all right, it's gonna be a beautiful image, I can already visualize it
I slept a lot
in the last video, I set out on an adventure to explore the northern coast of Scotland
now, because the light is not the best for photography
I'm on my way to the town of Ullapool where I'm picking up some supplies
and I'm feeling great and fresh after finally having taking a shower
you may be wondering why does he do this to himself?
why doesn't he stay in campgrounds all the time?
that is a very good question
but what happened yesterday is the reason why I like to wild camp wherever I happen to be
because yesterday was after all
in the end, it turned out to be an amazing day for photography
but I had a commitment, I had booked a campground, I had to be there at a certain time
I mean, kind of…
and that means that I was limited about where I could go
sadly, you do have to book the campgrounds ahead of time
because it's peak season right now, it's august
in Scotland there are a lot of tourists everywhere and they they fill up really quick
and the whole point of the road trip
the whole point of living in a car, so nimble, it’s a small car
and so tight and having all these inconveniences and being uncomfortable
is to have, in exchange for that
to have the freedom to be wherever I want, whenever I want
as I said many times, I don't photograph locations, I don't photograph places
I photograph the atmosphere, the weather
in beautiful places, of course
but I want to be there when those conditions happen
I don't want to be there no matter what
okay, let's do some roadside photography
still on my way to Ullapool to pick up my package
but I just saw this, and I have to capture it
beautiful all around
I am hoping to do a lot of hiking around here in the next few days
we'll see, it depends on the weather
but yeah, one image at a time
let's start with this one
so it's going to be of course a long exposure
mainly because of the clouds
I don't mind the water too much
even though it's going to be nice to have instead of all the ripples
to have just a blob of whiteness as the water
so it's gonna be a 4-minute long exposure
that should be plenty
what are you doing?
it's gonna be a beautiful image, I can already visualize it
it is really, really good
so yeah, let's do it
I am using a 6 and a 10 stop ND filters, to get 16
that's a lot of stops and that's a lot of filters
but it's what it's going to give me 4 minutes here
if this cable release works
and it did
4 minutes, counting down
okay, it's very loud here so you are gonna have to bear with me
as I said, this is on the side of the road
okay, I think we are gonna have a break now
it's very nice, exactly as I wanted it
because now what I have to do is just darken those shadows a little bit more
and everything else is there
I love the contrast between the lake and the mountains in the background
it’s just beautiful, and that's all I wanted to capture here
and that contrast is what we are looking for when we take a photograph, when we make an image
that contrast between the lake and the mountain
because that is not necessarily the best view here
that mountain is arguably prettier and more dramatic
but there is nothing to contrast it, there is nothing to make the image more interesting
so even though the mountain… the shape might be more dramatic
the image doesn't necessarily have to be better
okay, finally got the packages
I got the microphone
okay, cable release, that's important
spikes for the tripod
and food
now I feel a little bit better with all this spare, backup things
I'm gonna try the spikes because I'm not really sure if they'll fit my tripod though
I think they should
and they do not
what a fail
well, no spikes for me
but anyway, it was just something nice to have
I've been doing just fine without them
and I hope I will keep doing just fine without them
after the fail with the spikes, I decided to head towards the mountains
in search of a hike that would give me a peek into the beautiful landscape of Assynt
and I did find one
but little did I know about what I was signing up for
well, that was by far the most beautiful drive I've done in Scotland so far
the view is just incredible
I'm here because tomorrow…
if the weather is good
it's gonna be pretty windy so
I'm gonna climb one of those mountains, I don't know which one
I'm gonna try
it was really, really windy, and that gave me some pause
but after thinking about it, I decided to give it a try
I could always head back if things got ugly
and this was going to be my only chance to do this hike in the foreseeable future
since the weather was going to turn for the worse
well, so far so good
I think this side of the mountain is kind of protected from the wind, actually
once I get to the top, the story is going to be pretty different
but look at the views, they are already amazing
and I just got started
so let's keep going
we can do this, we can do this
you see, after spending weeks living in the car without getting much exercise at all
hikes like this one can be very challenging
especially when you are fighting the wind and carrying a lot of camera gear
this might be a really bad idea
the bad news was that things weren't getting any better
but the good news was that things weren't getting any worse either
and I was actually feeling good
I am very, very close to the top
I think it's gonna get really windy really quick
it's not too bad here
I'm hoping I can get close enough to the cliff
so I can take a good photograph of the amazing view that I'm pretty sure
is waiting for me up there
without, you know, risking my life, basically
safety comes first
especially in a very windy day like today
you never know when a wind gust is gonna come and push you off the cliff
come on, almost there
my goodness, look at that
there is much more on that side and the other side
so beautiful, man
unreal
okay, we just need to get up there to get the view
it's gonna be crazy windy
it's really, really windy
I can't get close to the cliff
this is way outside of my comfort zone, for sure
what a place
stunning, but so sketchy with these winds
so, so sketchy
I'm trying to see if I can get a good view from here too
up there, that's where I just was at
it's a big, big fall from there
yeah I might be able to get something interesting from here
and this part of the mountain might not be as exposed as up there
whoa, that's a very, very cool view right there
this is so much better
this is not as exposed as the summit there
I have time to work on my photographs, to work on my images
the view is pretty stunning too
I mean, it's not as good as the one that you get from up there, I'm not going to lie
but still, pretty, pretty good
it wasn't that bad, you know, with the wind
until I got to the top
again, it got a little bit sketchy because you never know what the wind is going to do
if a gust is going to come and just push you off the cliff
that wouldn’t be a good way to end the video
this hike really hurt the following day
it wasn't horrible, 2,600 feet (850 meters) of elevation gain
but living in the car for a month gets you out of shape really quick
and I was carrying my camera bag with a lot of gear for 4 hours, that counts as well
the hike didn't pay off when it comes to photography either
hiking rarely does for me
at least when I'm climbing to the top of a mountain
when I'm hiking on more flat terrain, yes, that usually works out
but the thing when you are getting so high and when you are next to cliffs
is that you want to do it in good weather conditions
you don't want to do it when there is no visibility or things like that
and those are the conditions that I seek in my photography
I don't really care too much about sunny and clear days
and even less from the top of a mountain because it doesn't really make for good images
but I love hiking, and that's why I wanted to go to the top of the mountain
I'm glad I did it, even though it was very windy
it was not a very pleasant hike, but I'm happy I did it
if you made it all the way here in this video, I can only thank you
I really appreciate you watching my stuff, my videos, and your support
just in case you want to step it up, I have a patreon page
I'm gonna leave the link in the description down below
I also sell books and prints on my website
the link is going to be the description down below as well
but again, having you watching these videos is something I really appreciate
that's gonna be all for today
I have plenty more videos coming from here, from Scotland
so subscribe if you haven't
thank you for watching, and see you in the next one!