View from Elgol onto the Cuillin Mountains

We had a change in weather today - we set off at 6.00am to go photograph the sunrise at Quiraing but when we got there the clouds were too heavy and low in the sky to get a sunrise so we decided to go elsewhere. We ended up on the river at Sligachan again, but this time we photographed from standing in the river, with ice all around us. I felt very nervous walking into the icy river in my wellies as the rocks underfoot were so slippery, but I managed to get the shot without falling in or losing my camera! We took a few more images at various locations there and then went to the Sligachan Hotel for breakfast.

After breakfast we headed off to the Fairy Pools. I was last here about 6 years ago and I don't remember the walk from the car park up to the main fairy pool being such a slog. By now it had started raining and was so cold that the rain falling onto my face felt like needles into my skin. It is uphill all the way, just over 2km each way,  and with that heavy backpack it felt like another bootcamp training exercise. We had to keep wiping the lens as the rain was blowing directly onto it, so it was a case of wiping and taking lots of images as I knew I would have many that were spoilt by rain splotches. See the extra for my image from the Fairy Pools.

We then stopped at a place that overlooked the salt marshes for the guys with drones to get some shots, and Guy let me use his drone to take some images which he has given to me. 

We ended the day at Elgol beach which looks onto the Black Cuillin mountains. I have never found this an interesting location but of course with Guy we never take photos from the usual locations, so you do end up with something a bit different as you can see from this image. This of course was not easy to get - we walked around the headland over large pebbles, boulders and slippery rocks for about a kilometer until we got to this location with the rocks to use in the foreground. I wanted to do this workshop with Guy as I have always admired his work, and especially how he makes use of interesting foregrounds with a wide angle lens. What I did not realise is that you have to work hard to find those foregrounds, so it was another physically challenging day but very productive.

The days are long as we leave at 5.30am or 6.00am and only get back at about 6.30pm. Guy cooks a very good supper - tonight was chicken with roasted root vegetables and baked potato - and then as he cooked, the rest of us clean up and wash up. Self catering is very convenient but it does mean you have even less free time on a workshop.