# A quick blast around the highlands!!!



## EdinburghCamper

Hi Guys,

Thought I would just pop in and say hello! Been ultra busy at work, and as a result have had little time to go on any massive camper trips. My last trip was around Skye, in November....however I managed to sneak away for a whole week, and returned home just this weekend!!! 

*The aim of the trip was simple:*
Get as many good photos of Scotland as possible.

4 photographers, 6 days, 1,000 miles, and countless memories! 

Our route:
http://shrunklink.com/botq

Basically, from Edinburgh, we tried to see as much as possible of the west highlands, and we managed to see lots.

Here are my photos (so far), there will be more once processed. These photos all taken on my D3, and processed by Spencer (http://www.itsallaboutlight.co.uk/). Spencer processed them as part of a tutorial for me, he was basically showing me how to get the most from my Nikon Digital Negatives, using their software.

Hope you enjoy! I used a GPS device attached to the camera, so you can view these on a map with an exif viewer.

1 Smoo Cave, Durness, North Coast









2 Raffin Lighthouse, North West Coast









3 View towards Stac Pollaidh from loch bad a' ghaill









4 Kinlochewe









5 Loch Maree









6 Luib, Isle of Skye









7 Broadford, Isle of Skye









8 Broadford, Isle of Skye









9 The Quiraing, Isle of Skye









10 Fire In the Skye (Luib)









I will be doing the same route around the Summer Solstice 09. Just to take advantage of the completely different light.

I have these printed, and once framed, they will be hung in the guestroom at home.

Hope you enjoy viewing,

Gary.


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## AberdeenAngus

Sooper fotaes

I'm doing a major tour at the solstice too.
On M'bikes though.....so we don't get held up by all those danged Motor Home thingies


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## Fatalhud

Some stunning photo,s Gary
Mine are always rubbish

Alan H


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## Rapide561

*Pics*

Great stuff

I wondered where you had been lurking!

Russell


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## 119071

These photos show why Scotland is one of the most magical places on the Earth - Brilliant! 
Viks


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## peejay

viks10 said:


> These photos show why Scotland is one of the most magical places on the Earth - Brilliant!
> Viks


Not when I take the photo's it isn't 

Great stuff Gary, thanks for sharing.

Pete


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## EdinburghCamper

Thank you all for the kind words! For those of you annoyed at the results when you take a shot, the absolute key is to wait for the right light. If you can master that, then start to think about rule of thirds, fore, mid and background etc.

Without good light, landscapes are almost impossible to make look good.

Gary.


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## DABurleigh

Great stuff Gary.

On your light point, I often wonder whether there is friction with the Stotherts with one wanting to time the venue with the light. Must be a logistic nightmare of a constraint if you are also trying to pack the most photo opportunities into a fixed duration tour.

Oh, and what low grey cloud, constant heavy rain and midge swarm filters did you use?

Dave


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## gromett

All I can say about those photos is WOW!!!!! 8O  

On the one with the waves, how did you get them to look so fluffy. Do you do any digital manipulation on them?

Karl


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## EdinburghCamper

DABurleigh said:


> Great stuff Gary.
> 
> On your light point, I often wonder whether there is friction with the Stotherts with one wanting to time the venue with the light. Must be a logistic nightmare of a constraint if you are also trying to pack the most photo opportunities into a fixed duration tour.
> 
> Oh, and what low grey cloud, constant heavy rain and midge swarm filters did you use?
> 
> Dave


We were lucky and unlucky. For a 7 day tour, I might manage 20 to 30 decent photos out of over 500 taken. We got some good light, and some good weather, but mostly it was overcast and grey. Knowing how to use those conditions to your advantage is a great skill.

When we got good light, we got good photos. It is that simple.

A proper landscape photographer will be happy with 1 image per month or two. He will sit, day in, day out, in the same spot, and wait for the light to dance. Only once he nails that shot, will he move on to the next.

I hope one day to be a great landscape photographer. More money, time and patience is required first!

Gary.


