This is how I envisioned a castle when I was younger…
Growing up as kid, I had such a fascination with knights, armor, horses, swords, and most of all castles. Specifically the feudal period of Britain was what I had in mind when I was six to nine years old. That fascination still lingers in me 30 years later I guess. One of the first things I did when deciding where to go in Scotland, was which castles were still in good condition and impressive enough to justify driving over. Eilean Donan was obviously one of them.
Sensor: Canon 6D
Location: Dornie, Scotland
Now there are plenty of pictures of this castle. But I knew that if I had any chance of taking a somewhat original photo, it would probably have to be in the early morning hours or late at dusk. At least the light could have some unique effect. Traveling in Scotland in June however ensures that you must stay up very late and wake up very early to get the Sun at its lowest point. That means 11:30 PM and 4:30 AM. The first and second photos were taken around midnight.
Sensor: Canon 6D
Location: Dornie, Scotland
The water around Scotland gets amazingly still during the night when the winds die down. One could I think flip both of these images around the horizontal axis and it wouldn’t be immediately obvious that something was amiss.
The calmness of these photos hides the madness of tourists running all over the place…
This castle is a pretty touristy place. But there aren’t too many tourists during this time which is good. None of the tour buses come by in the evening, and the castle isn’t open for people to go inside. So along with the long exposure times its not that hard to take photos without people. That being said, it only takes a few people lingering to get a blurring effect of people which I wasn’t going for. So these photos did cause me to have to linger here for more than an hour rather than just the 15 minutes I needed.
Sensor: Canon 6D
Location: Dornie, Scotland
This last picture was taken earlier in the day near the end of the rush. Still busy, but was able to take the photo before a large group of tourists on a tour bus was just coming off the bridge.
As an aside – I don’t see how one could properly tour this area and the Isle of Skye on a tour bus. It just wasn’t meant to be seen in a bus or in short spurts with groups of people. It’s meant to be seen in solitude, or in the company of a few close interesting souls. It’s a place requiring the time to linger for a long time and absorb and get lost in. If you are into photography this is even more true. This is an endeavor that requires time, patience and an eye for beauty after all.
