Sunrise and The Old Man of Storr

Sunrise and The Old Man of Storr

Day 2

I could hear the melodic tune of the alarm on my phone in the background, I must be dreaming as it seemed like 5 minutes since I went to sleep, but no, it was time to get ready for the sunrise shoot. Fortunately I had packed my camera gear into my backpack for this shoot last night, so it was into the car for the short journey to the selected location, arriving about 45 minutes before sunrise. This view was across the Sound of Sleat towards the mountains on Knoydart.

I changed location slightly during the time there, to vary the foreground as the sun rose above the distant mountain ridge. With the sun now well above the horizon and warm orange and pink glow having changed to daylight this sunrise shoot was over, it was time to head back to the hotel for breakfast.
Mid-morning we set out again this time our destination was The Old Man of Storr. Our journey of about 1 hour was through Broadford, then to Portree and The Old Man. We parked in the lay-by at the side of the road as the small car park was already full, (57°29'34.70"N 6°10'13.29"W).

On the internet the first part of the route is described as a winding path through the trees, this has recently changed as the tree plantations on the Isle of Skye have been felled, and the path was deeply rutted by the heavy machinery that was used (April 2014). Once above the area of tree stumps the track climbs steeply at parts with stepped sections created using large rocks (sturdy footwear recommended). Upon reaching the Old Man of Storr the area that I chose to photograph from was atop of a small hill to the right, this gave me a slightly elevated view, rather than looking upwards to the pinnacles. The decent that we took was the reverse of the ascent, quite a bit easier and fewer rest stops required.

Once back at the car we continued along the road to Kilt Rock. The area known as Kilt Rock is not visible from the road though the car park is well signposted. From the fenced cliff edge viewing area there is a clear view of Kilt Rock further along the coast.

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