“Lake, Tufa, and Morning Clouds” — Mono Lake tufa towers silhouetted against morning sky and distant mountains.
With this post, I am doing something unusual for me — I’m sharing monochrome and color versions of the same photograph. By that I mean literally the same file, though interpreted differently. (The monochrome version was posted here recently.) Usually I settle on either color or monochrome, but in this case I feel like both have something (different) to offer.
“Gruinard Beach” — Surf rolls in at Gruinard Beach, Scotland.
We passed this large beach on our way from Ullapool to Applecross, Scotland this past May. We were on a long day trip loop drive out there. I don’t think I really had a good idea of what we’d see or what kinds of country we would pass through, and I was surprised by the many places where our route took us along the ocean coast. This beautiful beach seems to be shallow, with the tides uncovering a wide swath of sand. And, as is so common in this part of Scotland, we could see both the ocean waters and distant high peaks.
. “Lake, Towers, Distant Mountains” — Mono Lake tufa towers silhouetted against distant desert mountains in morning light.
I arrived here well before sunrise, thinking that clouds overhead and clear sky on the eastern horizon might produce a colorful sunrise. It did! So I made monochrome photographs! OK, I do have some color photographs of the early morning color, too, but I really did come back with as many monochrome photographs as color photos. Maybe MONO Lake calls for MONOchrome images?
“Trail, Highlands Valley” — A path leads into a highlands valley as rain falls on distant hills.
Somewhere in northwest Scotland, between Shieldag and Applecross, we paused on our drive through this broad valley. It was surprisingly cold — there was new snow on peaks on either side — and rain showers passed across the landscape. Nearby was what appeared to be an old road, now marked as a foot trail, heading off into the valley — the sort of trail that makes you aware that there are places more remote than where you stand.