Sleat Peninsula, Isle of Skye, Scotland, Spring
Skye’s Sleat peninsula often gets overlooked.
Skye’s Sleat peninsula often gets overlooked.
It’s understandable why. When the island contains wonders such as the Cuillins, the Quiraing, the Storr, the Fairy Pools and more, why would you go to the extreme south/south-west of the island?
In my experience, Sleat is where you take photos from, not of. While the peninsula does have some lovely coastline, arguably it’s finest aspect is the views you can get from its southern and northern shores.
Looking south across the Sound of Sleat one can enjoy immense views of the Knoydart mountains, such as Ladhar Bheinn, Meall Buidhe, and Luinne Bheinn.
Over the peninsula onto its northern shores, Sleat harbours beautiful beaches and craggy coastlines, punctuated by bonny little crofting settlements, such as Tarskavaig, Tokavaig, and Ord. These places get unparalleled views across Loch Eishort towards the entire Cuillins range.
My advice: Give yourself a day to explore Sleat. You won’t regret it.
All photos taken on my Sony α7ii using my Rokinon 14mm f2.8 ED AS IF UMC and Pentax SMC 28mm F3.5 prime lenses, and my Vivitar “Series 1” 70–210mm f2.8–4.0 zoom lens. RAWs developed in Lightroom then edited and finalised in Photoshop.
Sleat Peninsula, Isle of Skye, Scotland Spring by Ian Cylkowski is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Did you enjoy these photos?
Sligachan, Isle of Skye, Scotland, Spring
I have returned from my fifth visit to Skye.
I have returned from my fifth visit to Skye.
God damn I love that island so much.
What definitely helps, apart from the fantastic scenery, is that for entire week of our stay the weather and light conditions were fantastic.
All in all, I returned to Cumbria with 200+ RAW files of epicness. Where does one start?
For me, with one of my favourite places on Skye: Sligachan.
Sligachan is a small settlement on Skye’s eastern coast, somewhat halfway between two of Skye’s major population centres: Portree and Broadford. There’s not much at Sligachan apart from a hotel and a couple of houses. What it does offer is some of the finest views of the Black Cuillins and Red Cuillins on Skye.
In particular, there are a number of small rivers that run from the Cuillins towards Loch Sligachan, and the underlying geology has enabled some fantastic waterfalls. You’ve just gotta be prepared for some boggy hiking.
I’ve played around these waterfalls many a time, always seeking the “one” winning photo from this area. On this occasion, I’ve come closer than ever before of capturing that special photo from this magical place.
All photos taken on my Sony α7ii using my Pentax SMC 28mm F3.5 and Rokinon 14mm f2.8 ED AS IF UMC prime lenses. RAW files developed in Lightroom, edited and finalised in Photoshop.
Sligachan, Isle of Skye, Scotland, Spring by Ian Cylkowski is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Did you enjoy these photos?
The Rest of Skye & Beyond, Scotland, Autumn
Happy Boxing Day everyone.
Happy Boxing Day everyone.
One of the nice things about editing these photos from Skye is that I get to revisit this wonderful place all over again. I can send my mind right back to October 2020, place my two feet in the scene, and immerse my visual memory in the whole experience.
That’s also why this post and series of photos saddens me.
These are my last lot of photos from our 2-week trip around Skye.
This post is a sort of mish-mash of photos from various different parts of Skye that we didn’t get an awful lot of time to properly explore. As a result, rather than publishing multiple posts with only 2–3 photos in each, I thought I would combine them all in this Farewell Skye post.
In this post you’ll find photos from the famous Neist Point, with its remarkable cliffs, coastline, and—in our experience—a dramatic storm system; Talisker bay, including its sea stacks, cliffs, waterfalls and mountains; and assorted shots from around the Sleat peninsula, which we managed to nab before constantly getting drenched.
There’s a couple of little extras too, that I hope you’ll like.
Thank you for visiting my website and experiencing my visual memories of Skye with me over the last couple of months.
