Sunday 8th July 2018 was the day I’d been waiting for for the last few months; the day I set off towards the Isle of Skye in search of some outstanding scenery! I’d done my research and already had a few places in mind that I’d like to go and see. I was feeling optimistic about the weather even though the forecast wasn't great.
I was travelling with my other half, John. We decided the trip was perhaps a little much in one go, so we had a hotel booked in Scotland for Sunday evening. En-route, we decided to make a detour to take in Lake Windermere, Ullswater and Kirkstone Pass. It was at that point, when I went to set up my camera, I realised I hadn’t got a plate to attach the camera to the tripod!! So next on the agenda was to track down a shop open on a Sunday stocking one. In the mean time, I borrowed John’s and took a few snaps.
We were staying just north of Glasgow overnight so I checked if there was a camera shop somewhere - Jessops to the rescue! I ended up with a new tripod head and we continued on our way to our hotel. I knew there was a castle local so we went out to see what we could shoot, but unfortunately it was surrounded by scaffolding which didn't make for the best photo!
The following morning, we were up and out after a lovely breakfast - I can highly recommend Premier Inns having stayed in 3 over the last month! First stop of the day was Loch Lomond.
There was a good distance still to cover and we knew it would take a fair few hours so we tried not to hang about too long. I knew I wanted to stop at Glencoe, so we got moving. The landscape was just fantastic all the way. After a couple of stops to admire the view, we took a break at Glencoe and took a few photos:
We finally made it onto the Isle of Skye late afternoon, made a quick trip to the supermarket and off to find our house for the week - booked through Airbnb. Best idea ever! It was great to be able to just come and go as you please, just like home from home.
We headed out to our first location nice and early the next day. It was a little misty and murky but it made for a nice atmospheric shot at the Fairy Pools. There were only a handful of other people up there with us whilst we were there, however the tourist buses were arriving by the time we were finished so keep it in mind if you want to photograph here!
Our next outing was to Talisker Bay. There was a sunset promised on the forecast, but it didn’t quite turn into the spectacular colours it could have done! Nevertheless, I grabbed a few shots and am actually quite pleased with the results.
Another early start the next morning saw us take in Sligachan Old Bridge on our travels. We'd already been there, but the hoards of tourists beat us to it so we went back for take two! We got the shots we wanted before carrying on on our way to The Storr.
We took up the last spot in the small car park and headed up and see the rock formation, the Old Man of Storr. It’s quite a trek I have to say! I genuinely thought I’d climbed a mountain - I can’t explain the disappointment when a little googling told me it was only a hill! Anyway, here’s a photo of said rock formation. It really is quite huge and an amazing view from up top!
As we were up towards the north of the island, we decided to carry on around the main road to take in the sights and I spotted a couple of good photo opportunities. The first was a most randomly placed red phone box, and the second was a view across toward Lewis and Harris.
We finished the day with a sunset local to ‘home’. These next few are taken from Struan. We snapped away until the sun went down and we rather suddenly came under attack from the dreaded midges!
Our next trip was over to Neist Point, the most westerly point on the island. On our way back, we stopped at a fabulous little cafe which did the best bacon and Brie panini. You can’t miss it, there’s only one road in but it’s well worth a visit. Here’s a pretty standard Neist Point photo taken standing right on the edge of a cliff.
The following day was not kind to us with the weather. We went off to Portree for a browse around and then carried on a little way north to shoot a blooming great shot! Now, as I said, the weather was not kind, we got absolutely soaked, and this was the result:
There’s a lesson to be learnt here. If you see a scene you like, stop and take it! In amongst all the mist and murk is a brilliant view of the Old Man of Storr! We were a little gutted but you win some you lose some.
Our weekend on Skye was a total wash out. We went back out to Portree and did some souvenir shopping - a bottle of local ‘Misty Isle’ gin, an Isle of Skye fridge magnet and 2 highland cows are amongst the purchases. Not real ones I might add, however I was most upset at not finding any highland cows whilst up there that I bought a model one and a cuddly one! Returning to Carbost, we popped to the distillery and picked up a bottle of Talisker Whisky; it would've be rude not to when you’re staying opposite the place!
As our holiday was coming to an end, we packed up and set off home. We made a stop off at Eilean Donan Castle, which we’d spotted on the way, but again was full of tourists. We left at 7am, so got there nice and early for a super shot:
Despite the weather, we had a great time on the Isle of Skye, and I’d definitely visit again to see everything we didn’t fit in this time. My top tip would definitely be to go out early and late if you want to photograph. There were literally bus after bus full of tourists seeing all the hotspots so be prepared!
Hope you’ve enjoyed the post... Until next time!