Outer Hebrides - Berneray and North Uist

2019

My Hebridean adventure

I had wanted to visit the Hebrides for may years. I feel I have been drawn there by a past I do not know of. It is a place that has always called to me as being home.
My well planned camping trip was literally blown apart. A former Hurricane hit the islands destroying my tent. I was able to take refuge in the Berneray Youth Hostel, where my dog was technically not allowed to be, but considering the weather and what had happened he was allowed. The plan to cross the water to Harris was scrapped as I had no accommodation now and it was complicated more by having a dog with me. So we headed home after just a few days. These are some of the images I managed to get while there. Mostly taken from the road, but walks to beaches just had to be made.

Black house ruins - North Uist The wind was blowing hard and rain was threatening again. In the distance you can see it blowing through. The light catching it and giving a glow to the scene to the right. I wanted to show this old house in its tr

Black house ruins - North Uist The wind was blowing hard and rain was threatening again. In the distance you can see it blowing through. The light catching it and giving a glow to the scene to the right. I wanted to show this old house in its true environment. The exposed open aspect, with wind and rain. The bleak yet stunning landscape. The darkness of the day caused by heavy cloud. We can only imagine what it was like for the islanders to live in these Black Houses. Large families together along with livestock. The lens I had was not wide enough to get everything into the frame. I could easily go back to the car which is literally just out of shot to the left and fetch my wide angle lens. But, as I explain in the vlog, where this features, a wide angle lens would distort the building and the chimney could bend out of shape a little. The remedy was to set up the camera on a tripod in a vertical/portrait orientation. Then take multiple overlapping pictures from left to right. At home I was able to "stitch" these together in Lightroom to create one very large image. An image that would show everything I wanted without distortion. Feel free to click on the image to be taken to the Vlog. Access - Close to road, but did require climbing over a gate. It must be noted that these old building do still belong to residents. Houses near by will be where they had a modern house built and moved to. As such I never enter the building and act as responsibly and respectfully as possible. Camera Nikon D750 57°33'00.9"N 7°13'18.8"W 57.550247, -7.221879

Sanctuary Sculpture at the end of the road that runs along the south shore of Loch Euphoirt. After the ruins of the Black House I drove on to the end of the road. I took an image of a boat and a hill. But this image, just meters away, was actually t

Sanctuary Sculpture at the end of the road that runs along the south shore of Loch Euphoirt. After the ruins of the Black House I drove on to the end of the road. I took an image of a boat and a hill. But this image, just meters away, was actually taken on my phone! It came out well enough to use. So here you are, just to prove phones are good to use. Location:- 57°33'03.4"N 7°12'03.8"W 57.550954, -7.201048

Traigh Iar Beach - Grenitote - North Uist. Duke loves the beach, but even he stopped and looked before heading to the water. A fabulous big sandy beach. Empty of people. We had to walk a fair distance for this one. I actually was not sure I would

Traigh Iar Beach - Grenitote - North Uist. Duke loves the beach, but even he stopped and looked before heading to the water. A fabulous big sandy beach. Empty of people. We had to walk a fair distance for this one. I actually was not sure I would do it, but I have more ability at times than I give myself credit for. I just have to watch that I don't push too hard and be bed ridden for a few days afterwards. That's what M.E. can do to you. Despite the wind and even some rain it was a nice walk. To come over the dune and see this scene is wonderful. In the summer it must be fabulous. The image is hand held and you can see the conditions in the vlog by clicking the image. Access - from Grenitote Picnic area. Park in small carpark then follow the path or walk the beach. The path then makes a dog leg towards the gap in the dune. Follow the path and you will end up with this view. Camera Nikon D750 Location:- 57°33'00.9"N 7°13'18.8"W 57.550247, -7.221879

Grenitote - North Uist This image follows directly from the last as it is the same Dune, but looking back towards Grenitote Picnic Area where I parked the car. It is two images blended. This is a technique used a lot by photographers, but generally t

