The Beauty of Harris

Society of Scottish Landscape Photographers

The Beauty of Harris

Welcome to the next in the Society's Exhibition series ..."The Beauty of Harris" focuses on the more traditional landscape beauty of the amazing Isle of Harris. For this exhibition we have gathered 11 of the finest landscape photographers in Scotland to showcase both their work and the landscape they love.

The venue for this event is the amazingly scenic Talla N Mara on Harris and we are very happy to have an exhibition on Harris for the first time and to have it for 5 months is amazing.

All the images shown are for sale and members can be contacted on the information they have given in the book. For this exhibition we are very proud again to be sponsored by Zeiss, one of the biggest names in the photography world and this is an indicator to the quality shown in this book. Massive thanks go to member Seรกn Kerr for organising this exhibition on behalf of the Society.

If you have any questions please feel free to email me davie@soslp.com and for more information on the Society itself please go to www.soslp.com Davie Hudson (Chairperson)

Ade Gidney Ade is a retired detective who lives on the edge of the Lake District, Cumbria. His fascination with Scotland began in the 90’s with walking, climbing & mountain biking trips in the Highland. At the age of 40, he took up kite surfing and surfing, which led him to the islands off the west coast of Scotland.

Retiring from the police after 30+yrs in 2012, he took up digital photography and started to incorporate this into his trips north. He had been to Harris on a mountain biking trip in 2003 and returned in 2017 to enjoy the beaches, surf and to make photographs.

He considers Harris and the rest of the Hebrides are the ‘jewels’ of Scotland, which he will never tire of visiting.

See Ade’s work at Flickr This is Ade's description of his image.... "This image was taken on a small stretch of sand just below Talla na Mara looking towards Taransay. As the sun was setting, it illuminated the dark rocks giving them a golden sheen.

Just before I took this shot I saw a family of otters swim past and watched them for several minutes hunting for food.

This image sits above my desk and reminds me of the beauty of Harris"

"Harris Gold" ÂŁ240 (+ shipping if applicable) Size is 27.5" x 21" and Printed on Epson cotton rag with a 2" white mount and 2" black frame

Brian Doyle Brian is an amateur photographer who spreads himself across many genres but is most at home in the Scottish Landscape. Brian has always been interested in good imagery, be it an iconic image, portrait or a definitive moment in time.

The desire to make his own images didn’t embed itself until the mid 2000’s with the availability of Digital SLR cameras and a young family to practice on.

A change in circumstances meant the golf clubs had to be retired and Brian found a little more time to dedicate to photography, though physically it can still be a challenge.

Joining his local camera club, Brian had to expand his knowledge quickly to compete with the best photographers at the club and whilst competition isn’t necessarily what drives Brian, it did act as an aid to accelerate his knowledge base. Brian is currently the President for Mearns Camera Club in Stonehaven.

Brian uses a mix of equipment, but for his Landscape and intimate work he primarily uses a high-resolution mirrorless camera. briandoylephotography.com briandoyle@btinternet.com

This is Brian's description of his image ...."Taken on Tràigh Rosamol as the sun set over the Harris Hills. The receding tide had left the beach pristine, apart from the black volcanic deposits, which the tide had drawn out, making an almost tridentlike shape in the sand.

Almost stumbling upon it as I surveyed the beach, it was too good not to try and incorporate into a composition alongside the out flow of the river, with the setting sun adding to the wonderful backdrop"

"Poseidon's Trident" ÂŁ200 (+shipping) with all profits donated to Alzheimers Scotland Size is 21" x 25" and Printed on HahnemĂźhle Torchon archival paper with a 2" double mount and black satin frame

Chris Lauder Chris is a semi-professional photographer from Central Scotland who enjoys nothing more than being by the coast or a flowing river capturing their movement to create soft, ethereal and subtle images whether that’s as part of the wider scene or an intimate detail.

Chris first took up an interest in photography after a road trip to the Geneva motor show with his best friend back in 2007 armed with a Kodak digital compact camera. On return from this trip and almost burning himself out at work he purchased his first DSLR camera and took to the coast to find peace and tranquillity.

Over the years, Chris has travelled to all corners of Scotland capturing the fantastic scenery that the country has to offer.

He says “Photography has taken me to places in Scotland I would never have had the inclination to visit before and I have witnessed some of the most amazing sights on my journey. Long may it continue”.

Water features strongly in Chris’s work and, with his use of long exposure and an eye for the small details, Chris has developed a minimalist approach to composition, which he hopes gives his images a very relaxing and calming feel to them. Chris has, over the last few years, moved over to the Mirrorless system cameras and the use of prime lenses for his wider landscapes and a macro or tele zoom for his more intimate detail work and continues to develop his minimal, uncluttered style.

