Oronsay, Isle of Skye, Scotland, Spring
We’ve only been to the tiny isle of Oronsay once before.
We’ve only been to the tiny isle of Oronsay once before.
This was back in autumn 2020, before the 2nd pandemic lockdown happened.
Conditions on that occasion were cloudy, flat, and grey. But still, the scenery and views were stunning and we vowed to return again.
And so we did, this time with bright spring skies. A world of difference!
Oronsay can be found in Loch Bracadale, along with lots of other little islands, sandwiched in between the Duirinish and Minginish peninsulas. It’s possible to access Oronsay on foot via a tidal causeway consisting of ankle-breaking fist-sized rocks.
Though only 44 acres in size, it features cliffs 240 ft high, which means it offers incredible views to either the cliffs and hills of the Duirinish peninsula, or the cliffs and Cuillins of the Minginish peninsula.
We didn’t see another soul.
All photos taken on my Sony α7ii using my Pentax SMC 28mm F3.5 prime and Vivitar “Series 1” 70–210mm f2.8–4.0 zoom lenses. RAWs developed in Lightroom using RNI Films’ Kodachrome film profiles, edited and finalised in Photoshop.
Oronsay, Isle of Skye, Scotland, Spring by Ian Cylkowski is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
From the mainland at Ullinish it’s a simple, if squelchy, walk from the settlement to the coast. The way to Oronsay then becomes clear; at low tide, the sea is parted by a causeway of boulders and rocks.
Once on the island it’s simple enough to navigate your way towards the highest cliffs. Once there, you get stunning views like this. Zoomed in, the island of Wiay is clear and you can even make out the cliffs and sea stacks of MacLeod’s Maidens.
Looking further east, the eastern end of Wiay gives way to the two distinctive flat-topped hills on the Duirinish peninsula, known as MacLeod’s Tables. The one on the left―MacLeod’s Table South or Healabhal Bheag―is 489 m/1,604 ft. The one on the right―MacLeod’s Table North or Healabhal Mhòr―is 469 m/1,538 ft.
From Oronsay’s tallest cliff, the view northeast down the island and across the loch all the way to Skye proper is just stunning.
Looking back at the tallest cliff, it’s contrasty shape and shadow is used to frame the distant island of Wiay and Duirinish cliffs.
My little Lisabet hiking her way up to the next cliff, whilst I shuffled as close as I dared to the precipitous edge for this monstrous view.
A simple leading line of Oronsay’s cliff edges, all the way back to Ullinish and the moorlands of Skye.
Returning to the lowest part of Oronsay, I venture around its more boggy eastern area for a view back to the craggy cliffs, again using the harsh light and shadow to aid in a leading line composition.
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Staffin, Isle of Skye, Scotland, Spring
The sheer variety along Skye’s coastline is ridiculous.
The sheer variety along Skye’s coastline is ridiculous.
Basalt columnar cliffs? Billion-year old boulders? White sand? Knife-edge sea stacks? Waterfalls? Sea caves? Skye’s got it all.
And—at An Corran, Staffin—there is the “Jurassic coast”.
As I’ve mentioned on this site before, Staffin’s An Corran gained national attention in 2002 when a local couple walking along the coast noticed a large three-toed lizard-like footprint in a slab of rock. Further exploration uncovered additional dinosaur footprints. Turns out that were likely produced by a creature akin to a Megalosaurus. These fossils are estimated to be around 160 million years old, which makes them the most recent dinosaur relics found in Scotland.
This is the main draw of An Corran. But for us, we were more interested in the cliffs and the coastline.
All photos taken on my Sony α7ii using my Pentax SMC 28mm F3.5 prime lens. RAWs developed in Lightroom, then edited and finalised in Photoshop.
Staffin, Isle of Skye, Scotland, Spring by Ian Cylkowski is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Below the cliffs at An Corran, the rocky coastline is dotted with giant boulders, often situated on top of raised platforms. Millennia of coastal and wind erosion have carved them into fantastic shapes.
As the tide was out, we were able to fully explore the revealed geology of An Corran’s coastline. I enjoyed myself immensely, a veritable playground of geometry, leading lines, light and subjects to play with.
Beautifully sculpted and layered formations give a glimpse of time way before the dawn of humans. In the distance, Staffin island is bathed in golden light.
