This is a view from Ardrossan Harbour looking through the breakwater towards Arran.

We reached the edge of Turnberry golf course about an hour before sunset. We parked the car and had a 10 minute walk to the lighthouse. The cloud had moved in as the afternoon wore on, so the chance of a good sunset was dwindling rapidly. This was my first time at this location so even though the light was poor, I wanted to try and make the most of it. I went down into the bay beside the castle and managed to get shots with some good colour in the sky from a slight break in the clouds above the lighthouse.

Further exploration of this bay led me to this wonderful row of granite rock. This made an excellent foreground for a good mono conversion using the dull grey sky to it’s maximum effect. The lighthouse had also just turned on it’s light, this was ideal and it was only a matter of waiting till the light was in view before taking the shot.

I moved back up to the lighthouse and went onto the ruins of the castle. I was hoping for any break in the clouds to show something of the sunset. Luckily for a minute or two the clouds parted to get a glimpse of the pink sky. It was just a matter of getting into position before the pink clouds disappeared to get the shot.

All in all; it was quite a good first visit, even though the sunset we expected never materialised. I will definitely be making a return here in the future when I have more time to explore the area fully.

This is Loch Arklet with Beinn Narnain, Ben Vane and Ben Vorlich in the background more commonly known as the Arrochar Alps.

We headed back to the cottage in late afternoon.  By this time the cloud had started to move in and we debated whether it was worth the trip down to Elgol for the sunset.  We decided that as it was our last night we would go anyway and make the most of the evening.  We got to Elgol a couple of hours before sunset and started to look for suitable positions to capture the sunset, if we could see it through the cloud.  I took a few images of the loads of smooth rocks along the waters edge, knowing that a mono conversion might be best for these due to the grey sky.

As the sunset got closer I headed to the spot I had picked out on my recce earlier.  I waited patiently for the sunset and got a couple of shots that were OK.

At this point I was starting to pack up the camera gear. I thought  that the sunset was over, then the bottom of the clouds started to turn pink and it was a mad rush to get everything back out and get somewhere with decent foreground interest to include in the sunset. The next shot was just the start of an amazing display.

For the next 5 minutes we were treated to one of the best sunsets I have ever seen.  The whole sky lit up with angry shades of red, yellow and purple.  It was hard to stop watching it and try and get a picture or two.  The images cant really do the sunset justice as it was one of those ‘wow’ moments that last a lifetime.

It was a wonderful end to a great week of picture taking.  I think the final tally was around 1900 shots taken.  Out of that 1900, a lot were multiples of the same thing and a lot of shots went into making the panoramas.  Out of the remainder I have got nearly 40 images that I was pleased with.

Once again Cameron has provided a video of the day’s locations.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eevGyJESFA

Our last day on Skye.  We decided to head to Talisker Bay.  Once we parked at the end of a single track road, it was a short mile or so hike along a farm track to the bay itself.  The walk was worth it as the bay revealed golden sand and loads of interesting rocks amongst the sand.  While this location is prbably better later on in the day when the sun is lower in the sky, I still managed a couple of images I was happy with.

After the nice early evening light at the fairy pools, the clouds started to roll in so we didnt want to travel too far for a sunset.  We decided to have a look at the area around the narrows of Raasay, a small peninsula called An Aird.  While Cameron decided to wander along to An Aird itself, I decide that the bay before it called Camas a Mhor-Bheoil looked a bit more promising.  I walked down to the edge of the rocks and started looking for a good vantage point.  After exploring the area for an hour or so the sun started to set, but the sunset was pretty poor with the heavy clouds and the slight spits of rain as well.  I did manage to get a couple of images that I liked though.

A 5am rise saw us head for the Otter Haven at Kylerhea.  After parking the car, a forest track leads to the viewing cabin.  Unfortunately the cabin is some distance away from the waters edge. This meant that there was no chance of close-up photography even if we did spot any otters.  We saw loads of seals playing around and basking on the rocks and the cabins binoculars came in handy to watch them.  Cameron did manage to get some videos of the seals by stacking teleconvertors onto his 500mm though.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEJ2S9z4wdU

In the afternoon we headed for Glen Brittle and the Fairy Pools.  These are a series of crystal clear, aqua pools along Coire na Creiche.  A short walk of around a mile takes you to the start of the waterfalls and pools along the Allt Coir’ a Mhadaidh burn.  We waited a while for the clouds to lift and the sun to reappear lighting up the Cuillin’s behind with early evening sunshine.