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David Tolcher

An enthusiast who enjoys having photography as an excuse to get out in to the wilds.

Guy Aubertin

Berkshire based photographer and fundraiser.

guyaubertin.com

Jon Brock

As well as holding down a busy job, I am a landscape photographer in my spare time. I am based in Yorkshire, England. My photography practice has evolved over more than thirty years from 35mm film, through a long period using exclusively large format cameras and sheet film and finally transitioning to digital cameras. In terms of vision, there are two distinct sides to my work - the representational and the non representational - and I enjoy both.

jonbrockphoto.com

Joe Cornish

Professional landscape photographer.

joecornishphotographer.com

Torridon is a well known area of North West Scotland that for many embodies what the Highlands are about. It is wild, rugged, quite remote and has stood from ancient times withstanding all that the Atlantic weather can throw at it. Standing on rock 2.6bn years old scattered with erratic boulders (a mere 750m years old) precariously balanced on tiny stones while yourself being pounded by wind and a mixture of rain, sleet and snow is very humbling. The pillows of gnarly gneiss are particularly tactile, almost visceral in the quality of the surface. A magical place with ever changing weather, magnificent trees and water of every flavour both on the ground and in the air.

Myself and a small group of friends have been visiting this area for the same week in January for the last 5 years with the exception of 2021 when Covid prevented us from travelling in what somewhat ironically was the best Winter for years. In 2022 we were able to return, staying in a new cottage on the shore of Upper Loch Torridon (abbreviated to ULT from now on) having been ‘moused’ out of our previous venue. This year the ‘four’ included Joe Cornish in addition to regulars myself, Jon Brock and Guy Aubertin.

In the event we had 4 days together in 3 quite different locations in very different weather!

Talking of the weather… visiting this part of Scotland at any time is a bit pot luck with what you get. Normally in January, you can expect snowy peaks and if unlucky polka dot snowy bottoms, rarely full coverage. This year has been a real exception as the peaks were almost completely snow free and temperatures hit 13c at one point. A NW flow peppered by heavy Wintery showers is probably the ideal and we enjoyed that on a first visit in 2017 but only had odd days in the intervening years. In 2022 we had a good forecast for the Thursday that we counted down to from early in the week so advanced planning was possible.

Figure 1 Photographers at Work

Torridon is a vast landscape stretching over many miles and has to be broken down into chunks to make any sense of it, also to maintain sanity as the travel times are long to anywhere other than just down the road. In previous years we had spent a lot of time in the pine woods around Shieldaig, the Kinlochewe road past Loch Clair and also down the Applecross road to the West (not the Bealach). Our accommodation location this year placed us close to the ‘Pass of Goats’ to Diabaig so our focus was the area on the North side of ULT and the peninsula beyond perhaps best known for grand lone boulder pictures by some well-known photographers.

Figure 2 Weather Inbound

The week proved to be a great opportunity to compare and contrast output from 4 quite different photographers and to see how they tackled the challenges of the often difficult conditions in ULT.

Ben Shieldaig Woods

The forecast for our first day out together had us on a bit of a battleground between the high pressure that blanketed the UK and the fronts skirting round the top from the Atlantic. Being on the wrong side meant that we had almost constant light rain and periods of wind – actually good for woods. The three of us had spent quite a few wet days previously in the amazing Caledonian pinewoods that clothe the steep cliffs beneath Ben Shieldaig but Joe had not visited them before. With that in mind, the day’s agenda was now settled and with the weather we experienced it proved to be a good choice.

Figure 3 Typical Pine Forest in Ben Shieldaig

These woods were bought with a donation campaign some years ago, are well managed although deer numbers clearly remain high. I hope that they don’t become enclosed by the high prison style deer fence that seems to be spreading at a very fast pace across Scotland.

The terrain is very tough, wet underfoot and many knotted roots and grass clumps up near vertical cliffs. It is arranged like a wedding cake in a number or tiers. The top tier has large mature pines arranged like matchsticks together, quite a sight. Lower tiers are peppered with both living and skeleton trees with a preponderance of birch and smaller native pine towards the bottom. We spent time on each of the tiers working much of the way between the Applecross turning and the start of Loch Dughaill. Composition is more difficult the higher up you go as the opportunity to use the wall of trees and rock diminishes and shooting out or up/down the woods. Sky is typically not your friend here. My own view is that the location would suit a project rather than having an expectation of too many ‘hero’ images.

The Pictures

This picture from Jon looking over Shieldaig gives a pretty good feel for the woods and their environment. Looking into the weather gives a lovely recession down the rolling hills towards the West.

