My hopes are not set high for this shoot after the wild and wet weather overnight but as I near the loch the skies seem to lighten slightly. I have decided to use some shorter lenses and hope for opportunities for shooting wider vistas. As I get closer to the “beach” I hear the distant trumpeting of the Whooper swans on Loch Slapin and a Skylark high up over Cill Chriosd.
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Immediately, the conditions feel different to yesterday and I appear to be in a microclimate of calm and serenity. Although there is still movement on the water it is rippling rather than gusting. It is soon clear that the best options are for more traditional landscape shots rather than focusing on features and vignettes. The reflections in the water are strong and largely clear and the sky has some interest and character about it.
This is the Skye I love. The strong and dominating skies and the shafts of light illuminating parts of the landscape. The loch is quiet this morning and nobody is interrupting my thoughts and contemplation. My mind turns to my Research Project and some of the ghosts I would like to lay to rest. The images of my early police work stir in my mind and I quickly remove them as I have for many years. The landscape in front of me soon eradicates any memory of my early career.
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Journal Day 2 Shoot 2 – 23 October 2018
This afternoon I choose my short lens and decide to explore around the shore beyond where I have been before. After passing through a very muddy path the view opens out to reveal a Red Cuillin, made even redder by the autumn colours, shrouded in mist. The scene has potential for some good shots so I settle down to wait whether the light changes. It is interesting to be looking at the loch from a different perspective. There are rain showers all around and as the light changes the different moods of the loch emerge.
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The Red Cuillin are less foreboding and mysterious than the Black and I find their curved tops more serene. The small fluffs of cloud that often drift over them are also less threatening than the dark clouds relentlessly shrouding the Black Cuillin.
I am thinking about how I can convey these thoughts to my viewers and how I can unlock some of my feelings and emotions that this Research Project is intended to do.
