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.