As Chris says himself “I feel complexity and lots of elements in a composition create clutter and to me, clutter is distracting.

Prime lenses make me slow down and consider my compositions more effectively than standing in one spot and zooming in or out”.

www.facebook.com/chrislauderphotography This is Chris' description of his image "I initially found this patterned rock on Tràigh Iar about 18 months prior to taking this particular image. The weather, tides and colourful sunset I’d hoped for have never come together for me to get what I had envisioned during my visits to the Island to date.

The patterns on the Lewisian Gneiss immediately grabbed my eye and the contrast of the sharply in focus rock with the softness of the sea and sky as blue hour set in created an ethereal look and one that I may never witness again. I have still to get that image I had initially envisioned and now 4 years on, these rocks have since been buried under the sand.

I’m really pleased this image was commended in the seascape category of the 2017 Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year"

"Swirly Rocks" ÂŁ250 (+ shipping if applicable) Size is 25.5" x 33.5" and printed on Canson Baryta fine art paper with a quality black frame and double white mount.

Kenny Muir Kenny was brought up in Upper Nithsdale, a picturesque and rarely visited rural community in southern Scotland. Whilst photography has not always been part of his life, he came to appreciate the local landscapes through walking and camping in the Southern Upland hills.

His interest in landscape photography began in 2005 whilst walking the Southern Upland Way long distance route in Dumfries and Galloway.

Kenny’s photographic journey has taken him to Iceland, New Zealand (where he spent 16 months) and China.

Over this time his photography has evolved winning end of year aggregate awards in camera clubs in both hemispheres.

Kenny moved up to the Scottish Highlands to take up post as a medical consultant in Inverness in 2016. Immersing himself in the landscape is the perfect antidote to the fast-paced hospital environment. He has become increasingly drawn to wilder places within the local area and this has become a focus of recent work. Through careful planning his aim is to capture and preserve unique moments and present them to the viewer as he experienced them.

See more of Kenny’s work at www.kennymuir.com, or www.instagram.com/kennymuir This is Kenny's description of his image "In early Spring 2018, I set off to find a vantage point that showcased both the Luskentyre estuary and the mountains of North Harris from afar.

It was hard to ignore this shapely Lewisian gneiss boulder, quite possibly a glacial erratic, as it glowed in the fading evening light.

"Seilebost Gneiss" ÂŁ180 (+ shipping if applicable) Size is 24" x 18" and Printed on Fujicolor Professional DP II Lustre photographic paper and framed in satin black.

Kevin Ainslie Kevin was first introduced to photography through a module at school when he was just 15 years old, and though he had immediately taken to it and found great enjoyment behind the lens, he wouldn’t know the real joy it would bring him until almost 25 years later.

In 2013, after some significant life changes, Kevin again picked up a camera in hopes to find a creative outlet and a new, positive focus. In reality though, photography has given him so much more than that. Kevin’s passion for photography has all owed him the chance to explore, appreciate, and capture the natural, wild beauty of this tremendous little island we call home. Kevin lives in East Lothian and is now happily remarried. He balances his full-time job in Retail Management with freelance photography focusing on landscapes, weddings, portraits, and property.

Kevin has returned to the format he was first introduced to all those years ago...film... and he has loved every minute of traveling the UK and Europe, discovering new techniques, using old cameras, and he hopes to always continue seeing the world through the lens!

You can see more of Kevin’s work at www.klrkphotography.com

This is Kevin's description of his image.... "On my first visit to Harris in February 2018, I was treated to stormy weather, snow, hail, and fast-moving light. Exactly the reasons I wanted to visit Harris in the first place. It was during a short break in the storm the light over Taransay and the Harris mountains was amazing and I had to stop.

I drove up to the small sandy beach at Bagh Steinigidh and grabbed my gear. I found a composition that would capture the waves crashing into the rocks and receding to the sea with the Harris mountains in the distance. I perched the tripod on some rocks then just waited for the perfect wave...

"Bagh Steinigidh Storm" £220 (+ Shipping if applicable) Size is 20" x 24" and is Printed on Hahnemühle William Turner 190 gsm paper with a 2.5” white mount and black satin frame

Magz Macleod Magz is a Hebridean Landscape photographer from the Isle of Lewis and Harris. Her love for her native Hebrides is translated into her photography as she presents her own vision of the islands she was born and brought up in.

