Isle of Skye Winter Workshop Scotland February 2024

Description

Isle of Skye Winter Masterclass Workshop

16th – 19th February 2024 4 days £1295.00 (deposit £150.00) –  4 places available

If it’s beautiful  Scottish landscapes your looking for then the Isle of Skye should be high on your list. The drama and variety of photogenic Highland icons on this Isle of Skye winter workshop are hard to beat.

Highlights Include

Capturing some of Skye’s best locations in winter light – The old Man of Storr, the Quiraing, the Fairy Pools, Sligachan, Elgol and the Cuillin mountains. Challege your skills and creativity in Scotland this winter.

Workshop Summary

Now in it’s 11th year this is my longest running workshop. The Isle of Skye has been listed as one of Europe’s top ten Islands to visit and there are plenty good reasons to back that up. Sea cliffs, breathtaking vistas, jagged Gabbro mountains that vanish into the swirling mists, shimmering lochs, streams and pockets of quiet and calm that seem a million miles from the hustle and bustle of modern life.

Skye is getting so many visitors now that winter is one of the only times that you can wander its landscapes and not see another living sole. A much better experience in my opinion if your prepared to meet its challenges at this time of year.

On this winter workshop we’ll shoot at both dawn and dusk, choosing our daily locations carefully to match the conditions. The weather can be unpredictable and Skye’s a big Island, so we’ll concentrate on some of the most photogenic locations that fit in with the conditions on the day that offer both drama and variety.

The landscapes around the Cuillin Hills like Sligachan or across Loch Scavaig by Elgol always offer some great compositions but can also be challenging at this time of year, but the rewards are there. The Fairy Pools where water, ice and rock combine to create stunning landscapes are also a wonderful place to while away a couple of hours with the high ridges of the Cuillin overhead.

So if thats not enough you then have the jewels on the Skye crown, the amazing Quiraing and the Old Man of Storr, both clinging on to the edges of the Trotternish peninsula. Both these Iconic places pack a punch and are two of Scotland’s if not the UK’s most dramatic landforms.

So pack your waterproofs and boots, dust of your camera gear and join me for this classic photography masterclass on the magnificent Isle of Skye

Why book with Lightstalkers Scotland ?

• 20 years photo educating photographers from around the globe and 14 years guiding photographers here in my native Scotland.
• local Scottish guide with local knowledge.
• client focused and small groups.
• friendly helpful support and advice,
• the best and varied set of locations.

What’s Included

4 day workshop tuition with 3 nights comfortable single occupancy accommodation with breakfast

Transport to and from locations with refreshments.

Expert “hands on” photography tuition (Photoshop Raw workflow session – creating the wow factor).

Dawn and dusk sessions

Image review and critiques

This is a popular workshop and places are limited – reserve your place asap.

(Minimum 3 participants, maximum 7 )

Suitable for – beginners, intermediate and advanced participants.

Fitness level – in order to get the best out of each location, some walking will be involved. Walks on gradients and uneven terrain will be encountered so a reasonable level of fitness and mobility is required. The walk up to the Old Man of Storr can take up to 1 hour 15 mins. Please contact me if you would like to discuss anything.

Weather
Weather at this time of year on the Inner Hebridean Islands can be unpredictable and all locations and sessions are subject to the conditions being favourable. Once booked, you will be contacted prior to the workshop and briefed on what you need to bring.

Daily schedule

Having ran this workshop for many years I’ve learnt that its best to take each day as it comes, assessing the forecast each day and planning around that as we go.
Having said that, usually we’ll start the day with an early morning session on location before returning for a well earned Scottish Breakfast. Shortly after if conditions are favourable we’ll then head out for a practical session, picking one of the featured locations thats suits the weather and light. Lunches are usually packed lunches that we can pick up in Portree and I’ll have hot drinks in the van to keep us going through the day.

Once back from our sessions we can take an hour or so out to warm up and upload our images before dinner. This will be in the hotel or a nearby venue close by. Then if you wish you can spend an hour or so preparing some images or just relax in the bar or grab an early night

On the Sunday we’ll make time for an image critique, this will be a short forum and review of some participants images and I’ll run through a photoshop RAW workflow on some of them.

Practical topics covered on location include, what equipment you need, using manual exposure and histograms, lens / focal length choice and use of filters ( ND’s and ND Graduated filters ), simplifying compositions, light theory, using and judging long exposures.

Essential equipment
Camera, lenses and good quality tripod. Lens cloths and tissues, A laptop with Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop or other image editing software, Good quality and waterproof camera bag ( or rain cover ).

Non essential but recommended: Lenses down to 16mm wide angle lens or equivalent and telephoto up to 200mm ) Polariser filter for wide angle lens, Neutral density graduated Filters ( soft / hard or both ) and straight Neutral density filters would be useful (Big and Little stoppers). I use Lee ND filters but if your not sure just come with what you have and I can go over your options.

Meeting point

We depart Inverness for Skye at  09;30 am on Friday the 16th February. Its around a 2 1/2 hour drive after a short  break at Eilean Donan castle. You just need to inform me if you are staying in Inverness the night before (most people do), I can then pick you and your bags up from your accommodation. If your arriving at the airport in the  morning I may be able to pick you up.

Once we’ve finished our final session late afternoon on Skye we will return to Inverness arriving around 1700hrs on Monday 19th February. This may vary depending on traffic etc. You’ll be dropped off at your accommodation or the Inverness Train station. It’s a quiet time of year and you should have no problem finding a central B&B or hotel, I recommend Booking.com for that purpose.