The View From the Cauldron - a photo on Flickriver

            In this voyage of random discovery, it was the only shoot for which I had made plans.  And only very sketchily at that.  I knew that somewhere near the Kingshouse Hotel I’d find Cauldron Falls and a slightly different view of Buachaille Etive Mor from the ones I was already familiar with.  Exactly where was uncertain, but hopefully I might spot the rush of white foam from the West Highland Way footpath - or at least hear it.  With a couple of quiet hours or more I could locate it, take in the new perspective of Scotland’s most photographed mountain, refine my compositions, wait for the light, etc etc and all that stuff.  We’d be there on Thursday evening and with daylight hours lasting until well after 10pm, there was no rush.  I could really take my time with this one.  No other subject would get even half as much love dedicated to it.

Except of course that didn’t happen.  We arrived at the Glencoe Mountain resort at teatime as planned, to a weather system of biblical proportions that launched a billion watery missiles at the roof of the van while we cowered inside, waiting for the slightest break just so we could connect the hookup cable and switch on the gas.  If I wanted Cauldron Falls, I’d need to wait until later and hope it calmed down a bit.  But it got worse.  There was no going out into the wilderness on Thursday evening - not even in waterproofs.  I enjoy shooting in the rain as much as the next crazy fool, but sometimes it’s a complete non-starter.  We had plans for Friday and squeezing a quick run down to the falls didn’t really fit into them.  

Ironically, it was only because we’re a pair of lazy morning slackers that the opportunity to photograph the cauldron arose.  If we were normal people who get up at a sensible hour, we’d have been on the midday bus at the very latest to get to Bridge of Orchy for the long afternoon hike across Rannoch Moor.  But because we were still dithering and dozing at a quarter to twelve and had no chance of catching the bus until the next one left at two, that a very small window of opportunity opened up.  But I’d have to be quick.  While the Kingshouse is clearly visible from the Glencoe Mountain Resort, as anyone who’s traipsed in from Rannoch Moor after nineteen miles on the trail from Tyndrum will testify, that last stretch of path is a deceptively long one.  Even with fresh legs and a light pack, I knew it was going to take at least fifteen or twenty minutes of fast walking in each direction.  And because I’d have to make that trip three times - down, up and then back down again for the bus afterwards, I’d have an hour to play with.  Less once I’d taken into account the various faffing about with boots, packs, Haribo and goodness knows what else before we tackled the big hike this afternoon.  And there was the small matter of actually finding the falls.  I knew roughly where to look for them, but I’d have to cross boggy ground from the West Highland Way path before even beginning to try and work out my compositions.  I’d allow myself forty on location at the absolute most.  None of that considered two hours of planning and pottering about at leisure then. 

I swept down the narrow road through interrupted spells of drizzle towards the Kingshouse, stepping onto the verge now and again to let the odd vehicle pass, each time inwardly cursing the lost seconds.  Eventually I made it to the road that so rudely bisects the trail and interrupts the loneliness of the long distance hiker.  Another wait for a gap in the endless traffic and more precious moments spilled.  The crossing made without incident, I was just a few minutes away - assuming I could find the foreground I was looking for.  No signposts, nothing obvious other than the constant companion of rushing water, a hundred yards or so to my left.  Soon, a slight crest along the path and signs of a thin track through the swampy heather towards the river, and as I took the turn, the tell-tale sound of the waterfall began to grow.  It hadn’t taken long to find it at all, and there was still just enough time to try a small number of compositions as the landscape before me sloped gently downwards from left to right along with the river at my feet.

Throughout the brief visit, the rain continued to dog my progress, spotting the lens all too often and rendering most of the images unusable.  But just now and again I managed a clean shot.  The summit of the Buachaille was lost in cloud from start to end, but there was just enough of it on show to make the trip worthwhile.  Just twenty-five minutes after the first exposure, I put the camera back in the bag and began the stiff uphill march back to the van.  I was pretty warm by the time I returned.  And this was just the prelude to the big hike later this afternoon.  But at least I’d managed to squeeze in the visit to the Cauldron - if only just.

Taken in: UK / Scotland / Dalness (show map)

Taken on: July 5, 2024

Tags:

Scotland

Buachaille Etive Mor

Highland

highlands

West Highland Way

Scottish Highlands

Cauldron

Falls

river

Etive

River Etive

Cauldron Falls

wilderness

Rannoch Moor

Canon

long exposure

Water

water_shots

water_captures

Waterfall

Kase

Great Britain

Britain

Greenscene

Green

Cloud

clouds

moody

mood

cascade

drama

weather

rain

Caledonia

trail

hiking « less

Sets appears in: • Scotland 2024 • Mountains more » • Scotland « less

Groups appears in: • Scotland • Scottish Mountains more » • Scottish Landscapes • Photography Week • MOUNTAIN VISTA • Amateur Photographer Magazine • NATURE'S KALEIDOSCOPE P1 X A1 « less

Camera: Canon EOS 200D, f/14.0, 1/4 sec, 11mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 200D
Lens:	Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX II 11-16mm F2.8
Aperture:	f/14.0
Exposure Time:	0.25 sec (1/4)
Focal Length:	11mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	-1 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 13.4 (Windows)
Show full info

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