Eilean Donan Castle at Dusk
Photo of the Day
Stormy skies gather in the evening above Eilean Donan Castle in Scotland.
Click to see a larger image:
The Bridge to Eilean Donan Castle
Photo of the Day
The last photo of the day was a bit far away from Scotland’s Eilean Donan Castle, so we’ve moved closer and in this shot. Now, we’re ready to cross the bridge on the way out to the little tidal island that is home to one of the UK’s loveliest castles.
Click to see a larger image:
Eilean Donan Castle Panorama
Photo of the Day
Happy 2012 everyone! Let’s start the new year off with a photo of one of my favourite places on earth: Eilean Donan Castle.
This is one of the first castles I ever visited and I’ve been hooked on the things ever since. I grew up reading Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and whatever other fantasy novels I could get my hands on, so if I couldn’t spend any time around knights or dragons, a castle would suit me just fine. Unfortunately for me, you don’t find a lot of epic castles in western Canada.
So when I took a trip to Scotland in the year 2000, I was awestruck. All my romantic, idealised visions of medieval Europe came to life. I had never walked a castle’s walls until Eilean Donnan, so it holds a pretty special place in my fantasy-loving heart. After all, you never forget your first castle, right? It was just as great when we got the chance to last year.
This particular shot of the castle deviates from the usual views you’ll spot on the postcards in that it’s shot from the East to the West. The castle itself doesn’t cut quite as interesting a profile from this side, but this blossoming sunset was too good to pass up especially after a mostly rainy day driving up from Northwest England on our way to the Isle of Skye.
This panorama was a challenging one to get exposed properly. The sun obviously overwhelmed the scene on the left side, so I bracketed exposures through the whole panorama. There was a fair amount of post-processing work that needed to be done to align the photos and get the different exposures working together, butI got there in the end to reveal this photo which captures some of the warm glow that bathed the castle that evening.
Click to see a larger image:
Staward Gorge at Allen Banks
Photo of the Day
I was looking for a photo that might be a bit more Christmasy to take us into the heart of the holiday season, but my more recent photo expeditions haven’t been to any frost-covered landscapes or snowy scenes, so we’ll have to content ourselves with something autumnal.
This image comes from Walks Woods at Allen Banks and features the fall colours flanking the river flowing through Staward Gorge.
Click to see a larger image:
Hadrian’s Wall at Hotbank Crags
Photo of the Day
Hadrian’s Wall rises and falls with the undulations of Hotbank Crags.
Click to see a larger image:
Hadrian’s Wall at Housesteads
Photo of the Day
I took this picture only a few feet away from the previous photo of the day, but the effect of it is pretty different. In the cool, purple of dusk, this shot really emphasizes the line that Hadrian’s Wall follows along the crags.
The Roman builders of the wall knew what they were doing. As much as they could, they used the natural cliffs and steep slopes of the land to form the better part of their defence. When the wall you’re building spans the length of an entire country, you better make sure you use every shortcut you can.
It would have been quite a spectacle to behold in its original form, but even today, it’s an impressive sight.
One funny detail I only noticed after processing the image: All the black cows are on one side of the wall and the white sheep on another. Can’t we all just get along?
Click to see a larger image:
Hadrian’s Wall Panorama from Housesteads Roman Fort
Photo of the Day
A brilliant, saturated sunrise rewarded my efforts to wake early and trek up the hill to get this classic shot of Hadrian’s Wall from near the Housesteads Roman Fort. I took plenty of shots from at or near this vantage point at various different times of the day, but I think this is my favourite. It captures both the detail of the wall and its snaking path along the crags while also showing some of the surrounding countryside bathed in a light that had me applauding Mother Nature.
I’ve now managed to process a few shots from this trip as well as more from the earlier visit to Scotland, so those will trickle through in the next the next little while and I’ll try to show off images from some of the top landscapes in the UK.
Click to see a larger image:
Glenfinnan Monument Panorama
Photo of the Day
The drive up to the Isle of Skye is a fairly long one by UK standards, but it certainly has a lot of possibilities for stopping points along the way. Though this was a little bit out of the way for our route, the view is worth it.
This the Glenfinnan Monument which presides over Scotland’s Loch Shiel. The monument commemorates Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Jacobite uprising – Glenfinnan was the place where he raised his standard to begin his campaign.
I was only able to get this photo after making a couple of trudges up the hill behind the monument. When I first climbed to the viewpoint, the weather decided to be rather uncooperative. As soon as my camera was out, it started to rain. I put my camera away, and the sun briefly broke through. No sooner was my tripod set up again and the rains came back. The fast-moving clouds seemed to be taunting me.
I headed back down the hill and I wandered out to the monument with my very patient wife. On the way, the clouds parted and dramatic bursts of light dappled the loch. Back up the hill I went. I got there just in time to catch the last rays hitting the hills before being sealed up behind the clouds.
This shot was easily worth two trips up the hill.
