Wild Light – Sample Pages

WILD LIGHT

Craig Aitchison is an award-winning photo­grapher specialising in panoramic images of the Scottish Highlands. Craig has spent twenty-­five years walking and exploring in the beauty of Scotland’s mountains, glens and lochs. Combining a passion for the wild with an affinity for traditional film photography, Wild Light is Craig’s second book, following the acclaimed The Highlands: Land & Light (Frances Lincoln, 2012). The inaugural winner of the Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year, Craig strives to capture images of the wild land and light from some of the remotest regions of his home country. He lives in Glasgow with his young family.

Scotland’s Mountain Landscape

Vertebrate Publishing, Sheffield www.v-publishing.co.uk

248j VP Wild Light_OFC.indd 1

CRAIG AITCHISON

Silence. In an increasingly busy and turbulent world, it is the true, absolute quiet that is the exclusive preserve of the wild; a priceless attribute of nature.

No traffic, no ringtones, no tapping of keyboards. I take a few minutes to savour the moment, aware that I am fortunate and privileged to be alone on the mountain, with the light, the landscape and the silence around me.

Front cover: Aonach Eagach, Glen Coe. Back cover: An Teallach, Dundonnell.

WILD LIGHT

CRAIG AITCHISON

Wild Light is a stunning panoramic exploration of the Scottish landscape by photographer Craig Aitchison, winner of the inaugural Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year competition.

Produced over seven years and shot entirely using a traditional Hasselblad film camera, this remarkable body of work captures the essence of the Scottish wilderness through the seasons and portrays the Highlands and Islands at their most beautiful.

Featuring over eighty panoramas, this book celebrates the rich natural heritage, incredible geodiversity and varied landscape for which Scotland is internationally renowned. Among a glittering cast of many are the dramatic heights of Suilven, An Teallach and Aonach Eagach, and the otherworldly landscapes of the Lairig Ghru in the Cairngorms and Glen Etive.

Craig Aitchison’s Wild Light will delight anyone who treasures the Scottish mountain landscape.

£25

12/09/2018 15:45

WILD LIGHT Scotland’s Mountain Landscape CRAIG AITCHISON

Vertebrate Publishing, Sheffield www.v-publishing.co.uk

First published in 2018 by Vertebrate Publishing.

WILD LIGHT CRAIG AITCHISON

Vertebrate Publishing Crescent House, 228 Psalter Lane, Sheffield S11 8UT, United Kingdom. www.v-publishing.co.uk Copyright © Craig Aitchison 2018.

Front cover: Aonach Eagach, Glen Coe. Craig Aitchison has asserted his rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as author of this work.

This book is a work of non-fiction based on the life of Craig Aitchison. The author has stated to the publishers that, except in such minor respects not affecting the substantial accuracy of the work, the contents of the book are true.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-1-911342-81-6 (Hardback) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means – graphic, electronic, or mechanised, including photocopying, recording, taping or information storage and retrieval systems – without the written permission of the publisher.

Design and production by Jane Beagley. www.v-publishing.co.uk Vertebrate Publishing is committed to printing on paper from sustainable sources.

FSC logo here

Printed and bound in Europe by Latitude Press Ltd.

Half-title Page Split Rock, Clachtoll October 2014

Title Page The Ring of Steall, Mamores April 2017

Previous Page Gairich and Sgùrr Mòr, Loch Quoich December 2011

Autumn can generate some incredibly dynamic conditions for photography: very often huge storms come rolling in from the Atlantic, fully charged and battering Scotland’s coast. On the Assynt peninsula overlooking The Minch, the Bay of Clachtoll is a spectacular location to visit in such conditions.

The rugged bay is home to some world-renowned geology with the main feature being Split Rock, the remnants of a long-lost natural sea arch.

The Ring of Steall is a classic high-level ridge walk that traverses the tops of four Munros. Starting from Glen Nevis, the horseshoe route takes in (right to left) Sgùrr a’ Mhàim, Am Bodach, Stob Choire a’ Chàirn and An Gearanach, before finishing at the foot of the stunning 120-metre-tall Steall Falls.

Descending from the summit of Sgùrr a’ Mhaoraich, the high-level cloud that had blighted much of the day slowly began to disperse. When the late afternoon light eventually broke through I was still high enough above the cloud inversion to take advantage of some well-earned winter light across these remote hills.

For my daughter, Rowan and in loving memory of my sister, Elaine.

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WILD LIGHT

Liathach, Torridon April 2014 Liathach: The Grey One. Even from this aspect the appearance of impregnability is evident as the rocky terraces rise almost vertically from the treeless floor of the Torridon Forest that surrounds the mountain. During the month of April the sun sets almost directly in line with the mountain’s north-facing slopes, throwing them into sharp relief in the wonderful evening light.

Scotland’s Mountain Landscape

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Loch Lomond, Argyll and Bute October 2011 The vast freshwater expanse of Loch Lomond marks an important geographical boundary in Scotland.

The islands in the loch form a visible part of the Highland boundary fault line which stretches across Scotland from Arran in the west to Stonehaven in the east. This ancient fault zone is where two very different geological terrains collided 430 million years ago, eventually evolving into the landscape we now know today as the Highland and Lowland regions.

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WILD LIGHT

Scotland’s Mountain Landscape

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Sandwood Sundown September 2015 Although poor visibility does not generally make for the ideal conditions I seek, it does have the powerful effect of diffusing the sun nicely, which allows me to shoot directly towards it. I made my way to Sandwood and headed for the far north-western end of the bay where I found a high vantage point to set up my camera, the perfect place to watch the sunset.

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Loch Affric March 2017 A massive high-pressure weather system had settled directly over Scotland and brought with it some extremely stable weather to much of the Highlands. The vast waters of Loch Affric were unusually still, reflecting the steep slopes of An Tudair amongst a beautiful mosaic of Caledonian pines.

Scotland’s Mountain Landscape

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