Scotland 2024

Just returned from a 17 day adventure in Scotland. Along for the ride were my wife, our daughter and son-in-law. Unlike the recent Iceland trip, this was a DIY I had been planning for nearly one year. To be honest, I was weary of planning and very happy when we finally arrived at Dulles International to begin the trip. We flew into London's Heathrow then onto Edinburgh, Scotland where we picked up a seven pax Ford Tourneo van from SiXT rental. Over the next two weeks we put 1100 miles on that van, driving on the left side of the road and mostly over narrow, "passing places" roads. It was a hoot. The map below shows most of the blue dots where we visited. From Edinburgh we drove to Glencoe via Stirling Castle, Loch Lomond and the Trossacks National Park. After two nights in Glencoe we drove to Mallaig via the Glenfinan Via Duct (where the Harry Potter train crosses) then caught the ferry to Armadale in the Isle of Skye. Three nights in Portree while visiting the amazing sights of Skye. From Portree we travelled 200 miles north to Thurso. Early the next morning we were on the Scrabster to Stromness ferry and the Orkney Islands. Orkney was the highlight location for me, my goodness, what incredible beauty. Three nights in Kirkwall then we caught the ferry from St. Margaret's Hope to Gills Bay. After a visit to John O'Groats we drove to Inverness where we stayed one night. Next day we were back to Edinburgh via Cairngorms National Park and Pitlochry to return the rental van. Three nights in Edinburgh then back to Dulles, again via Heathrow.   

Phew, got that out of the way. Clearly a lot of driving. But also a lot of fabulous scenery and even more history. Scotland is an amazing country. Friendly people, incredible landscapes, great beer (I'm not much of a whisky guy) and good food. And speaking of food, I enjoyed a lot of haggis. Don't think about it. Just eat it. By the time of our departure I believe I had enjoyed six meals of haggis. Couldn't quite get on with the Black Pudding (blood sausage) but I loved the haggis. Bottom line, good food everywhere we visited. And yes, the shopping in Scotland is amazing as well and we came home with a lot of wool purchases. After all, there are just so many sheep!

Even though this was a tourist visit and not a photography workshop, I managed to bring home over 2500 images. I brought along the standard Leica M10R kit, with a few modifications. Key modifications included; a smaller, travel tripod replaced my larger and heavier work horse tripod, and I replaced the standard 90mm with a 1970s era 135mm f/4 Tri-Elmar (my only Leica branded lens). I swapped out the 90mm as I was looking for a bit more compression in my long range images. While I was able to focus effectively through the rangefinder, I was far more successful through the Visoflex. The lens swap worked out, however, in the future, I'll bring the 90mm. It is smaller and lighter and easier to focus. That said, I capture a few of my favorite images with the 135mm. The truth is that telephoto work is best left to the autofocus SLR/Mirrorless crowd. The other kit modification, the smaller, lighter travel tripod, was a great choice. It didn't get used much but it was good to have it when needed. 

The remainder of the kit, 25mm, 50mm, ND/CPOL filter kit, spare batteries, etc., reflected the lessons of previous travel. Also, my workflow regarding backing up SD cards each day via my iPad is well sorted. Mobile versions of LR/PS continue to be my go to for post. Also helpful is the Leica Fotos iOS app. I can shot an image, transfer it wirelessly to the iPad or iPhone, edit in LR, then upload to Instagram or Facebook or Flickr, all in just a few minutes. Not something I did a lot, but during coffee stops in charming cafes, or lunches at 400 year old pubs, there was aways time to edit and send along a few images to friends and family and social media.

In addition to the Leica, my wife used my trusty Canon G10 PowerShot. That was my go to camera for many years and was used all over Asia. Certainly, in 2024, 14MP seems quaint, however, the camera sports a zoom with an optical range of 28-140mm (35mm equivalent), shoots Canon raw files, and is a small, compact, nearly indestructible camera. My daughter shot a Canon SX110. It is a few steps down the ladder from the G10 but she captured many wonderful images in jpeg. My son-in-law shot a Fuji X10. Again, although that camera is pushing 13 years old, it is a workhorse that shoots wonderful, 12MP raw images.

And of course, there were iPhone images. So very many iPhone images. Between this trip and the Iceland trip, I have become acutely aware of the excellent quality of my iPhone 15 Pro Max raw (DNG) files. Simply amazing. My only complaint is the poor ergonomics while using an iPhone, a lot, for photography. There are a few aftermarket gizmos to trick out the iPhone for more effective handling while conducting photography and by my next trip, I will be well sorted. While iPhone's editing capabilities are very good, I like that I can quickly move iPhone DNGs into LR/PS for more substantial edits. Not sure what Apple is doing under the hood to those images but they are generally spectacular right out of the phone. I suppose it is just a matter of time before that same computational power (AI?) is cloned and found in mainstream cameras from the likes of Canon, Nikon, Sony, Leica, etc. As a Fuji shooter (X-E4 and X100V) I love the ability to edit images in camera, then move them off body wirelessly via Fuji's app. My dream is that Leica incorporates in-body function similar to Fuji's, or even better, Apple's. In the mean time, I will continue shooting the Leica and muttering under my breath when the iPhone 15 Pro Max nails a tough, high dynamic range image, perfectly, in one go, and with no editing ("damn you iPhone!").  

Highlights of the trip? Certainly, first for me was the time with my daughter and her husband. She's been out of the house for many years now and I miss our daily interaction. What fun to be able to be together and enjoy our common love of travel, history and photography. Beyond that, Orkney, Glencoe and Edinburgh were highlights for me. As the map above shows, there are a lot of areas in Scotland without blue dots. I'll need to return to fill in a few of those areas.  

A few of my favorite images.