For years now, since becoming a photography obsessive there’s been a location I’ve longed to visit. Well, yesterday I decided to bite the bullet and drive the 380 plus miles to Etive Mor in the Scottish highlands. Lynne has been in Kuala Lumpur for almost two weeks now and I’ve been using her car because mine wasn’t taxed. We declared mine as SORN when we went away to Norway, knowing we would be away for around three months. Anyway, the car is now taxed and given the fact I intend selling it soon, I decided to give it one last good run. Well, it certainly was a good run. It took me six and a half hours to reach Etive Mor in the shadow of Buachaille Etive Mor. I’m not sure whether I got the name right but basically it’s a mountain with a waterfall in the foreground.
Leaving home at 4.15am Back on the road there wasn’t much traffic on the road and I was soon on the M6 heading north. I used to drive this way regularly when I worked in Crewe and recall enduring years of road works with 50 mile an hour average speed checks. This journey bought those memories flooding back as there are now similar roadworks all the way up as far as Manchester! I can only say I’m glad I don’t have to make that journey any more. At rush hour it must be hell!
The drive became more pleasurable as I approached the Yorkshire Dales. As the sun was rising I saw a lake on the right of the motorway with a beautiful mist hanging over the water. In a spontaneous moment I decided to leave the motorway and see if I could get to the lake. It turned out to be a place called Killington Lake. There was a hard frost and the scene was beautiful with the sun just starting to hit the grasses directly in front of me. It didn’t take long to get the shot as I was conscious of the fact that I was less than half way to my intended destination. Thanks to the beautiful conditions I think it was worth the minor diversion.
Back on the road I continued north passing the tempting pull of the Lake District and continuing on to Scotland. I drove through heavy motorway traffic on the way past Glasgow and on to Loch Lomond. Loch Lomond looked beautiful as I drove by and I was starting to see snow-capped mountains. Thanks to the brilliance of google maps I knew exactly what I was looking for when I reached the left turn off the A82 which took me straight to the Etive Mor waterfall. I made the right choice in putting Wellington’s on for the short walk to the waterfall as the only area where there was a chance of a decent composition was something like 8 or 9 inches deep in mud. Having seen this iconic shot done so many times before I almost expected there to be a crowd lining up to photograph it but conversely I found I’d got the whole place to myself. Standing for any length of time in one place resulted in a fight to drag each foot out of the mud. It’s like the suction of the mud doesn’t want to let you go. As I was setting up two men turned up with tripods and camera gear but having said hello, very politely waited around while I got all the shots I wanted. Having spent 6.5 hours getting there I got the shot and then scouted around for anything else and maybe spent a total of 45 minutes there.
Back at the car I had a cup of tea and reflected on how hungry I was having left the sandwiches I made last night in the fridge at home! I carried on (hungry) up the A82 knowing another iconic location was just up the road. If you google Glencoe landscape photography, chances are this lone white house will pop up in your search. It’s difficult to imagine living in a spot like this but there were people coming and going from the house in the time I was there. The resulting photograph I’m not too sure about but I love the rugged snow-capped mountains in the background. You’ll notice that in the one and a half hours since getting to the area the clouds had rolled in and from having blue sky and sunshine it was now overcast and very dull.
That concluded my time shooting in the highlands and I realise time wise there was a slightly disproportionate amount of time spent travelling compared to actually taking photographs (lots of photography anoraks would say ‘making’ photographs) but I was reasonably confident I had the shot I came for so why hang about. Besides, I was hungry and had another 6/7 hour drive to get home. The funny thing was that during the time in Scotland I had seen loads of motorhomes and suddenly regretted not taking the chance to get away in ours for some of the time Lynne had been away. At least it’s wetted my appetite for Scotland and hopefully I’ll be able to return sometime soon.
On the way home I waited until I was back on the motorway to stop and buy a chicken and bacon roll from WH.Smith. They don’t just sell magazines you know! Also I got coffee which always helps to keep me awake for the long boring motorway miles. Back home at 9.30pm I couldn’t wait to process the days photographs and this last one was the reason for the whole trip. Happy to say it turned out ok and I’m better than pleased with it!
Wandering Wildman 