Sligachan, Isle of Skye, Autumn
One of my favourite places on Skye is Sligachan.
It’s also a source of frustration for me.
At Sligachan one is offered an incredible view of the northern jagged peaks of the Black Cuillins mountain range, particularly the peaks named Sgùrr nan Gilean (966 m/3,170 ft) and Sgùrr a’ Bhàsteir (900 m/2, 953 ft). Every time I’ve been to Skye I’ve tried navigating the various rivers and becks that stream off the northern faces of the Black Cuillins, looking for compositions.
To this day, I still don’t think I’ve shot one that I consider to have “nailed”.
So please find a selection of photos from around Sligachan and its various rivers and falls. I think they’re OK, personally. One day, I’ll be happy with a shot of mine from around this area.
Photos taken on a Fujifilm X-T2 with both a Samyang 35mm f/1.2 and a Laowa 9mm f/2.8 lens, using a customised Pro Negative Standard film profile.
I’ve talked about, and photographed, the Black Cuillins a lot on Skye, but there is another mountain range located next door to them. They are the Red Cuillins. Whereas the Black Cuillins are jagged and craggy, owing to them primarily being composed of coarse and hard volcanic gabbro rock, the Red Cuillins a made of granite, resulting in smaller and smoother hills. Here I utilised the Old Sligachan Bridge has a leading line towards Glamaig (775 m/2,543 ft).
If the river’s particularly low it’s possible to clamber underneath the arches of the Old Sligachan Bridge. This can lead to interesting compositions involving the Black Cuillins.
A more zoomed-in view of the beautiful Black Cuillins. A new statue, unveiled only this year in 2020, features two mountaineers (Prof. Norman Collie, a chemist, and John Mackenzie, a local crofter and mountain guide). They gaze at the Black Cuillins that they famously climbed all the peaks of, mapping out new climbing ascents.
Rising up the other side of the new Collie & Mackenzie statue is another member of the Red Cuillins, Marsco (736 m/2,415 ft).
We hiked up alongside just one of Sligachan’s many rivers, the Allt Dearg Mòr, looking for waterfalls and cascades alongside compositions of the Black and Red Cuillins. Near a private house situated next to the river, Alltdearg House, are a series of cascades I had a go at making compositions with when the light got good.
It was good to see there was still some pink heather around the river’s edge, which I included in this composition looking towards Marsco of the Red Cuillins. This is a single exposure, shot for the brightest highlights, which I’ve then had to recover in post.
Above the cascades I nabbed this panoramic view of the Red Cuillins. The sun was very much fighting with the clouds that day, and we were alternately bathed in light then showered on as various weather systems blew across the Cuillins.
One of the best shots I got of the Black Cuillins with some waterfall/cascade action. Not bad. But there’s definitely better out there.