A published poet, and a photographer, she infuses her work, both written and visual, with the romanticism of the myths and legends of the ancient bardic tales she grew up on in her childhood.

Impactimagz@gmail.com www.instagram.com/impactimagz www.facebook.com/impactimagz www.flickr.com/impactimagz

This is Magz' description of her image..."The ponies of Luskentyre Beach are known and loved by all who spend time with them, whether local to the island or one of the many visitors from around the world who travel to our shores. The setting for this particular image brought the poem by Edwin Muir, The Horses, vividly to my mind, as they grazed in their own covenant of silence in the darkening light of a still, February afternoon."

"Late in the evening the strange horses came.

By then we had made our covenant with silence... ... We had sold our horses in our fathers' time To buy new tractors. Now they were strange to us As fabulous steeds set on an ancient shield.

Or illustrations in a book of knights.

We did not dare go near them. Yet they waited, Stubborn and shy, as if they had been sent By an old command to find our whereabouts And that long-lost archaic companionship" The Horses ŠEdwin Muir

"Covenent with Silence" £240 (+shipping if applicable) Size is 24" x 17" and Printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art Pearl 285gsm with 2” acid free mount and black satin frame.

Mike Prince Mike Prince is a Landscape Photographer living on the edge of the Lake District National Park. He has been making photographs on a full time basis since 2015 and for many years before that part time.

Having started with film and traditional silver gelatin darkroom processes, all images are now produced digitally. Mike’s main sources of inspiration are the Lakeland Fells, the West of Scotland and the Hebrides. Blue skies and sunshine do not feature heavily among the portfolio. Mike is much more likely to be about and about when the weather is poor or just turning.

After many years walking the fells and in Mountain Rescue, his tripod is often to be found set up on a Lakeland summit or by a lonely waterfall. Most of the images are taken at margins; the beginning of the day, the edge of water or the approach of a storm.

The term most often used in description of Mike’s images is moody: stormy skies, mist and rain are frequent ingredients.

Mike is proud to be an Ambassador for Lee Filters This is Mike's description of his image "All of Harris is on this one beach. There is no location on Earth I'd rather stand than this lonely place in West Harris.

I try to make a photograph that doesn't just record the view but tries to capture what it looked like to me and more importantly felt like to be there at that moment.

The wind so strong that it blew rain and hail like needles into my side. Sand shifting beneath the tripod with each push of the tide. Raindrops running down filters between each quick wipe. This is a place where nature is raw, uncompromising and usually uncomfortable - perfect" www.mikeprince.org www.facebook.com/mike.prince.54

"Taransay" ÂŁ125 (+shipping if applicible) Size is 26" x 16" on HahnemĂźhle Fine Art Pearl 285gsm. White acid free mount and black frame

Paul Millar Paul is a multi award winning semi-professional photographer from the Glasgow area. His view on photography comes from an admiration of those who can put pencil to paper and paint to canvas, allowing him to use his photography to fulfil a creative obsession and desire.

A question put to Paul, some seven years ago, would perhaps change his life forever. That question being, you have a DSLR camera, what do you use it for?

He hopes from his exhibition image, the answer to that question has been fulfilled, as he travels Scotland capturing the light from the darkness.

Paul now brands himself under the banner Paul Millar Photography, offering bespoke fine art framed prints to the highest of standards. Additionally, Paul also offers 1 to 1, land, sea and cityscape workshops tailor-made to his clients’ needs.

He also became a Brand Ambassador for Formatt Hitech Filters earlier this year and is very proud of this achievement.

This is Paul's description of his image "Not all photography trips become fruitful to the point of capturing a dramatic image. As I walked alone on Luskentyre Beach, on a beautiful June morning, my thoughts changed more to note taking than photography, with inspired inspiration for future trips. I would return to this location some four months later, and this time with one thought in mind as I walkedalong the beach in the remaining darkness of a new day to capturing the breath-taking beauty from Luskentyre Beach back towards Horgabost.

Standing in the wash and angling back towards the beach, as first light broke with a beautiful tone of pinkness in the sky, brought that dramatic look, I had thought about months before".

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"Light on Luskentyre" ÂŁ220 (+shipping if applicible) Size is 26" x 21" and printed with a Black frame, printed on Cotton Rag Fine Art Paper. Double mounted, white on white, glazed with non-reflective glass.

Phil Hunter Phil is an amateur photographer from West Yorkshire and combines photography with his job as a Foster Carer.