Picking my way around slippery slabs, moss, and seaweed, I lined up this composition of the raised boulder, with the basalt cliffs in the distance.
Even closer to the boulder, I was able to obtain a reflection of sorts in a rock pool.
This particular boulder I find amazing. No human intervention whatsoever. A chunk of rock broke off the nearby cliffs, rolled down onto the coastline. Over the course of aeons, water and wind washed and carved the surrounding rock, leaving this boulder sitting on its protected pedestal.
Amongst all the ankle-breaking fist-sized pebbles, this arrangement of stones caught my eye.
Further towards the northwest side of An Corran, the rocky coastline gives way to sand. I carefully navigate around, seeking a composition of these embedded boulders in the sand.
At the far northwestern edge of the beach, a crackin’ view of the Quiraing opens up. I relied on the sensor stabilisation of my camera to slow down the shutter as much as possible at f/22, whilst still getting a relatively sharp image. The result came out alright.
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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
Just north of Armadale there’s a stretch of coastline known as Bàgh a' Mhuilinn (“Bay of the Mill”). Here, one can play around with incredible rock formations and the Knoydart mountains in the distance.
The geology around Armadale is largely comprised of Lewisian Gneiss, which are some of the oldest rocks on Earth; roughly 3.0–1.7 billion years old! In the distance the main peak in the Knoydart is Ladhar Bheinn (“peak of the hoof”).
From near Armadale you can take the single-track winding road over the Sleat peninsula towards its northern shores. Along the way, though, magnificent views of the Cuillins reveal themselves. We stopped to nab some photos from above Loch Dhùghaill because who can say no to this?!
Arriving at Tarskavaig Bay, Lisabet and I quickly wandered off to explore and photography. I found this fascinating person-high crag on the beach, and clambered within its nooks and crannies looking for compositions. These are Lewisian Gneiss again, but have been squashed and stretched so much that they've become very fine-grained and have lots of cracks. They also have minerals like chlorite and epidote in them.
Away from the massive crag I head towards the more expansive beach, with fantastic clear views towards the Cuillins. I find another otherworldly rock formation and seek to compose along with the winding channels towards the Cuillins.
Moving on from Tarskavaig, we continue up the northern shore of Sleat to Tokavaig. At Tokavaig Bay, one can find the ruins of Dùn Scaich castle, formerly owned by Clan MacDonald of Sleat, a branch of the Clan Donald or MacDonald. With my long zoom lens, I can really compress the distant views, capturing the ruins of the castle as well as the mighty Blàbheinn mountain in the distance.
Dùn Scaich castle sits atop a crag on the Tokavaig coast, given near 360 views of its surroundings. It would’ve once been possible to enter the ruins across the arched footpath, but the floor of it has collapsed. The fortress is alternatively referred to as the "Fortress of Shadows." It is famously associated with the legend of the warrior woman Scáthach, who is said to have resided there, giving the castle its name.
Further long the coastline from the castle ruins are several sheer cliffs that offer unimpeded views across Loch Eishort to the entire Cuillins range. Here, my Lisabet stands perilously close to the edge of one cliff, providing a sense of scale.
The view you can enjoy from Tokavaig’s cliffs. The small trio of islands in the loch are called Eilean Ruairidh, translating as “Isle of the Red King”. There was once a fort here too. From this view, it’s clear to view the geological differences between the Black Cuillins, towards the left, and the Red Cuillins towards the right. The Red being smoother and made of granite, and the Black being more jagged and made of gabbro.
Further along the coastline we arrive at Ord, where one can take the minor road back over the Sleat peninsula to its southern shores. Before we did, we explored the bay here too. At Ord, you can find crags on the beach where old rocks meet some younger rocks called quartzites, and the younger rocks are found underneath the older ones, which is a bit unusual. The quartzites have some cool features, like cross-bedding (patterns in the rock) and folding (where the rock has been bent).
From Ord I once again equipped my 70-210mm zoom lens for some tighter compressed compositions. I lined up the small rocky islands just off the bay to lead towards the Strathaird coastline and Blàbheinn looming above everything.
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Conwy, North Wales, Spring
Conwy is a historical treasure trove.
Conwy is a historical treasure trove.
Situated above the river of the same name, Conwy is a walled town with most of those structures surviving to the present day. The town is perhaps best known for its castle, which was built along with the walls in the late 13th century.
