Skye light breaks through - Looking down the Trotternish ridge as dawn breaks across the Isle of Skye.

As the intense golden hour light breaks through a most welcome gap in the clouds above the Torridon mountains across on the mainland, the landscape is painted with incredible warmth revealing some spectacular colours.

Viewed from the Quiraing, the dawn light picks out the golden autumn slopes of Cleat and Bioda Buddha with Beinn Edra lurking in the distance.

Isle of Skye, Scottish Inner Hebrides

Explore #2 31/04/2024


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Tags:   dawn sunrise golden hour light sunlight clouds Quiraing Skye Cuith-Raing Isle of Skye Inner Hebrides Scotland Cleat Beinn Edra Bioda Buidhe Ridge Staffin Uig landslip shifting light the land that time forgot Highlands Scottish mountain United Kingdom Great Britain landscape images@twiston countryside NiSi nisifilters GND neutral density reverse grad grad

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So my favourite time of year has arrived where I start to look out for all the seasonal colours, rapeseed, bluebells, garlic, poppies etc..

However this is the first time I've added pink blossom. Trees like these tend to be in busy streets with lots of cars but I've seen this tree pop up on Instagram for the past couple of years and I've now tracked it down. It's actually in a park in central Bristol but positioned brilliantly for a lone tree shot.

Patience and gritted teeth was necessary for chatting groups of dog walkers to exit the scene as it's a bit of a rendevous. But its the sort of scene I love so well worth the effort.

Tags:   cherryblossom lonetree bristol pink

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Mostly we hid behind the rocks, patiently waiting out the brisk volleys of rain that were driving straight towards us and hampering good intentions. At one moment I was caught in the deluge, a rapidly spreading sensation telling me that I might have put my waterproof trousers on rather than carrying them around in the bag. At least the camera was hidden under a shower cap, liberated from some budget hotel bathroom earlier in the year. As the heavens abated, I pulled the trousers on in undignified fashion before putting the bright yellow rain repelling backpack cover onto the camera bag. Feeling slightly damp on the inside, I clambered over the rocks to where the others were quietly plotting. At least I wouldn't get any wetter now. “You take this business quite seriously don’t you?” said Brian. “Well I’m among giants. I need to put on a good show today,” I replied. To which my colleagues chuckled gently and muttered in self deprecation. But I was in the company of two photographers whose work I’ve long admired, no matter how much they might protest at my attempts to flatter. I had no intention of letting the side down. I hope I didn’t fail them.

Finally, after some years of exchanging banter and passing comment on one another’s posts, I was meeting a man who brings a warm smile to so many of us as we read the latest outlandish tale about village life somewhere up the north coast, and giggle at the meandering yarns on the subject of his wandering menagerie. A menagerie that was noticeable by its absence on this particular outing, I might add. “Where were Horace and Hoof?” we asked. “Hiding indoors,” appeared to be the answer to that one. Today, courtesy of Lloyd, another Flickr luminary with whom I’ve become good friends on his last few visits to Cornwall, here was a certain Mr Pedlar, standing in the rain on Holywell Bay Beach beside his tripod, chattering away happily about life, the universe, the great mirrorless debate and all that. None of us had ventured across the gear divide just yet, and we each agreed that what we were using still did the job well enough. With a quiet modesty, the King of Trebormint Strand merely thanked me with a shy smile as I gushed my enthusiasm over some of his recent shots. Such is his generosity that he even offered me the loan of the set of spare clothes he always keeps in the car for when the conditions get a bit fruity.

As we loitered in the shelter of the rocks, Lloyd or I would occasionally break ranks to explore the possibilities and line up potential compositions. This was Lloyd’s first visit as a tog, and he was understandably keen to size the place up before the light got interesting. I had my eye on another watery foreground image, having brought the same gear that had failed when I was here with Steve on a hot September evening a couple of months earlier. Happily the fault seems to have gone away now. And while we occasionally buzzed about with photographic intent, Brian just waited. “Fifteen minutes,” he replied when I asked him whether the camera was coming out today. Each time I went out, I was soon sent scurrying back as rain spots appeared on the image in the viewfinder.

In the event we all lined up in a row, twenty or thirty yards between us as what colour there was bounced off the glistening sand and back into the clouds. And for fifteen or twenty minutes the rain stayed away, spreading over the sea but sparing us and our cameras any further soakings as we took our shots. As the clouds darkened, a bright patch of reflected light remained, keeping us behind the viewfinder until a final squall brought proceedings to an end.

Contentedly, we trooped back across the beach towards the car park, glad to have been out here on a day like this, embracing the elements and chewing the cud. Well, chewing flaky steak pasties from the Cornish Oven anyway. At least Lloyd and I were. From Brian’s description, his own lunch had been rather more organic. But although you know him to be a man of few words, I’ll let him tell you all about that.

Tags:   Holywell Bay Newquay carter's rocks carter's rocks Sea seascape sea shore sea stack sea stacks Reflection Cloud clouds Cornwall Coast ukcoast British Coast cornish coast Kernow Kernowfornia November winter golden hour Britain Great Britain England wide angle West Country west country clickers Gull Rock The Chicks pastel Atlantic Ocean Beach Canon Tokina

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In case you ask, I'm sorry but I do not participate in commenting groups, but I'm always grateful for your visits and would like to thank you now for stopping by, and any comments you may leave. Much appreciated, John...

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Tags:   Monochrome Black and White John Baker Tide Fishing Boat Harbour Mevagissey light house

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I was treated to an epic sunrise at Christchurch Quay this morning which felt long overdue!

I woke up late so the normal chaos getting myself out of the house, breaking speed limits etc...

Tags:   sunrise pink sky dawn Christchurch Dorset boats quay harbour

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