The Lewis and Harris adventure begins.
Formed over 3000 million years ago, the isles of Lewis and Harris are two-thirds as old as the Earth itself, and they have some of the oldest mountains in Europe. Settled by humans around 6000 BC, there are many monuments and megaliths including Neolithic burial cairns and the magical Callanish Standing Stones erected roughly 5000 years ago. On a sunny day, the islands are almost tropical like, but it’s often tumultuous, and changing weather patterns give it a spiritual quality too. Lewis and Harris encapsulate the phrase “four seasons in one day”.
My previous four days on the Isle of Skye were meant to be a warmup to my ten days on the Outer Hebrides, exploring the isles of Lewis and Harris. However, I was enjoying an unseasonable warm spell without a drop of rain and glorious sunny days. Blue skies and sun are not always best for landscape photographers, but with the gob smacking beauty of the Scottish Isles at my door I had been on the go almost sunrise to sunset since I left the North of England some five days ago. A welcome lie in today followed by some editing of my images from yesterday’s stunning climb up to the Storr, before crossing Skye to the port of Uig to catch the early afternoon sailing to Tarbert on the Isle of Harris.
‘I decide to distract myself by stocking up on beer’
I retraced my route from the other day up to the Quiraing and over the Trotternish ridge before dropping down into Idrigil Bay. It was another wall-to-wall sunshine day, promising a smooth crossing to the outer islands. A few months before the first lockdown I suffered a mysterious viral infection that felt like a simple cold but managed to permanently damage my hearing. I still rub my hairy chin and say “hmmmm” whenever I think about the timing, but hey ho at that time we all thought it would just be something that would stay in China. Apart from chronic tinnitus and sensitivity to certain sounds (hyperacusis), one thing I have discovered from sitting on Donna’s mum’s swinging garden seat, is the capacity to become seasick at the drop of a hat. I can’t even take a go on the rope swing down the brook without feeling all woozy and wobbly kneed. So, the prospect of spending a few hours on a boat, filled me with dread, so much so I decided to distract myself by stocking up on beer at the Skye brewery conveniently located on the harbour at Uig. I stashed my liquid cargo and waited for the ferry to come watching with alarm the waves picking up in the harbour. The team at the harbour are extremely efficient, and in a matter of a short 30 minutes from arrival we were driving on to the ferry. All smiles and help from the staff, I can’t fault them. I parked Mr T up, turned the alarm off and headed straight up on deck. Thankfully the seas were kind to me and it was warm enough to spend the entire journey up on deck.
All aboard!
I carried my smaller Nikon zfc with me for the journey and captured some amazing cloud formations by way of distraction. Now I’m no meteorological geek, so I went and googled this little lot and it seems they are lenticular clouds. That right? According to the met office “These lens-shaped orographic wave clouds form when the air is stable and winds blow across hills and mountains from the same or similar direction at different heights through the troposphere”. I can go with that, or we could just say “flying saucers”
We were just leaving the shelter of the port, when I spotted the most amazing formation through the lens of my camera.
"Is that? It looks like! What the!?"
Looking direct into the sun towards the Waternish Lighthouse on Skye and the Ascrib Islands, a pair of hands emerged and cupped the sun, right there in front of my eyes. A huge cloudly, godly pair of hands took the sun and held it for just a few seconds. Can you see it?
Holding the sun
The rest of the sailing was thankfully quite uneventful punctuated with the frequent “wee wah” of the car alarms below decks. Not Mr T I might add, I had read the blurb. Smooth seas and with the fresh air blowing through, I only suffered the odd minor moment of wobbliness and managed to keep my breakfast to myself.
‘Mirrors full of a rusty Talbot Auto Sleeper”
On Lewis and Harris, camper vans are totally welcome and there are designated spots all around the islands with stunning views where vans can stay overnight for a small contribution to the upkeeping of the facilities. I like to think the remoteness of the islands stops these facilities from being abused and are treated with the respect and gratitude they deserve. I had found myself a permanent base at Talla Na Mara as I was here for 10 days. Owned and operated on behalf of the West Harris community, I would have some great facilities with electric hookup so I could continue to work and edit my images at night. More on this great location later. The ferry had quite a few camper vans and motorhomes of various sizes parked down below, and as Mr T is of a slim build, I was near the front of the vessel. At the allotted time we all descended to our vehicles and awaited instructions to disembark. It was late in the afternoon by now and little did I know my fellow van-owning travellers were all keen to get to the best spots for their first night on the islands. With flashing lights and the bark of claxons, the huge door at the front of the ship opened and engines were furiously revved. We were off, and like some 1980’s truck racing spectacle, there was a mad rush up and out of the port. For the next 10 miles I dove in and out of single-track roads, overtaking spots and hairpin corners, mirrors full of a rusty Talbot Auto Sleeper jostling for position with other heavily laden motor homes being pushed to well above their normal operating limits. It was wacky races to the best overnight spot! Having finally decided to pull over and let the hordes pass and get on with their race, I took a more leisurely pace and headed to my first beach at Horgabost, a mile or so from my overnight stop.