We enjoyed getting lost around the myriad of small streets in the town, but eventually climbed up the town walls and followed the circular trail on top of the walls, which mostly surround the town. The walk offers unparalleled views of the town, the castle, and the estuary beyond.
Add a hazy day with localised and shifting spot lighting, you’ve got conditions set up for some gorgeous photos.
All photos taken on my Sony a7ii using my Vivitar “Series 1” 28–105mm f2.8–3.8 lens. RAWs developed in Capture One for iPad, edited and finalised in Affinity Photo 2 for iPad.
At the junction with Upper Gate Street, I zoomed in on this composition of Upper Gate tower, standing imperiously above the street’s housing.
The section of the walls heading towards the Quayside allow for fantastic views across Conwy’s rooftops towards the imposing 13th century Conwy Castle.
Approaching the Postern Gate, a view straight down Castle Street being lit by the brightening day proved irresistible.
At Lower Gate this beautiful house provided the perfect foreground subject to complement the light show happening across the Deganwy hills.
Heading down from the Watchtower, I find another composition that—to me—sums up Conwy nicely.
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Hodbarrow Nature Reserve, Cumbria, Autumn
Time for somewhere a little different.
Time for somewhere a little different.
For a little while now we’ve had our peripheral vision on a little-known nature reserve in southwest Cumbria: Hodbarrow Nature Reserve.
Today was the day to visit and explore it.
The nature reserve occupies the site of a former iron ore mine, which was in operation until the 1960s. The RSPB purchased the nature reserve in 1986, and are managing the area to sustain numbers of terns, wintering red-breasted mergansers, as well as wintering teals, coots, little grebes, redshanks and dunlins, and breeding great crested grebes. They are also looking to re-establish the nationally rare natterjack toad.
While parts of eastern Cumbria and North Yorkshire were looking cloudy and rainy, the southwest Cumbrian coast at Millom was thankfully sunny and clear, with gorgeous painterly high-altitude clouds aiding our photos.
Photos taken on my Fujifilm X-T2 using my Vivitar “Series 1” 28–105mm f2.8–3.8 zoom and Laowa 9mm f2.8 prime lenses. Images are 90% made in-camera using Shark & Palm’s “Kodak Ektar 100” film recipe. Finalised using Affinity Photo 2 for iPad.
Hodbarrow Nature Reserve, Cumbria, Autumn by Ian Cylkowski is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
What became immediately obvious to me and Lisabet upon our arrival was how quiet the nature reserve was. Absolutely delightful.
Beautiful “brush stroke” clouds decorated the skies above the flooded “lagoon” of the nature reserve.
The fell that commands your attention all around the nature reserve is Black Combe, an isolated Lake District fell of 600m high.
However, further into the distance are the Coniston fells, looking sublime as the clouds cast painterly shadows across the slopes of the fells.
An old abandoned lighthouse, possibly abandoned in favour of the newer one further southeast of the nature reserve. The little stub of a building in the distance to the right is the ruins of a windmill. The old windmill was used by Hodbarrow Iron Ore Mine to store gunpowder, used for blasting, between 1855 and 1880, when a purpose-built facility was built.
A clearer panorama of the Coniston fells.
A crackin’ composition I couldn’t resist. The old lighthouse reflected in the lagoon with the hump of Black Combe in the distance.
The crags of Hodbarrow Point, subject to constant erosion by the tides of the Duddon Estuary, itself connected to Morecambe Bay.
Beautiful strokes of painterly clouds adorn the skies above Black Combe. Attached to the nature reserve’s lagoon is the Hodbarrow Marina.
An old couple enjoy the views across the Duddon Estuary as feathery clouds streak across the sky.
As we approached the newer lighthouse, I noticed lots of large puddles nearby the enticed me to try my hand at a reflection composition. Not bad.
The “lagoon” of the nature reserve is protected from the sea by this beautiful sea wall, built in 1905.
Faded grandeur. Plus the streaky clouds enabled an ultra-wide composition as they “pointed” towards the lighthouse.
From the top of the sea wall, the ever-stretching expanse of Haverigg beach comes into view.
Looking along the sea wall all the way back to the Furness peninsula.
A simple scene, but beautiful nonetheless.
I enjoy the way the curve of the lagoon is mirrored in the curves of the clouds above.
