This is from a wee walk on the West Beach the other evening, the longer evenings have been great but I have been unable to grab the opportunities with a multitude of personal inputs. Where I hope to ease in to my new career but the reality wont allow me to go quietly. This typical Moray lots going on – texture and light changes, reflections etc etc – I hope you enjoy. Your continued support is appreciated and highly motivational – Scott
I thought it only right and proper to share the other side of Skye (the we dont often have sunny days here Skye) this image was captured about 10 hours prior to Elgol 50 which allows for some compare and contrast. The shot is slightly further up the beach but in essence it is the same view (just a little tighter) the mountains had been drifting in and out of cloud – but on this occasion i liked the fact that you could see just the hills and cloud obscures the rest of the view. The challenge here was keeping the lens dry…. Enjoy
Classic Scotland nothing more to say – on sale at Photo4me.com
lots of subtle light varied in the way it is has dappled itself unequally across the sky and wet sand – somewhere in Moray – well you cant have all the details or you will be on my doorstep pinching my great sky’s
I am afraid I have not been out and about recently as I am extremely busy which disappoints me immensely so rather than dig in to the archives this time I have decided to publish an image which has lain on the cutting room floor so to speak. I promise to catch up with all you wonderful blogs over the coming weeks. Enjoy
Apologies rather busy just now and not getting out and about so have been delving in to the archives and this appeared.I was drawn to the sun attempting to break through the thick cloud over the Cairngorm’s – with limited effect.
It is moments like these that have convinced me to live here on the Moray Coast. That pre dawn moment, the town is still asleep not even the dog walkers are out just an idiot with a tripod – a calm nervous silence is all around.
I apologize for not replying to all of your recent comments but I wanted to share an image before departing for the weekend and I couldn’t do both. I promise to catch up early next week. I wish all the mothers a happy Mothering Sunday so make sure you spoil your Mum for at least one day of the year 
Anyway I don’t post many Black and White landscapes but I thought the contrast in this scene lent itself to some mono treatment. I am rather pleased with it. I edited it in Lightroom 4 which I bought at student rates (I am a student after all) using my PayPal account generated from my photo sales so I actually earned this software which gave me a real thrill. I am hoping the reinvestment will pay for itself. Have a great weekend everyone and happy blogging.
Well my local icon wasn’t satisfied by playing second fiddle and basking in the shadow of some moody light. Red as my iconic friend is known wanted to be centre stage this time. I have several ideas in the pipeline which may become known as the Phonebox series or Red Moods – I can hear the gasps of anticipation.
Not a great deal to say here – simply a powerful light show – amplified by the still reflection upon an ebbing tide.
This is a shot I have been after for while now but it had been to windy for lengthy exposures. The other challenge was only a new moon in the sky filtered by clouds meant using a torch to manipulate the settings. Most notable challenge was focus with insufficient light for the autofocus to hang on then it was back to good old fashioned manual focus – equally challenging without cross-hairs – but trial and error prevailed – I like the lick of cloud breaking up the starry backdrop. I learnt a lot and am really starting to enjoy night photography – there are some excellent results to be had.
I seen an image of one of the Moray coastal fishing villages which I knew was tweaked but I didn’t understand how so I went along took my own shot and have attempted the same effect – I spent a lot of time trial and error but think I have got the hang of it. Anyway you wont see too many of these – but I do feel this particular location works well for the tilt-shift process. Tilt-shift for the uninformed is Gaussian blur applied across all but a band of the image which you want to remain normal plus a little boost the contrast and saturation offering a dreamy toy village effect.
Well I though I would demonstrate the diversity of textures in the Scottish landscape – even on a dricht day contrasts can be found – less than 300 meters from my misty Loch Duich was this stark contrast – by avoiding the mist and dricht using along lens to isolate the reflection – I ended up with this. I was drawn to the circular shape and the title fell from that – admittedly the colour is a little flat but then that is how it was – notice also the tide draining out of this sea loch placing the seaweed just below the surface in nice lines
I have been hankering at taking a minimalist soft focus image – which was inspired by work from a few of my fellow bloggers. I wont name names at this point but those who follow similar artists to myself will have a reasonable idea. Anyway something a little different which evokes the moodiness of Scotland at it’s best. Enjoy
I hope your eyes are wandering across the vista seeking the haunted Castle which I am referring to. I stayed here when I was 15 on a tour of the Highlands which was run by my school. This and a subsequent trip to Minnesota have in many shaped the creative side of me. I have ghost story to tell with this picture – but you wouldn’t believe me and it would take to long. So please just enjoy this and if you get the chance to go and stay (it is Scottish Youth Hostel Association venue) don’t think twice.
The classic Scottish Golf tease it could be Turnberry to the uninitiated it is in fact a small 9 hole golf course called Covesea after the lighthouse of the same name. In the early Spring (not that long now) the yellow sea of gorse comes alive and we know we are emerging from winters grip.
