The Blog of North Wales photographer Simon Kitchin
Simon Kitchin is a talented and highly regarded photographer from Mold, North Wales, who specialises in the captivating field of landscape photography. He is also the proud author of the popular and insightful guidebook, Photographing North Wales. Simon dedicates a significant portion of his time to capturing the breathtaking mountain scenery of Eryri Snowdonia National Park, renowned for its dramatic peaks and serene beauty, as well as the stunningly picturesque coastline of Anglesey. In addition to these locations, he also explores and photographs the diverse landscapes of the Dee Valley around Llangollen, which offers its own unique charm and character. Moreover, Simon frequently ventures to other remarkable areas of the UK, including the iconic Lake District, the breathtaking Yorkshire Dales, and the majestic highlands of Scotland, all of which are truly amazing places to capture stunning photographs.
With nearly 20 years of experience hosting landscape photography workshops throughout North Wales, Simon possesses an expert knowledge of the region and its hidden gems. If you are interested in enhancing your photography skills, he runs regular one-day workshops in Eryri Snowdonia and on the beautiful Isle of Anglesey, in addition to providing fully customised one-to-one workshops tailored to your individual needs.
If you’d like to keep up to date with the latest news from North Wales landscape photographer Simon Kitchin including details of new photos, photography workshop availability and publication of his North Wales calendar this blog page is frequently updated so please do drop by to see the latest information from Simon.
A view of Buachaille Etive Mor in Glencoe from the River Coupall with an old hunting lodge on the river bank
Buachaille Etive Mor dominates the view as you approach Glencoe from the direction of Loch Lomond and there are several great photo viewpoints where you can capture some great photos. Wander along the banks of the River Coupall or wander along the moorland nearby and you'll find lots of photo opportunities of Buachaille Etive Mor, here’s one of my images from my latest photography trip, a reflection of Buachaille Etive Mor in the river with an old hunting lodge for added interest.
Buachaille Etive Mor looking stunning in autumn colours
Autumn is a fantastic time to visit the North West Highlands of Scotland and especially the stunning mountain landscape of Glencoe. The mountain erupt in a riot of autumn colours, like nothing I've seen anywhere else, and Buachaille Etive Mor in particular lokks just incredible.
Buachaille Etive Mor & the Wee White House in Glencoe
This was my second sunrise in Glencoe and my luck was in again. I'd checked the sun position and realised that there was a chance of some morning side light falling on Buachaille Etive Mor from in front of Langangarbh Hut, often called the Wee White House. I arrived in plenty of time and checked out a few potential compositions, I really liked the idea of using the river Coe as foreground interest so with wellies on my feet I wandered along the shallow river looking for a good view with a nicely framed Buachaille Etive Mor with the Wee White House in the shot. I tried 2 different spots, both close to each other, but this is the one that's my favourite. I setup the tripod, sorted the settings, and waited patiently to see if the sunrise would work its magic. The first 15 minutes after sunrise on the Buachaille just saw it shrouded in cloud but suddenly a break happened and just for a few fleeting minutes the gorgeous soft light of sunrise lit the flanks of Buachaille Etive Mor and cast some light onto the Wee White House too....I couldn't have asked for any more on a first photography visit to this fantastic location, what a wonderful morning in Glencoe
Buachaille Etive Mor autumn sunrise in Glencoe Scotland
My first morning in Glencoe was a pretty special one. I'd decided to visit the very popular Buachaille Etive Mor photo viewpoint in Glencoe so I set the alarm nice and early as I was expecting to be battling for position with lots of landscape photographers. Arriving nice & early gave me the choice of spots to setup the tripod so I quickly checked out different potential compositions and settled on one close to the waterfall, the composition seemed nice & balanced from here, pretty much in line with the "Rule of thirds"... not something I always stick to but in this case it worked perfectly.
I'd arrived well before sunrise so took a few test shots, the sky was cloudless which initially disapponted me a little but I was to change my mind once I'd photographed Buachaille Etive Mor. The reason being that the autumn sunrise produced some stunning warm colours on the mountain side, clear skies and sunshine wasn't really what I'd expected in Glencoe but the empty sky meant all the attention was on the mountain which I rather liked! With the autumn sunrise in progress I shot several images of the Buachaille, mainly sticking to the same composition although I did switch to portrait orientation for a few photos...it didn't really work for me though although following returning home I did decide that I quite liked a square 1:1 ratio crop too.
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