I’ve been going through some of my old photos and pulled out some from a camping trip to Scotland. It’s been a few years since the visit and I’m definitely planning a trip there sometime this year, I’ve seen some inspirational photography from various people on flickr and it makes me want to get back there as soon as possible…
When I went to Staffa I got the Ferry from Oban through to Iona, on the way you pass by Mull and various other islands and a lighthouse for good measure. When I travelled through on the route, there was a Seagull flying within arms reach at all times, it was nice having an escort and made a nice photographic subject on the way. The Sea was like a mill pond, beautiful reflections of the clouds on the sea, a nice cool breeze and if I didn’t know I was in Scotland, I’d think I was in the med somewhere. Arriving on Iona, it really was the cutest little village on the most beautiful of islands. A small number of houses, obvious links to fishing as being one of the means of income for the island. The most obvious income being the streams of tourists arrive on the island, although it doesn’t feel overcrowded. One of the main attractions on Iona is the Abbey, I’m not going to write a lot of blurb about it, but you can read some blurb here
We stayed on Iona for a couple of hours wandering around before heading off on one of the Grant Tours boats to visit Staffa. As we approached Staffa I was truly floored by it’s size and majesty. As you approach you see the detail of the basalt columns and the magnitude of them, atop the mushroom that is the land mass. As you are looking at the island with the portage to the right you’ll see the basalt black Fingals Cave, when you arrive on the island you should definitely take a wander in there, it is really impressive. The “wave” below is a fantastic example of the common shapes created by basalt columns.
I was more interested in taking a walk up the steep sides and head the top of the Island so I could go and sit with the Puffin’s and start clicking. The great thing about going to a place like this, is that it’s well managed and protected, so when you go to visit the puffins, they are sat on top of the cliff, then you go and sit within feet of them, they sit, they stare, wondering what you’re doing there and then go about their business and you can happily click card after card of shots. I’m reprocessing these at the moment, but will provide a link to some of the puffins later.
Anyway, if I could say that there is only one downer about going to Staffa, this was the amount of time you get on the Island. It is literally a feast of nature and you only have 1 hour to cram as much as you can in during that time… I think I’ll have to rethink this for my next visit and ensure I travel in a way that means I can stay for longer…
Anyway, for the next article I’m hopefully going to do a review of one of my favourite photostreams on flickr, not that he needs it, but he definitely deserves praise for his fantastic work…
Take care, keep shooting…