My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart’s in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;
Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart’s in the Highlands, wherever I go.
We are excited to invite you to our autumn workshop in Scotland, the country of Robert Burns and William Wallace, Adam Smith and Sean Connery. In ten days we’ll see many facets of its austere beauty, both well-known by photographers and relatively obscure: imposing Northern castles and fantastic sunsets at Skye, rocky waterfalls of Quiraing, majestic landscapes of Glencoe and even the Hogwarts Express.
The workshop will cover the most interesting areas of the Scottish North: isle of Skye and Glencoe. They are very sparsely populated, with high rolling mountains and deep coastline fjords. We’ll pay homage to the Old Man of Storr and to the famous Eilean Donan, probably the most popular castle in the North.
We start our tour in Inverness. Directly from the airport we head to the Isle of Skye, Portree. For a photographer, Skye looks like a paradise island: you get a feeling that any moment from now, a pterodactyl can fly over your head or a caveman can come out of the forest. Some places at Skye truly take your breath away: thin threads of a waterfall flowing right into the sea, the majestic Old Man of Storr in all its ancient volcanic glory, turquoise water in the Fairy pools and many, many others.
Close to the end of our workshop we’ll visit other breathtaking places, Glencoe and in particular the Glenfinnan Viaduct. Like the Wild West outlaws of old, we’ll hide in an ambush at the ridge overlooking the train tracks, prepared to pounce. And here it comes, the iconic Hogwarts Express, ready for shooting! The train happily steams away, and somewhere in that direction, behind the Glencoe passes, lies our final destination: Glasgow, the maritime and industrial capital of the Scottish North.
Day 1, 1st October, Saturday: The journey begins
We meet you at the Inverness airport (INV) in the evening and drive to Portree, our base for 3 nights. Portree.
Day 2: Touching the Skye
Rise and shine, we meet the sunrise at the majestic Quiraing! We get up well before dawn and take a short hike to capture the best lighting at sunrise. The look at Quiraing reminds of the times millions of years ago: vast areas of smooth rolling mountains covered with moss. In the midday we visit the Fairy pools with their beautiful waterfalls and cascades At sunset we visit the Neist Point lighthouse. Portree.
Day 3: The land before time
This morning starts with another pre-dawn hike. Today our destination is the Old Man of Storr; we need to get there before sunrise to capture the first light reddening his face. Please note that even though the trail itself is very good, the hike takes about an hour of upward walking. In the afternoon we depart to catch the sunset on the faces of Red and Black Cuillin across the Glen Sligachan. Portree.
Day 4: Fairytales of Skye
We’ll see another time the magnificent Quiraing and the Kilt rock waterfall crashing down right into the ocean. In the afternoon we relocate to the Broadford hotel and meet the sunset on the Elgol coastline. Broadford.
Day 5: The castle in the sky
This day is mostly reserved to make up for possible bad weather in other days, so we have no specific plans for the morning and afternoon. Please note that this is a workshop that means the middle of the trip is good for critique session. As Scottish people joking “when it’s not raining it’s snowing”, so additional photoshop/lightroom lesson will take place.
In the evening we pay homage to the majestic Eilean Donan to capture it in the evening lighting. Broadford.
Day 6: The Hogwarts Express
In the morning we check out of the hotel and drive to catch the train at the Glenfinnan viaduct where it steams across 416 yards of raised track over 21 supporting arches. Afterwards we head for Glencoe, visiting Stalker and Kilchurn castles on the way. Lunch finds us at Fort William.
Day 7: Glencoe Revisited
Today we visit Stalker and Kilchurn again and make a big circle around the Glencoe valley capturing the locations we didn’t make to yesterday. One of our favourite locations is magnificient cascades of Buachille Etive Mhor which can be opened only after the rain (which is not so seldom obviously).
Day 8, 8th October, Saturday: Departure
Beannachd leat! Goodbye, Scotland! Our workshop is finished and we bid you farewell at Glasgow.
Pricing:
Total price: 4200 USD per person twin share
Single supplement: 450 USD
Maximum Number of Participants: 12
Difficulty: easy
Included in the price:
- Double-room lodging with breakfast. If you prefer not to share your room, single-room lodging is possible for 450 USD extra.
- Full board: breakfast + lunch + dinner.
- Ground transportation including airport transfer from Inverness, car rentals and fuel costs
Not included in the price:
– Airfare to and from Inverness airport
– Visas (if applicable)
– Single supplement
What to bring
Gear:
– DSLR camera with tripod and remote shutter release
– A wide angle lens. For example, Nikkor 14-24 or Canon 17-40. Best lens for use in wide-angle scenes including landscapes
– A middle-zoom lens such as a 24-70 mm
– A telephoto zoom lens, such as a 70-200 mm. Be sure to have additional tripod mount to this lens.
Wear:
– Waterproof and windproof jacket (consider the average temperature +5 – +10 C at nights and +10 C during the daytime)
– Waterproof pants
– Warm jacket and thermal pants
– Wellingtons or fishing boots
– Casual clothes for dinners and lunches and photography workshops
Tour leaders
Daniel Kordan
Daniel was born in Moscow area. In his childhood he graduated the art school. After that, he is studied in Moscow institute of Physics and Technology and became an optics physicist. During the study he gain experience not only in physics, but also in mountain climbing and hiking, guiding tourist groups in winter and in summer in Russian mountains. Right after graduation he became a guide of photo-workshops and chief editor of “Continent expedition” magazine. This magazine is about travel and adventures all over the world. He has got several awards in photography: Golden Turtle’ 13 Nature nomination winner, National Geographic Russia contest 2013 and 2014 finalist, Best of Russia’13 and ’14 winner, best photographer’13 finalist and others. He is spending most of his time in Norway, Lofoten islands and in Tuscany at villa Gaia, guiding groups of photographers.
Iurie Belegurschi
Iurie Belegurschi is a landscape photographer based in Iceland, where he runs photo tours and workshops. He was born in Moldova and has been living in Iceland since 2006. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Tourism and Hospitality. His photos have been published worldwide in books, calendars, greeting cards, magazines and some of the most popular newspapers like The Daily Mail, The Independent, The Sun, The Huffington Post, and The Telegraph.
