Callanish, Isle of Lewis

Callanish, one of Scotland's 'must see' ancient sites is situated on the Isle of Lewis. Lewis is part of the Western Isles, or the outer Hebrides. I came here two weeks ago to photograph the place and the island. I just thought I'd share this image with you all while I busy myself working through all the images from my trip.

The islands of Harris and Lewis are very photogenic. And it just so turned out that I was there one evening while the moon was rising.

Shot on Fuji Velvia 50 with my trusty Mamiya 7 and 80 mm standard lens. Straight from the scanner with no dodging or burning.

New Portfolio – Winter Adventure

Hi All, I have a new portfolio winter adventure

This march, I spent a few days sitting in a damp caravan on the isle of Eigg, hoping that the rain would abate and perhaps I’d get a glimpse of the Cuillins of Rum.

But I couldn’t have planned it better. On my second day of nursing a chest infection in my nice wee damp musty caravan (great for chest infections), the weather turned wintry and for the first time in a long while, I got to experience Scotland covered in a blanket for snow.

Timing is often everything.

I hope you enjoy these images. I’m busy working on new images of Scotland and as part of this, I’m now venturing further afield onto the islands. I’ve always wanted to visit, but travelling distances and shortness of time often means that it is an impossible task. But as I write this, I’m glad to say that I’m in the Hebrides.

Expect some new images from Harris and Lewis in a week or so. I’ve been short of sleep again. With the sun setting around 11pm and rising at 3am, I’ve been up at 2am to photograph the Callanish stones with pink light in the sky and a full moon in the frame, unplanned, but what a catch!

And the beaches are something else. Time and space to reflect on where I’ve come with my photography and where it is heading, it’s been another adventure.

Torridon Photo Workshop

I'm in the process of setting up a photo workshop for Torridon, for this October, November. The light at this time of year can be particularly wonderful and Torridon is a special place for me with great views of lochans, mountain ranges and some cracking views from Applecross bay towards the Cuillins of Skye.

If you're interested in this trip, just pop me an email to bruce@brucepercy.com

I'll have more details up soon.

Elgol

Whilst I was away up north, back on the Isle of Eigg doing some research for an upcoming photo workshop I have scheduled there this September, the weather turned for the better. An unexpected snow flurry for a whole day left the majority of the west coast covered in a blanket of white. Whilst on Eigg I looked back to the mainland and sure enough, I could see that the Cuilins of Skye were totally white. So I had to get there!

As soon as I left Eigg, I took a three hour drive north and reached Elgol in complete darkness. I pitched my tent a few hundered metres away from this location with no idea what to expect the next morning. I awoke to the sound of rain and thought 'oh, here we go again'. But when I got out of my tent, I found that the rain noise was actually the sound of snow. It was very overcast and still too grey and dark, but I got up and with bleary eyes after a cold night in sub zero temperatures (with two sleeping bags lined inside of each other for warmth), I headed down to the bay.

I shot several pictures, and each time I did, I was always looking for a new composition. Sometimes you think you've nailed a composition, only to find a stronger one a few minutes later. But I think what made it for me was the surf in the foreground and that lovely little bit of light hitting off the left hand side of the Cuilin range.

On a technical note: Mamiya 7, 50mm lens, 2 stop hard grad placed 1/3 of the way down, long exposure with reciprocity adjustment added so I could get movement/drama in the clouds. Fuji Velvia 50 RVP.

Mountains, Sky and Rocks were all provided for me.

Who says rainy weather is bad?

I went back to the Isle of Eigg a week or so ago, and while I was there, I went back to the bay of Laig on the north western edge of the tiny island. The weather was the usual mix of atmospherics that I've experienced before with Eigg. One minute dry and sunny the next,  storm cloud brewing.

So here's a new landscape image, kindly scanned by a friend of mine, as I managed to break the glass tray for my Coolscan scanner.

When I get images back like this, I know that the Mamiya 7 is a superb camera and I should not give it such a hard time. I do get frustrated with it at times, but as always, the final results always make me fall in love with it.

There is a stream coming down from the land to the sea, and in this shot, the left hand side of the image is actually the widening stream as it enters the sea. I deliberately used a long exposure to soften the current of the stream, so it blends in with the textures in the sand on the right hand of the shot.

It was raining quite a lot, and the sky as you can see was very overast, but soft also. All these things, plus using a nice wide angle to accentuate the foreground sand detail result in a lovely image.

