Tag Archives: loch achray
Loch Achray
Today was the first day in weeks that I managed to spare some time for a trip away. The weather forecast said sunny spells and light winds. I got up early in the morning to be confronted with a reasonable looking day, light winds and not too much cloud right enough.
The plan was to climb up Conic Hill at Balmaha for a panoramic view along Loch Lomond. Unfortunately as I was heading up towards Balmaha the cloud cover started to roll in. By the time I was on the east side of Loch Lomond, the clouds totally covered the sky in a uniform dull grey. I then decided to abandon the hillwalk till another time and headed to Aberfoyle, hoping for a break in the clouds. First stop, once I reached Aberfoyle was to head along to Loch Ard. The grey skies meant that I tried for compositions without too much or any sky in them. I was luck in the fact that the upturned boat was placed in a good position beside the tree stumps and jetty.
The lack of wind meant that within a couple of minutes of getting here the midgies were all over me and biting rather ferociously. Luckily I remembered my midge hood was still in my camera bag. It might not look the best thing in the world but it certainly works in keeping the face and head midge free.
My next stop was then to head along the Dukes Pass towards Loch Achray. The lack of wind meant that the still waters perfectly reflected the trees in the hills around the loch.
The small church in the Picture is the ‘Trossachs Church’ erected in 1849 in this most picturesque location and is still in use today. ‘Achray’ is believed to be derived from old Gaelic, meaning the field of devotion, a place of worship in the open air.
Another view of Loch Achray this time from the reeds around the western edge of the Loch.
Once I had these images, I then spent some time along the road towards Loch Venachar. Nothing really caught my eye as by now the wind had started to get up and any picture opportunities afforded by the calm waters were gone. I headed back towards Aberfoyle for refreshments and a bite to eat and then seeing no let up in the grey conditions, I headed home.
So, the first trip away since I got back from holiday and not the most successful trip ever. That’s the thing with landscape photography though, sometimes the conditions just don’t come together and you come away with hardly anything to show for the effort of getting up early and travelling a hundred or so miles. I suppose three images that I am reasonably pleased with is better than none though.
Aberfoyle
Another 4.30am rise yesterday. As the weather forecast was promising fog and mist early in the morning, I thought I would take a trip up to Aberfoyle for the sunrise. I managed to capture this shot as the sun tried to break through the mist.
The next shot was taken looking over Loch Achray towards St Johns Church. The swirling mist made the church appear and disappear minute by minute. This has created a nice natural vignette to the image.
The Trossachs
An early start again for the 90 minute journey up to Aberfoyle. The area around Aberfoyle is one of my favourite places for landscapes. It is commonly known as the Trossachs from the Gaelic ‘Na Trosaichean’. The Trossachs itself is a small woodland glen in the Stirling council area of Scotland. It lies between Ben A’an to the north and Ben Venue to the south, with Loch Katrine to the west and Loch Achray to the east. However, the name is used generally to refer to the wider area of wooded glens and braes with quiet lochs, lying to the east of Ben Lomond. Once I witnessed a rather poor sunrise at Loch Venachar, I headed back into Aberfoyle and towards Loch Ard. The windless conditions help show the colours of the boathouse and trees in the still Loch.
My next stop after this was back along the Dukes Pass towards Loch Achray. It was a perfect windless morning with no one around. I stood at this spot for about 20 minutes just taking in the view and a couple of pictures.
The Panorama gives a much better view of the Loch with Ben Venue behind.
My next stop was to take a trip up past Loch Lubnaig towards Loch Voil. The calm conditions continued, the only disappointment was the cloudless sky.
After this I decided it was time to turn back and head towards home. I ended up along the east bank of Loch Lomond where I waited for the sunset. I found an ideal spot beside Sallochy Woods. The bank had a great line of stones jutting out into the Loch. Ideal foreground material. I took various shots using the stones as lead in lines as the sun set, using various shutter speeds along with an ND filter to blur the Loch. These two are the best of my time here.
After the sun finally set, I started the journey home. Another good days shooting.