Birks o' Aberfeldy

The  next stop after The Hermitage with @alycoste saw us stop at the Birks o' Aberfeldy. This beautiful short walk is extremely popular. The walk up a steep gorge alongside the Moness Burn was popularised by Scotlands Bard (Robert Burns) in a song suitably titled 'The Birks o' Aberfeldy'.

Robert Burns

 

"Bonie lassie, will ye go, 
Will ye go, will ye go, 
Bonie lassie, will ye go
To the birks of Aberfeldy!"

 

 

As you can see from the photo's below, Autumn was definitely going on here! Have never seen so many auburn and red leaves in one place. The beauty of the areas end in a crescendo of waterfalls, The Moness Falls. It's a beautiful area and I was really happy that I got to see it for the first time at this time of year.

I often forget how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful country that is relatively at peace, moderately prosperous and generally safe.

The Hermitage, Dunkeld

Finally posting some photos from The Hermitage from my visit on the 29th of October. Mental note never to visit again when the weather is good...everyone and there dog was there and it felt like the entire population of Scotland was on the road when heading back that evening.

Nestled in the north of Perthshire amid towering Douglas Firs is a pleasure ground built in the 18th century for the Dukes of Atholl. The River Braan runs through this area with many waterfalls the most impressive of which is overlooked by Ossian's Hall. The hall was built in 1757 as the focal point and is a splendid spot to watch the waterfall that roars beneath.

 

Mojo

Austin Powers

The word Mojo is a noun originally used to mean a magic charm or spell or an amulet, often in the form of a small bag containing magic items worn by adherents of hoodoo or voodoo, or it could mean a quality or some ability that brings good luck or helps you be good at something. I feel like I left my amulet somewhere and I haven't found it or felt it's effect for a some time.

It's weird how you can be mentally high and be happy with a days photography and come back and just hate everything that was shot. I am sure that we have all had those days when we aren't 'feeling it', not just with photography, but life, work and generally everything. Unfortunately, most of us, don't have the luxury of being able to sack everything off and spend the day with Netflix and a bottle of whisky.

I have had this feeling before and although I can't remember anything that I did to climb out of this 'funk' I know it will eventually dissipate and something will click again and the concrete wall blocking my creativity and self esteem will be broken through.

It's amazing how much 'self help' that you can find on the internet, and after net-surfing for a while the most helpful and most frequent piece of advice was:

"Start with one small win."

Apparently starting with one small win can help restore confidence and if you repeat these small wins you will be able to complete project that seemed impossible. My feeling is that this is probably a good way to start, complete a small task to the best of my ability. But then this advice is more for work, than creativity. More to the point what is a creative win?

November

Image courtesy of @alycoste

November, for me, marks the start of dark nights and frosty mornings, usually still pleasant frosty mornings. The most exciting thing about the dark nights is the start of Light Trail Season again... I am sure that my Instagram account is going to start filling up with them, and I'll give some more attention to the @lighttraillovers account this month as well. 

I always take a little time at the start of each month to evaluate what I have achieved in the previous month and it would seem that October is past too fast and some of the tasks that I planned have been pushed back a little.

I didn't manage to get a webmap into this site of the locations of my photographs, primarily due to the platform I am using. I did do a lot of research on different webmaps that I could use and at this point I am just trying my hardest to avoid using a google map, I think there are more creative ways to provide a point map from a database.

I was able to visit a few locations that were new to me last month; Incholm Abbey & Island, The Birks o' Aberfeldy a more in depth visit of the Hermitage near Dunkeld and was able to photograph the Tay Rail Bridge for the first time. It was a good month for photography, I learnt a lot and re-discovered some forgotten techniques and developed a taste for apocalyptic processing.

I also have a trip planned back to The Hague for a long weekend in Novemeber, make sure the apartment is still where I left it and catch up with friends and see what opportunities can be taken in The Netherlands. The winter lights will be up by now and the city always looks great at this time of the year, I am very much looking forward to going back. 

I only include one photograph in this post, which is of me, courtesy of the talented @alycoste, taken during our recent trip to the Birks o' Aberfeldy (of which I'll be posting photographs of soon).

Glencoe

Glencoe, arguably Scotland's most famous and most scenic glen, filled with history, romance and the ghosts of a massacre. An amazing destination for walkers, climbers and tourists. My goodness, so many tourists. So many foreign tourists! It was like a meeting of the U.N. at the Loch Tulla Viewpoint on the way up.

It's one of my favourite places in Scotland, no matter what the weather there is always something to see or, more importantly for me, something to photograph. The first photograph was taken just past the Loch Ba viewpoint on the A82. The second needs no introduction but for those that need the correct spelling: Buachaille Etive Mòr. 

Scotland is now in the last throws of Autumn with winter starting to find a grip, hopefully there will be snow in the glen next time I visit.