Story Behind the Photo: Stalker Sunset

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This is going to be a new feature to talk more about my photography outside of tips, techniques, technical details, challenges, location guides and the other categories that I write about.

This will be an extension of the Chronicles category, so if you want to read more Stories Behind the Photo then head over to the Chronicles section and take a look!

I’ve chosen to talk about my Stalker Sunset photo first because I think it is one of my best images and I really enjoy looking at it. 

The story behind this photograph began when my girlfriend volunteered to go to a festival in Oban on the West Coast of Scotland. She was working in a distillery near to where we live in the Cairngorms National Park, and another distillery was hosting a winter festival and haggis competition and they needed some extra help, so she volunteered.

When I found out that she had volunteered, I decided to go with her because I thought it was the perfect opportunity to do some photography. I immediately turned to my copy of Photographing Scotland: A photo-location and visitor guidebook (Affiliate Link), which I always have at hand as it is a really valuable resource and gives a good overview of Scotland. I might write an article about it…

After my perusal of the book, looking at what was close to Oban, I decided that Castle Stalker would make the perfect location for sunset, all I had to do was hope the weather held out. 

It was quite an early start as she had to be in Oban before 11:00 and it is just over 3 hours drive from our home. To add to this my parents were staying with us at the time and so I thought it would be a good idea for them to go as well, for a bit of fun!

The drive luckily was uneventful, nothing really happened and we got to enjoy the scenery along the A86 and Loch Laggan.

As we neared Oban, I had my first glimpse of Castle Stalker, which was my intended target for the day. We carried on past the castle and eventually we made it to Oban. We parked up and my girlfriend ran off to the distillery to help set up.

Meanwhile, my parents and I wandered around the town and looked out to the sea before having an amazing lunch at a little cafe in the ferry terminal. The cafe uses local produce and was a co-operative owned by a group of food producers in the area. The Cullen Skink was delicious and the best I’ve ever had! 

Now the festival had begun at the distillery, so my parents and I went to have a nose around and see what was going on.

The main event appeared to be the haggis competition with about 14 different butchers submitting their unique haggis recipe for the judges to pick the best. As well as the judges the general public could try them and vote on which was their favourite.

Both my dad and I absolutely love haggis, so we deftly participated and cast our vote for our favourite. It was amazing at the different flavours each haggis had and some were definitely better than others. With the haggis came a complimentary dram of whiskey, which we also enjoyed. But now we were over full and a bit rosy cheeked.

The afternoon was passing fast and we were in the height of winter so the sun would not stay up forever, with this in mind we began the journey up to Castle Stalker. 

It was about a 30 minute drive from Oban to the Castle, the parking was in a pub but we were a bit apprehensive because the car park explicitly said that it was for patrons of the pub only and if you parked there and didn’t go into the pub there could be a fine of up to £60.

We were a little early and thought ok a quick coffee will mean we had the right to park there and could spend a few minutes getting the picture. The only problem was that the pub was closed!

Now we were in a quandary, should we leave the car and hope we were not fined or find somewhere else to park? We quickly tried to find another spot to park but the pub really was the only access down to the beach by the castle.

In the end my dad stayed with the car, just in case the pub opened or someone came to give us a fine. It turns out we needn’t have worried! 

While my dad waited with the car talking with his sister, my mum and I went down to the beach.

Luckily I had packed my wellies. I always have them, and they are truly a necessity when doing landscape photography. I currently have a pair of Muck Boots Muckmaster Wellingtons (Affiliate Link) and they are fantastic! I would not be without them, they are completely waterproof and I can actually hike in them for miles on end as they are that comfortable.

I have the rule of when I’m going to be photographing in or around water to shove on my wellies because I will probably end up in the water at some point.

And that is what exactly happened.

As soon as I was on the beach looking at the castle I knew that the composition I wanted was in the water and immediately walked into the sea.

I wanted to create a leading line using the kelp, seaweed and rocks. Once I found my position I set up my camera on the tripod and waited for the light to come.

I was standing in the sea for about 30 minutes capturing a series of images as the sun set and as the tide came in and started to rise towards the edge of my wellies.

While I was standing there a couple of other photographers arrived and composed their shots in a different way, they didn’t have wellies so couldn’t join me in the sea but when I finished and made my way carefully back to shore, I had a quick conversation and a look at what they captured, which was very nice too. After all we were very lucky with the light. 

My parents and I went back to Oban to find my girlfriend and to see the parade of the Oban pipers marching through the high street.

The last thing to do before we left was enjoy a lovely seafood meal next to the sea, a beautiful end to a fantastic day. We drove back home and went straight to bed, knackered from a long day.

The picture below was taken with my Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 17-40mm f4 L USM, Lee Little Stopper, Manfrotto Tripod and Sirui 40X Ball Head. The exposure was 5.0 seconds at f/10 and ISO 100 and 29mm zoomed in.

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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.