Figure 4 Shieldaig from Ben Shieldaig Forest (JB)

Figure 5 Woodland details (JB)

A woodland detail from Jon from the lower area of the woodland taken with a Cambo Actus and GFX100S. Jon used camera movements to get the spatial arrangement just right.

Figure 6 Twisted Pines (JC)

Joe solved the problems of difficult backgrounds by using a longer lens (85mm) on the Sony A7Riv. This is typical of the complex treescape of pines in the reserve.

Figure 7 Ben Shieldaig Pines (GA)

One of the brief, rain-free interludes with a bit of light. The North/South orientation of the valley means that any breaks in the weather floods the trees with beautiful light and they just glow. Taken with a Contax 60mm lens from the film era on a mirex adapter and still one of the loveliest long normal lenses. Sony A7Riv.

Figure 8 Forest and Rain (DT)

At times during heavy rain there can be a period where perversely the light level rises and the foreground really glows. In this case the rain has veiled the somewhat distracting background and given the separation for this cameo woodland scene. Taken with Digitar 60mm lens on Arca Universalis and GFX100S.

Figure 9 Looking South to Loch Dughaill (GA)

The complexity of the woodland is quite daunting. This is from the 2nd tier looking into the light. Rain sweeping down the valley softens the hills with the lovely gesturing of the trees drawing through the image.

Bealach na Gaoithe and beyond

The climb up from Torridon village along the coast passes through interesting but small pinewoods presently being intensively rescued from invasion by rhododendron and protected by extensive deer fencing. We spent some time up the Coire MhicNobaill later in the week as the light faded. The road climbs above Inveralligin to an area called Alligin Shuas. There is an extensive area punctuated by lochan and rock of broadly similar heights on both the East & West side of the road as it crosses the pass. Many erratic boulders litter the landscape mostly balanced on one edge by the tiniest stones or just held by friction on impossible rock slopes. The geology is utterly fascinating. Either side of the road is interesting but the lochans on the East are perhaps better known and more visited with a wide vista towards the South encompassing the full range of mountains; Beinn Damh and Beinn Shieldaig being the most prominent. A couple of boulders on the West side have made it into photographers folklore.

Figure 10 Photobombed

On this trip we focussed on the West side hoping to get down to the trig point on Creag an Fhraoich and exploring the buttresses that run down to the coast. As it happens we did not get that far because there was too much to explore in the area in between. Wednesday was a poor forecast with strong SW winds and mostly rain and Thursday the sought after NW flow with showers after a clearing cold front around dawn. Wednesday was scouting, Thursday was when we expected to get the light and conditions. As it turns out we managed to get good material on both days.

It is a stunning but difficult location to take pictures. There are a number of compositional puzzles to solve. The Loch is a strong separation between the foreground and background and aside from that looking South from this vantage point into the Winter arc of the sun means that it gets very ‘hot’ as soon as any brightness comes through. Typically composition compromises around closing the loch at each end have to be made by using foreground buttresses or other features as the distant closure can only be achieved by the use of a very wide angle lens and/or stitching. Connection and balance between the foreground and background are difficult to achieve.

The second area is how to use the foreground where there is a vast array of interesting erratics. Is it a picture of a boulder or stunning view or both and if so how do you connect them meaningfully? The Loch doesn’t help here because it is hard not to separate your boulder composition from the mountainscape with a large body of bright water. The view we reached, in the end, is that some of the small bodies of standing water were a better foreground than the boulders, perhaps best exemplified by Joe’s and Guy’s dawn pictures which successfully integrate the foreground and background although separated by many miles.

The Pictures

Figure 11 Perched (DT)

This was taken on the ‘scouting’ day in the rain. This erratic is perched unusually not on any little stones. The recession from the heavy rain is really important to the image, returning the next day with no rain and the composition was totally nondescript and of no interest. Taken on a GFX100s and the long end of 35-70mm zoom.

Figure 12 Into the weather (DT)

This was a remarkably difficult image to take and quite a testament to the quality of modern IBIS. Dave’s tripod was being blown off the ground in the near gale force winds. Clouds of rain were being blown up Beinn Damh onto the mountains with some lovely light behind. This is a another feature of the location where the light often really pours through from the South. GFX100S and 35-70mm zoom.

