The Highlands in December Part 1
5-day photo road trip in the Highlands in Scotland
With a photographer friend, we took advantage of the break between Christmas and New Year's Day to explore the Highlands and more particularly the Isle of Skye.
Preamble: at this time of year in the Highlands, the blue hour is around 8:00 a.m., the golden hour at 8:30 a.m., sunrise at 9:00 a.m. and the full daylight at 10:15 a.m. In the evening, or should I say the afternoon, the golden hour begins at 2:30 p.m., sunset at 4:00 p.m. and the blue hour at 4:30 p.m. This leaves an amplitude of 6 hours, including 4 hours of full daylight, per day to make our photos. Added to this is the fact that the sun remains low on the horizon. Good light management will therefore be essential, which explains why we will drive a lot at night in the morning to be on site at dawn.
Day 1
After landing at the small Inverness regional airport in the early afternoon, we set off to explore the city and take some night photos.
The river Ness, which flows through the city, has an impressive flow due to the heavy rainfall at this time of year. We take the opportunity to make few photos of its banks and of the Greig Street Bridge, magnificently illuminated for the festive season.
Day 2
We leave early, along the shores of Loch Ness, heading to our first stop, the Urquhart Castle, standing on the shore of the lake. The castle of Urquhart, now in ruins, is one of the largest in Scotland. Built on the site of a fortress from the early Middle Ages from the 8th to the 16th century, it is located on a rocky promontory overlooking Loch Ness.
Few rays of sunshine offer us beautiful lights to capture the moment. These will be the only rays of sunshine all week ...
We head back south-west to reach the Invermoriston Bridge over the River Glenmoriston and its 'Summer house' kiosk, accessible via a green path. The sky is low and gray, the lack of light and the rain shorten our photo shoot on this spot.
We continue our route north-west for an hour to reach, around 3:00 p.m. the beautiful castle of Eilean Donan and its emblematic bridge.
The castle of Eilean Donan would find its origins in the XIIIth century. Being ideally located at the crossroads of three lochs, it would have been built by the Scottish king Alexander II, to ensure a better defense against Vikings raids and pillaging.
Over the centuries, Eilean Donan Castle has suffered many war episodes. Thus, it would be here that the future King of Scotland Robert I would have taken refuge while he was pursued by the English and that he would have left to reclaim his throne, recovering it a few months later.
In the 1910s, John MacRae-Gilstrap undertook restoration work, based on the original plans of the building, then preserved in Edinburgh, with the aim of remaining faithful to the historic architecture of the castle. Once restored, it became a family property, open to the public.
The light is already fading and the wind, fog and rain are settling in lastingly. A ghostly atmosphere ...
... and as we are not the kind of people to be intimidated by the weather, we go back after dinner, with a headlamp, in a dark night and always in the wind and rain.
The day ends with this magnificent night view of Eilean Donan Castle.
This morning we have an appointment with an emblematic site of the Isle of Skye: the famous Old Man of Storr mountain. After 1h15 of driving in the night, and having narrowly avoided two rams on the road, we reach the site car park at 8:30 am where only two parked cars have preceded us.
The sky is still grey and a thick fog envelops the mountain. The day will not be long in rising. Well equipped, we take the path that will prove much more steep and rocky towards the end of the climb. It takes about 2h30 to complete the 5 km course and its total difference in altitude of nearly 720 meters.
With the mist, the place offers a special, ghostly atmosphere. The rocky peaks with silhouettes cut by erosion, including the famous Old Man of Storr, an impressive 55-metre monolith, dominate a grandiose landscape.
Legend says that the Old Man of Storr was a giant who lived on the Trotternish ridge. When he died, he was buried there and it is his thumb that would have protruded from the earth, measuring dozens of metres in height ...
After this moment of weightlessness with nature, we continue our journey north towards the Lealt falls. The first waterfall that can be easily observed from a platform that offers little interest from a photographic point of view.
However, the second waterfall below offers a spectacle... that has to be earned! You have to take a narrow path that winds down the cliffside to reach, 90 meters below, gorges and a large pebble beach facing the ocean.
Then further north, we discover another waterfall, on the side of a cliff, called Kilt Rock Waterfall - Creag An Fhèilidh which pours from the top of its 90 meters into the sea.
The day ends with the site of Fairy Glen, an unusual place made up of small hills in a green landscape dotted with sheep, and the ascent of the Castle Ewen, a rock formation resembling a castle ruin, which offers a breathtaking view of the entire valley.
According to legend, the stone circles and spirals known as "fairy circles" are believed to be portals or gathering areas for fairies ...