Glencoe & Isle of Skye, a story and a LF Portfolio

Vieri Bottazzini

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The first time I took off from Glasgow heading north towards Glencoe and the Isle of Skye, in 2009, I didn’t know how much that journey would have impacted and changed me. Leaving behind the bustling airport area, my wife and I passed the Erskine bridge and quickly got to the shores of Loch Lomond, where I started realizing we were in for something unique.

The weather was cloudy and moody, but that was just perfect for the landscapes under it. The color palette was muted, hues of dark greens and browns reigned, and the waters of the Loch took a metal tone that made them both ominous and inspiring.

Driving north, we passed Crianlarich, Bridge of Orchy and the switchback over Loch Tulla, finally getting to the top of Glencoe. Glencoe and the surrounding areas are spectacular, dramatic and full of photographic inspiration and opportunities. For me, Glencoe is the place where Scotland slowly started getting into my soul, never to leave.

The whole story is a bit too long to fit here, you'll find it - together with the whole, 25 images Portfolio, on my blog here:

GLENCOE & ISLE OF SKYE: A 4×5″ PORTFOLIO

Below some photographs out of the Portfolio for you to enjoy:









All photos shot on Ilford FP4+ and developed with Pyrocat HD.

Enjoy! Best regards,

Vieri
 
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Sirius Glass

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Great work. I love the mood the weather provided for you.
 
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Vieri Bottazzini

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Chuck1 said:
Nice images, thanks for sharing
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Thank you very much Chuck!
Sirius Glass said:
Great work. I love the mood the weather provided for you.
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Thank you so much Sirius, glad you enjoyed them! The Scottish mood is amazing and the weather rarely fails you there - clouds and rain are always around the corner!

Best regards,

Vieri
 

Vaughn

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Very good! Enjoyed my time on Skye also!
 

Lachlan Young

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Are more critical responses allowed here? I'll try not to devolve into a lengthy critique of the ongoing failings of travelling landscape photographers (running workshops) to deal with the complex (and very heavily human altered) Scottish landscape - especially the constructed nature of much of the 'wilderness'. If you are happy enough with the images, that's the main thing for now.

At the most surface level, I'd be quite interested to know why yet another set of near-far ultra-wide landscapes and candy-floss seas are needed (in this case, the medium really isn't the message, I'd suggest) - and why, despite covering quite a considerable area of geography, you more-or-less end up in the same tripod holes everyone else seems to do? Is there a check-list people follow?

More specifically, because I know some of the areas a bit, I'm interested why you chose the specific image in Portencross that you did? It would be quite easy to burn an entire box of FP4+ between the main road and the pier (never mind the harbour if the sea is out). If non-urban landscape is your thing, there's plenty of areas of Scotland with a much more interesting energy - if narrow roads with some interestingly dodgy edges (and frost-heave) don't terrify you - and for other posters wondering about the weather, chucking self, camera, tripod etc back into the car in 30s to avoid getting sodden is a skill you learn fast.
 

Vaughn

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Well, the Isle of Skye is not a large area -- I reconized a lot of the places in the images from my one short visit (3 nights) a few years ago. Just had the Rollie with me, but a few months with the 5x7 would be sweet. I photograph in Yosemite Valley...tripod holes all over the place. I like it because of the challenges of knowing and avoiding those holes, and attempting to leave a few worthwhile ones of my own. It is a long term ride.

The better traveling workshop for the Isle of Skye would be to spend a week with a guide, then spend two to three weeks on one's own -- then return during a different season. Several times. Get to know the people of the area. Marry a local. Open a distillery. Get some sheep.

In order for me to get a portfolio of images from New Zealand I had to fail. I spent a year there at Uni with a Kodak Instamatic 304...not a great start. About 5 years later, new to LF, I took a new 4x5 to NZ and hitchhiked from one end of NZ to the other for 3 months. Camera had a major light leak and I got 2 images. About 5 years later with a new, heavily tested, 4x5 camera, I returned and rode a bicycle for 5 months and got my portfolio...by getting to know the place and its light. If I had gotten halfway decent images on the first trip with a 4x5, I probably would not have returned and had the greater success.

If I had not gotten married at the end of that last NZ trip, my next adventure would have been Iceland by bicycle, again with the 4x5. Probably would have happened in the very early 90s. Lot of nice images coming out of there these days.

Snapshot (digital) of a favorite place Isle of Skye...
 

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koraks

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Lachlan Young said:
Are more critical responses allowed here?
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If posed constructively, yes. Given the formulation you've opted for, I'm inclined to say "yes, but not the way you're asking them". The question "has it been done before" and "do we need more photos of X" has been asked many times, and most of the time, the discussion doesn't yield much useful insight and at worst becomes very unpleasant.
 

Ian Grant

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I 100% agree with Lachlan's comments, and would go further in asking for links to a website offering workshops with the OP to the same area be removed.

I have refrained from any other comments on this Forum, but I have not on another.

Ian
 

koraks

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Ian Grant said:
asking for links to a website offering workshops with the OP to the same area be removed.
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We have a 'report' function for these things. Please use it. Having said that, as long as someone isn't directly advertising their services, I see no reason to redact their posts. A lack of congeniality in welcoming a relatively new member to the forum makes me incredibly cranky, however.
 

MattKing

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+1 to @koraks ' post.
Photrio permits such clearly identified business identification links in the signature area.
We note as well that @Vieri Bottazzini is a paid subscriber, so we allow a small amount of latitude before we insist on an upgrade to "Paid Advertiser" status.
 
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Vieri Bottazzini

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Gentlemen, I am running a Workshop at the moment where I am busy from before sunrise to after sunset, so you will excuse me for the late replies.

One quick thing about the linking for now. I am a professional photographer, and as all professional photographers I do have a website. However, that website - which is the one linked in my signature here - is one where no direct sale of anything happens.

Of course, on that website one can find links to my Workshop website - which is a fully separate one, not even a subdomain or anything like that. I feel like I went lengths to prevent direct linking on forum, and hope this will be enough for making my participation here acceptable. If not, kindly let me know and of course I will restrain from posting here in the future.

I will reply to the rest of the messages / topics as soon as possible, again my apologies for my lateness on this. Best regards,

Vieri
 

Vaughn

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And you offered up some images for those who prefer not to go off-site. Cool.
Best of luck on your workshop...they are an incredible amount of work to conduct.

I was lucky to be on a family tour of Northern Wales with three weeks in Scotland. When my son finished his year at uni in Bangor, we rented a car and he drove...any small roads ending on the coast in the middle of nowhere were quite attractive. Walking the moors by myself at midnight, no torch but with a full moon...better than taking pictures. Part of Bryce's learning included the geologic and biologic changes, human caused and otherwise, so it was great to get the background as we traveled...such as the artificial tree line on the Scottish hills...or why large areas of bog had planted trees on them that were then all cut down at a young age. And he was up on all the recent efforts to renew the lands.

Sterling Horses (Kelpies), 100 foot tall sculptures
platinum/palladium print (three 6x6 negatives)
 

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koraks

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Vieri Bottazzini said:
I feel like I went lengths to prevent direct linking on forum
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Yes, and I actually noticed that even before it was mentioned. I appreciate the fact that you took this into consideration and I feel you've done what could reasonably be expected from you. Please carry on, and good luck with the workshop!
 
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