In October 2018, I guided a photo tour of the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland. It was the day before the participants of the tour were due to arrive. And it was likely to become a glorious Autumn day. There was colourful foliage in the trees, as the winds had not yet removed the leaves. Especially birches and larch trees are absolutely stunning this time of year. They appear to shine like pure gold.

The surrounding mountains were snow-capped, and weather conditions were favourable. So I decided to make the most of this day. Apart from a final check at the photo spots on the tour program, something I always do when guiding tours, I was eager to take some lovely landscape pictures myself.

I knew there would be little opportunity for that as soon as the photographers would join me. There was a rather thick fog when I got up, and it was still freezy. So I started capturing at two small lakes that are very photogenetic in all conditions. Living in a flat country, when abroad, I always look for opportunities to take pictures from an elevated viewpoint. And I absolutely love mountains. So I decided to walk a bit up Cruban Beag, a 590-meter-high mountain near Newtonmore, to gain some height.

Meanwhile, the sun had largely cleared the fog. A breathtaking Spey Valley lay before me. What more can one wish for?

Canon EOS 750D, 37mm, 1/50sec, f/13, ISO 200