After lunch, we re-emerged into the nature reserve with considerably more cloud cover. The Lakeland fells, however, were still looking magnificent.
The clouds grew larger and tighter around the sun. That would be it for the day.
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Morecambe & Heysham, Lancashire, Summer
And now for something a little different.
And now for something a little different.
Morecambe’s a good place to visit, especially if you like long walks beside the seaside. It enjoys vast panoramic views across the bay towards Silverdale and Arnside, the Furness Peninsula, and the Lake District fells beyond. You can’t help but take photos of the views before you.
Just a wee bit south down the coast from Morecambe is a small coastal town with a lot of history: Heysham.
Today we did a walk between the two.
Heysham is an ancient place. The main focus of historical human inhabitants is Chapel Hill, a small headland above the bay and Heysham itself. It’s suspected that there’s been human activity here for 12,000 years. Heysham is also only one of three sites in Britain and Ireland that contains pre-Roman labyrinth carving.
On Chapel Hill one can find the ruins of St. Patrick’s Chapel, probably constructed in the 6th of 7th century CE. Next to the chapel is a group of six stone-hewn graves, made around the 11th century. The grounds of St. Peter’s church contains lots of Saxon and Viking artefacts, including a Viking hogback stone that’s on display in the church, making the stone around 1,000–1,200 years old.
It’s an ancient place, and you can feel it around you when you’re on Chapel Hill.
All photos taken on my Fujifilm X-T2 using my Vivitar “Series 1” 28–105mm f/2.8–3.8 and Laowa 9mm f/2.8 lenses. Converted in Capture One for iPad, developed in RNI Films, and finished in Affinity Photo.
Morecambe & Heysham, Lancashire, Summer by Ian Cylkowski is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
The security fencing surrounding the site of the former “Frontierland” theme park has now been beautifully decorated with murals from local artists.
This one’s my favourite.
Across Morecambe Bay the tide was on its way out. Two people stroll along the sands seemingly all alone, with the backdrop of the Lake District fells in the distance.
The sail-like structure is called the Hook Beacon, part of a series of sculptures created for the redeveloped West End Gardens along Morecambe Promenade.
Families bravely navigate the sands of Morecambe Bay with the Furness peninsula in the distance.
It was a beautiful day to be out and about in Morecambe.
People from all walks of life were out on the Promenade; running, walking, cycling, skating, and more.
A gentle moment between father and son I felt honoured to have captured.
On a day like this, Morecambe Bay is Big Sky territory.
I love that the town is allowing creatives to brighten up and revitalise the seafront.
On the path towards Heysham we passed some common land where various horses and ponies were contently grazing.
I don’t know if these were Shetland Ponies, but they were cute and inquisitive.
This child was delighted to feed the ponies.
Our destination, the old part of Heysham with Chapel Hill above it.
We took a moment to wander the grounds of St. Peter’s Church in Heysham. Not a bad final resting place, eh?
The small St. Peter’s Church. Records show that an Anglo-Saxon church was present here in 1080 CE, and some parts of it remain in this present-day church.
Approaching our ultimate destination for the day. This is “Ship” by Anna Gillespie, with Heysham Nuclear Power Station framed in between.
I whipped out my 9mm ultra wide lens for some interesting compositions of this fantastic sculpture.
I can’t do better than Ms. Gillespie’s words, so here they are: “Symbolically positioned on the boundary between land and sea, benefitting from dramatic backdrops of the tides, horizon and stunning coastal sunsets, the outline of a ship's hull is mounted with two opposing figures at each end, one facing 'the new' of Heysham Nuclear Power Station and the other facing 'the old' of the ancient monument of St Patrick's Chapel.”
I think it’s absolutely brilliant.
Heading back north towards Morecambe, the path clambers over Heysham Head. I paused for some compositions of the rock formations.
Endless views.
We followed the trail alongside Heysham Head towards Chapel Hill and the ruins of St. Patrick’s Chapel.
Most of the south wall, east gable wall, and eastern part of the north wall are still present to this day. Despite the name the chapel was probably built 300 years after the death of St. Patrick.
Next to the ruins are these stone-hewn tombs, probably Viking in origin. They date before the Norman Conquest of 1066 CE.
My lovely Lisabet, admiring the views and soaking in the ancient presence of this mystical place.
The way back to Morecambe. What a lovely day.