Here’s to more UK travel if, and when, circumstances allow, in happier times.
Sleat Peninsula
Talisker Bay
Neist Point
Bonus
Camasunary, Isle of Skye, Autumn
As well as revisiting old favourites of ours on Skye, we also wanted to check out unfamiliar territory across the island.
As well as revisiting old favourites of ours on Skye, we also wanted to check out unfamiliar territory across the island.
A new, to us, hike we bookmarked was located on the Strathaird peninsula of Skye, perhaps more widely accessed for getting to Elgol. We did revisit Elgol again, but on the way back we stopped at a parking layby near Kirkibost for a hike up and over the Strathaird peninsula towards an isolated little bay called Camasunary.
This hike ended up being the best thing we did on the Isle of Skye.
Camasunary is the Scots form of the Scottish Gaelic Camas Fhionnairigh, which means “Bay of the White Shieling”. This implies that this bay, in times past, was once used as summer grazing for livestock, when transhumance farming was more common.
As we had spent time around Elgol for sunrise, our hike to Camasunary was still early in the morning, which provided us with dazzling displays of light and shadow on some of the most epic scenery we’ve ever seen.
Photos shot on my Fujifilm X-T2 primarily using a Samyang 35mm f/1.2 with occasional backup provided by my Laowa 9mm f/2.8. I used a customised Pro Negative Standard film profile.
Glen Brittle, Isle of Skye, Autumn
Skye has one or two “hotspots” that are vastly more popular for visitors.
Skye has one or two “hotspots” that are perhaps vastly more popular for visitors than other areas around the island. The Storr might be considered one of those hotspots.
Another would be the Fairy Pools of Glen Brittle.
The last time I checked out the Fairy Pools was way back in 2013, when we first explored the Isle of Skye. I was instantly beguiled by the variety of cascades and waterfalls, creating pools of brilliant turquoise as a result of the crystal clear water and reflecting the colours of the rocks.
As you climb up the path alongside, the backdrop is increasingly dominated by the jagged skyline of the Black Cuillins, particularly the peak of Sgùrr an Fheadain (689 m/2,260 ft) and the fissure that runs down it known as Waterpipe Gully.
After capturing all kinds of compositions around the Fairy Pools, noting the light changes as the sun rose above the Black Cuillins, we ventured further down Glen Brittle to check out some of the less-visited cascades and falls. In particular, after a short but steep hike, we were floored to discover a sudden gorge dropping beneath our feet and a huge waterfall falling into it, with the Black Cuillins framed above. An absolutely incredible sight.
All photos shot on my Fujifilm X-T2 with both a Samyang 35mm f/1.2 and a Laowa 9mm f/2.8 lens using a customised Pro Negative Standard film profile.
Elgol, Isle of Skye, Autumn
There’s something truly magical about the Elgol coast on Skye.
There’s something truly magical about the Elgol coast on Skye.
Firstly there’s the frankly ridiculous view you’re treated to as you descend the narrow winding road to the shore, which arguably is what makes most people fall in love with Elgol. I know that’s what it did to me, back in 2013, when I first explored this tiny coastal village.
But there is so much more to Elgol than the obvious view of the Black Cuillins across the sea. As you explore the coastline northwest, the pebbles give way to smooth boulders the size of a rugby ball, so you need to watch your step. And then the coastline dramatically changes as you’re greeted with a cliff that looks like a giant has bitten a chunk from its base.
The smooth rugby-ball boulders slide off revealing platforms and shelves and fins and ridges of seemingly impossible rock formations. A veritable playground of photo compositions.
My abilities with words can only do so much. Enjoy these sunrise photos of Elgol. I hope they express at least a small modicum of what I experienced here.
All photos shot on a Fujifilm X-T2 with both a Samyang 35mm f/1.2 and a Laowa 9mm f/2.8 lens using a customised Pro Negative Standard film profile.
Our day wasn’t finished with this sunrise shoot at Elgol. Stay tuned for more photos of our hike from Kilmarie to the isolated beach of Camasunary Bay!