out the lay of the land for my next trip here. But first of to the Kingshouse hotel, the oldest inn in Scotland, where the English troops lodged before the Glen Coe massacre of the MacDonalds back in 1692. Whatever the murky past held, they do a damn fine steak and ale pie and chips now.... yum! spent lunch time in the climbers bar in Mr Defoe's company again. I could get used to living like this! The rain wasn't abating however so off I went for a tootle about. I ended up just above Glen Coe again, having a biscuits and crisps picnic"dessert" in the heaviest rain. Finally with just 2 or 3 hours of daylight left I though I had to get out and about. On top of the thermals, jeans, t-shirt, jumper and fleece, on went my water proof jacket, my spats, hiking boots and waterproof trousers. I was prepared for the hills and the weather! Into the boot went the camera and off I went up the nearest hill. It was only light rain by now so the walking was cool, although the path had become a hill drainage run off and had turned into a 1cm deep waterfall, all the way up. But on I went until after only half a mile I was faced with the first ford - stepping stones across a gentle waterfall. Except... the waterfall was raging and the stepping stones were submerged. With a 50meter tumbling drop down the hillside and as no-one knew where I was, discretion was the better part of valour and I about turned. as I walked back down the hill, the rain stopped! For 3 minutes and 30 seconds... and I didn't have my camera... bah!

I got back to the car and sensing this was my last chance, headed for Glen Coe proper. I got the tripod and umbrella out and clambered down the side of the glen to the valley floor to take pics of the 3 sisters, and they actually turned out OK, although conditions were difficult. Having said that there was a 6 minutes spell of dry weather as I was scrambling down. Here's an example of a shot in the rain.

So that was it. I went back to the hotel via Morrisons to grab a pot noodle (yes that was better than the hotel food!) and a bottle of wine and settled in for an early night. The clocks went back that night for the end of British Summer Time so I was up the next day at 5:30am and off to the Buchaille again in the most torrential rain and 75mph gusts of wind. As I parked on the Rannoch Moor, I could actually see the japester this time, but there was NO chance of getting the camera out long enough for a shot. I sat in the car with it rocking in the wind and had to admit defeat. So off I drove for a quick trip down Glen Etive again. What a change in 24 hours! The river was nearly bursting it's banks, the road was flooded, waterfalls were pouring down over it - Armageddon! I sat and watched the river rise where the canoeists had been, by over a foot inside a minute and I began to get a bit nervous. There is only one road in or out of the glen. So a hurired 3 point turn (actually 7 point) in the tiny passing places followed and off I charged back up the glen through the water on the road and out of there as fast as I could. I made quick time back to West Lothian, the rain stopping at the Trossachs (hmmm... there might be a lesson there) and starting again back in West Lothian (of course). Home by 9:45am , just as the kids were getting up for the day, I was able to have a nice home cooked breakfast again.

So what have I learned? You CAN take pictures in the rain, it's just more of a fiddle. Glen Coe and Glen Etive are well worth another trip in good weather. And I'll be staying at the Kingshouse (haunted or not) next time.

Oh, and that blinking Buchaille hasn't won yet - I'll be back!

Autumnal Colour

So, ever since the hike to Irishman's Loch I've been hankering to get back to the Trossachs, especially Loch Voil. This weekend I decided to get back up there and , fingers crossed, catch some autumnal colour reflected in glassy smooth water. There are two schools of thought in photography - plan, plan, plan or shoot from the hip. Usually I plan like crazy then turn up, go "bah! got it wrong again!" and end up shooting from the hip. I really admire people that plan this sort of thing accurately. A lot of it is about knowing your location, it's seasons how the light hits it etc.

I remembered that Loch Voil had been calm in the summer even though the hills were getting a breeze and figured that it was fairly secluded. With a Metcheck weather forecast of 3mph winds and 9°C I though "perfect", still foliage and glassy Loch, crisp and cool for walking, clear air. Brilliant! So I packed the car:

• Tripod
• 70mm for macro
• wide angle for pano
• medium zoom for flexibility
• 300mm zoom for wildlife
• Cokin ring for filters
• Polarizer filters for the blue skies and to stop water reflections.
• ND grad filter to avoid burned out skies
• Remote release for those ultra sharp images
• Kids to ease my conscience for going off for the day
• Wife to keep the kids out of shot (only joking, she carries stuff too...)
• Picnic

And off we went. It took TB and me over 2 hours last time to get there, after getting stuck in traffic, so I wasn't sure how long it would take now. Turned out happily to be 1hr and 5 mins - fantastic! Right on the doorstep! I can come here as often as I like!

We had just entered the Trossachs when I spotted Loch Lubnaig through the trees - looking glass still! Autumnal trees on the far bank - exactly as planned! Woohoo! "Come on kids, you look stiff, let's stretch our legs...". Parked up in the first car park and unpacked all the gear, pathetically excited about taking a pic. Found a great wee spot, extended the tripod and went to put the camera on it. Now... where was that wee doobry that connects the camera to the tripod? Doh! Firs6t lesson of the day - set up the equipment for a trial shot BEFORE you leave on a long trip, just to make sure you have everything. Swearing fluently in several languages inside, I smiled at the kids and said "silly Daddy!" so shooting handheld today I guess then. Rob Roy lived near here and his motto was "Despite Them" - a sentiment that many famous Scots have called on over the years, it embodies the determination that this country has employed over the centuries. so despite my missing wee doobry (cue Frankie Howard - "stop it, titter ye not") I decided I'd still make a fist of it and adjust to get some good shots. In other words, larger apertures, use hyperfocal depth of field and as fast shutter speeds as I could to minimise the shakes. Also on the plus side, I would take more photo's, have greater flexibility and less to carry. The very first shot was a winner - I've seen images like this from Sweden - the graphic style of the reflected tree trunks, the orange colours showing autumn, the little hut to add interest and focus and the simple colour palette.

Thumbs up to Loch Lubnaig, but this was not the main attraction, and just as well as the wind picked up and the Loch got choppy within a few minutes. Good timing! Back in the car and on to Loch Voil, after stopping off at Rob Roy's grave in Balquhidder to pay our respects and visit the little kirk.

Although the roads had been busy, Loch Voil was very quiet and we were able to park up on a muddy bank (NOT in a passing place - bad form that). A quick word of advice to any visitors to Scotland, the countryside is full of single lane roads. You go fast on the straights and slow into the corners, there are passing places (about one car long) every so many hundred yards and when you see another car coming from a distance, you pull into one (on either side of the road). Use them but NEVER park in a passing place - they are needed to keep the traffic flowing.

Back to the photography. Out we got, wrapped up warm and went for a toddle along the quiet road alongside Loch Voil. What a place - every few yards I was stopping for another picture, with shingle beaches, trees down to the lochs edge and hills all around, it was extremely photogenic. Here are a few shots from the day.

So finally my planning had paid off. The water was calm, even though we could hear the wind in the trees at the top of the hills , the sun was fairly low giving a warm glow and although the trees were not quite as orange as I'd hoped they were sufficiently on their way to give great colourful shots. the only thing I got wrong - time of day. An early morning shoot would have bathed the forest on the other bank of the loch in sunshine. All in all though a successful day and I will definitely be returning there soon, either hill walking or photographing (or Both!).