Now, I am not usually a morning person but on Saturday morning I went on an early morning mission with two WildLight Explorers photographers, early morning light offers some of the best conditions for photography so I was excited to see what we could see.
We parked the car on the shores of Loch Awe around 5.15am and began our hike up the hill. The walk was truly stunning, as the dark of the night started to retreat the beauty of the early morning landscape was revealed. Mist hung in the hollows of the glen and blanked the loch below us, the frost sparkled on the heather and birds songs filled the air.
I tried to crop the worst of the over exposed area out of this shot but I think there is probably still a wee bit much light in the upper right hand corner.
We reached our destination just before sunrise about 6.20 and each of us scattered to find a spot to photograph from. I chose a spot overlooking a small frozen lochan with some boulders in the foreground for that extra bit of detail, I thought it was perfect until the sun began to rise, I then realised that my shot was going to be over exposed on the right hand side.
I decided to quickly move to a small mound around 100 meters or so from this spot as quickly as I could which proved quite difficult due to thick heather and rather boggy spots. I'd glad I moved location as the views from this location were much better, I could see Crinan, Moine Mhor, Kilmartin Glen, Jura, Scarba, the peaks of Mull and Ben Cruachan just peaking out from behind the clouds. I took many shots trying to focus on the patterns and textures of the landscape and made a few shot which I was quite happy with.
Lines leading to Ben Cruachan, it's just a pity there wasn't a wee bit more light on the mountain.
I really liked all the patterns in this scene, it might just be my vivid imagination but I can see a whirlpool.
Half way back down we stopped to take some more photos of the mist hanging over the Loch Awe and hanging in the Glen! By then the sun was starting to get a bit high and bright but I still managed some more shots. At this point I wander off a bit from the group mainly just to admire the landscape. This was the first time I'd ever been above the clouds so I really wanted to take in the views.
Over all it was a great morning and definitely worth the early start. All in all I walked over 8 miles before 9am in the morning which isn't too bad for a Saturday morning.