I organized a photo trip with friends in the beautiful Scottish Highlands a couple of years ago. We spent one week in the Glencoe region and a second on the Isle of Skye. The Highlands are truly a photographer’s paradise. I relied mainly on the Landscape Photographer’s Guide for both regions to plan the trip, having bought the eBooks on LPM’s website.

One day, I decided to visit the Elgol Peninsula and, as recommended, went at low tide. I was amazed to see the form, pattern, and colors of the rocks on the shoreline. The shoreline creates a leading line to the steep rocky cliff on the right. For a moment, on that cliff, I saw a human face in profile with a pert nose and prominent forehead. All this was set against a beautiful mountainous background.

I thought a long exposure was indicated to reflect my vision of the scene best. So, I set up my tripod very low and installed my wide-angle lens with an ND filter. Then, using the live time feature in my camera, it took 391 seconds for a perfect histogram (ETTR).

I looked at the mountain peaks in the background during that long exposure. The day after, we were supposed to join a cruise to visit the bay and do an easy mountain hike to view the famous loch Coruisk. But unfortunately, the cruise was cancelled due to dangerous weather conditions. So I will have to go back.

We found the Scottish Highlands wonderful to photograph. So many places contain all the essential elements of composition: lines, curves, textures, patterns, shapes, colors, and frames.

Not far from the Elgol Peninsula, I took another great picture that is published on my VIP portfolio.