Late Autumn colour and first Winter snow, Glenfeshie Hills, Cairngorms
A late November day in Strathspey, the near-sunset casting a warm glow across the landscape in contrast to the crisp air. There is something I really like in the shape and flow of the forested middle-distance hills against the steep-sided hillside behind.
It is always said (and quite truthfully) that the best time for photography is the ‘magic hour’ after sunrise and before sunset when warm light flows across the land. It does of course require dedication to be out at these times, especially in summer. However, here in the North of Scotland when the sun just about manages to lift above the mountains at this time of year, the magic hour can be at a very civilised 10am. Depending where you are in the valley, the sun can be set behind the hills anytime between 2-4 in the afternoon. However, we may go many days without a sight of the sun… and then there are those days when even though there is perfect blue sky above, a lingering cloudbank over the mountans is enough to obscure the sun all day. These conditions can conspire to inspire with amazing lighting effects striking out of the clouds and mist, turning winter gloom to glowing light – but you have to be quick!
“You may remember the paradox of time we mentioned earlier:
Whatever you do takes time, and yet it is always now. So while your inner
purpose is to negate time, your outer purpose necessarily involves future and
so could not exist without time. But it is always secondary. Whenever you
become anxious or stressed, outer purpose has taken over, and you have lost sight
of your inner purpose. You have forgotten that your state of consciousness is
primary, all else secondary.”
– Eckhart Tolle, ‘A New Earth’