On The Road Again
One of my colleagues stole my printed copy of this when I originally processed it two years ago and put it on her office wall. I could never decide whether I was flattered by this, mainly because I didn't like the texture of it. The RAW file itself is quite harsh and full of structure, clarity and jarring colours, so much so that I was never comfortable with the image. So I've just had another go at it, partly to see whether I've learned anything, and partly because I wanted to make peace with it. I've softened it, cooled it, de-saturated it and calmed down the contrasts. Maybe we can live with one another now.
You might recognise where this was taken. It was our last day in the Highlands and we'd just doubled back from a truly wonderful hour at Lochan na Achlaise towards Buachaille Etive Mor because I remembered I'd wanted to risk my neck standing in the middle of the A82 shooting towards the northern beauties you see before you. This road is a double edged sword, because while it is a undeniably a feast for the eyes of jaw dropping proportions, its beauty does cause the odd driver here and there to get distracted by the view and suddenly veer away from its path without warning. If you're a passenger you're passing along a road you'll never forget. If you're a driver, you're also passing along a road you'll never forget, partly due to the frustration that you know you're missing all the fun, but also because you have to watch for the craters in the road that pass for pot holes around here. If you're in a very small car there's a chance you might completely disappear for several seconds at a time. When I was here a few months earlier, several vehicles were distributed randomly across the carriage way in various attitudes, one of them upside down in the accompanying ditch, with long queues of completely stationary traffic in either direction. We'd come to hike up Buachaille Etive Mor (on the left of the image) and had the pleasure of walking two miles along the car strewn carriageway towards the start of the climb, while explaining to irritated motorists that we didn't know what was going on either.
To look at this picture you'd think it was a quiet lonely highway to nowhere, with little passing traffic. But as the main route to Fort William and the North West of Scotland beyond it's busy, noisy and frightening, especially if you're hiking and have just arrived here after crossing the lonely and beautiful Rannoch Moor when any form of road traffic is a shock to the senses. It belies the truth of us having to repeatedly look in both directions, rush out into the centre, compose, see a car coming in the distance to spoil the moment and returning in disappointment to the kerb and wait for the next opportunity. It took a while before we could safely grab a shot of an empty road while at the same time being sure that a 38 tonne lorry wasn't about arrive from behind and to turn us into a lonely buzzard's buffet.
And with that I wish you all a happy and safe weekend, especially those of you who aren't able to get into wide open green spaces during these uncertain times. Keep well everybody.
On The Road Again
One of my colleagues stole my printed copy of this when I originally processed it two years ago and put it on her office wall. I could never decide whether I was flattered by this, mainly because I didn't like the texture of it. The RAW file itself is quite harsh and full of structure, clarity and jarring colours, so much so that I was never comfortable with the image. So I've just had another go at it, partly to see whether I've learned anything, and partly because I wanted to make peace with it. I've softened it, cooled it, de-saturated it and calmed down the contrasts. Maybe we can live with one another now.
You might recognise where this was taken. It was our last day in the Highlands and we'd just doubled back from a truly wonderful hour at Lochan na Achlaise towards Buachaille Etive Mor because I remembered I'd wanted to risk my neck standing in the middle of the A82 shooting towards the northern beauties you see before you. This road is a double edged sword, because while it is a undeniably a feast for the eyes of jaw dropping proportions, its beauty does cause the odd driver here and there to get distracted by the view and suddenly veer away from its path without warning. If you're a passenger you're passing along a road you'll never forget. If you're a driver, you're also passing along a road you'll never forget, partly due to the frustration that you know you're missing all the fun, but also because you have to watch for the craters in the road that pass for pot holes around here. If you're in a very small car there's a chance you might completely disappear for several seconds at a time. When I was here a few months earlier, several vehicles were distributed randomly across the carriage way in various attitudes, one of them upside down in the accompanying ditch, with long queues of completely stationary traffic in either direction. We'd come to hike up Buachaille Etive Mor (on the left of the image) and had the pleasure of walking two miles along the car strewn carriageway towards the start of the climb, while explaining to irritated motorists that we didn't know what was going on either.
To look at this picture you'd think it was a quiet lonely highway to nowhere, with little passing traffic. But as the main route to Fort William and the North West of Scotland beyond it's busy, noisy and frightening, especially if you're hiking and have just arrived here after crossing the lonely and beautiful Rannoch Moor when any form of road traffic is a shock to the senses. It belies the truth of us having to repeatedly look in both directions, rush out into the centre, compose, see a car coming in the distance to spoil the moment and returning in disappointment to the kerb and wait for the next opportunity. It took a while before we could safely grab a shot of an empty road while at the same time being sure that a 38 tonne lorry wasn't about arrive from behind and to turn us into a lonely buzzard's buffet.
And with that I wish you all a happy and safe weekend, especially those of you who aren't able to get into wide open green spaces during these uncertain times. Keep well everybody.