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.

The River Coe tears its way through the narrow mountain scenery of Glencoe and creates some amazing photo opportunities. This viewpoint is one of the most popular with photographers wanting to capture a view of the Three Sisters. Known as the S bends it's surrounded by woodland that looks stunning in autumn and there's plenty of foreground interest to make for a great photo composition.

Morning mist shrouds the mountains around Loch Broom near Ullapool creating an eerie calm.

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. 

The Harry Potter films made the Jacobite Steam Train passing over Glenfinnan viaduct one of the "must see" views when visiting the North West Highlands of Scotland and I couldn't miss the opportunity to grab a photo. The location is easily reached from the main visitor car park although it gets extremely busy, even when I visited in October, so arriving early for a parking space is a must. Timing is key, checking the timetable to make sure what time the Jacobite Steam train is running and equally important, which direction as usually the engine only pulls in the direction of Mallaig, it's not nearly as photogenic with the engine pushing. The autumn colours around Fort William make for a more photogenic shot too so I'd highly recommend visited then if you can. 

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

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.

I've not posted for a little while but all for good reasons, I've just had a week in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland exploring the stunning scenery and taking advantage of the autumn colours. The first 3 days were at Glencoe, where the weather was actually quite good, even perhaps a little too mild whereas the rest of the week was around Assynt where things were a fair bit more challenging... great fun though and it's always a bigger challenge photographing somewhere you've never been before anyway.

I'd done some location planning before travelling which was well worth the time & effort as it helped me, as much as possible, to be in the right place at the right time and try to capture the fleeting glimpses of good light, especially in the more remote region of Assynt.

Anyway I'm actually posting the last photo first, probably the easiest photo of the week taken at a brief break on my 8.5hr journey back here to North Wales.... this is Carrbridge Pack Horse bridge in the Cairngorms, a beautiful ancient structure dating from 1717... I'll be posting lots more photos of my Scotland trip during the week including my favourite photo of the classic view of the Buachaille Etive Mòr in stunning autumn sunrise light.

Just 4 places remaining now on the Anglesey sunset workshop at the stunning Llanddwyn Island on Saturday 14th December 2024.

Full details and booking are available on my Anglesey photography workshops webpage

I've just added a new Llanddwyn Island Anglesey workshop date to my website. We start early at 07.30am to make the best of the "Golden Hour" light from sunrise.

Full details & booking can be found on my Anglesey photography workshop webpage:

If you're interesting in photographing Snowdon/Yr Wyddfa, the highest mountain in Wales, then you may find my new article of interest. It lists some of the best photo viewpoints from which to capture views of Snowdon

https://www.landscapephotographyuk.com/snowdon-yr-wyddfa-best-photo-locations

The most beautiful location in the Lake District in my eyes is definitely Buttermere, it's an amazing location surrounded by mountains on all sides with some amazing walking and stunning views. Here's a photo from a couple of weeks ago from a wander around the lake itself... the weather was typical August in the Lake District

Snowdonia Eryri was kind with the weather yesterday on my last Snowdonia group workshop in Cwm Idwal for 2024. A great photography group again and we were blessed with some beautiful autumninal light. Pen Yr Ole Wen and Tryfan looks stunning at times and the workshop group made the best of the light. If you'd like to join me in these stunning Snowdonia Eryri mountain surroundings in 2025 I already have some dates available on my workshop webpage

https://www.landscapephotographyuk.com/snowdonia-photography-workshops-north-wales

Yr Wyddfa Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales and also one of the most popular mountain summits for visitors. The views from the summit of Snowdon can be pretty incredible, if you're lucky to catch good weather. A sunrise is my favourite time to climb to the top of Snowdon Yr Wyddfa as during autumn & spring it's nowhere near as busy as the summer months. The weather conditions also give you a great chance of photographing a temperature inversion where the clouds surround Wales's highest peak like a blanket. Here are some of my favourite photos taken from the summit of Snowdon in Eryri Snowdonia National Park. If you'd like to see more please visit my website gallery:

https://www.landscapephotographyuk.com/snowdonia-photographs

Llandudno is probably North Wales's most popular seaside town with visitors. It's a unique place with some wonderful attractions both natural and manmade. The town sits between the two impressive limestone headlands of the Little Orme and the Great Orme adding to it's natural attraction, the Great Orme in particular is a fantastic place to wander high above the Irish sea admiring the beautiful views in all directions... although these days you do have to pretend to not notice the ever multiplying number of wind turbines out to sea! One of Llandudno's most impressive attractions, with both tourists and photographers alike, is the Victorian pier, actually Wales's longest. This particular morning the pier was my main destination for a sunrise photography shoot, with the sun rising directly behind I had hopes for some nice sunrise light. Fortunately I did have some luck with the sunrise so here are one or two of the photos of Llandudno Pier with the rising sun, hope you like them!

Eryri Snowdonia National park in North Wales is a stunning area for photography with some amazing photo locations. The area has 3000ft mountain peaks, including Wales's highest mountain Yr Wyddfa Snowdon, beautiful glacial lakes, some amazing waterfalls as well as a strong industrial and historical heritage with abandoned slate quarries such as Dinorwig above Llanberis, Cwmorthin near Blaenau Ffestiniog and the impressive castles of Conwy and Caernarfon along the North Wales coast. Photo opportunities are everywhere as Snowdonia also has several restored steam trains including the Welsh Highland railway that runs though the beautiful village of Beddgelert and the Ffestiniog railway that transports you from the seaside harbour in Porthmadog to the slate-quarrying town of Blaenau Ffestiniog through some dramatic Snowdonia mountain scenery.

Whilst Eryri Snowdonia is famous for its stunning mountain scenery the National Park also has some lovely scenic villages to visit. Surrounded by beautiful landscapes and each with their own unique character they're a "must see" for any visitors or photographers spending time in the North Wales area.

My photo location guidebook, Photographing North Wales, is the most comprehensive & detailed photography guide available for North Wales.

Tryfan towers above the Ogwen Valley (Dyffryn Ogwen), a glacial valley running between the village of Capel Curig and the small hamlet of Ogwen Cottage. It's a valley bordered by some of the highest and most spectacular mountain ranges in North Wales and the foreboding peak of Tryfan is definitely a visitors and photographers favourite.

A walk around beautiful Polperro in Cornwall

Just back from a great week in South Cornwall, the week was mainly coastal walking... just over 70miles & 10,000feet height gain...so didn't really have time or the energy for any photo shoots but I carried the camera on the walks. This is my favourite place of the week, the beautiful Polperro

The Northern lights over Penmon Lighthouse Anglesey

Another photo of the best aurora display ever in the UK captured at Penmon lighthouse Anglesey in North Wales. A truly magical evening in North Wales photographing the Northern lights. I've visited Anglesey many times over the years but it's never looked quite as amazing as this with the best aurora display in the UK so far. During this extremely rare display of the Northern lights in North Wales I was able to photograph colours that are much less frequently seen that the usual greens & pinks. The night sky was like a rainbow of colours with red, purple & yellows all displaying strongly, probably a once in a lifetime Aurora event for North Wales