Summer in the Outer Hebrides
26.08.2023
Well what another couple of months that has been….
Time just seems to be going nowhere recently, only yesterday I saw Halloween products for sale in the shops, that only means one thing……we are on the countdown to… dare I say it, Christmas. Before we get to the tinsel & turkey and all that good stuff we’ll have autumn to look forward to with the rich orange, yellow and brown colours lighting up the landscape. Wow… that’s me taken us to the end of the year in just a few short ramblings.
So what have we been up to over the last few months, for those of you who don’t already know, we’ve visited the delightfully beautiful Outer Hebrides again, spending my birthday on the incredible Isle of Harris. It was an absolute pleasure whilst we were on the island to have the opportunity to visit Talla Na Mara to see Margaret Soraya’s exhibition. Margaret lives on Harris and had her beautiful work displayed proudly and rightly so on the walls. What was even more amazing was that we met up with Margaret at the exhibition having the opportunity to chat to her over a coffee. One of the most genuine, sincere and inspirational people we’ve met in a long time. Margaret’s work is exceptional, I’ll post the link to her website below for those who are interested, I’d definitely recommend taking a look. We also recorded a podcast in Margaret’s van with her dog Skye, such a joy and playful soul with a huge amount of character. The podcast was around female landscape photographers on YouTube and the lack of them. It still surprises me that we are one of only a handful of British female landscape photographers that have a presence on the YouTube Platform. We discussed reasons why this may be on the podcast, again I’ll post the link to the podcast below. It was probably one of the most surreal moments we’ve had in a totally good way, it was hilarious with Skye causing mischief, so much fun. If you are a female and have considered starting a photography channel but have yet to take the plunge, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch using the contact section, we’d be interested to discuss it further.
I’ve also been involved in presenting a talk to Donside Photography Club which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was great to have the opportunity to speak to other photographers about Seascape Photography and all things creative. The talk was well received by the members and has spurred me on to deliver more presentations. It has also been great to meet up with Don Nealon, a local photographer who got in touch with us after watching one of our YT video’s. We spent the day at a wonderful seascape location, it was fabulous to have the opportunity to chat to him and learn more about his journey with photography, the video from our day will be released on 30th August. It was also superb to meet Dave who was over from the Isle of Lewis in our neck of the woods, we met up at Dunnottar Castle and enjoyed a lovely discussion about all things photography related. This leads me onto our next venture… we are shortly heading back to the Outer Hebrides for just over two weeks, visiting the Uists and Barra, finishing with some time on the Isle of Harris & Lewis. We are really looking forward to meeting up again with Dave to explore some hidden gems.
I’m going to finish the blog update by thanking everyone who takes the time to watch our YT videos, leave a comment or a thumbs up, it really is appreciated, also to everyone who interacts on Instagram & Facebook. We enjoy sharing our experiences with you and will to continue doing so.
Be sure to check out the ‘my recent work and prints section’ which have also been updated.
Take lots of care, chat again soon…. hopefully before the tinsel & turkey makes an appearance.
Adele & Max
Margaret’s Websites - Photographer, artist and educator Margaret Soraya
Quiet Landscapes | Landscape Photography and Creative Retreats Scotland
Our Podcast - Creative Soundscapes with Margaret Soraya: Encouraging Women onto YouTube with Adele and Max Warner Tate on App
Discovering the Outer Hebrides
17.06.2023
I thought I’d begin this update by sharing with you that this time last year we moved out of our home in Rossendale, North West UK to begin a whole new life and adventure in Scotland. It still actually blows me away that we are finally here after eight years of dithering but it was the best decision we’ve ever made. Over the last few months we have done quite a lot of travelling and have revisited Achmelvich Bay, we decided to head up April with the main reason for the trip being to try out the new awning for the campervan. After getting over the initial shock of assembling the drive away awning…what a difference it made to the amount space we had, not to mention additional comfort and somewhere to sit dry and warm outside of the van. As usual Achmelvich looked incredibly beautiful with its turquoise waters and golden sands. I decided not to take any images during this trip and instead we enjoyed some downtime, relaxing, enjoying the sights and sounds of the coast. We also spent some time with the family celebrating Max’s mums 80th Birthday, such a beautiful evening enjoying good food and wonderful company.
Into May saw us head over to the incredibly beautiful Isle of Harris & Lewis, somewhere we’ve dreamt of visiting for years. There genuinely are not enough superlatives that I can use to describe the immense natural beauty of the island. We headed over on the ferry from Ullapool , it’s around a two and a half hour crossing and thankfully we had calm seas, so much so that I fell asleep. The van again came into its own especially with the awning, the first night saw gale force winds, thank god we’d had a trial putting up of the awning session, luckily the awning remained in place overnight and the morning brought much calmer weather. Whenever we stay over in the van in any location we are always respectful of the area, the locals and the environment. Making sure we book campsites or stay in designated parking areas. The isle of Harris has many official camping spots in beautiful locations that allow you to stay over night for a five pound donation payable to West Harris Trust which we made use of.
The island has so many white sandy beaches with turquoise waters that literally blow you away & on several occasions we were reduced to tears by the outstanding beauty. We enjoyed hours of fun on the beaches and even in the water wearing our wetsuits…..how we wish we were back there now. We enjoyed our week in June so much that we decided to head back again for a short break. September will see us return again for around ten nights, we’re hoping to head across the the Uists and explore more of the Western Isles.
Photography plays a huge part in our every day lives, I’m still enjoying attending our local camera club weekly and have been asked recently to present a talk at Donside Camera Club which I’m very much looking forward to. Since returning from Harris we’ve visited Bullers of Buchan and were privileged to see puffins, coastal flowers during sunset at Portknockie and even attempted food photography for the camera club monthly assignment. Given that we enjoy and love photography to the level that we do it is always nice when other people enjoy your work, I was delighted recently to find out that I had been shortlisted in the Scottish Nature Photography Awards, Landscape Category and Commended in Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year, Seascape Category, I look forward to the exhibitions and year books from both.
I’ve was also recently asked to take part in a podcast with Kim Grant from Visualising Scotland. The podcast digs deeper to understand the journeys people have experienced with photography and how they connect to nature via the camera. The experience was great, so relaxed and informal chatting about all things photography related and how we use photography in nature to improve our wellbeing. It was an honor to be asked to get involved and I’ll hopefully take part in a few more this year. Kim has a deep love and connection to nature and hosts Photographic Connections alongside her YouTube Channel. I’ll pop some links below to the podcast and Kim’s YouTube Channel, there are some very interesting stories by other photographers that may inspire you.
@photographicconnections • Instagram photos and videos
We’ve also just released the first date for our photography workshop which will run on Saturday 7th October 2023 4pm until 7pm at Bowfiddle Rock. If you would like to get involved head over to the tuition section to book.
Enjoy the sunny weather whilst it lasts and take care
Until next time
Adele & Max