Stuff To Shoot Around Fort William, Scotland

zmei

zmei

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Julian
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Hi there,

I'm off to Fort William for 3 or 4 days around New Year's Eve to do some shooting, however apart from Ben Nevis and the Harry Potter bridge in Glenfinnan I don't know any other locations. I imagine the whole country would be quite photogenic, but if you know any good locations that are worth visiting please let me know?

Thanks
Julian
 
Honestly, you won't have to look very far. I always think that the area immediately to the south of Fort William on the Loch Linnhe road is stunningly beautiful as is the surroundings on the way to the Glenfinnan Viaduct. Glen Coe is only a short drive away and the ski lift up to the top of Aonach Mòr should be good at this time of year - the views can be terrific.
 
Thanks guys, I'll have a wonder around the area, hopefully the snow won't be too bad to drive.
 
zmei said:
Thanks guys, I'll have a wonder around the area, hopefully the snow won't be too bad to drive.
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The main roads will be ok if they've had a chance to clear them. Can be very tricky if there's been a new dump of snow - probably wise to carry flask, blankets, spade.
 
Take Mallaig road to the head of Loch Eil swing left on the single track road round the loch. Keep going to Strontain, Acharacle, Glen Uig.Loch Airlot. Turn right when you hit the Mallaig road & you still get Glen Finnan.
Oh once over the bridge over the river Sheil at Acharacle take the wee road left to Dorlin. Ruins of Castle Tioram stand on a high bit of ground beside a beach.
When you get back, post the pics.:thumbs:
 
The route you describe looks like a nice drive actually - here, thanks. This way I'm missing Loch Shiel altogether though, is it not worth a little diversion?
 
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My friend has been to Edinbourgh and said it was fab
 
JadeyLady said:
My friend has been to Edinbourgh and said it was fab
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It is - but it's also a long drive from Fort William
Timewise it's equivalent to having a holiday in Somerset and nipping into London for a days sightseeing.
People tend to forget just how big Scotland actually is - I blame the impressionistic map the BBC weather programme uses for the UK.
For example, driving from Somerset to Mallaig the border is about half way.
 
Glen Coe and the area around it is stunning.

4225021283_c70eda7c08_b.jpg


There is a folley at the top of Fort William if memory serves that allows you nice views of Fort William and is also well worth getting some shots of the folley as well.
 
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spean brig commando statues
 
zmei said:
The route you describe looks like a nice drive actually - here, thanks. This way I'm missing Loch Shiel altogether though, is it not worth a little diversion?
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There is only a forest road up the side of Loch Sheil. You will see the bottom of the loch at Acharacle & the top end with the monument at the top end. If you take the road to Dorlin you will get some nice shots of the river just beyond the road junction.
The jewel though is Loch Sunart which the road follows from Strontain (well just before) to Salen. Otter hide on that road too.
 
I forgot to add my 2p about destinations :)
The suggested tour is spectacular and ought to have something for everyone.
At Glenuig take the Smirrisary road for half a mile to get to the lovely white sand at Samalaman Bay - last year I spent a happy day photographing along the shore there, one of which ended up in an exhibition.

If you are taking a picnic then I can also recommend the smoked cheddar from the smokery in Glenuig - Mmmmmm

As has already been said - main roads are fine unless the white stuff is coming down in abundance. In bad weather minor roads are always down to discretion of the driver and may prove impassable. If there is ANY doubt about completing your journey then make sure you have enough warm clothing to be comfortable outside the car incase you need to asses how badly stuck you are or get help. A blanket or sleeping bag is a good idea for the boot and get your fuel tank is topped off. I've resorted to using the footwell mats to get out of snow, sacking or something similar also works. A spade is a sensible precaution as is a large supply of emergency rations like chocolate.
 
plenty of beautiful scenery around this area for you to photograph . its a beautiful part of scotland and my last visit was for ski-ing, the weather was rough, we ended up snowed into a car park with ploughs and police cars trapped in snow drifts. one minute all fine, the next we couldnt see which direction we were heading! look forward to seeing your pics on the forum.
 
