The most beautiful places in Scotland to visit for photography
Scotland is an amazing place to visit and a fantastic place for a photography trip with some spectacular scenery to photograph, especially in the North West Highlands. Having explored some wonderful places in the Scottish Highlands, on a couple of solo photography tours, I’ve put this article together to suggest places you might want to visit if you’re heading that way yourself so here’s my top 10 best places to photograph in Scotland
Beautiful places for photography on the Isle of Skye
The Isle of Skye off the west coast of Scotland has some breathtaking scenery and is a "must see" photo location for anyone interested in landscape photography. My favourite photo locations include:
The Quiraing, the northernmost summit of the Trotternish escarpement, is an amazing landscape, one of the best places to visit on the Isle of Skye with stunning views and rather bizarre and unique scenery. The light can be simply incredible, especially around sunrise, so an early start at this beautiful place is always recommended. It’s a relatively short walk from the car park although climbing a little higher on the ridge is worthwhile for the better vantage point.
Elgol is a small hamlet on the shores of Loch Scavaig on the south coast of of the Isle of Skye with dramatic views of the Black Cuillin mountains. The weather here can be pretty intense and this is often the best time for landscape photography with stormy sees and a foreboding feel to the distant mountains. Foreground interest for your photos is abundant with the shoreline scattered with weather worn rocks and boulder including the famous Elghol Boulder as seen in my photo.
Sligachan Bridge is one of the wonders of Thomas Telford, the famous Scottish covil engineer, and the bridge dates back to 1818. It's a beautiful location for landscape photography in Scotland with the bridge being surrounded by the Red Cuillin mountains on one side and the Black Cuillin mountains opposite. Sunrise or sunset photos work here and there's also the Sligachan waterfall just a short walk away that adds some dramatic foreground interest to your photos.
The most iconic photography location on the Isle of Skye: The old man of Storr
The Old Man of Storr is the highest point on the Trotternish Ridge at 719m) and is undoubtedly the most iconic photography location on Skye. Landscape photographers from around the world are drawn to this amazing scenery and when you visit yourself you'll see exactly why that is. A sunrise photo shoot is a great idea here although allow plenty of time to reach the summit as it's a bit of an uphill climb from the car park. Whilst you might think photo composition is obvious, you've probably seen lots of images of the stone pinnacles online, a wander around with the camera presents several good viewpoints and carrying a selection of different focal length lenses gives plenty of photo opportunities.
Beautiful places for photography in North West Scotland
The entire North West of Scotland is an amazing place to visit and packed full of breathtaking scenery and there are just simply far too many stunning photography locations to mention but here’s a list of some of my personal favourites.
The most photographed castle in Scotland: Eilean Donan
Eilean Donan castle sits in the Kyle of Lochalsh, the gateway to the Isle of Skye, and is certainly the most photographed castle in Scotland, who wouldn't want a photo of this impressive 13th century castle. Photographers are best timing their visit for sunrise or sunset to get the best of the light, the advantage of a sunset shoot is that the castle is usually illuminated which makes it a little more photogenic. It's worth checking tide timetables too as you'll need a highish tide for a chance of a reflection in Loch Duich.
A Glencoe icon: Buachaille Etive Mor
The view from the River Coupall waterfall of Buachaille Etive Mor is one of the most photographed locations in all of Scotland. It's the perfect place for an autumn sunrise photo with the colours on the Buachaille looking incredible and the rising sun providing beautiful warm light. The viewpoint is limited for for prime position make sure you arrive well before the sun rises, parking here is limited too especially if visiting in the summer months when you're likely to be competing with camper vans for spaces.
A unique photo opportunity near Fort William: The Corpach Shipwreck
The Corpach shipwreck sits on the shore of Loch Linnhe and is a great place to photograph Ben Nevis with the shipwreck and the loch providing lots of interest for your composition. It's easily reached from the car park near the Caledonian canal and ideally, to make your photo a little different from the many other photographers who have taken the same view, try and time your visit in moody, misty or dramatic light.
Photographing a film star location: Glenfinnan and the Harry Potter steam train
The Jacobite steam train, made famous by the Harry Potter film series, is a very popular photo location with photographers and tourist alike especially as it passes over the Glenfinnan viaduct. The view is enhanced by autumn colours but check the train timetables to make sure it's stil running. It also makes a big difference which direction the Jacobite steam train is running as the engine only pulls in the direction of Fort William to Mallaig; it's much more photogenic when the locomotive is pulling the carriages behind it. make sure you get those camera settings correct too as it's just a few seconds opportunity...too slow a shutter speed and the train will be blurred, not enough depth of field and part of the Glenfinnan viaduct will be out of focus.
Assynt’s iconic mountain: Suilven from Elphin Bothy
Suilven is one of the most iconic mountains in Scotland, located in a remote area of Assynt it's a fantastic subject for landscape photography. The difficulty can be finding something to add decent foreground interest to your photo so a trip to Elphin Bothy makes solving that problem a little easier. Photo composition is pretty obvious, the main difficulty may well be capturing the view on a day when the peak of Suilven is actually visible, this area is reknown for it's moody weather. A photography trip during autumn, particularly at sunrise, can be very rewarding with the warm tones of the sunrise and autumnal colours on the landscape producing a striking image.
