Dun da Ghaoithe on the Isle of Mull

The Isle of Mull offers a variety of walking from gentle strolls to harder hill walking. Dun Da Ghaoithe, the second highest mountain on the Isle of Mull is 766 meters an it offers a challenging and rewarding day out. I recently made an afternoon return trip, starting from the bottom of the ‘mast road’ near to Auchnachroish.

Throughout the walk there are extensive views all round including Loch Lihnne, Sound of Mull and the Firth of Lorne. Once nearing the summit the views to the west are spectacular as they look out across Ben More.

The day was showery, though the broken cloud provided some good opportunities for photography. Here are a selection of images taken on the walk up to the summit of Dun Da Ghaoithe.

Using water in Landscape Photography

I love being near to water and it plays an important part in much of my landscape photography work. Living on the Isle of Mull off west coast of Scotland I am never too far away from water, not only is Mull surrounded by water there are also many inland lochs that have much to offer.

Water is constantly moving and this movement can add real impact to landscape photography compositions. In the small selection of images showing the use of water in landscape photography there is water that is calm, rough and reflective, and with good camera technique this water can appear to be ‘frozen’ or with the use of a slow shutter speed it can become blurred to convey movement.

Preparing for a Landscape Photography trip

In this article I will describe the various choices I make when preparing for a landscape photography trip, from the initial preparation to taking the final image; some of the ideas may be obvious, others less so.

1. Landscape Photography – General Preparation

I start by selecting a landscape photography location, if this is a new area I like to study maps, guide books and normally contact the local Tourist Information Centres for leaflets, etc. I then use the 1:25000 Ordnance Survey map covering the proposed location to target a potential area for landscape photography. I check sunrise / sunset times and the suns position at sunrise, midday and sunset to decide when is the best time of day to be there. Also, if applicable, refer to the local tide table. It is always a good idea to inform someone of your intended route, destination and time frame. Record the Grid Reference for future use.

Storm over Duart Castle – Isle of Mull

Duart Castle stands proudly on the south east corner of the Isle of Mull looking rather sombre though dramatic lighting.

The 13th Century ancestral home of the Clan MacLean, Duart Castle has commanding spectacular views across Loch Linne and the Firth of Lorne to the mountainous landscape of mainland Scotland.

I have purposely underexposed this image to add drama to the sky and create a moody and threatening feel to the scene.

Isle of Mull landscape photography top ten

Here are some Isle of Mull landscape photography images – our favourite Top 10 taken in 2010. It follows our recent post entitled Top Ten in 2010 – Isle of Mull nature images. Hope you enjoy these examples of our Isle of Mull landscape photography, feel free to leave a comment, we welcome your views.

Sunset over Loch na Keall.

Mull sunsets – Isle of Mull Photographer

Mull sunsets can be spectacular especially when all the required conditions come together. Be it winter or summer there are plenty of locations from which to take full advantage of the opportunities for Mull sunsets.

Here are just a few examples of Mull sunsets from last year that I remember with fondness, not just because of the image but of the moment. Some I took when it seemed like I had the whole island to myself, the feeling of

Stranded seaweed on lonely beach

I was drawn to this stranded seaweed, the vibrant yellow stood out brightly against the reflective lonely beach on a rather dull day.

To put emphasis on to the stranded seaweed I used a four stop neutral density filter to give a fairly long exposure of 30 seconds to create a very smooth almost glass like finish to the sand as the ebb and flow of the receding tidal water moved on the beach.