Loch Garten sunset, Strathspey, Scotland

Loch Garten Sunset Pines

Sunset Pines, Loch Garten, Strathspey Most of the day had been grey, however as evening came on the clouds cleared allowing the setting sun to shine through.  Loch Garten has very ‘fluid’ edges, with boggy marshes and pine-islands, and one of these made an atmospheric sunset-spot.  The sense of space and quiet was immense, with […]

Loch Mallachie, Strathspey

Upon Reflection

Evening light, Loch Mallachie The sun was close to setting, the low light angle giving these pines a stunning graphical effect, especially against the dark (guinness) peaty water of the loch. Loch Mallachie is really just a slightly deeper bit of the surrounding bog and marsh, with the pine forest growing where it can on […]

loch en eilein september morning mist

Loch an Eilein misty morning

Morning mist rising, Loch an Eilein This is September at her best.  An early start, awaking to thick mist with the chance of sun breaking through, and the world covered in dewy spiderwebs – trees, bracken, grasses, fenceposts – everywhere.   I took a gulp of breakfast and then pedalled fast to the loch, to be […]

Dragonfly (Black darter) basking on rock, Craigellachie

Black Darter

Dragonfly basking on rock I think that this is a ‘Black Darter’, which lives up to its name by hardly ever being still enough to photograph, darting constantly from reed to reed and zooming around the edges of the lochan in the late summer sunshine.  When we get a day like this, I love to […]

Insh Birch

Birch above Insh Marshes, near Kingussie, September A beautiful day in the birch woodlands above Insh Marshes, most definitely with a mix of sunshine and showers.  Insh marshes are said to be one of the most important wetlands in Europe, with many species over-wintering from the Arctic and Scandinavia.  I love the colours there at […]

On the edge

Birch, Craigellachie Lochan, on the edge of sunset There has been some ferocious wind this last few days, but plenty of sun with it.  I took this on friday at Craigellachie lochan, one of my favourite spots.  The sun was setting behind the crags, putting the loch into shade, but leaving the trees brightly illuminated […]

Perfect September Day, Loch Vaa

A perfect September day, Loch Vaa, Strathspey Blue sky, a cooling breeze, the warm resin scent from the pines, sun-sparkling water… good company to share it with… what more could you ask for?   At Loch Vaa yesterday I was full of appreciation for this beautiful country we live in, and for the friends I […]

Hydrangea

Hydrangea petal with September morning sparkle There haven’t been many of these classic September mornings this month, when everything is so bright and sparkly.  This hydrangea had a spider web behind, catching the water droplets and creating the lens-dazzle. This week – the physics world is it / isn’t it drama over the possibility that […]

Flooded Reflections

Early autumn reflections, River Spey, Aviemore One from earlier this evening – its been a week of wind and rain, and as it reached towards the end of another dull day, I determined to get out and enjoy some of it, hoping for the evening sun to break through.  It did  for just a few […]

Loch Vaa evening

Evening showers and ‘electric’ clouds, Loch Vaa, Strathspey An evening walk out at Loch Vaa, starting in perfect September late sunshine, turning into light rain showers and atmospheric mistiness around the tree-islands on the loch, with the clouds seemingly lit from within by the sunset somewhere above them.  This was the perfect antidote to a […]