The PTR Team Goes to Elgol, Isle of Skye

By Bill, Claire, and Melanie

One of the most photographed places in Scotland is located at Elgol on the Isle of Skye.  Earlier this year, the PTR Team (Bill, Claire, and Melanie) got together and spent a week photographing different locations, one of them was Elgol.

This article is about how individual photographers interpret the same place in different ways.  How composition, the use of a camera for different effects, how different perspectives of the same scene result in totally different outcomes, and how experienced photographers often deviate from one another when capturing light.

Bill admits that he doesn't do landscapes well.  "I have difficulty with seeing a landscape," he says, "I was trained as a journalist and I tend to isolate subjects, whereas Claire and Melanie are able to see the 'big picture' and use elements of the landscape to enhance their work."

Both Claire and Melanie have extensive experience in doing landscape photography and for Bill the gathering proved to be useful as another learning experience.

For example, late one afternoon, the three photographers were at the same spot at Elgol.  Here is one of Bill's shots:

Melanie:  "The faster shutter speed here has given a better impression of the rushing wave and has captured nicely the spray resulting from the wave hitting the rock. It may benefit from a little less contrast. Looks like you have a few dust spots on your sensor. Do you want to borrow my Arctic Butterfly?"

Bill: "Gosh Melanie, I need to go get those dust spots out, and yes, thanks, that little beast is a fantastic aid in cleaning sensors, and heaven knows mine is always dirty from changing lens so often.

Course I thought this was a pretty good shot, that is, until I saw what you and Claire found:"

Melanie's shot:

Melanie: "I have been to the Isle of Skye many times in the past 4 years. My introduction was on a holiday with Skye in Focus. I'd not heard of Elgol until then and my first visit was in the bright, overhead sunlight of a May afternoon. It was a light that revealed some astonishing underwater detail in the rock pools, but really missed out on the impressive wider view. I have many a shot of the wider view by now, but was looking for something different. The lobster creel was lodged a little higher up on the rocky shelf and I had a vision of capturing it in the foreground with the surf rushing through it. It took some time to get the image I wanted, and by that time the light had changed. You win some, you lose some! Claire spotted the creel a couple of days earlier, and we made sure we rescued it from the sea, before we left.  Yes, the tripod, needed a shower afterwards!"

Bill: "I saw that lobster pot, but I did not think of it as a foreground element.  Just goes to show you how a photograph can be improved by simply looking around and using what is there in a special way!"

Claire's shot:

Claire: "While Mel was concentrating on the lobster pot my eyes were trained a little higher on the clouds that were forming and the colour that briefly put on a show. I obtained a long exposure by using a full ND filter with a ND grad to turn the water into a reflecting, flat area.

It is always interesting to also see how photographers process images. I've pushed the colour in this by selecting a shade white balance that boosts the reds and oranges. This I feel suits my scene while the cooler blues work better in Mel's shot."

Melanie:  "This is a very different and bold shot from Elgol. You spotted the drama in the sky and made the most of it. An inspired choice with the filters as the longer exposure has helped even out the bright areas in the sky and enhanced the plume of cloud over Sgurr Alasdair giving it an almost 'volcanic' appearance."

Bill:  "WOW, Claire, I've learned something here!  So, if I change the white balance settings I can create a whole different color cast.  And, yes, what you did works wonderfully well.  Gotta try that in one of my images."

Claire: "One day Bill will teach me how to catch birds in flight but for now we fastward. Still Elgol but a morning and high up on the cliffs. When we left the cottage it was dark and the lack of stars told us that the dawn held little promise.  With hope in our hearts we walked the track, past a house that was for sale and all dreamed a dream of owning such a property in such a location. Initially the light was wrong but we found a huge rock. Finding a good rock is a good start and we all set about visualising how it could be used. I wandered closer to the cliff edge and then the light started to hit the mountains in front. They started to glow but the foreground was still dark."

Melanie: "LOL, I'm beginning to think Sgurr Alasdair is an active volcano! Perhaps it puts on this show only for you."

Claire: "It became a waiting game. The land caught the light but the clouds dispersed and in my shots I feel the mountains lost their magic but the foreground came alive (in this case with sheep!).

Melanie: "The views from this spot were astounding, and the first play of light on the mountains was a joy to watch. Though we did wait sometime for the light to hit the foreground the sky had lost its magic by then. I found balancing the composition difficult from  here, with the sea giving the feel of a lot of empty space to the left. Here I tried to balance it out with this small collection of rocks."

Bill: "Well, while Melanie and Claire were producing great shots, I got out my Canon Rebel XTi and my Canon EF-S 10-22mm lens and took this shot.  The reason was that I keep trying out small camera gear that is light-weight and easy to carry.  I'm always whining about hiking to spots for shots.  Something light-weight registers really high on my scale of gear. And considering that the camera cost 1/10th of what my Canon 1Ds Mark II cost me, it ain't bad. Course, it would have been better if I had waited a tad for the foreground to light up."

Melanie: " While Bill was busy finding foreground I was busy finding stuff to fill up the empty space to the left ....

....... not bad light after all if you remember that as we set out that morning it was raining. The day that followed was one of almost Mediterranean sunshine, the breakfast unforgettable - - -."

Bill:  "Breakfast!!!  Something you two always seem to avoid.  Too bad that there weren't any sausage-egg-and-cheese-biscuits around. Elgol needs a Hardee's nearby!"

Claire: "Last light , another night and a different tempo." 

Bill:  "Yes indeed Claire, there is something about the waves at Elgol that lifts the spirit,  especially as the sun is setting and the waters turn gold. And, Melanie, I hope I got the dust spots out of this shot."

Melanie:  "Looks like you cleaned the sensor well this time Bill, looks like you might have used your tripod again too. A lovely result on this one, I hope you are pleased."

Bill: "Thanks Melanie, yes I am pleased, and I am grateful to you and Claire for your advice and suggestions on how to do landscape photography, one of the great benefits of working as a group is how we learn from one another, your mentorship has paid off." 

Melanie: "Our last visit to Elgol was not quite so kind, the light was very dramatic, between the drenching hail showers. We did have to work hard, to keep ourselves warm, the cameras dry and to keep the hail, rain and seaspray off the lenses and filters. Claire's stunning shots below show just how dramatic that last light was."

Melanie: "Despite all my efforts with shower cap, micofibre towel and kitchen paper, most of my shots from this last evening were blemished with water drops and seaspray. Frantic wiping with my limited supply of kitchen paper resulted in smearing across the filters creating copious and unsightly flare. Not until the sun finaly went down did I get one worth showing you here."

"I believe we all thoroughly enjoyed our time at Elgol. One of the benefits of being part of a group is it makes you go out in conditions you may not if you are alone. Thumbs up to Claire for getting us to walk along the top that morning and finding something different."

 Bill:  "Yes, indeed Melanie, Claire's suggestion about the walk above the beach turned out to be a great experience, there is nothing like getting a new perspective on a location, it pays to look around and, I hate to admit it, walk a good distance. I promise not to whine on our next visit here. The last two shots from Claire speak for themselves."

Claire: "Glad to hear we've converted Bill to walking - maybe the coastal path to Loch Coruisk via the notorious 'bad step' next time???"  

A thumbs up PTR location

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