The Story Behind the Images - Scotland
With a family name like Ross you'd think I would have always felt a close affinity for Scotland, but growing up in North America I always felt closer to England. I even took an English history degree at university.
It was not until my family moved to the UK and I had a chance to explore Scotland in person that I fell in love with England's northern neighbour. These photos are the result of my explorations.
Over the past 15 years, my family and I have explored Scotland from the Borders to Orkney, Caithness to Fife, and most points in between. Almost every visit has left me thinking 'I could live here'. But what was the 'Best' place for photography?
Top 10 Scottish Photography Locations
I couldn't really pick a favourite Scottish place, there are too many! But here are some of the most memorable locations for photography that stick in my memory. If you ask me tomorrow I'll come up with 10 different locations!
- Callanish Stone Circle, Isle of Lewis
- The Quiraing rock formations, Isle of Skye
- East Neuk of Fife coastline
- Bow Fiddle Rock, Moray
- Sandwood Bay, Sutherland
- Glen Torridon, Highlands
- Loch Tay, Perthshire
- Quinag, Sutherland
- Eilean Donan Castle, Lochalsh
- Cairngorms National Park in autumn
But that's just a list (albeit a list of some pretty amazing Scottish sites). What I've enjoyed most is simply exploring the Scottish landscape, including out-of-the-way places that never get into tourist brochures. As a photographer, all I have to do is keep my eyes open and something wonderful will show itself. Sometimes all I do is go for a countryside walk with my camera gear and inevitably something wonderful happens.
Of course, it isn't just the incredible Scottish landscape that makes for a memorable visit. There are so many wonderful historic sites, many of them in towns and cities like Edinburgh and Stirling.
One of my favourite historic sites (aside from Callanish and Eilean Donan in the list above) is Dunottar Castle in Aberdeenshire. I once spent a week in a holiday cottage just a mile away from the castle, just so I could photograph the iconic medieval fortress.
And what a week it was! Up before dawn, out until past sunset, drawn again and again to the cliffs overlooking the castle.
But that's Scotland in a nutshell; there are so many places that will draw you back again and again. I hope these prints can help you experience some of the same delight that I had in taking them.
Britain Express UK Image Shop
Our online shop offers canvas prints, framed prints, metal prints, acrylic prints, posters, iPhone cases, Galaxy cases, and greeting cards of UK scenes, specialising in historic sites and traditional locations around England, Scotland and Wales.
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