Using an old Post Office Red Telephone Box to filter the sunlight bursting through the cloud after sunrise – the filter generated some really dramatic light – I particularly like the chair drowned in the light drama
Here we are in the depths of winter and I realised I have not generated a good old fashioned sunset since mid November – now there is a reason for that of course (I am working when the light departs) but I was down the beach last weekend when this happened and I thought you may like this little chase of light……
This is a shot I took along time back which compositionally I was happy with but the upper part of the Sky was alittle blown so I thought I would mess around with some infrared & mono interpretations. Anyway the long and the short of it is I rather like this and may well try some more IR shots. Enjoy
This is probably the image that made me take photography more seriously – for a long time I regarded it as my best shot – the last time I rolled this out was May last year and it received a mere 8 likes (naturally I was dissapointed but was not long in to blogging so no real surprises. Anyway this shot is a wet film rescan and is now 25 years old – so here is my question has it stood the test of time? Secondly do you think it reflects my style as you have come to know it? Any feedback would be appreciated.
Some changes then – I have altered the name of the blog – have no fears your subscriptions etc are all intact – in changing the name I am aiming to build my Google SEO. I thought this particular photograph suitable for this change as it is the sea lock which is located at the junction where the Moray Firth and Beauly Firth merge and you can enter the Great Glen onwards ultimately to Loch Ness (home of Nessie). In summary the lock is at a crossroads just like myself. One journey ends and another begin’s …
I use Instagram for some fun and this week with emerging policy amendments – the ‘IG’ community spoke with a firm voice and apparently we were listened to – we shall see
A becalmed view stretching across the Cromarty Firth from the Black Isle to Invergordon. A mere 24 hours on from the Spring Tide storms.
As we approach Christmas I will be like most of you distracted by family and busy in other areas of my life. So I thought a little humour and then a few of my early back catalog shots to make ease the workload over the holiday period.
Another pretty bland view which to be honest I wouldn’t give a second glance towards unless I was witnessing this incredible surreal lighting situation where the sun is setting behind me generating this intense backlight against a stormy sky and it was being punctuated by lightening bursts being filtered by the cloud – One of the most dramatic light dances I have ever witnessed.
I have posted over 500 images here on WordPress most are dynamic wild Scotland with some fantastic light. This image however is probably at the other end of the spectrum – an underwhelming subtle hue of pink and blue on an abnormally calm summer’s evening. Take time to look at the subtle hue and reflections within this almost Turner like effect.
Sandwood Bay (Scottish Gaelic: Bàgh Shanabhait) is a natural bay in Sutherland, on the far north-west coast of mainland Scotland. It is best known for its mile-long beach and Am Buachaille, a sea stack, and lies about 5 miles south of Cape Wrath. Behind the bay’s large dunes, stretches Sandwood Loch – a freshwater loch full of brown and sea trout.
Though remote, and with no road access, the bay is easily reached by a 4-mile long, yet well-trodden and fairly flat, path leading from the gravel car park at the hamlet of Blairmore. Sandwood Bay is part of the Sandwood Estate which is run by the John Muir Trust. The beach is considered to be one of the cleanest and most unspoilt beaches in the whole of mainland Britain.
Well as you tolerated my Glaswegian Social Commentary, I thought I may continue to indulge some people photography – here are three ladies soaking up the view in beautiful light at Oldshoremore, Sutherland. The view which they are not sharing with you is wild and magnificent. First and foremost I loved the light, but I clocked the other person dissapearing (hands on hips) in to the distance and the wonderful white house isolated by the dark sky. I immediately thought they had been socially excluded from the bench threw a temper tantrum and walked off in a huff.
On the whole I am about Landscape photography but I also love shape and texture in cityscapes. Anyway the bottom line is I felt it was about time for an abstract. On this occasion not using architectural texture but light – I hope you find it interesting and perhaps challenge your perception of my work in some small way.
This is an archive repost from the “Burghead Sunset Sessions” a seminal week in November 2011 where I witnessed several wonderful sunsets in the same week.
I wanted to brighten things up – I know you will be used to seeing reflections in my work – on this occasion however I have used farmland in varied state of being farmed. I like the collection of soft browns and autumn colours all being amplified by the depth of the reflection – but natural enough to display a range of surface textures – enjoy
These are small snapshots of my most successful Instagram Images – I thought it might be interesting to share, couple of points to note – it is mainly my landscape work but not exclusively which is popular, wildlife on the whole struggles and people crash n burn – moody coastal scenes work every time but then I understand that. Anyway if you want to follow me on Instagram or Twitter just search @skm1963 – I find it fun and relaxing 
I love capturing the light pre-sunrise especially when there is high clouds to catch the light, here the sun has actually risen above the horizon but I have rapidly withdrawn to use the dunes as filter, I hope you like the result as much as me.
I thought it would be worth showing you the special piece of light I was referring to in my previous post. I have posted this image previously back in the spring but held my previous blog ‘Island Life’ back. Interestingly I often do this if I have managed to get 2/3 decent shots around the same subject, I will drip feed them in. This allows me to keep the subject’s I cover diverse and try not to bore my audience with too many similar posts (that’s the theory anyway). Another interesting point is this is landscape which has been isolated by a long lens as opposed to the more traditional wide-angle lens generally associated with landscape photography.
Not as dramatic as some of my recent images but I like it’s subtle and varied light sources, the two bursts of light on the island and the hint of some special light in the distance. My next post connect’s the two images and demonstrates how radically different images can be achieved by using a variety of locations and lenses.
Based in Lossiemouth, Scotland. My main interest is in landscape, seascape and skyscape photography, equally I enjoy shape and texture imagery. UK Photo Sales & USA Photo Sales
my photoblog is Scott Marshall Photography (@skm1963)