Grenitote - North Uist This image follows directly from the last as it is the same Dune, but looking back towards Grenitote Picnic Area where I parked the car. It is two images blended. This is a technique used a lot by photographers, but generally they won't tell you. To get good focus in the foreground and on the distance is not always easy. So two images with two different focus points are taken and merged later. A tripod is best used for this, but it can be done by hand if very careful. In the video I show this image then switch video footage of the scene to show the conditions. The wind was howling, the grass was being thrown about and Duke's ears were flapping in the wind. If you didn't click the previous image to view the video, you can click this one. As the location is just yards from the previous image I will give the co-ordinates for the car park instead. Camera Nikon D750 Location:- 57°39'27.4"N 7°20'06.6"W 57.657619, -7.335156

Beach and Cloud - North Uist With the remnants of a Hurricane fast approaching, the sand blows into the sea and the clouds swirl in anger. Camera Nikon D750 Location:- 57°40'05.3"N 7°20'27.1"W 57.668141, -7.340855

Beach and Cloud - North Uist With the remnants of a Hurricane fast approaching, the sand blows into the sea and the clouds swirl in anger. Camera Nikon D750 Location:- 57°40'05.3"N 7°20'27.1"W 57.668141, -7.340855

Loch Blathaisbhal - North Uist. You will see in my Vlog, I had been having a bad day and had been getting a bit down. I gave my self a boot up the back side and got on with the "job" of getting pictures. I had places marked up to visit, but found

Loch Blathaisbhal - North Uist. You will see in my Vlog, I had been having a bad day and had been getting a bit down. I gave my self a boot up the back side and got on with the "job" of getting pictures. I had places marked up to visit, but found this as I drove a loop road on North Uist. I started to see nice scenes and quickly got my mojo back. This is one that was shown in the vlog, but was not actually vlogged. I love the light and the old tin building with its fading red roof. Access - I have parked, safely and the image is taken from the fence at the side of the road. Camera Nikon D750 Location:- 57°37'28.9"N 7°12'00.0"W 57.624705, -7.200011

Berneray Youth Hostel. For the series of vlogs I did from The Hebrides, this was my accommodation. It gave great insight to living in a black house. With a wood burner at one end giving a cozy feel and a mild wiff of wood smoke you could start to

Berneray Youth Hostel. For the series of vlogs I did from The Hebrides, this was my accommodation. It gave great insight to living in a black house. With a wood burner at one end giving a cozy feel and a mild wiff of wood smoke you could start to imagine how it must have been. Then the Hebrides was hit by a former US Hurricane. Due to that being forecast the place filled to capacity, which is highly unusual. The end of Accessible Hebrides Part 2 shows the Hurricane hitting. Inside the old Black House though, it was warm, the wind noise was minimal, and the chat, the laughter and the whisky kept us going well into the night. This from the Hosteling Scotland website - "This unique hostel, operated by the Gatliff Hebridean Hostels Trust, is a traditional thatched croft on the beach overlooking the sound of Harris. A walk up Beinn Shleibhe and Borve Hill offer superb and contrasting views of the many surrounding islands as well as of Berneray itself." Click the picture to go to the Hostel's own web site. Camera Nikon D750 Location:- 57°43'02.0"N 7°09'13.7"W 57.717212, -7.153794

Pabbay Island from West Beach Berneray. For most of those using the Berneray Youth Hostel, a walk to the West Beach and round the top of the island and back to the Hostel is a nice morning or afternoon walk. For the likes of me I drive as close

Pabbay Island from West Beach Berneray. For most of those using the Berneray Youth Hostel, a walk to the West Beach and round the top of the island and back to the Hostel is a nice morning or afternoon walk. For the likes of me I drive as close as possible and walk the rest of the way to the beach. It was a lovely, but windy, day and I did take quite a few images, but this one I really liked. The Hebrides is a "big sky" place. This shows what it is like to be there. The islands here are low and the sky dominates the scene. This was taken at 44mm f9 1/640s. Access - Drive in as far as possible then walk. It is a distance of 2,980ft or 908m from the end of the road shown on google maps to the beach. Camera Nikon D750 Location:- 57°44'13.0"N 7°11'04.7"W 57.736944, -7.184636