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## EdinburghCamper

gromett said:


> All I can say about those photos is WOW!!!!! 8O
> 
> On the one with the waves, how did you get them to look so fluffy. Do you do any digital manipulation on them?
> 
> Karl


No manipulation over and above what you would do in a darkroom. The fluffy waves all shot in camera.

What you need to do to get this effect is choose a low aperture (high F number). I think I shot this at aperture value f22. This was the smallest aperture my lens was capable of. This meant it let the least light possible in. As a result, a longer shutter speed was required (30 seconds here I think), which when combined with moving waves, creates a mist like appearence.

Very easy to do,

Gary.


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## gromett

Ah, thanks for that. It is soo beautiful 

Karl


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## impala666

Gary

Thanks for posting these great photos....What camera did you use & are they digital ?

Brian


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## EdinburghCamper

impala666 said:


> Gary
> 
> Thanks for posting these great photos....What camera did you use & are they digital ?
> 
> Brian


Hi Brian,

Used a Nikon D3 Digital SLR. However, the same shots could be had on a £200 Sony DSLR / an old film SLR with a decent lens.

The high end kit, whilst nice, is not required to nail these shots. What you need is good light, a semi decent eye, and lots of patience! 

The kit is secondary to the photographer. A good photographer will worry about things in this order I feel.

1: Find your scene and compose.
2: Wait for the best light.
3: Process the photos effectively (Using the darkroom or digital darkroom)
4: Choose the right kit

I am not saying that a point and shoot could do it. I am saying though, any half decent DSLR with a decent bit of glass, could do it. The camera does not make the shot.

Gary.


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## EdinburghCamper

A great example of what can be done with cheap kit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/-lucie-/

Her photo's are absolutely stunning, the best collection I have ever seen. The kit can be had for under £500 I suspect.

Gary.


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## Ecosse

Hi Gary....your photographs are superb! We spend a lot of time in the north west ,hillwalking,cycling and photography, you've captured the atmosphere really well. One of our favourite photographers work can be seen on www.pbase.com/nodfather/scottish_munros have a look please and tell me what you think.

Mike


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## EdinburghCamper

Ecosse said:


> Hi Gary....your photographs are superb! We spend a lot of time in the north west ,hillwalking,cycling and photography, you've captured the atmosphere really well. One of our favourite photographers work can be seen on www.pbase.com/nodfather/scottish_munros have a look please and tell me what you think.
> 
> Mike


Have seem his photos before, inspirational stuff indeed. He understands light very well, that's for sure.

Gary.


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## brillopad

i,m inspired,dennis


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## Wupert

brillopad said:


> i,m inspired,dennis


Super piccys


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## EdinburghCamper

brillopad said:


> i,m inspired,dennis


Thanks 

Get out and shoot, its great...

Gary.


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## EdinburghCamper

Wupert said:


> brillopad said:
> 
> 
> 
> i,m inspired,dennis
> 
> 
> 
> Super piccys
Click to expand...

Thanking you! 

Gary.


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## Pudsey_Bear

Skye never looks that good on my photos, I need to try harder me thinks.

Lovely shots, very envious, won't get up to Skye again till easter, if it's like last easter, we'll be sat out side in the sun eating lunch in T-shirts.

Just tried to add a photo, I think I did everything correctly, but it isn't here, anyone know what I did wrong, just the psychics need reply


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## Tucano

Gary,
Magic photographs, thanks.
Norman


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## 117906

Thanks Gary, such great pic's, I must take more time and be more patient, 
Bob


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## EdinburghCamper

Kev_Behr said:


> Skye never looks that good on my photos, I need to try harder me thinks.
> 
> Lovely shots, very envious, won't get up to Skye again till easter, if it's like last easter, we'll be sat out side in the sun eating lunch in T-shirts.
> 
> Just tried to add a photo, I think I did everything correctly, but it isn't here, anyone know what I did wrong, just the psychics need reply


Cant see the photo, have you got the URL?

It really is just a matter of timing and watching for that golden light.