DuncanDisorderly said:
I forgot to add my 2p about destinations :)
The suggested tour is spectacular and ought to have something for everyone.
At Glenuig take the Smirrisary road for half a mile to get to the lovely white sand at Samalaman Bay - last year I spent a happy day photographing along the shore there, one of which ended up in an exhibition.

If you are taking a picnic then I can also recommend the smoked cheddar from the smokery in Glenuig - Mmmmmm

As has already been said - main roads are fine unless the white stuff is coming down in abundance. In bad weather minor roads are always down to discretion of the driver and may prove impassable. If there is ANY doubt about completing your journey then make sure you have enough warm clothing to be comfortable outside the car incase you need to asses how badly stuck you are or get help. A blanket or sleeping bag is a good idea for the boot and get your fuel tank is topped off. I've resorted to using the footwell mats to get out of snow, sacking or something similar also works. A spade is a sensible precaution as is a large supply of emergency rations like chocolate.
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Yes that road & the path along the shore is just perfect.
You can even get a hot shower at the village hall now. What a setting for the hall too. Goes to find a pic!
Being by sea & sea lochs most of the way I would not be expecting much snow. Famous last words!:lol:
 
I did an Outward Bound sailing course up there years ago...if you don't come back with some decent pics then I'd give up photography if I were you:D
 
Nikola - I like your piccy; the foreground shape nicely balances the shape of the mountain. Lovely texture too.

It's already a good image but a couple of minor points that may make it even better. First (and easy to fix), there are quite a few dust bunnies visible in the sky, I think your sensor needs a good clean, they can easily be cloned out. Second, for me the sky needs more drama, this may prove tricky with that bright spot top left, so it may need selective dodging and burning. Finally, try a subtle vignette to hold the attention into your lovely scene; by subtle I mean that you should not spot it unless it is pointed out.

I'd love to see some more - and Happy New Year :)
 
And we're back.

Thanks for helping with ideas for locations, the route that Sawman suggested was great, as was A87 a little further north. I haven't gone through all the photos yet, but here some of the first shots that I've played with. They're from our first day while travelling on A82 towards Fort William. I think the mountain may be called Aonach Eagach but not sure, just guessing from Google maps...

All in all the area is very nice and as with most trips I wish we had more time. Roads were surprisingly clear with the biggest dangers being road kill (including a wolf), deer crossing, birds hitting the front screen and some local shooting guns while driving..! Unfortunately I haven't shot any of this wildlife, it appeared only when driving.

As a side note - the images on the link look a lot brighter in Photoshop, but saving them as Quality 9 JPEG seems to darken them a lot. I've noticed this years ago but never bothered to investigate. Does anybody know what gremlin might be causing this?
 
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yep we saw a wild wolf on the road, in two parts, one guts, one body about 10 feet further down the road.It did wake me up :)
 
no pics, it was 6am still dark,and we were trying to get back to London :)
 
here is one from the same morning 30s 12mm F/4.5 ISO-400
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:nono:
zmei said:
And we're back.


All in all the area is very nice and as with most trips I wish we had more time. Roads were surprisingly clear with the biggest dangers being road kill (including a wolf), deer crossing, birds hitting the front screen and some local shooting guns while driving..! Unfortunately I haven't shot any of this wildlife, it appeared only when driving.

QUOTE]


i live in mallaig and have allll my life... and seriously this post has made it sound like we live in the outback of crazy town...there are NO wolf's in the area and there is nowere they could have escaped from and the local rangers who know the hills like the back of their hands would have something to say if they had any suspicion!!.. you are seriously mistaken sorry to say!

and sure we get deer and birds by the road but we dont drive about dodging them! in my life we have skimmed a deer and once hit a little bird but come on that was so random! we dont get home and tally up what we have hit!!!

and the locals shooting the guns... realy we r civilised! we dont run around in our kilts blowing our bagpipes while cooking our haggis and shooting guns!!!
all this might make your story sound more exciting but to the locals its like...what... :cuckoo:

sorry but this post is to incorrect for me not to have to creat an account just to reply!!
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nikolarun said:
yep we saw a wild wolf on the road, in two parts, one guts, one body about 10 feet further down the road.It did wake me up :)
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There aren't any wild wolves in scotland though. And I grew up in Lochaber and there aren't any there.
 
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