TURN AROUND

SEPTEMBER 13, 2024

                                      MY FIRST IMAGE FROM MY ROCK.

This week I would like to explore the photographic concept of  “turning around.” This is the simple admonition that sometimes a rather wonderful photographic composition can be discovered by simply turning directly opposite of the obvious “heroic shot.” In this age of Instagram there are very few undiscovered vistas available to the traveling photographer. This is true even if you have the opportunity to travel more than 6,000 miles away from home to the Isle of Skye in the far Northwest of Scotland.

                A PANORAMA STITCHED FROM SEVERAL IMAGES WIDENS THE VIEW.

One of the places that every photographer is supposed to capture on eye island is the lighthouse at Neist Point, the farthest West one can go on the Isle of Skye without a boat. It is located at the far end of the typical single-track road, which to some extent keeps at least some of the tourists away. But you will still have plenty of company, with one of the worst car parks on the island to share with your fellow travelers. As usual we snagged the last parking space available - it could have easily taken another hour to wait for someone to decide to leave the area and free up another space.

                   FURTHER CROPPING REVEALS THE OVERWHELMING EXTENT OF THE VIEWS OPPOSITE THE LIGHTHOUSE.

The attraction of the site is an epic view of the lighthouse about a two-mile walk from said car park. Now I like a good lighthouse as much as the next guy, but the prospect of taking “the shot” that everyone else in the world has already taken was not on my bucket list of -photographic experiences. You can go on Instagram right now and probably find thousands of almost exactly the same images taken from the trail. Landscape photographers actually get into internet altercations on the proper placement of the horizon in relation to the lighthouse. Now of course it is possible to take a bad photograph of the lighthouse - but the problem is that the “good” images are basically identical. If you are lucky enough to actually live on the Isle of Skye you might encounter a rare weather condition, but I doubt the sanity of anyone who would drive out there in really inclement conditions that landscape photographers live for. The road is bad and long enough that even a standard sunset image requires a drive back after dark that you really shouldn’t be taking. Not to mention that sunset in the Summer is about 11:00 at night.

                FINALLY, CUE THE "GOD RAYS" AND THE REAL VIEW IS REVEALED, DIRECTLY OPPOSITE WHAT EVERYONE ELSE IS LOOKING AT.

We started the hike to the lighthouse and it didn’t take very long for me to abandon the effort. I was newly mature concerning what I was capable of  taking on in the hiking department. The “easy” hike that was literally laid out in front of us involved a mile-long descent along the usual irregular stone “staircase” followed by another mile of ascent to the lighthouse. I assured Fran and our friends Vinny and Steve who had joined us for a week that I was perfectly happy to find a rock to sit on and have fun taking images while they hiked to their heart’s content. Even though my rock was far to the left of the vantage point required for “the shot” I figured with a little work I could find the right spot.

                                                  ANOTHER VERTICAL PANORAMA SHOWS A DETAIL OF THE COASTLINE.

I soon realized that my perfectly ordinary rock afforded me incredible vistas as soon as I literally turned 180 degrees away from the lighthouse. These images are just some of my efforts captured while on the rock. Starting with just an overall view, I then moved on to the stitched panoramas that really began to capture the extent of the view. I was looking at three mountains, complete with a waterfall that fell into the sea, that I had no memory of ever seeing on Instagram. I couldn’t believe that no one else seemed very interested in even just looking at this view, drawn inevitably by the lighthouse across the way. When the “God Rays” showed up the scene was complete. After I took another round of panoramas in case I had blown something in my excitement, I moved on to several other details along the coastline.

                ALONG THE WAY ON MY PATH TO THE SPOT FOR THE LIGHTHOUSE IMAGE.

When I finally started moving towards the spot where I thought would allow me to capture “the shot” I realized that the usual route required the cliff-side trails that I had sworn off. I started  moving across the moorland, finding a path that allowed me to hop across small streams as long as I traveled at least three times as far as the coastal path required. When I arrived at the “spot”  that revealed the usual shot of the lighthouse, my excitement was pretty short-lived. Vinny soon arrived from the hike, and he too got yet another version of  “the shot.”

                                                                  A VERTICAL RENDITION.

When I finally started moving towards the spot where I thought would allow me to capture “the shot” I realized that the usual route required the cliff-side trails that I had sworn off. I started  moving across the moorland, finding a path that allowed me to hop across small streams as long as I traveled at least three times as far as the coastal path required. When I arrived at the “spot”  that revealed the usual shot of the lighthouse, my excitement was pretty short-lived. Vinny soon arrived from the hike, and he too got yet another version of  “the shot.”

                THE HORIZONTAL RENDITION SHOWS  THE PATH TO THE LIGHTHOUSE. THE SCALE IS REVEALED BY THE SILHOUETTE OF TWO HIKERS.

Now there is nothing wrong with traveling a long way in pursuit of a world-famous image, either on Skye, or in Paris, or even on the Oregon Coast. But I would suggest that there is a lot more satisfaction in finding an image that is a little more unique. Especially if all that seems to be required is to just turn around.