Gary.


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## EdinburghCamper

TUCANO said:


> Gary,
> Magic photographs, thanks.
> Norman


Thanks for the kind words,

Gary.


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## EdinburghCamper

Blackdog123 said:


> Thanks Gary, such great pic's, I must take more time and be more patient,
> Bob


Timing and patience, and a stroke of luck.

Gary.


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## dinger

*photos*

Hi Gary

I will try not to be too OTT........but you truly have a fantastic raw talent,
but more importantly a true passion for your Art.

The biggest compliment i can pay you is , by the end of the year i will be several pounds lighter in the pocket as i love landscape / animal photography and would love to push my patience and ability to see what i am capable of.......like others have said, i feel inspired!!!!!

To give you a comparison with your love of photography, i took up painting just over a year ago , taking lessons from a chap and his missus
who also does photoghraphy...................i try not to be intimidated by people with superior ability and knowledge but sometimes i do have that 
feeling that you can learn the basics but raw talent always shines through .

Dinger

Check out ...www.novusart.co.uk


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## sylke

Nice to see you are back Gary,we have missed your wonderful pictures on here. These pictures are really worth the wait, thank you.
Sylke


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## Pudsey_Bear

I must be doing something wrong Gary.

I'll go through what I do, maybe you or someone else can tell me if I'm doing it right, which if there is not a pic of our lass outside of our old van, I will have, although I think size might be a problem.

1st click add an attachment 
2nd click allowed ext and sizes so 512 appears to be the limit, so I'll get the scissors out, hang on a minute  
3rd open piccy, and reduce file size  
4th browse/select
5th cross fingers, click submit


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## Pudsey_Bear

Hmm, well it worked, but how come yours (gary ) are about 4 times bigger?


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## EdinburghCamper

*Re: photos*



dinger said:


> Hi Gary
> 
> I will try not to be too OTT........but you truly have a fantastic raw talent,
> but more importantly a true passion for your Art.
> 
> The biggest compliment i can pay you is , by the end of the year i will be several pounds lighter in the pocket as i love landscape / animal photography and would love to push my patience and ability to see what i am capable of.......like others have said, i feel inspired!!!!!
> 
> To give you a comparison with your love of photography, i took up painting just over a year ago , taking lessons from a chap and his missus
> who also does photoghraphy...................i try not to be intimidated by people with superior ability and knowledge but sometimes i do have that
> feeling that you can learn the basics but raw talent always shines through .
> 
> Dinger
> 
> Check out ...www.novusart.co.uk


Thanks for the very kind words, not sure what to say!!!

Lovely work on the site you have posted, serious talent. I especcially enjoyed viewing the portraits and landscapes.

Let me know what camera you decide to go for. The correct balance is definitely to spend the money on good glass, the body will almost always be secondary.

I would recommend a wide angle (Sigma 10 to 20 for example), and a medium to long telephoto (70 to 200), and lastly, a nifty fifty (50mm).

Those three lenses will set you back a fair whack brand new (as much as £900), however second hand, you may be able to get the lot a bit cheaper.

With regards to a body, I would recommend Full Frame, but it will come at a cost.

Gary.


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## EdinburghCamper

sylke said:


> Nice to see you are back Gary,we have missed your wonderful pictures on here. These pictures are really worth the wait, thank you.
> Sylke


Thanks so much.

Gary.


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## EdinburghCamper

Kev_Behr said:


> Hmm, well it worked, but how come yours (gary ) are about 4 times bigger?


Hi,

Lovely scenery, good to see you guys enjoying it.

I host my images elsewhere (Flickr normally), and simply use the img tags to post:










It saves this site bandwidth, and means you can host your images on a dedicated image sharing site.

Regards,

Gary.


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## Pudsey_Bear

Hmm, looks a bit too technical for me, but I'll have a look.


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## stevegreen

Some super images there, great light and composition.

I hope to be able to take similar when we go on our 'trip of a lifetime' next year, travelling and photography.....bliss.


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