We made our first trip to Scotland last fall, expecting to be greeted by moody weather conditions for which the country is famous. Instead, we had glorious sunshine and clear skies for the first several days. It made for great hiking and sightseeing, but icons like Ben Nevis and other Munros around Fort William did not have that ominous feel that bad weather provides.

We moved on to the Isle of Skye, and things changed. Clouds rolled in, rain came, and coats went on. The scenery began to take on an atmospheric feel. We made our way north from Portree early one morning, stopping to take in all the classic scenes.

Passing pristine Loch Fada, we came to Bridal Veil Falls, clearly visible from the road. Expecting an easy walk to find the best photo location, we quickly mucked and slid dangerously around the hillside in the saturated grass and now very soggy mud. My wife abandoned the walk, but I went on, finding that the only way to cross the stream was to muck well uphill to a narrowing point and then slide down the other side.

The sky was a fairly flat gray, not ideal, but the entire scene was beautiful, with colours just muted enough to create a rich cascade scene. Bracketing and HDR processing was needed to control the range from the bright gray sky to the dimly lit hillside. Ironically, this image was one of the first I took that day. Though the cleanup took a while at the end, it was worth it since I got a nice collection of shots from all angles.