A few days ago, Dumitru, one of my participants for my workshop on the Isle of Harris, sent me this photo.

Image © Dumitru Dabija

I’ve found the last three or four months to be quite hard going. Running workshops is a great way of marking my time, and I really enjoy them. But they’re also extremely demanding and I do get quite tired from time to time.

So here I was, on a beach in south Harris, in weather that was perhaps better than the weather we’d had in Summer, enjoying some time on my own. Dumitru said that I looked like I was meditating. I guess I was. Having some free time, on my own, to think my own thoughts, is a real luxury when I’m running a workshop.

Before I finish off this post, each year I notice how my Harris trip in November is always either a late seller, or does not reach the number of participants I’d like on it. Ok, I understand that folks are thinking about Christmas when November comes, and that their holiday time is set out for the summer months, but there’s a reason why I do my workshops in the autumn and winter months: the light. It is by far the best time to come to Scotland. September to early May are good times, and when we get into the real winter months, we’re talking about low suns, shorter days, more moody light etc, etc. I guess I wish I could convince folks to come to Harris then, but it seems that it’s not the case.

It’s the gain of the one’s who decide to come, and the loss of those who don’t. But I will continue to come back to Harris during the winter months, because it has a very special place in my photographers-heart.

I’ve been to the Mcleod standing stone on Harris a few times, but this May, we had some very special lighting conditions and I was able to get an image of it that I’m happy with.

It was a special evening. The clouds seemed to gather, brooding, dramatic.

As the evening went on, the light just seemed to get more and more interesting and just before 11pm, we were heading back to the van for our return journey back to the hotel when I saw these textures in the sea on the beach below the Mcleod stone.