A Scottish Summer

[David Paterson]

Back to reality - strong breeze, gusting up to 60 km/hour, frequent heavy rain showers, some of them prolonged, 14ºc - yes, it's a Scottish summer's day. But I love it, just the same.

Shot yesterday, just south of Glencoe.

[Mikes]

Wow, that's an emotive image that appeals to me - I really like the luminescent golden foreground colours, and the contrasting cloud formations threatening rain at any moment. Nice framing.

At 14ºC its swimming weather in Scotland, right?

Strange haloing along the ridge on the extreme right....

[Akira]

Indeed it is dramatic.  Does the "spotlight" on the foreground come through the crevice of the clouds?

[Thomas Stellwag]

the ultimate Scottish landscape photographers philosopher´s stone - greast as always Dave

[David Paterson]

Thank you, Mike, Akira and Thomas, for your generous commments.

Wow, that's an emotive image that appeals to me - I really like the luminescent golden foreground colours, and the contrasting cloud formations threatening rain at any moment. Nice framing.
At 14ºC its swimming weather in Scotland, right?
Strange haloing along the ridge on the extreme right....

Mike - no need to go swimming - most days I get drenched going from the house to the car. The halo (well spotted) is some  kind of compression artefact. I made a large print of this image and there is no halo visible.

Akira - that is exactly what happened - I was standing, wondering if there was a shot there, when suddenly a small area around me, about 30x30m, was lit as if by a celestial spotlight and I grabbed a couple of exposures before it moved away and disappeared.

Thomas - nice to hear from you - I hope you are well

[Bent Hjarbo]

the ultimate Scottish landscape photographers philosopher´s stone - greast as always Dave

+1 as usual fantastic picture.

[Frank Fremerey]

apocalyptic mood. a fun shot

[Akira]

Akira - that is exactly what happened - I was standing, wondering if there was a shot there, when suddenly a small area around me, about 30x30m, was lit as if by a celestial spotlight and I grabbed a couple of exposures before it moved away and disappeared.

Dave, thank you for the detail.  I often realize that landscapes are about capturing the moment, just like action or sports.  This image proves that.

[David Paterson]

Many thanks to Bent, Frank and Akira.

I try to shoot something every day (as well as working my archive) and my motivation comes, in large part, from my friends and colleagues in NG. 

[Bill De Jager]

Love it!  Low light angle, wonderful colors, contrast, lighting, composition.

Here is California we're deep into our annual summer drought.  The grass is brown, the sun is still high in the sky most of the day, the air is full of summer haze (sometimes smog), and fire season is getting underway. 

What a relief to see a landscape that's freshly washed!  This kind of photograph will be possible here in another 4 or 5 months when the grass is green and the weather interesting.

[David Paterson]

Thanks, Bill.

My only visit to California (also Utah, Nevada and Arizona) was in the fall - October - and everywhere was extremely beautiful. I think we all moan a bit about our local climate/weather/scenery/etc, and in Scotland it is the rain and the many, many days each year of dull, cloud-filled skies. The challenge then is to work with what we've got. 

[Bear Dale]

Lovely dramatic image.

[PeterN]

Wonderful light and capture.
I admit that I love the rainy, cloudy days in Scotland because the landscapes look gorgeous when it stops raining and the sun comes through the clouds.

[John Geerts]

Dramatic atmosphere and beautifully captured. !

[David Paterson]

Thank you, Bear, Peter and John - much appreciated.

Today is blazing hot perhaps our hottest of this summer. This shows the other side of Scottish weather - its extreme changeability. We can often get three seasons in a day.