Assynt

Stac Polliadh, Assynt, Scotland

I would say a large aspect of Landscape photography is down to luck, being in the right place at the right time is all it takes to see spectacular scenes and great light. But after 1342 road miles, 40 hours in the tent, blizzards, freezing temperatures, 3 days of continuous cloud cover all for this one spectacular display of light. It certainly wasn't luck but sheer determination! After a very disappointing 3 days of cloudy skies, poor visibility and dire weather forecasting, we had pinned all our hopes on our final day. The conditions where looking promising as we set up camp but as the night progressed cloud began to roll in, the stars disappeared and the chance of sunrise looked hopeless once again. We woke early in the hope that something might have changed and very nearly didn't get up at all, but with a faint glow of magenta appeared above Cul Beag we knew this was our chance. The climb up Stac Pollaidh isn't long but it's steep and coupled with the patches of ice and snow making my way up was painfully slow. I reached the peak just as the colour began to race across the sky, I had made it, this was it, 3 1/2 days of waiting, no messing up now. The colour continued to reveal beautiful winter tones and I just kept on shooting the same scene again and again until I was blue in the face (literally) Many people ask if I get time to enjoy what I see when I am photographing the landscape and to be truthful I am so captivated by capturing the scenes and rushing about I rarely get a chance to stop and take it all in, it's only now as I sit in front of my monitor I really get a sense of how spectacular that morning was and the views over one of the most stunning landscapes in Britain. All the heartache and frustration getting to that point was all forgotten.