“Two Highlands Peaks” — Soft light on green hills and two distant highlands peaks.
We came upon this scene while driving north from Ullapool, Scotland and then taking a diversion out toward the coast. (We were intrigued by signs promising that we would find blueberry scones, and we just keep going until we… ran out of Scotland at the coast! Sadly, we never found the scones.) We were traveling along some lowland valleys, and at the top of one short incline we looked back and saw this view. Initially the entire scene was shaded by clouds, but since it looked like sunny spots were moving across the landscape we waited until some of that light landed on the foreground.
“Marsco and Waterfall” — The peak of Marsco towers over a waterfall, Eas a’ Bhradain, Isle of Skye.
In case you haven’t heard, it is wet in Scotland. I knew this, having been there before, but coming from the relatively dry California climate, it is still quite a contrast. One thing that still takes me by surprise at first is the size of the streams and rivers that rise over short distances — and that they are everywhere. We stopped and photographed this roadside cascade as we were departing Skye to head north.
“Snow-dusted Highlands Peak” — A highlands summit rises above a sun-dappled hill.
After six weeks of travel, almost two weeks of it in beautiful Scotland, some location memories begin to blur together. I cannot say precisely where I made this photograph. It was on the day we left Skye and made our way north to Ullapool. My recollection is that we had perhaps passed through some rain at a high point on the route, and we came to this peak and its foreground hill as the weather was beginning to clear, allowing a bit of sunlight into the scene. (It is hard to identify these Scottish peaks after returning back to the US, but this one may be Spidean Coire nan Clach.)
“Sandstone Terrain and Mountains” — Morning haze and backlight obscures distant mountains and sandstone terrain, Arches National Park.
Arches National Park is red rock country, a landscape dominated by the colors of Southwest sandstone. Almost all of my photographs of the area are in color, for that obvious reason. It is not just the rocks themselves — the complementary greens of vegetation and the blue of the sky feature strongly, too. But this particular view, a veritable moonscape, seems to call for a monochrome interpretation.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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