Autumn | alan frost photography

Scotland….. it has been too long!

**Morning light near Salen** **on the Isle of Mull**

I am not alone when I say that the landscape and light in Scotland can be quite breath taking. My photographic eye cannot fail to be inspired by the scenery and the ever changing weather, whatever the season.

My wife and I last visited Scotland back in the spring of 2019. The Isles of Harris and Lewis was our chosen destination. Because of Covid, Lockdown restrictions and for other personal reasons we have not ventured very far since then, but back in October we finally threw our bags in the car and returned to the Isle of Mull. A favourite place for us to go and one of the islands that form part of the Inner Hebrides. We stayed in two locations on Mull and spent another week on the mainland at Morar which is just south of Mallaig.

It’s has taken a little while but at long last I been through and processed a selection of the many photographs I took during our three week stay, and I would now like to share some of my favourite images with you.

This will be the first of a number of posts from our trip to the west coast of Scotland. I shall include captions about some of the images and their locations etc, but essentially I would like the images themselves to tell the story.

First off …… the Isle of Mull.

**Looking south across Loch Na Keal towards Balnahard**

**The White House of Aros to the north of Salen Bay**

**Rubha Nan Gall lighthouse (the name means ‘Stranger’s Point) by the Sound of Mull near Tobermory**

**The old bridge which crosses the Coladoir River near to Loch Scridain**

**The view across Loch Tuath with Ben More in the distance**

**On the ferry crossing from Tobermory to Kilchoan on the Ardnamurchan peninsular**

I shall be posting more images from our Scotland trip in a few days time.

Autumn mist (Part 2)……… a further selection

This is Part 2 of a short series of posts in which I have tried to capture the light and mood of the landscape when seen through autumn mist. Part 1 can be viewed here.

Mist has the power to simplify a scene and when back lit by the morning sun trying to break through, the light which is cast is really rather special.

Like the first post all three of these images were taken when out walking our dog early in the morning. I never know in these situations what I will see. Sometimes nothing at all, but on other occasions there is a photo opportunity around every corner. It’s a much used cliche……but always carry a camera!

Autumn mist (Part 1)……when warm and cool tones typify this time of year.

I don’t know of any outdoor photographer who doesn’t love shooting at this time of year. The cooler mornings when mist is so often present, coupled with warm autumnal tones, is such a wonderful combination.

In my last post I went out with the deliberate intention of taking photographs. The selection you can see here were all taken a couple of weeks back on an early morning dog walk in a woodland area near my home. A spontanous photographic session which is more my style. If the light and weather are favourable I like to take advantage.

My recently acquired Fuji XT3 and 55-200mm f3.5 to f4.8 lens compressed the field of view which suits this type of subject rather well. Until recently my longest focal length was 90mm in 35mm full frame terms, but given the APSC crop factor of the Fuji, this new set up gives me a range of 83mm to 300mm. A vast difference and I am enjoying being able to compose my landscape images in a very different way. It’s not the fastest lens on the planet, but it does have built in Optical Image Stabalisation (OIS) which for these shots negated the need for a tripod.

Slowly but surely I am becoming more comfortable with colour photography. It provides me with another creative dimension. Another form of expression. It’s very satisfying and rewarding to be persuing a different path and I am particularly looking forward to the weeks ahead as autumn turns to winter. Shorter days but given the right conditions so much potential.

This is the first entry in a short series as I have other similar images which I would like to share with you.

Thanks as always for taking the time to look at my work. It is very much appreciated.

If at first you don’t succeed…..

……..then try, try, and try again.

Milton Abbey

It goes without saying that any outdoor photography is weather dependent. Sometimes the conditions are just right, and at other times they work against you.

This was very much the case during a recent workshop in Dorset with another photographer – Anthony Blake. Throughout the day it had been overcast and misty. As we approached our final destination before the sun set, we walked up a hill to the site of St Catherine’s Chapel in the hope that we would enjoy a great view of Milton Abbey through the trees. On arriving unfortunately the Abbey was nowhere to be seen. A veil of mist had descended in the valley and obscured its view. We waited a while but if anything the mist was getting worse not better.

We returned to the car and drove around looking for different viewpoint without any success. Unfortunately the light was fading fast but we decided to try one more time and return to the first location in the wishful hope that the mist might have lifted.

Much to our surprise and delight the Abbey could now be seen and you can see the result in the image above. An ethereal view of the Abbey with the mist hanging in the valley but with a clearly visible outline of the hills in the distance. I was very fortunate to capture this view…….and in doing so I couldn’t help but be reminded of the saying which I have used for the title of this post.

The Beech Avenue at Kingston Lacy

Beech Avenue

It’s been quite a while since the last entry on this blog. Regular readers will know that I had my first exhibition last month and I will be writing about the experience very soon. For now I thought I would share with you some images taken and made just before the exhibition took place back in the early part of November.