Notes and Images from a Small Island (Practice Period 12 Day 2)

After an extended period of writing, to revise Chapter 2 of my thesis, I returned to Loch Cill Chriosd today, after Skye’s first snowfall.  The Red and Black Cuillin had a good covering of the white stuff and the loch’s surface was frozen in places.  I have written a lot recently about dwelling in my practice, but with the best will in the world, this morning was not a time to dwell because of the bitterness of the northerly wind!  My fingers began to sting as soon as I set up my tripod and took a few ICM shots.  Although the sun was low in the sky, the dynamic range I was dealing with was wide and the light flat.  I always use manual exposure mode, so I needed to keep an eye on the images I was taking and the significant variation in exposure settings as I pointed my camera in different directions.  I worked quickly not wishing to hang around . . .

I spent about an hour in icy conditions, with a biting wind making my work difficult.  I was reluctant to move around too much, and the path to the northern edge of the loch was blocked by an icy pool, frozen on top, ready to catch out the unsuspecting photographer in a hurry to bag the shot!  Although it was a beautiful morning, waiting around for better light and the onset of creative flow was not an option.  But when I returned home, I was pleasantly surprised with my images.  The camera had clearly looked both ways on this occasion and had reflected my mood – such that a clear sense of the harsh reality of the loch on this cold winter day had manifested itself in my images.

The shimmer of the ice in front and through the reeds give a sense of recession and depth in the images.  The range in tonality also provides strong contrast typical of early winter days.  I plan to return to the loch, however cold, tomorrow.