Waterfall in the Fairy Glen, Rosemarkie The ‘Fairy Glen’ is an atmospheric wee walk through beautiful woodland climbing up beside the stream, all carpeted in thick moss. At this time of year it doesn’t get much sunlight into the narrow sides, so a long exposure of 10 seconds or so was called for, resulting in […]
Findhorn Beach at sunset, the Moray Firth. While the far southwest of England continued to be battered by storms, the last week was mostly very calm and bright here in the North. This was sunset at Findhorn beach, close by the Findhorn community. The beach faces North, but the clouds were reflecting the orange sunset […]
Badenoch from Torr Alvie Badenoch means ‘the drowned land’ and is the name of the district around Kingussie in upper Strathspey. The Insh marshes form a large part of the district, and are said to be one of the most important marshes in Europe. The marshes flood regularly in winter, absorbing and holding a massive […]
Calm reflections, Craigellachie lochan, Aviemore There’s been a bit of a gap in the Inspirational Image since December. Partly down to the seemingly endless stormy weather – I haven’t been out at all with the camera in weeks – partly I’ve just had my head down! Its been unseasonally warm (I’m using warm here in […]
Solstice Sunset over Craigellachie, from Granish Moor, near Aviemore This is taken from near by the local Neolithic ‘Ring Cairn’ (otherwise known as the Stone Circle, which it isn’t), a suitable walk for midwinter solstice. Dramatic beams of light striking the clouds, shortly after sunset. Its been a very dark couple of weeks (physically), with […]
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 […]
A moment of reflection at Loch Vaa, Strathspey Its been a very dull week – snow, sleet, rain, dark cloud… This weekend especially has been rather dreich with heavy rain down here, although snowing on the hills… However, the walk around Loch Vaa was very peaceful, with a multitude of reflections. I find the colours […]
Ice baubles on moss Its been an amazing week of high-pressure weather, with blue skies nearly every day. Some days with warm sun tempting us to think that its spring, other days with a biting wind and deep frost… There isn’t a great deal of snow on the slopes, but the high plateau looks plastered, […]
Riverbank branches, River Spey Following on from last week’s image – more riverbank branches with sparkly light, full of elemental magic. This week’s quote – staying with what is. “When things are shaky and nothing is working, we might realize that we are on the verge of something. We might realize that this is a […]
Alder branch against snow, banks of the river Spey, Dalfaber, Aviemore A simple silhouette, but I love the blue colour of the snow shadows, taken on a wee wander along the riverbank. As we move into mid-February the increase in light is becoming quite noticeable, and very welcome! Thanks to one of my correspondents for […]
Wing-marks in snow, Monadhliath Mountains An unusual image this week – for several reasons. We don’t often see things like this in the Scottish mountains, as it is so rarely settled enough from one day to the next. Normally there is constant snow blowing, obscuring your own tracks within minutes. On this day there had […]
Winter Storm clouds over Geal-Charn-Mor, the Monadhliath Mountains Taken a few years ago on a ski trip across the Monadhliath. We started out with blue skies and perfect conditions, but the weather was rapidly coming in and by the time we were up in the hills it was getting quite dramatic. You can see the […]
