In November 2021, I joined a photo tour of the Torridon region in Scotland. Our focus that week was attaining visual separation between the foreground interest and the background and examining relationships.

The weather had been relatively poor and had featured all sorts of challenges – high winds, heavy rain, flat skies – quite typical of Scotland in November. Still, it was an interesting trip that allowed me many opportunities to try different types of composition.

It was often deeply frustrating as I was close to the limits of patience and imagination. However, a trip to the side of Loch Maree resulted in several locations with Slioch in the background. I focussed on the clump of trees in the foreground that was visually well-separated from Slioch Mountain in the background. Initially, some of the visual separation I had been studying was caused by enveloping mist, but then the sky broke open and beautiful storm clouds started to rush through. It was particularly satisfying to have waited for this picture, one of my favourite images from that trip.