Scotland landscape photography is a dream for photographers seeking dramatic scenery, moody light and wild, untouched terrain, especially the Scottish Highlands. From the jagged peaks of the Isle of Skye to the sweeping curves of Assynt and the rugged valleys of Glencoe, the Highlands offer endless opportunities to elevate your landscape work. Below are practical, easy-to-apply tips specifically tailored to these iconic locations.

In this blog I’ve added several of my photos of the Scotland landscape from my recent photography trip, mainly from Cogiach & Assynt and just a couple from Torridon where the weather did prove a little too difficult at time… I’m back there next year and hoping for kinder conditions. I hope you enjoy the photos and please do have a browse of my Scotland Landscape Photography gallery whilst you’re on the website.

A winter day capturing Achmelvich beach photos in the North West Highlands of Scotland with beautiful blue skies and stunning golden sands

An early sunrise hike to the summit of Stac Pollaidh to photography the stunning views of Cul Mor in Coigach, Scotland

An evening of landscape photography in moody light at Split Rock Clachtoll beach, one of the most dramatic beaches in Assynt, North West Scotland.

In Scotland in particular it seem that lone trees become a bit of a “thing” and this beautiful little tree on the shores of Loch Maree Torridon is one of those subjects that just drew me in last week as the rain poured and the mist rolled down the loch. Drenched in water the colours really "popped" and it looked amazing against the gloom of the weather. It quickly became my favourite Loch Maree viewpoint!

My first few days in the far reaches of North West Scotland, around the beautiful Loch Maree area, were definitely themed by the weather.. mainly rain and this photo of a lone scots pine was taken during a rainy spell as the rain showers made their way over the famous Slioch Loch Maree mountain peak in the Beinn Eighe Nature Reserve.

Almost 14 miles long, Loch Maree is the 4th largest freshwater loch in Scotland… and has a reputation of one of its most beautiful. It’s set in a wild, remote landscape between the forest of the Beinn Eighe Nature Reserve and Slioch Mountain and is famed for amazing scenery and diverse plant and wildlife. It’s an amazing photography location and during my visit I never saw another soul… although the weather may have influenced that a little.

One of the main places I wanted to visit in Scotland last week was the summit of Stac Pollaidh in Assynt. I tried last year but persistent gale force winds had prevented it so gladly I had more luck this time around.

Last Friday I set off driving from Lochinver at 04.30am to ensure I had plenty of time for the climb to arrive on the summit for sunrise... the drive in itself was a pretty terrifying experience, I lost count of how many deer and rather scary stags I saw wandering around the road, I actually drove at pretty much 30mph all the way!

The climb from the carpark was thankfully less stressful and a bit quicker than I thought so I arrived on the summit in plenty of time to see, hopefully, a sunrise although initially rain greeted me. In the distance though I could see an ever closer break in the cloud and to my delight around 20minutes after sunrise the light appeared.

This is just one of many images, actually a 25 image bracketed Pano to manage the contrast of shooting directly into the sun.

So waking on the 2nd morning in the Torridon area I opened the curtains at my base in Poolewe to rain bouncing off the window and having checked the weather forecast it was definitely going to be a day for waterproof outdoor gear so the Goretex jacket and waterproof trousers went stright into the backpack.

Poolewe is just a short-ish drive from the Beinn Eighe Nature Reserve surrounding Loch Maree, a vast expanse of water with the stunning backdrop of Slioch (998m) and that seemed like the most sensible place to make the first photo stop... as it turned, the last of the day too!

On arriving the rain lessened from incessant to showery and with a few breaks seeming to appear in the clouds I decided I'd climb into full waterproofs and go for a wander to check out a couple of viewpoints I'd already done a bit of research on, a couple of photogenic trees overlooking the loch.

After about half an hour or so I'd figured out a couple of nice compositions but without warning the clouds suddenly parted, the sun broke through and rainbows started to appear over the loch... a quick dash around and this was my favourite shot of them.

A mean and moody day at the incredible natural stone arch of Bow Fiddle Rock on the Moray Coast in Scotland

Having just spent a view days in the stunning mountain scenery of Glencoe in the North West Highlands of Scotland I've put together an article showcasing some of my own favourite Glencoe photo locations. You can read the photo location article on my website

A Scotland photos gallery where you can buy stunning photo prints, framed photographs and canvases of the incredible landscape of Scotland and discover stunning views and the natural beauty of the Scottish scenery with images from some of the best places to visit in the area including the Quiraing and the Old Man of Storr on the beautiful Isle of Skye, Buachaille Etive Mor and the Three Sisters in Glencoe and the tranquility of Suilven in Assynt. I hope you enjoy browsing my Scotland photography gallery and please do get in touch if you’d like to know more details about my Scotland pictures or need more information about purchasing any of my images of Scotland.