Figure 13 Erratic (JB)

In the discussion at the beginning I mentioned the compositional challenges of the location. The echoing shapes and careful processing has managed the pull through from the foreground boulder to Loch Damh and the dramatic sky just before a sheets of rain blocked the whole scene. Utter nightmare on an exposed ridge in gale and rain to set up a technical camera. Cambo Actus and 60mm Actar.

Figure 14 Scouting above Pass of the Goats (JB)

This was taken on the scouting day where the weather had better brightness than forecast at times. Checking out some of the other Lochan on the East side of the pass this was taken on one of the knolls above the road. Cambo Actar, 35mm Pentax 645 and GFX100S.

Figure 15 Exploring Gaoithe (JC)

A last image from the scouting further working on how to deal with ULT and the foreground. Fantastic cloud swirled around Beinn Damh after one pulse of rain came through. Sony A7Riv.

Moving on to dawn the following day when the promised clear out should have happened just in time for some dawn light. A long day in the field followed!

Figure 16 Sunrise (JC)

Joe scouted this location the day before and tested the composition allowing him to dash straight here on arrival in the half light before dawn. The use of a ND filter to blur the sky has really helped with managing the hot spot from the rising sun and to smooth out the puddles. Taken on A7riv and Sigma 24mm lens.

Figure 17 Dawn towards Shieldaig (DT)

Taken slightly later than Joe’s picture when the sky had lit up much more strongly. Dave scouted this the day before and shows the challenges with the foreground. A really difficult choice between the wider landscape view and a tighter portrait of the LHS only. Arca Universalis with Pentax 645 35mm on GFX100S.

Figure 18 Blue Dawn (DT)

Alternative portrait taken with 60mm Digitar lens.

Guy and Dave were only metres apart and the almost 90 degree different orientation picks up the light and colour quite differently. Both Joe and Guy made really good use of the water based on observations made on the scouting day. The problem of what to do about ULT solved by eliminating it.

Figure 19 Dawn looking East towards Torridon (GA)

Taken with Contax 35mm PC lens on Sony A7Riv.

Figure 20 Distant Torridon (JC)

The warmth of the erratic nestling in the pocket of quartzite makes for a lovely foreground for the view down to ULT and the mountains beyond. Taken on Phase One IQ4 with 70mm lens.

Torridon House Estate

Torridon is a vast area to explore with opportunities around every corner to find good compositions. We had a couple of fill in sessions in the area around our accommodation which ran down to the beach in Inveralligin and in the woodland surrounding Torridon House.

Figure 21 Inveralligin Beach (JC)

The beach at the front of our accommodation was a cornucopia of small delights but this image from Joe caught some beautiful last light looking out towards Beinn Damh. Taken on Phase One IQ4 and 50mm lens.

Figure 22 Abhainn Alligin (JC)

Big Daddy. An amazing rock just dumped in the burn above the accommodation. Taken with Sigma 50mm F1.2 on A7Riv.

Figure 23 Towards Shieldaig (GA)

Some dramatic conditions and light as the Storm Malik started to make its presence felt. By this time we had water devils meandering up ULT and first sheets of rain coming in from the West. Batis 25mm on Sony A7riv.

Figure 24 Woodland (JC)

The woodland surrounding Torridon House and the finger that extends up on the path alongside Mhic Nobuil has some lovely mixed woodland. This is being cleared out after being devastated by an invasion of rhododendron and is going to be a lovely location to work in the coming years. Taken with Sigma 60mm lens on A7Riv.

Figure 25 Beach Detail (JB)

The grass surrounding the rocks on the beach has been sculpted by the extra high tides and made it look like they were in nests of grass. The soft blue end of daylight in the rain lends a lovely quality to the light in this composition from Jon. This was taken at the same time as JC image earlier of Inveralligin Beach using the same dusk light.

Figure 26 Dead Rhododendron & Pine (DT)

The consequence of killing the rhododendron that has overwhelmed much of the area around Torridon House. Sadly many are growing back from the base despite heavy use of targeted herbicide. Arca Universalis, 60mm Digitar and some tilt, GFX100S.

Figure 27 Woodland Study (JB)

Another composition from Jon using movement on the Cambo to loom the foreground boulder creating a study that reflects the feeling of ‘place’ in the woodland.

Epilogue

Figure 28 A very very wet camera and lens ! (DT,JC,GA,JB)

A really interesting and quite addictive week in Torridon. Although we did not get any of the Winter weather we hoped for the conditions were actually quite good for being out and taking pictures. Storm Malik really interfered with the journey home so we can be grateful that the conditions were not like that all week especially as Storm Carrie followed along 24hrs later. Booked for the same week next year with anticipation.