I'm here!
I was here! A place I have dreamed of for many years. I was finally here. The grin on my face was beginning to hurt! There is a great car park at Horgabost, with facilities looked after by the friendliest farmer I have ever met. I was still unpacking my camera from the van when he came over, shook my hand and said, “welcome to heaven on earth”. He was right, and he reliably informed me I was very lucky indeed as it had started raining last September and had not stopped for six months until 4 days ago. That makes me the luckiest man around these parts. I walked across the soft white sand dunes and took in the views. Waves gently washing upon the shore, soft white sand and the view across Luskentyre to the mountains of Lewis in the distance. The lenticular clouds were still around forming layers of cotton wool in the sky. I grabbed my first image from the magical Lewis and Harris.
My feet finally hit the sands of Harris at Horgabost
Views of Lewis
I had planned to check in at my accommodation, and then take a walk to the local beach at Nisabost for perhaps my first Hebridean sunset. So, I jumped back into Mr T and we completed the final few miles to Talla na Mara, Gaelic for the “Centre by the sea”. If you do venture to these islands, I highly recommend either staying over or stopping by for coffee or a meal here at Rubha Romagaidh, Horgabost.
Coffee in the Talla na Mara cafe and no complaints with this camping location
As I’ve mentioned previously, the weather on the Outer Hebrides can change very quickly, and after checking in, grabbing a coffee and getting the van sorted, clouds had rolled in. Undeterred and buoyed by my excitement at “actually being here” I headed off with my camera to Nisabost to explore the beach and the solo standing stone. The sun was popping in and out of the clouds as it headed to the horizon, so I got set up near the shore and followed the retreating tide out.
Looking towards Ceapabhal
Its about time I introduce you to Ceapabhal. Just a little further south from my base at Talla na Mara, is Sgarasta Mhor beach which runs up to a small peninsula clinging to the main bulk of Harris. The peninsula is dominated by Ceapabhal (pronounced Chaipaval). From Nisabost it resembles an island in its own right and gives some great photographic interest on the horizon. Tonight was going to be about trying to capture a sunset over Ceapabhal. In fact, for the next few nights I would obsess about this sunset location.
Fanning clouds over Ceapabhal
My first image was a 2-minute-long exposure so I could capture the movement in the clouds and smooth out the waves. The previous phone shot of my camera was taken whilst this long exposure was running. Hopefully this will show you the effect a long exposure using neutral density filters has on the scene. The trick to long exposure from anything like a short 1/4 of second right the way out to 4 or 5 minutes is to look around you at what is moving, what direction it is moving in and equally important, what isn’t moving. When taking shots of distant landscape scenes, moving objects closer to you like clouds will appear to move more than those in the distance. Clouds moving towards you will create a fan-like effect as in the above image. Waves breaking on the shore will appear misty and soft.
Late evening sun reflecting on the shores of Nisabost
My second image from this first evening on the beach was a comparatively faster 25 seconds to help capture the sun’s reflection in the sea whilst retaining the texture in the surf. It was a little too cloudy for a classic sunset shot, but I was buzzing from my first day on Harris and it was time to head back to my van, get something to eat and enjoy a shower after 4 days wild camping in laybys on Skye. I’ll be back for that sunset shot, I promise.
‘Should I stay, or should I go’
But nothing is ever that simple when in the great outdoors on the Scottish isles. I was at the far end of the beach grabbing my first shots, and after walking its length and climbing back up to the road, the twilight after sunset was looking lovely. In the great words of Joe Strummer, “should I stay, or should I go” Of course, I opted to go back down to the beach and take one last image for the day.
I’m glad I introduced you to Ceapabhal, because here she is once again.
Ceapabhal in the twilight
Waiting for sunset
Time for a well-earned coffee, hot shower and a cold beer I bought earlier in the day.
Keywords:
Harris and Lewis,
Isle of Harris,
Isle of Lewis,
Landscape Photography,
Outer Hebrides,
Scotland
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