Photography in the Outer Hebrides
Time is flying…. It’s been just over two months since we relocated to the Outer Hebrides and set up home on the Isle of Lewis. Hopefully our previous Blog posts have provided an little bit of an insight into our experiences so far since we moved home but it felt quite apt to write to you today, on the last day of February.
The nights are now drawing out and the weather is sort of settling down, the winds are raging again today with gusts of up to 70mph around the Island but we have been able to head out with the camera much more during February which has been fantastic, rewarding and immensely exhilarating. We’ve been spending a lot of time exploring Lewis, the beaches on Lewis are just as magnificent as they are on the Isle of Harris. What has been especially nice is having the beaches pretty much to ourselves, vast wide open sands looking out to roaring waves, deafening sounds as they crash, golden sunlight reflecting onto the the ocean and backlighting the spray. One of the things that i have always loved about photography is how being out in the landscape or at the coast makes you feel. We both used to have full time professional roles at work and initially found photography a release from the every day, it has also been a healing process mentally for us in many ways. The camera has taken us on journeys that i don’t think we would have experienced hadn’t we have discovered a love for photography. Being out with the camera is now very much an emotional and meaningful experience, the small things like incredible patterns etched into the sands bring us as much joy as a beautiful sunset, the way the sand dunes glow during golden hour and the colour of the ocean under a dark moody sky fills us with what i can only describe as a big warm hug that recharges every cell. Witnessing the changing conditions and the power of the ocean reminds you that we are a very small part of the planet, that feeling walking back to the car after spending an hour or so immersing yourself in the outstanding beauty that the Outer Hebrides has to offer is one of calmness, peace and tranquility.
February has almost been a time of reflection, it’s ten years ago this month since when we first discovered the magic of Scotland. We stayed in Aultbea in the West Highlands and i can still remember how i felt seeing lochs and enormous magnificent mountains for the first time, light and cloud creating shadows as it passed over the landscape, sunrays peeping through gaps in the cloud and of course sideways rain a few minutes later. Having never experienced or seen anything like this before, we were totally in awe of the landscape and completely unaware of how this would shape the next ten years of our lives. We knew early on that being in Scotland was the dream, it took us eight years to then realise that dream with our move to Aberdeenshire. When we first discovered the Outer Hebrides in May 2023 it felt like discovering Scotland all over again, we certainly didn’t want to spend another eight years debating if we should relocate. After spending our first couple of months on the Island during the winter months, yes it has been challenging with the weather but you soon learn to not worry so much about it ….if we could sum up our experience so far we’d say something like “ Wow what a place, absolutely incredibly stunning, wild wet windy weather, hospitable friendly warm people, caring community, peace & tranquility & space to breathe and focus on what really matters to you. Of course you will find this in any community but for us the move has been literally been a breath of fresh air.
Experiencing Scotland isn’t all about the camera, we enjoyed many visits for a good few years before i really started to become interested in photography and always left feeling renewed. I’m much more relaxed about the whole photography process now which i believe is so much more beneficial to you on a physical and emotional level…..to give a little more context, I would get caught up with the expectations, what I’d seen online or pictured in my head and more often than not be disappointed that the sky didn’t light up or the waves weren’t crashing in as I’d hoped. I do think it’s part of a process when you are new to photography, for me it definitely was. Making the journey, spending money on travel, accommodation etc the thought process was i hope we come home with some good images. As we know the weather in Scotland has it’s own ideas and quite often i wouldn’t even get the camera out if there was the slightest bit of rain. I’m much more relaxed about that side of things now, i rarely research an area unless its cliff top. I will check the tide times and the weather apps but we head out regardless, no expectations just excitement. I’m drawn to the smaller things and experimentation, if the conditions are on our side we enjoy them, if they aren’t we embrace them. Shaking off the it needs to be perfect every time we head out hasn’t been easy but it has made photography much more relaxing. Removing the pressure allows more time to be open minded and see what is still in front of you.
What else have we been up to over the last couple of months… Other than heading out at every opportunity.
We met up with Ken & Wendy Walker at the Harris Hotel for a coffee and chat, a very lovely, warm & friendly couple who were enjoying a holiday on Harris. Ken is a fantastic photographer and it was an absolute joy to hear about his experiences in the world of photography and also about their own relocation to the East Coast. I love that photography is a community, it’s refreshing to actually meet people whose work you admire and chat to them face to face. We look forward to meeting up with Ruth Grindrod in March and hopefully many more wonderful people over the season.
We’re also planning on releasing our first YouTube video since September last year. We have so much footage from the last five months to share with you. The video will be more documentary style showing our move, some of the places we have visited alongside drone footage & images taken. We do plan on making more videos to share and are looking forward to heading out with the cameras getting back into the swing of video.
We’ve also linked up with Visit Outer Hebrides & Isle20 to promote our 1-2-1 & small group photography tuition & prints. Isle20 is a website promoting photographers, arts & craft makers with 32 Scottish Islands represented, with each maker/artist having their own online store. They have some wonderful gifts from over 600 businesses in the Scottish Isles. Visit Outer Hebrides provide lots of information & guidance on visiting these beautiful islands from accommodation, activities, see & do, food & drink, history & wildlife and so much more. Links below. You can also find our prints for sale in the Carloway Community Shop (Lewis) & also at An Clachan community shop (Harris) as well as our prints page on the website.
Warner-Tate Photography - Isle of Lewis - Outer Hebrides (visitouterhebrides.co.uk)
Scottish island gifts - we deliver the very best of the islands! (isle20.com)
Welcome to the Outer Hebrides - Outer Hebrides (visitouterhebrides.co.uk)
Photography for us is such a huge part of our lives, it is a pleasure to have the opportunity to provide tuition and share the experience in such an outstanding environment.
Thank you for taking the time to read the update, take care and hope to catch up soon.
Adele & Max
Drone image made by Max, I especially love how this images shows the wide open space of the beach with just me & the tripod looking out towards the incoming waves. The perspective of the drone images allows us to see the world in a different way.