Alnwick and District Camera Club Scotland Trip

In the very early hours of Tuesday 2nd January a party of 10 set off in two vehicles heading for Scotland. The party consisted of five Alnwick CC members three Ashington CC members and two Blyth CC members.

Conditions were not promising to start with as it was dark, wet and misty and it soon became apparent that we would not get any sunrise pictures that morning so we made for Tyndrum where we enjoyed a hearty Breakfast at the Green Welly Stop. Suitably fortified, we travelled on towards Rannoch Moor and made our first stop at a car park where two very tame Red Deer provided our first photo shoot of the day. We then visited a couple of classic photo locations, including Black Rock Cottage, by which time weather conditions had improved considerably. Our next objective was the beautiful Glen Etive and here we discovered a party of university students about to undertake some white water canoeing. This was an unexpected bonus and provided us with an excellent opportunity for some action shots. Further down the glen we came across quite a large herd of red deer which stayed long enough for everyone to photograph these handsome beasts in their natural habitat. We then travelled on to the head of the loch for some landscape photography.

Resuming our journey northwards, we proceeded to Fort William and Neptune's Staircase, a flight of nine lochs on the Caledonian Canal - our next photo opportunity. By now the light was fading fast so we made for the Commando Monument at Spean Bridge for a few more photographs before heading for our hotel near Kyle of Lochalsh. After a much-needed evening meal we made our final photographic foray of the day to the nearby Eilean Donan Castle which is illuminated at night.

On retiring to the bar there was then an opportunity to look at some of the days photographs on a laptop computer before retiring for a well-earned night's sleep.

The next day dawned fine and we made an early start for the Isle of Skye, the main objective of this trip. After crossing the Skye Bridge we took the main A47 before branching off onto a minor road which wound its way across the Island towards Elgol.

We were soon in sight of the magnificent Cuillin Hills which were bathed in morning sunlight. Photographic subjects abounded and time seemed to fly as we made our way past mountains, moorland, marsh and lochs. We spent some time along the shores of Loch Slapin, photographing boats, reflections and mountains. The next subject was a derelict cottage further along the road but, while some of the more intrepid members ventured inside, it was decided that the crumbling staircase was too dangerous a challenge. On reaching the attractive coastal village of Elgol there were great opportunities to record some wonderful views over Loch Scavaig. Further stops were made on the return journey to photograph some fine reed beds and a derelict church and graveyard before returning to our hotel. Without further delay we revisited Eilean Donan Castle to record the scene at dusk. Although it was bitterly cold, the results were much more rewarding than the previous evening so a very satisfied group returned to a welcome hot meal before adjourning to the bar for more good-humoured discussion of the day's events.

The final day started wet and grey so we decided to head south. As we reached higher altitudes, rain soon turned to snow and it was not long before we stopped to photograph snow-laden trees by the roadside. When we reached Fort William, the weather had changed again and we stopped on the banks of Loch Eil to record some brief flashes of sunlight illuminating the hills beyond. At this juncture, our party split with one group heading for Glasow and the other retracing the outward journey via Rannoch Moor. The Rannoch group took the opportunity to re-photograph various localities in the snow and were rewarded with some interesting landscapes as well as more pictures of Red Deer, while the Glasgow group made their way to the Kelvin Grove Museum where, under more comfortable conditions, they took some interesting images, including a splendid spitfire hanging from the ceiling and an unusual array of face masks suspended on wires.

This was a hugely successful trip with great company and a wonderful diversity of photographic opportunities. Our special thanks to Barry Robertson for organising the trip and driving one of the vehicles and to John Strong for driving the other vehicle.

Report by David Carter