Berneray and Skye in the distance. This was taken, as you can see, from the road. I was heading back from my trip to West Beach and was taken by the scene and the light. Camera Nikon D750 Location:- 57°43'20.3"N 7°10'02.5"W 57.722303, -7.167354

Berneray and Skye in the distance. This was taken, as you can see, from the road. I was heading back from my trip to West Beach and was taken by the scene and the light. Camera Nikon D750 Location:- 57°43'20.3"N 7°10'02.5"W 57.722303, -7.167354

Man with dogs - Berneray. I met this chap on the ferry from Skye to Lochmaddy. We had chatted primarily due to us both having dogs with us. I had told him where I was going to be staying and he said "oh right, I will see you at some point then".

Man with dogs - Berneray. I met this chap on the ferry from Skye to Lochmaddy. We had chatted primarily due to us both having dogs with us. I had told him where I was going to be staying and he said "oh right, I will see you at some point then". How right he was. I had stopped to take pictures and he was walking past with his dogs. We chatted again for a while. To entertain his dogs while we chatted he would play ball with them. I saw this as a great chance to do a different style of photography. People rarely appear in my images. Camera Nikon D750 Location:- 57°43'17.1"N 7°10'00.1"W 57.721412, -7.166688

Sunrise over Isle of Harris - From Berneray. It was a nice surprise to see the sunrise on my last day on Berneray. I grabbed the camera and walked from the Hostel down on to the beach to get this shot. Camera Nikon D750 Location:- 57°43'02.1"N

Sunrise over Isle of Harris - From Berneray. It was a nice surprise to see the sunrise on my last day on Berneray. I grabbed the camera and walked from the Hostel down on to the beach to get this shot. Camera Nikon D750 Location:- 57°43'02.1"N 7°09'13.3"W 57.717248, -7.153695

Sunrise over Isle of Harris - From Berneray. It was a nice surprise to see the sunrise on my last day on Berneray. I grabbed the camera and walked from the Hostel down on to the beach to get the previous shot. Then I dashed along to where the Du

Sunrise over Isle of Harris - From Berneray. It was a nice surprise to see the sunrise on my last day on Berneray. I grabbed the camera and walked from the Hostel down on to the beach to get the previous shot. Then I dashed along to where the Dunes rose steeply from the beach. I had this shot in mind for a Sunrise and was delighted to be able to get it. Camera Nikon D750 Location:- 57°43'05.6"N 7°09'05.5"W 57.718223, -7.151530

Sunrise over Isle of Harris - From Berneray. After taking the last shot I climbed up on to the Dunes and did my best to get a composition. Too far right and too much sea. Too far left and the dunes would be touching the hills and the sea between

Sunrise over Isle of Harris - From Berneray. After taking the last shot I climbed up on to the Dunes and did my best to get a composition. Too far right and too much sea. Too far left and the dunes would be touching the hills and the sea between would have been out of sight. Camera Nikon D750 Location:- 57°43'06.6"N 7°09'05.7"W 57.718497, -7.151587

Sunrise over Isle of Harris - From Berneray. The final image looks darker as the exposure compensated for what is now already a much brighter sun. I moved to a position where the open sea was behind the dune grass but the hills in the distance re

Sunrise over Isle of Harris - From Berneray. The final image looks darker as the exposure compensated for what is now already a much brighter sun. I moved to a position where the open sea was behind the dune grass but the hills in the distance remained in clear view with an expanse of sea between us and them. Camera Nikon D750 Location:- 57°43'06.6"N 7°09'05.7"W 57.718497, -7.151587

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