One of the challenges of photographing in the Highlands is the dreaded Scottish Highland Midge. It’s a tiny insect that can easily fly through the holes in a mosquito net. But its bite and the sheer numbers of them that can gather in one place make them a real challenge. They also like to gather in the twilight hours, around ‘damp’ areas and when the wind drops. If you like taking photographs of sunsets with reflections of mountains in Highland lochans, you’d best get your photography done before they emerge!!

We had a couple of enquiries through email about just how bad the problem was and what the best preventative methods were, so I dug out an article I wrote a while back about the midge, which you can read here. In short, to prevent getting bitten, the best remedy is to use Smidge (Picaridin/Saltidin) on any skin the midges can get to.

Once the number of midges rises beyond a certain amount, the sheer annoyance factor of having them inside your ears and up your nose means you need something to block them completely. That’s why a midge net is a compulsory item for anyone to enjoy the outdoors in the Highlands. However, the small mesh size to protect from the midge is such that you can’t really see anything clearly. I was left wondering how you could have a transparent version and concluded that it would be ideal to have a set of glasses embedded in a midge net. And after some experimenting, I ended up creating the ‘midge glasses’. Now I can see clearly and operate still operate a camera (although the viewfinder access isn’t as good, as anybody who has to wear glasses will attest).

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