Quiraing, Isle of Skye, Autumn
Alongside the Storr, the Quiraing is one of those places on Skye that ignites your imagination and takes your breath away.
Much like the Storr, the Quiraing is part of the Trotternish landslip, the longest such feature in the British Isles. Whilst the Storr marks the highest point of the Trotternish landslip, the Quiraing marks the northernmost summit at Meall na Suiramach (543 m/1,781 ft). The Quiraing is also, unlike the Storr, still slipping; apparently the road at the bottom of the Quiraing near Flodigarry requires repair every year as the land continues to move.
The name comes from Old Norse, the language of the Vikings: Kví Rand, which can be translated as “round fold”. This could refer to the fold just below the summit of Meall na Suiramach, which hides a flat plateau known as The Table (roughly around here), where cattle could be hidden. In fact the Quiraing is home to quite the variety of weird and wonderful rock formations and their characterful names, such as The Needle and The Prison.
Lisabet and I woke up nice and early to get to the Quiraing for sunrise. We knew there’d be fewer people, as the Quiraing is quite accessible and very popular, but we were also expecting rain after sunrise. As a result, we were treated to a wonderful light show as the sun rose over the sea, not long followed by a weather system that moved in and completely drenched us.
Worth it.
All photos shot on a Fujifilm X-T2 with both the Samyang 35mm f/1.2 and Laowa 9mm f/2.8 lenses using a customised Pro Negative Standard film profile.
Both being significantly fitter now, we decided upon arrival to start hiking up the southern edge of the Quiraing that leads towards Dùn Dubh (396 m/1,299 ft). Pink pre-dawn light starts to appear in the sky.
As dawn breaks the sunrise light show gets better and better. This image is made of 6 landscape photos shot on a 35mm/f1.2 lens, stacked top to bottom and merged into a “bokehrama”. The hill on the left is called Cleat (336 m/1,102 ft).
My lovely Lisabet capturing the wonderful sunrise.
As we clamber back down the ridge we cross a meandering little stream, which I use as a leading line towards the northern section of the Quiraing. Those rock formations just don’t seem real.
Now following the northeastern ridge of the Quiraing, we found a lovely load of heather still largely in bloom. I composed this ultra-wide view of the Quiraing as I liked the way the curving cliff mirrored the curve of the road below.
A well-known and famous composition of the Quiraing, yes I admit it. But when I spotted that little tree growing out of the side of the cliff I couldn’t resist a photo. Also, the light on the Quiraing was so good.
At this point of the hike the sunlight was getting stronger and stronger, casting intense golden light on the land. When composing this shot on my Laowa 9mm I noticed that at certain angles the lens would flare quite drastically. Rather than avoiding it, I decided to deliberate include flare for this photo of the path through the Quiraing.
The sun had finally escaped above the bank of cloud that clung to the sea, drenching the Quiraing in intense golden light.
When I turned back for a composition of the route we had taken, I saw this storm moving in behind the Quiraing… so we decided to turn back and head towards the car. 5 minutes after shooting this photo we promptly got soaked.
Check out my Isle of Skye portfolio while you’re at it.