Location Scouting in Hidden West Coast Valley
Show Notes
I was feeling rather curious and decided to go explore a hidden valley on the west coast of Scotland for the landscape photography opportunities that it provides.
The last time that I went down this glen the road stopped abruptly due to a land slippage destroying the road and making it in accessible. Luckily in the past year or 2 they have managed to clear the debris and rebuild the road with fortifications to prevent it happening again.
As I had never driven down this road before I was curious at what the landscape was like and I was more than pleasantly surprised. It was stunning! And the drive was amazingly fun as well.
The weather was difficult to work with but produced some amazing effects, the subjects of the valley suited to the rainy, cloudy day that I had. I got a lot of different landscape images and right at the end, when I thought it was all over, I was rewarded for a long day with a colourful sunset…
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Onto the Images
As I explained in the vlog, I knew that this was going to be a black and white image because the whole landscape was very desaturated by the lack of light and the rain. The rain is what made this landscape an interesting one to photograph.
The layering of the various hills were enshrouded in rain and when the shafts of light erupted through the break in the clouds, it was a beautiful view.
I decided to crop the image a little because the edges of dark, heavy land distracted from the main subject, the light and rain interacting with the distant landscape. The headland that pokes out into the loch was the perfect foreground to provide a stepping stone to the light and add a bit of interest to the composition.
The first image was an attempt to concentrate on the important parts of the landscape, this image in contrast was created to show the entire scene and the way the rain and clouds were moving around the hills.
The light in the far distance is what immediately captures our eye, and then we are free to examine the landscape in its entirety. A different take on the same subject. Which do you prefer?
A beautiful rapid and I didn’t notice in the field that you can see the waterfall that caught my attention initially in the distance. I really love that!
The water tumbling over the hard Scottish granite was an easy subject to frame. I got close, I got low and I tried to capture the natural curve in the flow of the water. To be frank, I should have adjusted the shutter speed a little to get a little more definition to the water streaks, but hindsight is 20:20.
In the vlog, I mentioned I was trying hard to keep the power lines out of my shot. Unfortunately, while I did manage to keep the majority of them out of the frame, 2 cables just crept across the sky. The only option was to clone them out. If I didn’t say anything, I don’t think you would have noticed, but I like to be honest about the editing process.
This waterfall was what caught my attention and forced me to stop the car! It is astounding and I had no idea it was down this valley.
I framed up this image while the rain was coming down hard and in a short break I managed to capture it. It’s nothing special, just a record of the scene more than anything. I included the rock in the bottom left to create planes of distance and to give some perspective in an otherwise flat scene. The rain that was falling softened the image a lot and I quite like the effect.
At some point I’ll return to this valley and hike up to this waterfall to stand below it.
This was quite unexpected, although the footage is sped up the actual drive down to this point was close to an hour or more. So when I got down there, I decided to just walk around for a few minutes and see what came to mind. When I saw the light on this hill, I instantly regretted leaving the camera in the car and rushed back to the car and then back onto the beach.
The light had faded but after a few minutes of patience, bam! The light came back and this scene looked like a romantic painting. The heavy rainy clouds parted to give a dappled golden light on the mountain in the distance.
Which composition do you prefer? A more concentrated view or a wider one?
The concentrated composition captures and draws attention to the best light but the wider view has the full reflection. I’m not sure which one I prefer to be honest. But I was amazed by the light, and the fact that there were houses and people living at the bottom of the valley!
On the way back out of the valley there was a lot of rain and not a lot of opportunities for photography. I was a bit tired and struggling to find compositions. I stopped and explored a headland because I really liked the mountains that could be seen across the loch, but I struggled to create a composition. I was annoyed and disappointed. And to be fair, I had just had some of the best light ever at the bottom of the valley, so with a very flat light I couldn’t see an image.
Leaving the valley, I was astounded by the colours that developed out of nowhere! I was certain that there wouldn’t be any sunset colours because of the heavy clouds, so when they were suddenly illuminated by bright pinks, I knew I had to get an image. Only problem was there were no compositions!
Luckily, I managed to find the above view point and capture an image that is good but nothing special compositionally. It was just a nice note to end the vlog.
I hope you are looking forward to the next instalment! Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel.
About the Film
Just a little information about the film and how I made it, as well as some links to equipment.
I edited the film using the Free Version of DaVinci Resolve. It’s an incredibly powerful piece of software that I am still trying to understand and will possibly write an article about in the future.
The tracks featured in today’s film were licensed via a subscription with Epidemic Sound. (By following that link, if you purchase a subscription then I will be gifted with a month free for referring you to their services)
A Gentle Invitation by Dawn, Dawn, Dawn
The Touch by So Vea
Any Other Way by Particle House
When You Smile by A Month of Sleep
A short Kit List
These are affiliate links, which means if you follow them and make a purchase I will earn a small commission for referring you to Amazon UK. You can find out more about affiliate links here.
Main Vlog Camera is a simple Panasonic G80 with the kit lens, its a great little mirrorless camera that I got for the sole purpose of creating YouTube videos. It’s capable of filming in 4k and seems to do everything that I want it to.
Rode Mic, I got this little microphone to boost the audio quality from the inbuilt microphone.
Action Camera, I use this to film myself when walking. It’s a simple DJI Pocket Osmo camera that has a motorised 3 axis gimbal head, which means that I stay in focus and static while the landscape around me moves. It’s also capable of filming in 4k and the audio quality is quite good.
Voice Recorder, to boost the audio quality when it’s windy or I’m using the action camera I use this handy little voice recorder with a lapellier microphone to record audio.
For a complete Landscape Photography Kit List you can read through what equipment I take with me when I go out here.
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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.
