Location Guide: Bow Fiddle Rock

Bow fiddle rock is a wonderful seaside location in Northern Scotland, it is located on the Moray coast, just east of Inverness. The Moray coast is a great area to explore and is very varied.

I wouldn’t be surprised if you said that  you recognised this iconic location from the images below. It is fairly easy to find and is not a long hike from the car, although you will need to descend the cliffs on a steep grassy path, but that should not put you off! 

Like the White Cliffs of Dover article this is a guide to the single location with some advice about possible images and with some suggestions for further exploration.

This location is enough reason to come and get some great images, any others gathered walking along the cliffs and beaches are bonuses. 

To get to Bow Fiddle Rock is fairly easy from Inverness, you can just head along the A96 towards Aberdeen and come off the main road for Buckie.

Buckie is a good sized fishing town, one of the main fish markets of Scotland happens there. Head to the sea in Buckie and follow the road continuing to the East.

Eventually you will arrive at Portknockie, which is the village that is next to Bow Fiddle Rock. You can park at the end of Addison Street. 

To use a GPS or satellite navigation, the postal code for Addison Street is AB56 4NN. 

To get to Bow Fiddle Rock from Inverness it would take about 1 hour and a half by car but by public transport it is a lot more difficult. 

What to Shoot Now You’re Here

Once you’ve parked up and you get out of the car, there is a sign directing you to the cliffs. It is clearly marked Bow Fiddle Rock. Once you are walking towards the cliff, as soon as you reach the edge you can clearly see Bow Fiddle Rock. It has such an iconic shape, you will have no doubt about your destination. 

As you have now seen your subject, as you move towards it you will find the path down to the beach. Please be careful on the beach. As far as I’m aware, there should be no point where you are cut off from the beach, but always have respect for the sea and know how to get back to the path. 

The best thing to do, is just to explore different angles for your subject. Move around the beach and choose what you include in your foreground with the majestic rock formation as the main focus of your images. 

Example 1

This portrait image is one of the most common pictures taken of Bow Fiddle Rock. You have the main subject in the centre, jutting out of the horizon in a very dramatic sense.

But you also have the jagged rocks in the foreground acting as Leading Lines, drawing you to Bow Fiddle.

I’ve converted this image to black and white to accentuate the textures and tones of the rock formations. This was my scouting trip and it was the middle of the day in summer, so the light was very harsh and bright. So the image in colour was black and blue rather than black and white. 

Example 2 

This landscape image was taken to the left of Bow Fiddle, using the cliff side as another leading line and to balance the image with Bow Fiddle on the right and the cliffs on the left.

The light between the two rock formations draws the eye as well. This image also came from my scouting trip and for the same reasons mentioned above, I converted this one to black and white. 

Some Advice

I think this location would be great location for a sunrise shoot. I even tried it, but the colours I wanted just didn’t come. It was a bit too cloudy for a decent sunrise shoot.

With that in mind, I might not have got exactly what I wanted but I did get some good images that are currently in my editing schedule (along with about 5000 other images).

The point is that this location would be great for sunrise, if you can get the colours in the sky, you would have a jaw-dropping image. If you don’t get the colours, being there bright and early, means that you will have some decent light. 

I have also seen some astrophotography images taken here and they were amazing. Bow fiddle sticking up out of the horizon with the Milky Way behind it and other examples have star trails swooping across the sky.

So, that’s always an option to keep in mind. 

After you have taken the images you want of this location, you can head along the cliff paths to the East for some other interesting rock formations and seascape opportunities. Or you can head to the West.

Immediately next to Bow Fiddle Rock is another jagged pyramid sticking up out of the sea and another beach to get some images. So there are plenty of opportunities for more landscape opportunities. 

As well as that, on the 2 pyramids I have observed many seabird colonies, so there are some wildlife photography opportunities that you can take advantage of, if you brought your wildlife equipment. 

Conclusion

This is a wonderful sea location in Scotland. The rock formation is such an intriguing shape, pyramidal and jutting out of the sea. The archway that has been created gives the rock its name, as someone felt that it looked like tip of a violin’s bow, hence Bow Fiddle.

It is a little far from Inverness being an hour and a half, but in general that is quite close for Scotland. It is such a beautiful location that it should definitely be included in your explorations of the Scottish Highlands.

A perfect location for a sunrise or for some astrophotography. You’ve got to see it at least once! 

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Written by Daniel Long

Daniel Long created DRL Photography as a place to showcase his work as a photographer. Daniel has learnt a lot about photography and wishes to impart this knowledge with you, although the world is an ever changing place and he always says “you can never learn everything.” So as he makes his way, he continues to learn knew techniques, skills and information about photography. He focuses on Landscape and Wildlife photography and Daniel has a special focus on Scotland, his home away from home. As well as writing about photography and taking pictures out in the field, Daniel offers guided photography days so he can share his knowledge and locations in an effort to give his clients the best opportunities possible. Have a browse around this website to see his images, guided experiences and articles about photography. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to get in contact.