The Old Man of Storr, Skye

I’d been to the Isle of Skye many times before I made it North of Portree, to the Trotternish Peninsula, and it was on a bicycle, during a sportive on the island. I can remember the first time I caught sight of the Old Man of Storr, passing Loch Leathan, and the way it just grew in awesomeness as I approached, before disappearing behind me. I vowed to go back one day, with a camera and photograph this amazing rock formation.

Heading North on the A855 from Portree, you see the Old Man long before you reach the parking area. It protrudes from the hillside impressively, catching your eye, and drawing you towards it. The light was fantastic as I drove towards it, and I thought I should capture some images from Loch Leathan before I got there, in case the light didn’t last. I was right!

The first observation I made was that you need to go there when it is quieter. There aren’t that many parking spaces and I was pretty lucky to get into one, as someone was leaving as I arrived. Otherwise people were abandoning cars and camper vans on the border at the side of the road, a dangerous practice and causing traffic problems.

The walk up is fairly straightforward if you are reasonably fit, and should be no trouble to most. By the time I got there the cloud had covered over a lot more, but it was a decent day for catching sunshine between clouds (and light showers). the bonus of the weather was, no midgies! It is about 300 metres ascent, and I had a decent sweat on me carrying my camera bag up, and then ventured away from where the crowds were, in order to try to get some different angles and have some people-free images.

The last part of the climb – which is probably why less people were there – was trickier and a bit dodgy in parts, with a few slips along the way, but well worth it for the amazing view back down the valley. It was so beautiful. Loch Leathan now looks so far away.

I managed to get a few shots of the Old Man but the rain started and I had to make a dash back down to my car. Definitely worth coming back to shoot this icon at another time on another day.