So who says that rainy weather is the time to put away the camera?

Winter in the Highlands

Photographing in winter can often be a miss rather than a hit. The weather here in Scotland can tend to be mild, damp and grey for days upon end. I'm quite frustrated at the moment because for the last month, we've had clear skies, beautiful sunsets and cold snaps abound. But now I have some free time to head off into the hills, the weather has turned very mild and grey. Not the kind of weather you want for landscape photography. So I'm house bound today.

So it was nice to head round to a friends house to get this image scanned in. It's a Large Format transparency and I don't have the means to scan it myself. We had a good chat about the state of photography and I thought I'd show you this image. It is a picture of the Buchalle Etive Beag, a mountain in the Glencoe region of the highlands. It was taken a few years back.

I'm a real sucker for this kind of light. Winter can provide some of the most beautiful light of the year. Those pink tones and blues are seldom repeated throughout the year. I just thought this image would make up for me not being able to head off into the hills. Until the weather improves, this will be my yard stick for what I would like to accomplish in the following weeks ahead.

I'll be up in Applecross on Thursday to meet Mark from BBC Scotland's Great Outdoor Show. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the dawn will bring something special. Until then.....

Interview with the BBC

Hi All, I'm off to the Isle of Eigg on Sunday to stay in a £10 a night caravan - no expense spared for me. This is part of my 2 week trip up into the highlands.

As part of my trip - I will be meeting Mark from the Outdoor Show (BBC Radio 4) on Thursday morning for sunrise. I'll let you all know how it goes and whether they decide to broadcast any of my musings.

Until then......

An old, but new Image

This is a shot of Duncansby Head, a location in the far north east of Scotland - literally only a few miles away from John O'Groats, which although is not the furthest northerly point in the British Isles, has the reputation of being so.

This was taken around 4 years ago. I forget when exactly, and it's been sitting at home along with a pile of other 4x5 (large format) images that I shot over the space of a few years with a very beautiful Ebony 45SU camera.  I just didn't have the means to get it scanned - scanning by a pro lab is ridiculously expensive here in the UK (see KenRockwell.com for more information on cheap scanning options in the US).

If it hadn't been for crazy costs of anywhere around £40 to £80 to get a high res scan of a single image, then I would maybe have percevered with large format, but I suspect that the reason why I gave up large format was simply because it didn't suit my temperament.

You see, although I may state that 'the camera does not matter', which is my efforts to get people to stop focussing on the 'gear' side of photography and to focus more on the 'emotional' aspects of it, the truth is cameras do matter.

Cameras in general, are a hindrance; a barrier between you and the image. If you have the right camera that suits your temperament, then it is less of a barrier. That's why I seem to always return to my Mamiya 7II system. I'm comfortable with it, I can work fast (at my own pace), and I'm very happy with the results.

Back to the image. I met up with an excellent photographer recently - Michael Stirling-Aird, based here in Edinburgh and he kindly offered to scan some of my large format transparencies for me. So I dug them out and what I found interesting was that this particular image really caught my eye, where in the past it had not. I can only assume that the reason for this is that I've completely forgotten what my aspirations were at the point of capture.

In essence, reviewing your work straight after a shoot is hard to do, because it's hard to be objective. Sometimes you need a little distance.

I've had around 4 years distance between shooting this image, and publishing it. I'm very happy with it now, and I can't remember why I rejected it at the time I made it.

Perhaps it was part frustration at trying to compose upside down (I remember not being able to achieve compositions that would otherwise have been second nature to me with my Mamiya 7II), I'm not sure.

Anyway, it just goes to show that every now and then, it's worth going back over your old images for a review : an old image will often take on a fresh meaning for you, when reviewed after you've given it some distance.

And that's just great.

Scotland - on landscape photography

What does landscape photography mean to you? Is it a verbatim recording of a scene, captured for posterity, or is it something more? In this podcast, I use a few select images from my Scotland landscapes to illustrate what landscapes mean to me, and why I chose to shoot them the way I did.

Please click on the image to play the podcast

New Portfolio - Sandwood Bay

I've just completed a new portfolio, this time of Sandwood Bay in Scotland.

I also have a few other portfolios in the pipeline which I will be uploading over the next wee while:

Morocco Portraits Los Glaciares National Park, Patagonia Torres del Paine '08 Workshop

In the meantime, please feel free to view my new portfolio.