His initial interest in photography was brought about when his father had a Polaroid camera in the early 1970s when he was about 12 years of age. At 16, he left school to pursue a career in engineering and, within a short period of time, he bought his first SLR, a Canon AE-1 Program. Around the same time, Phil was beginning to gain an interest in hiking, so it was a natural progression to photograph the beautiful landscapes of the Yorkshire Dales.

Over the years, Phil was shooting with film and even started developing and printing his own black & white film. In 2002, he bought his first DSLR, a Canon D60, and never looked back. Phil feels lucky to live within close proximity to two of the country’s beautiful national parks, the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District, but has a love for the West Coast of Scotland and the Outer Hebrides and for the past 10 years or so has made the trip North of the Border for a week of intense photography amongst some of the most beautiful and natural scenery to be seen on this planet. It wasn’t until 2018 that Phil first came to Lewis and Harris, stating that he was blown away, and that no other location has had such a profound effect (photographically) on him.

This is Phil's explanation of his image "The image shows Seilebost looking towards Luskentyre and the North Harris Hills. I tried to produce an image that I have had in my mind’s eye every single day since I first clapped eyes on such stunning scenery. Such scenery speaks for itself so all I did in post-processing was to blur some (but not all) of the fine detail" Catch up with Phil's work on Facebook

"Hebridean Dream" ÂŁ220 (+shipping if applicable)

Size is 26" x 17" and Printed on Fuji Fine Art Baryte Gloss 300gsm paper with a 1.5 inch white acid-free mount and quality matt black frame

Seán Kerr Seán is a multi-award winning Scottish landscape and nature photographer from Dunblane and a regular visitor to the Isle of Harris. To Seán, Harris feels like a home from home. His exhibition ‘The Wonder of Harris’ has been on display twice in Talla na Mara as well as in Glasgow and he has published an associated limited edition book.

His love of the natural world is fused with a deep passion for representing that world in context and with the utmost respect and integrity. He will always attempt to recreate the wonder of nature faithfully and, in his view, the wow factor should come from nature, not over-processing and digital manipulation.

He firmly believes that the true essence of great photography is the art, so that the final image not only looks pleasing to the eye, but also has real context, evokes emotion and inspires the human imagination.

Seán is an ambassador for Zeiss Camera Lenses and Formatt Hitech Filters. www.seankerrphotography.com sean@seankerrphotography.com This is Seaán's explanation of his image "It's an extremely rare occurrence for snow to lie on the islands of Northton Salt Marsh on the Isle of Harris. To time it at sunrise and low tide was a coming together of rare factors to create a very special scene.

Only 20 minutes later, the ice and snow had started to disappear and the islands were submerged a few hours later.

'The Beast From the East', a cold weather storm from Siberia was to be thanked for this! I loved the combination of the ice and flowing water, the blue tones created by the combination of the stormy skies and dawn light contrasting with the brilliance of the snow.

If you look closely, there is also a snowfall over the summit of Ceapabhal, the hill in the backdrop. I was delighted to win the Landscape category in the 2018 Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year awards with this image."

"White Islands" ÂŁ240 (+shipping if applicible)

Size is 24" x 20" and Printed on Fuji Photo Rag 300gsm archival fine art paper with 2� white acid-free mount and quality black satin frame.

David Mould David is a self-taught Landscape and Fine Art Encaustic Photographer. He previously cut his teeth on film photography in his youth in the 1970s, not far from here in his home in Stornoway, only returning to photography in the last fifteen years with the development of workable digital technology. He now spends most of his free time in wonderful parts of Scotland, including Harris... waiting for the light!

Some folk say a lot of photography is luck, well, David believes that you make your own luck... knowing where the sun rises and sets, knowing when the leaves and heather change colour; luck is all the elements coming together at once...it’s knowledge that puts you in the right place to capture that image.

David tries to create, through the initial photographic technique and textured photo processing, an evocative and individual bespoke piece of art conveying the mood and feeling of the landscape image whilst attempting to elevate it to another level by adding textures, not only digital, but physical, by means of encaustic medium (Beeswax and resin), adding additional tactile and ethereal elements to the piece.

This is David's description of his image ..."My image was taken on a wet and stormy October morning on the dunes above Borve Beach whilst doing a pre wedding shoot for my brother’s wedding, I couldn’t think of a more beautiful venue, and so close to home and full of memories for the local bride... I wanted, in this image, to capture our futile attempt to control the land against the relentlessness of nature, inevitably only adding to the beautiful texture and fabric of the landscape, in time...

OnLandscape Featured Artist

www.davidmould.co.uk

"Tràigh Mhòr" £240 (+shipping if applicible) Size is 26" x 18" and Printed on Permajet Omega 310gsm, off white mount and black frame.