High winds and heavy rain; the tail end of Storm Doris. Not the ideal weather forecast you want to see when you’re planning an eagle photography workshop. A glimmer of hope started to present itself however, and with some enthusiastic customers in the form of Paul & Mike, we agreed it was worthy of our effort to get out onto one of Skye’s beautiful ridge lines in search of Scotland’s most iconic bird of prey - the golden eagle.
You don’t need me to tell you how popular skye is with photographers. It draws people from all over the world, and is on the bucket list of many more. It’s easy to understand why, with the likes of the Quiraing, Storr, Neist Point, and the many other iconic locations there are on the island.
There are ‘photography hotspots’ where every dawn and dusk a gaggle of photographers will be swarming around, all eager to snap the view they have often come so far to see. The tree at the Quiraing, ‘Photographer’s Mound’ at Storr, the southern end of Loch Fada, the old bridge at Sligachan, and the cliff top at Neist Point are all good examples of such hotspots.
I’ve recently been spending some time on the Isles of Harris and Lewis in preparation for a photo holiday I will be hosting at the beginning of next year. The islands are world famous for their abundance of deserted beaches, but it became apparent after driving around that their beaches aren’t the only things deserted and empty on this isolated corner of the British Isles.
I had already passed a couple of properties which looked like they were from a 1980’s horror movie set, and this got my eye scanning for more. The moment you start looking for them, they suddenly seem to start popping up everywhere. We’re not talking about empty houses where someone has locked the door and left for a few months to winter in warmer climes - these have been abandoned for many years, often with the front door wide open, or sometimes missing altogether. Many have decayed to the point where they hold little record of their former existence, but some are amazing time capsules which seem to almost be creations of art - designed by man and perfected by nature.
Winning a major photography competition is nothing more than an optimistic dream for most photographers, with only a few ever achieving it. I know from personal experience how good it feels to win a major title after being awarded UK Photographer of the Year, but that was way back in 2003 when I think it was somewhat easier to win such awards as everything was still being shot on film. This meant there were fewer photographers and therefore fewer entries into competitions. These days, thanks to the convenience of digital cameras and the various online portfolio platforms, there are far more people taking photos, and far more photos being entered into competitions. In fact so much so that major competitions are now businesses in themselves - making hundreds of thousands of pounds from entry fees and subsequent merchandise sales.
Before I start with this review, I thought it was worth pointing out that Sigma have loaned me this lens in return for images taken with it. I am only doing a review of this lens as it may be useful for other photographers considering purchasing one. I am under no obligation to provide a positively biased report.
