Loch Assynt Trees

“Pink as I Turn on the Light”

Loch Assynt was on my inspiration board for my first trip to Coigach and Assynt, but it was a stretch goal and I hadn’t really researched it. Driving in in the dark, I had Ardvreck Castle vaguely in mind, but as I drove along the road north of the loch, I saw these trees illuminated by a full moon. I’m glad I stopped here as I got a monster of sunrise and—despite the gale force winds forecasts—I got some of the best opportunities for long exposure photography of my trip.

Arriving in the dark, completely unfamiliar with a landscape is always a challenge: you have to navigate dodgy, often boggy, terrain and work out a composition. I usually use my camera handheld at a really high ISO and take lots of shots until I have found something that works. I was lucky to come away with a couple of compositions that I was really happy with—and both look completely different!