I've only been here in Scotland for a few days
but I already got to experience a few things
I got to photograph some castles
I saw beautiful rainbows at the coast
I even tried to climb a little mountain in some nasty weather
and I made first contact with the native population
there are midges
there are midges everywhere
in this video, I'm gonna show you some of my favorite images I've made here so far
how I made them
and at the end, I'm gonna leave you with the beautiful hike that I did to the top
or almost to the top
of Lochnagar in the Caingorms national park
so even though most of the photography that I do during road trips like this one
ends up happening in random spots like this one
well, I do have a rough plan that I try to follow
the idea for my first days in Scotland was to spend my
time in the south and east parts of the country
while I was getting used to to the rhythm of being on the road
while I was getting used to the country
I'm also trying to time the crowds and the midges in the more popular areas
this doesn't mean that there aren't beautiful spots in the east and the south
there are, and I tried to visit them
the first one was Bass Rock
it is a pretty nice looking island, and the lighthouse is just the cherry on top
but even with the light on my side, I didn't like the photos I was getting of it by itself
so I started to look for something to complement the island in the frame
the first thing I tried was some rocks, which made it already much more interesting
but why limit yourself to some random rocks when you can use a whole castle
that's why I went to Tantallon Castle
not so much for the structure itself, but to play with its shapes and the island in the same image
and that one turned out to be my favorite of Bass Rock
since I was already at the castle, and paid for it, I went on a quick tour
it must have been a majestic castle back in the day
but I couldn't find anything really interesting to photograph there
except for some ruins I saw in the yard
farther north, along the eastern coast of Scotland
there is another rock called Bow Fiddle Rock
now, that's some pretty cool looking arch
the day I arrived there I was also blessed with some very good light
but the tide was low and it was revealing more rocks than I wanted to capture
I tried from all angles but I couldn't get anything
then it started to rain
it didn't last long, but it created a beautiful rainbow behind the rock
that would have been the dream for any color photographer
yes, rainbows can be cool in black and white as well
but the light was just not very good at that time
I kept exploring around and made a few photographs of other rocks
and at that point the tide was a little bit higher and
most of the smaller rocks were already submerged
so after waiting out another sudden shower while I enjoyed my dinner in the car
I was finally able to make an image that I was very happy with of Bow Fiddle Rock
next on the list was Hermitage Castle, a little bit farther south in the Scottish borders region
this one had a very strong Game of Thrones vibe to it
I was only able to make one image that I liked from there
but I really, really loved the place
my favorite castle so far
and then it was time to head inland
I started to explore some of the lakes, some of the lochs
I had some beautiful weather, it was cloudy and there was no wind
that made for still water and that made for beautiful
reflections and beautiful conditions for photography
but it also made for very, very midgy conditions
there are midges
there are midges everywhere
and finally, I made it to the Caingorms National Park
thankfully, there was a little breeze there that kept the bugs away
and I got to explore around a little bit, to go for a little walk
and to witness for the first time those magical Scottish mountains
but the real action happened the next day, when I tried to climb to the top of Lochnagar
I’ll leave you now with this hike
today is a very fine day for hiking
I love the temperature, it's raining a little bit and it is too windy
but other than that, I like it
I'm gonna go to the top of that mountain that you can't see right now
it's called Lochnagar, I believe
and I hope it clears out a little bit so I get the view from up there
but let's do it
really, really beautiful
I'm almost to the top
I stopped here behind these rocks to get some relief from the wind and the rain
I've been getting some glimpses of the view over there
there's a beautiful mountain there
and the loch, the lake is down there
hopefully it clears a little bit more once I get up there
look at that, you see the mountains?
I had to turn around
I was so, so close
but I couldn't
it was raining a lot, it was much worse up there
it was a full-blown blizzard
my cameras are very wet, I'm totally soaked
there's no view to enjoy, I can't even have a snack, and I'm getting cold
so I'm heading back
and now the sun wants to come out
I'm glad it's not raining anymore, I'm glad it's kind of sunny
but I'm not going up there again, I'm tired
well, maybe the mountain was feeling bad for not showing me the view
or it just wanted to show off
but I got the view of Lochnagar and the valley over there
it's sunny somewhere over there, not here!
the parking lot and the trailhead are over there
still a long way to go
it is rainy, it is windy, and it's sunny
it's all the things at the same time
that was a pretty cool hike, even though it didn't yield any images that I love
but the place is beautiful
the weather was crazy
I had a great time
I've since gone on a couple more hikes and there are many more that I want to do
many more places to see, many more images to make here in Scotland
so I hope to see you in the next video from this beautiful place
thank you so much for watching!