Staffin, Isle of Skye, Autumn
When you think of Skye, do you think of dinosaur fossils?
Probably not.
Much like Cornwall’s famed Jurassic Coast, Skye has its own version at An Corran beach, Staffin, on the Trotternish Peninsula.
In 2002 a local couple walking along An Corran spotted a slab of rock with a fossilised footprint embedded. Experts later identified it as originating from a small ornithopod, a bipedal running dinosaur.
Further excavation revealed more dinousaur footprints, the largest being around 50 cm long and originally made by a creature similar to a Megalosaurus. They were dated to around 160 million years old, making them the youngest dinosaur remains in Scotland.
An Corran is also home to one of the oldest hunter-gatherer sites in Scotland, which dates to around the 7th millennium BC.
Not only is An Corran home to a treasure trove of history, it also features some weird and fantastical geology, which primarily caught my eye for compositional reasons.
These photos were made from two separate visits, which explains the drastically different light conditions.
Shot on a Fujifilm X-T2 with a Laowa 9mm f/2.8 lens using a customised Pro Negative Standard film profile.
Below the cliffs of the northwestern point of An Corran, Staffin, one enjoy beautiful views back towards the Quiraing.
At Breun Phort, east of the Staffin Slipway, a raised bed of clints and grikes offer seemingly limitless compositions for my wide angle lens to devour.
A simple composition showing off the tetris-like structure of the raised rock bed at Breun Phort, looking back towards the 50 ft cliffs that dominate the An Corran coast.
Untold millennia of waves have sculpted the layers of rock along An Corran, revealing curved strata and standing boulders behind.
Two giant boulders lean on each other. In the distance are the mountains of Torridon and Applecross.
A glacial erratic remains perched on the raised bed of rock at An Corran, Staffin.
More glacial erratics perched on sculpted formations. In the distance, to the left, are the two cliff faces of Sgeir Bhàn.
A reflection of the solitary perched glacial erratic, using the strata beneath it as a leading line.
Two separate glacial erratics, which two me almost look like they are in “conversation” with each other.