The Story Behind The Image

I have decided to do a new series of ‘the story behind the image’, this time based on the North Coast 500 and my recent book. I plan to go through the book and go in to a bit more detail about the images, the area I was shooting in, and share some technical info on the image…as well as any funny stories.

I am going to begin with the opening image in my book. Taken in Winter, at Loch Ashie. It is not technically on the NC500, but a mere few miles deviation out of Inverness will take you to this quiet, and fairly unknown spot. It’s not too easy to find the spot this shot was taken at, but in previous years I had been here with more than one model doing fashion shoots, and knew the area well.

I had to get up at 5am to head out to capture this, as it was at sunrise, and in fact this shot was before the sun had actually risen above the horizon. I loved the shapes in the ice, which had been created by the water, and the small waves were making these ice formations move, which I felt would work well in a longish exposure. I was not disappointed, and after taking around 10-12 images around this spot, this one really stood out for me. At this stage, I hadn’t really decided on the book, and it was just an idea in the back of my head, but I knew it was going to come in handy one day.

Loch Ashie is the water supply for the city of Inverness, which I have discovered, is something most people in Inverness are not aware of…. It is also a beautiful spot, and along with Loch Duntelchaig, they are well worth a trip down the East side of Loch Ness.

This whole area is gorgeous and you could spend all day exploring the amazing scenes and locations as you make your way along the back road toward Fort Augustus.

Technical data.

16-35mm Lens at 16mm, ISO 400, 30 seconds at f11.