One of the great things about visiting Oystercatchers (or any of the rest of the Island of Skye to be honest) is the plethora of objects or views that are just crying out to be photographed. I still think the best view in the house is that from the upstairs bathroom.  I have taken countless photographs in fine weather or foul from the window up here.  And the same could be said for the views both up and downstream from the end of the garden.  Upstream is particularly spectacular if there is a good sunset (which fortunately seems to occur with great regularity).

Other popular and oft photographed locations are from the path up from the low road to what is known locally as the Committee Road, looking back towards the Red Cuillins – this is the photograph that tops our website pages; anywhere on the beach at Elgol; the little church and graveyard at Cil Chriosd on the road to Elgol; the view form the Blue Shed Café; the bridges at Sligachan; the Fairy Pools – preferably in the Autumn as the colours and angle of the light seem best then; the Cuillin – obviously(!); the Old Man of Storr – particularly when the farmers are burning off the heather as there is something truly other-worldly about the frock formations along the Trotternish Peninsula, especially when shrouded in mist or smoke; and further afield the lighthouse at Neist, Kilt Rock and the really remarkable views towards Lewis and Harris to the north from the Flodiagrry to Kilmuir road.

Now I am no photographer, but even I have managed some quite presentable snaps from each of these locations.  It is perhaps best to save the obvious tourist areas for out of the main tourist season, as personally I’m not a great fan of a complete stranger’s face in the middle of my holiday collection, but if you are travelling from September through to mid-June, you should be fine at any of the above-mentioned sites.  And of course, the views from our garden are pretty stunning too.

Even in the height of Summer you can choose your spot carefully and find some less popular areas – go for a walk into the glens beneath the Cuillin and you will surely find a plethora of landscapes crying out to be photographed.  The circular walk from Cil Chriosd past the abandoned villages of Suishnish and Boreraig is long enough to avoid being over-crowded.  The beach at Ashaig is not nearly as popular as that known as Coral Beach, but is just as woolly and wild.

The point of this is that I thought I’d put up some of our favourite pictures. Most were taken by our 17 year old daughter, some by our now 19 year old some, a few by me and a couple by my husband, so they are all Oystercatchers copyright, but I haven’t had time to assign them to their correct creators!

A Paradise for Photographers