Rannoch Rain
So, what is a week long photography expedition with me like? Well, this week I am taking a group of six clients up to Rannoch Moor, Glencoe and Skye so I thought, if time allows, I would try and blog to give you a flavour of what a trip like this is like.
The craziness began at 02:00 yesterday. I met with three of the group, Keith, Kevin & John (names haven’t been changed to protect the guilty). The reason for the early start? I had the idea that we could squeeze in sunrise at Bamburgh in Northumberland en-route to picking up the rest of the group at Edinburgh airport.
I had hired a nine seater VW mini bus which is providing luxurious travel for the week. By having a nine seater we have loads of room for luggage and a couple of spare seats so everyone can spread out.
Needless to say after a bit of initial banter, my companions were soon snoring soundly as I ate up the miles on the A1 northbound and they awoke as we approached that iconic beach an hour before sunrise to be greeted with good levels of cloud and a receding tide – perfect conditions. An hour and a half later all had some great images in the bag and an appetite had been generated so it was off to a local cafe for breakfast.
The great thing about eating together on workshops is that as photographers get together the conversation naturally revolves around our shared passion and all sorts of conversations develop. I almost always learn things during these chats. You hear the names of other interesting photographers work to explore, you hear of post processing techniques to try, interesting tips about gear or locations and so on.
We had a text from Charlotte who had, courtesy of BA, been overbooked on her flight and would now be arriving a couple of hours later than expected into Edinburgh. Never one to pass up an opportunity I quickly held an emergency planning meeting and we decided to add an extra location, speeding off to Lindisfarne. Here we had a really enjoyable hour and a half shooting detail shots around the old fisherman’s huts in the harbour before hitting the A1 again. Needless to say my companions were soon asleep again.
Peter, Leonie & Charlotte were picked up at Edinburgh without a hitch and off we headed on the M9 and A84, stopping to refuel ourselves at the “Green Welly Stop” at Tyndrum. Then it was up onto Rannoch Moor and to our hotel, The Kings House Hotel. Is there a better location for a hotel?
Checked in we were straight back out and shot the sunset close to the hotel, which has a river running behind it with views over the moors to Glen Etive, Glencoe and Stob Dearg. What a great start to the trip.
Then it was time to meet for a couple of pints of Highland beer before tucking in to a great meal and bed. The group are already gelling and enjoying banter and great engaging photographic chat. You always find on these trips that “in jokes” unique to each group develop and its fascinating to each persons thoughts and feelings on different photographic subjects. This group is no different. I predict a great week. The first day is always tiring due to the travel but today the fun really starts. A full day out with the camera. I’ll let you know how it goes. But now, I must get down for breakfast (sunrise was cancelled due to wind and rain, but more of that in the next post).
The images here are a couple I rattled off using multiple exposure techniques on my 5D mk3.
End of Day - Rannoch Moor
