Waylandscape. Fine Art Landscape Photography by Gary Waidson. Glen Orchy 2006

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Glen Orchy. Strathclyde.

11th October 2006

Glen Orchy is often overlooked by photographers as they make their way up the A82 . It’s fair to say that this glen lacks the drama of some of the other glens but what it lacks in scale it makes up for with detail.

The River Orchy that runs though the glen tumbles over a variety of falls and rapids along the way, and depending on the height of the water the falls at Eas Urchaldh can offer either quiet detail shots or on this occasion a raging torrent.

On the way to a weekend camping in the Trossachs I decided to make a diversion and try to get some digital shots of Glen Coe. Unfortunately the weather had other ideas that involved low cloud and persistent rain and drizzle.

As a result the rivers were all in spate and the mountains might just as well have gone away on holiday for the amount that I saw of them.

In lighting such as this my usual approach is to look for detail shots which the river was too full to safely provide so I turned instead to some of the woods by the side of the road.

The first thing that strikes you about this Caledonian rain forest is how green it is.

The light levels are quite low but everything is covered in moss, ferns and hundreds of other plants I could not begin to name.

The second thing that strikes you as a photographer is how wet it is.

Even if it is not raining there is a constant dripping as the water makes it’s way from the canopy to the floor.

A rain cover for the camera is a very good idea as is a towel for drying the camera and lens from time to time.

I was tempted to render this image much darker to capture the subdued lighting in this place but I decided instead to concentrate on the relationship between the water and the vegetation in this rare forest environment.