Notes and Images from a Small Island (Practice 9 Day 5)

The spring weather we had a couple of weeks ago did not last and so I deferred my practice in favour of writing sections of my thesis through the wind and rain.  But today the skies are brighter, the builders have arrived to do some noisy work, so I head along the road to Elgol.  It is late morning, and the sun is higher in the sky and so I hope for good light on the tops of the reeds.  When I arrive, the cloud has thickened, and a shadow is cast over the loch.

I drop down to loch level to enjoy the colour combination of gold and blue.  The shapes of the clumps of emerging reeds paint comical pictures on the water’s surface.  With double exposure images I hope to capture the luminosity of the water and perhaps a glimpse of what lies beneath.  The changing cloud patterns overhead provide me with ever-changing light opportunities.  And in images 36 and 38 the glimpse of the dead reeds from previous years are clearly visible.

I climb up from my loch-level perch and walk along the single-track road looking for reflections.  I revert to single exposures and use intentional camera movement to catch the still tender stems of spring. . .

As I write in my journal, I spy a single Whooper Swan on the southerly part of the loch.  I try to get a closer look, but the fringes of the loch are sodden, after the heavy rainfall of the past few days, added to the very wet winter.  I have seen Whoopers fly over Loch Cill Chriosd, on their journey from Loch Slapin to the coast, but not solitary and not gliding on the surface of the Loch.  A special moment. . .