Day 3 - Monday

It was up at 5am to photograph Rannoch Moor at sunrise. Unfortunately it wasn't the best of sunrises. Rannoch Moor has a surface dotted with innumerable lochs, lochans, peat bogs, and streams; it is surrounded by mountains that rise to over 3000ft to the south-east and the west and to over 2000ft in the north. The area is crossed by a railway line, running a little inside the south-east side and a single road, running a little inside the south-west side. It has a very eerie atmosphere at that time of day as you can see by my 1st photo.

My second photo is of Blackrock Cottage, a well known landmark of the area photographed by all who visit the highlands. It lies next to the road of Glencoe Ski Range. The image was taken in the early morning light just after sunrise.

It was then back to my B&B for a hearty English breakfast of cereal followed by sausage, bacon, egg, tomatoes and mushrooms and ending with coffee & toast.

After a rest for 30 mins to let the food settle in my now bloated stomach LOL I started my days travels with a trip round Lochailort followed by Glenfinan (the home of the Glenfinan Viaduct and steam train which was used in the Harry Potter films) and then back home.

I was lucky to see 2 stags at the viaduct when I was there (4th photo). One was camera shy unfortunately but the other enjoyed posing for me LOL

The Roman Catholic Church of St Mary and St Finnan is a large Gothic building with stunning views down Loch Shiel. It was designed by Edward Welby Pugin, son of the better known Augustus Welby Pugin, designer of the House of Commons in London.

As the sun goes down

I got finished early tonight from work and decided to catch the sunset. Unfortunately I wanted to go to the Derwent reservoir to catch the sunset but the entrance was closed off. So I made my way up onto the moors and caught last sightings of sunset. However the sky (even though it was a little misty) turned a nice colour as the sun went down. The light was shining on this old barn and the sheep were grazing on a bale of hay, I just couldn't resist a quick shot. I didn't have much time to set up my tripod so I just placed my beanbag onto a wall and took a couple of shots. I'm quite pleased with the results. Up in the top right is the moon. Below is a photo of the sunsetting.

Settings (as the sun goes down)

• Camera Olymus E500
• Aperture - f/22
• Shutter speed - 0.6 sec
• ISO-100
• Focal Length - 22mm
• Exposure compensation -1 step

Settings (Sunset)

• Camera Olymus E500
• Aperture - f/22
• Shutter speed - 1/15 sec
• ISO-100
• Focal Length - 22mm
• Exposure compensation -0.7 step
  

I am still trying to get used to the settings on my camera. I think these shots could've been improved if I had chosen different settings. It's all a learning curve and I'm always experimenting to get the best results. However, any advice on settings for these lighting conditions is gratefully received. Thanks.