The Scottish landscape is such an awesome place for a photography trip and having just spent a week around Glencoe and Assynt in the North West Highlands I was totally blown away byt the experience. Whilst the weather in Scotland is a little infamous for being wild and unpredictable I had some major luck at times so managed to see much of the area in some beautiful light and capture some nice images.

I've now edited most of the photos I took on the Scotland trip so have a browse of my photography gallery to get an idea of just what amazing scenery Scotland has to offer.

One of my favourite photos from my recent trip to Assynt near Ullapool. I visited Elphin Bothy to capture a photo of the iconic Suilven mountain at sunrise which looked stunning with the autumn colours in full bloom. The bothy at Elphin wasn't actually a bothy at all, it was built to serve as a kennel for the beloved hunting dogs of the 1st Duke of Sutherland

Morning mist shrouds the mountains around Loch Broom near Ullapool creating an eerie calm.

Autumn is a fantastic time to visit the North West Highlands of Scotland and especially the stunning mountain landscape of Glencoe. The mountain erupt in a riot of autumn colours, like nothing I've seen anywhere else, and Buachaille Etive Mor in particular lokks just incredible. 

The Harry Potter films made the Jacobite Steam Train passing over Glenfinnan viaduct one of the "must see" views when visiting the North West Highlands of Scotland and I couldn't miss the opportunity to grab a photo. The location is easily reached from the main visitor car park although it gets extremely busy, even when I visited in October, so arriving early for a parking space is a must. Timing is key, checking the timetable to make sure what time the Jacobite Steam train is running and equally important, which direction as usually the engine only pulls in the direction of Mallaig, it's not nearly as photogenic with the engine pushing. The autumn colours around Fort William make for a more photogenic shot too so I'd highly recommend visited then if you can. 

This was my second sunrise in Glencoe and my luck was in again. I'd checked the sun position and realised that there was a chance of some morning side light falling on Buachaille Etive Mor from in front of Langangarbh Hut, often called the Wee White House. I arrived in plenty of time and checked out a few potential compositions, I really liked the idea of using the river Coe as foreground interest so with wellies on my feet I wandered along the shallow river looking for a good view with a nicely framed Buachaille Etive Mor with the Wee White House in the shot. I tried 2 different spots, both close to each other, but this is the one that's my favourite. I setup the tripod, sorted the settings, and waited patiently to see if the sunrise would work its magic. The first 15 minutes after sunrise on the Buachaille just saw it shrouded in cloud but suddenly a break happened and just for a few fleeting minutes the gorgeous soft light of sunrise lit the flanks of Buachaille Etive Mor and cast some light onto the Wee White House too....I couldn't have asked for any more on a first photography visit to this fantastic location, what a wonderful morning in Glencoe

My first morning in Glencoe was a pretty special one. I'd decided to visit the very popular Buachaille Etive Mor photo viewpoint in Glencoe so I set the alarm nice and early as I was expecting to be battling for position with lots of landscape photographers. Arriving nice & early gave me the choice of spots to setup the tripod so I quickly checked out different potential compositions and settled on one close to the waterfall, the composition seemed nice & balanced from here, pretty much in line with the "Rule of thirds"... not something I always stick to but in this case it worked perfectly. 

I'd arrived well before sunrise so took a few test shots, the sky was cloudless which initially disapponted me a little but I was to change my mind once I'd photographed Buachaille Etive Mor. The reason being that the autumn sunrise produced some stunning warm colours on the mountain side, clear skies and sunshine wasn't really what I'd expected in Glencoe but the empty sky meant all the attention was on the mountain which I rather liked! With the autumn sunrise in progress I shot several images of the Buachaille, mainly sticking to the same composition although I did switch to portrait orientation for a few photos...it didn't really work for me though although following returning home I did decide that I quite liked a square 1:1 ratio crop too.

I've not posted for a little while but all for good reasons, I've just had a week in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland exploring the stunning scenery and taking advantage of the autumn colours. The first 3 days were at Glencoe, where the weather was actually quite good, even perhaps a little too mild whereas the rest of the week was around Assynt where things were a fair bit more challenging... great fun though and it's always a bigger challenge photographing somewhere you've never been before anyway.

I'd done some location planning before travelling which was well worth the time & effort as it helped me, as much as possible, to be in the right place at the right time and try to capture the fleeting glimpses of good light, especially in the more remote region of Assynt.

Anyway I'm actually posting the last photo first, probably the easiest photo of the week taken at a brief break on my 8.5hr journey back here to North Wales.... this is Carrbridge Pack Horse bridge in the Cairngorms, a beautiful ancient structure dating from 1717... I'll be posting lots more photos of my Scotland trip during the week including my favourite photo of the classic view of the Buachaille Etive Mòr in stunning autumn sunrise light.