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jaylt466 posted a photo:

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jaylt466 posted a photo:

Irresistible

Dom Haughton posted a photo:

Now I know what I might have said. And yes, I know it’s been photographed a gazillion times before. But seriously, if you were here and you knew it might be quite a long time before you passed this way again, are you really telling me you wouldn’t stop for a little peek? Really? Now come on, be honest. There’s a reason why it’s one of the most instantly recognisable views in these islands to the likes of us landscape lovers. The Great Herdsman in front of the waterfall has an irresistible draw and it’s always going to be worth stopping for.

It was the first time I’d stood in this spot since a memorable winter photography expedition with Dave and Lee, almost six and a half years earlier. That had been a tremendous experience - the first dedicated photography trip away together for the three of us - and we’d had some wonderful conditions in those early February days. We came to this spot two or three times, including one morning when there must have been at least fifteen photographers jostling for tripod space around the waterfalls and in the river above. Six and a half years! Why had it taken so long to come back? Can I use the long way from home excuse?

We’d just left our hookup under a rare spell of sunshine at the Glencoe Mountain Resort after a couple of wild days, during the second of which we hiked across Rannoch Moor through sheets of July rain that gave us little or no respite. And before heading south for our next camping ground by Loch Lomond, I wanted to show Ali the stunning Glen Etive road. Even better from the elevated position in the van. We made it down as far as the Skyfall waterfall before deciding it might be an idea to turn around and start thinking about lunch and the drive to Loch Lomond. Get to the destination in time to settle down and enjoy the evening, bearing in mind that the route is packed with distractions that could easily have you pulling up at every possible opportunity to gawp at the scenery. And then there’s that horrible narrow winding section along the northwest side of Loch Lomond just after the Drover’s. Definitely one for the passengers to enjoy and the drivers to grit their teeth at.

So of course I failed at the first hurdle and stopped in the parking area opposite the waterfalls at the top of the Glen Etive road. Or did I fail? You see, Ali had never enjoyed this view before and that’s the thing about places like this. You and I have seen them many times, even if we haven’t actually been there ourselves. But when you’re not quite as much of a landscape photography obsessive as some of us are, well, just imagine seeing this for the first time ever. Think back to the first time you saw it and remember how it made you feel. I wanted her to see it for herself. We squelched the few yards across the mud, to where there was one solitary tog pointing his camera at the famous view. Did I mention I’d pulled my camera bag from the overhead cab? And my tripod? Couple of filters? Well here’s another thing - more than six years had passed. Even though we were in the middle of the day, it would be rude not to have a try wouldn’t it? It was a chance to see whether I’d learned anything in such a long time.

Those old photos in the archive leave a lot to be desired in terms of, well, just about everything really. The compositions, shutter speeds and post processing were all very different back then. Our tastes change with time don’t they? I’m being polite to my former self. If I’m being a little more critical, the first ever image I took of this view, six months before that famous winter trip, looks pretty disastrous; very much a case of “could do better.” The exposure on the water that left the brightest parts of the image all but devoid of texture; a tree so fuzzy that it seemed as if at any moment it might pull up its roots and run away down the glen to Loch Etive; the almost as fuzzy Gaussian blur at the end of the edit; the half thought out composition leaving barely a squeak of breathing space in the frame for the beautiful conical summit that I’d stood on two days earlier in that summer of 2017.

Of course none of that mattered back then. I was just excited to be here, gazing at this iconic view for the very first time. Much like I was now really. I’ll probably stand here again in another few years, looking grimly at this image and wondering what I was thinking of. But at the moment, I kind of like it. I’m glad I ignored my own advice and stopped to photograph it again. Professionals aside, if we’re not taking these photographs for ourselves, then who on earth are we taking them for?