Click to see a larger image:
Sligachan Bridge Panorama
Photo of the Day
On my way up to the Old Man of Storr to try to catch the sunrise, I was driving past one of my favourite sights on Skye and had to stop to catch the dawn breaking over the old bridge on the river Sligachan. Despite having gone past this place a number of times, this was the first where there was good light, so the Storr would have to wait a few moments.
I’m glad I did stop because the sunrise at the Old Man was lacklustre that day, so I happily took this as a consolation prize.
Click to see a larger image:
The Old Man of Storr Panorama
Photo of the Day
I haven’t had much time to process many of the photos from the trip to the Isle of Skye in Scotland and, this Saturday, I’m set for another jaunt. This next trip is to Alston and Hadrian’s Wall will likely be the main subject of my photos. My hard drive will soon be overflowing and I’ll have even more images to try to catch up on.
One of the few photos I’ve had the chance to pay attention to is today’s photo-of-the-day offering from the Old Man of Storr. The Storr is a rocky hill sitting on the ridge that rises over much of the Trotternish Peninsula on the Isle of Skye and the Old Man is the jagged pinnacle you see in the photo below.
It took a couple of attempts to get this photo. The first morning I attempted the ascent to this position, the clouds swept in before I was in the right spot and no amount of cajoling would make them leave (actually, that seem to anger them and they rained on me fast and hard).
The second hike up the hill was much more fruitful than that blustery morning. The Isle of Skye is full of magical places and this might be one of the most magical for me. The pinnacles of rock are far more immense than this photo conveys in low resolution. The full res shot reveals a head-high sign on the path and it is completely dwarfed by the Old Man’s gargantuan size. Walking amongst those giants is like living in a fantasy novel. It’s quite a place.
Click to see a larger image:
Loch Slapin on the Isle of Skye
Photo of the Day
A recent trip to Scotland’s Isle of Skye was accompanied by some predictably damp Scottish weather. What I hadn’t predicted was that the tail end of a hurricane would be sailing overhead and drenching the land beneath.
For a couple days, the driving rains kept most sensible folk inside. Apart from a few stubborn moments that resulted in unusable photos of raindrops on a camera lens, I was sensible too.
But on the day of this photo, the rain had started to abate, so it was time to start exploring in earnest. While coming back from a drizzly stop in Elgol, the clouds briefly parted and illuminated the hills behind Loch Slapin and I jumped from the car excited that I might actually get to take a photo without having to hold an umbrella over my head.
A rainbow bloomed to the left and yellow light bathed patches of the landscape and this panoramic shot is the end result.
Click for a larger image:
City of Arts and Sciences #15
Photo of the Day
And for the last instalment of this series, here’s a shot of the other side of the opera house at the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia Spain.
Click to see a larger image:
City of Arts and Sciences #14
Photo of the Day
Clouds gather in the evening at the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia Spain.
Click to see a larger image:
City of Arts and Sciences #13
Photo of the Day
Curved bridges arc in front of the opera house at the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia Spain.
Click to see a larger image:
City of Arts and Sciences #12
Photo of the Day
L’Hemisfèric looks a bit ominous in this photo of the building at the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia Spain.
Click to see a larger image:
City of Arts and Sciences #11
Photo of the Day
The City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain.
Click to see a larger image:
City of Arts and Sciences #10
Photo of the Day
Just as unusual from the other side, here’s another shot of the Queen Sofía Palace of the Arts in Valencia.
Click to see the image on a dark background:
City of Arts and Sciences #9
Photo of the Day
Today, we have another shot of El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe at the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain. This time, the organic forms of the building are lit up in the evening.
Click to see a larger image:
City of Arts and Sciences #8
Photo of the Day
Today’s photo of the day is the organic, abstract spines and ribs of the top of El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe at the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain.
Click to see a larger image:
City of Arts and Sciences #7
Photo of the Day
We continue our wander around the City of Arts and Sciences with another shot of the strange shapes of the Queen Sofía Palace of the Arts opera house.
Click to see the image on a black background:
City of Arts and Sciences #6
Photo of the Day
These abstract forms come from the Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe (a.k.a. the Príncipe Felipe Science Museum) at Valencia’s City of Arts and Sciences.
Click to see the image on black:
City of Arts and Sciences #5
Photo of the Day
Today’s photo of the day is a wider view of Valencia’s City of Arts and Sciences. El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe is on the left and L’Hemisfèric is on the right.
Click to see a larger image:
City of Arts and Sciences #4
Photo of the Day
Today’s image from the City of Arts and Sciences is a detail of some of the curving and converging lines of L’Hemisfèric.
Click to see the image on a black background:
City of Arts and Sciences #3
Photo of the Day
Today’s addition to the City of Arts and Sciences series is a shot of L’Hemisfèric, an IMAX cinema and planetarium.
Click to see a larger image:
Darby Sawchuk is a Canadian-born photographer who currently resides in Manchester, England. He has travelled to over 40 countries and is always adding more to the list. He creates stock for multiple agencies and is available for assignments.
+44 0790 992 8932
