Clan MacLaren's Gathering Point, a photo from Stirling, Scotland

Photographer's Note

This is a continuation from my previous post of Balquhidder Church. As I said before Balquhidder Glen was always MacLaren land, and problems with the clans were commonplace. When there was a threat, runners were sent throughout the territory to rally the clansmen to this point shown on the photo. It is called Creag an Tuirc in Gaelic, (Rock of the Boar) but it is known in English as Clan MacLaren’s Gathering Point. The path to reach it starts at Balquhidder Church and goes uphill through the forest. I’ve marked the viewpoint on the map (link right) You can scroll down following the path, and you will come to the church.

The valley between the mountains is Balquhidder Glen, and the water is Loch Voil. (It looks like a river, but it is a loch.(lake)) There is a very narrow single track road that runs alongside the loch. As you can see from the photo, the weather was pretty good, but as we were driving along we could see bad weather ahead. Black clouds and rain came all the way down the glen, moving quickly. As our main objective was photography we were looking for somewhere to turn round to go back. However, the black cloud with its rain just travelled down the glen, past us and disappeared on its way, leaving us in sunshine again. I have never experienced such a visible micro climate before.

ISO200, FL26mm

gervaso, gnuri, asajernigan, Buin, cbrman, Gerrit, ChrisJ, saxo042, vasilpro, pauloog, Sistercosmo, Graal, bona, subhendu_bagchi, Longroute, plimrn, tyro, paura, buscape, Cricri, carper, josepmarin, Angshu, Didi, JCG, jusninasirun, Tue, pablominto, axiotea has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

gervaso (28439) 2009-09-29 3:03

Hello, Kath!

Beautiful view of this valley, captured with beautiful tones of green and a beautiful color of the river. This interesting construction is great in the foreground! Wonderful composition! Good job!

gnuri (63) 2009-09-29 3:24

Hi Kath,
A beautiful valley. I like tha contrast of colours between the lake and the hill.
Good Depth of field.
Ste

asajernigan (21427) 2009-09-29 3:34

Kath,
This is a nice view of this great Scottish landscape. The angle of the shot works well using the loch to create a diagonal through the scene. The rock in the foreground provides depth for the shot. The lighting and colors are great and the photo has nice sharpness and DOF.
TFS,
Asa

Buin (42580) 2009-09-29 3:43

Hallo Kath!
A landscape which rests in itself...
Your photo really is inviting and it somehow gives the impression of "being there" and your point of view creates an amazing depth here. wonderful place ...
In combination with your excellent note a contribution truly in terms of TE!
Greetings from an autumnal cool, gray and wet Germany!
Frank

dta (98848) 2009-09-29 3:48

Hello KAth ,
Another great composition . The stoned building in the fore ground provides a fine sense of depth . Colors and light are perfect . A superb scottish landscape !
Regards

pajaran (117233) 2009-09-29 4:00

Dobar dan.
Dobro objasnjenje i povezanost.
Lepa priroda.
Dobra fotografija, boje i ostrina snimka.
Dobra perspektiva kanjona i trentak snimka sa oblacima.
U novi dan sa dobrim fotografijama, Paja.

cbrman (21685) 2009-09-29 4:12

Hello Kath,

Une trиs jolie vue plongeante sur ce superbe glen.
J'aime beaucoup le lac qui guide le regard vers l'horizon. Je trouve le point de vue vraiment trиs beau !

A+

Dominique

Yves-triga (5149) 2009-09-29 4:22

Hello kath,
very nice this view from nature.
I love this well-filled foreground to lead the eye to this beautiful valley.
Good exposure and color rendering beautiful.
well see
yves

Gerrit (62042) 2009-09-29 5:45

Hi Kath,
remarkable landmark and a wonderful landscape and view. Great clarity and beautiful composition.
regards, gerrit

ChrisJ (172466) 2009-09-29 7:12

Hi Kath

I like the diagonal axis of the lake & valley. A superb high pov & the stone cairn at left makes a good focal point. Splendid sharpness & light contrasts. Tfs!

saxo042 (38078) 2009-09-29 9:45

Hi Kath,
The only things I really miss here are the distant sounds of pipes and drums. Then it would be real Scotland to me! Still, this is a marvellous view, with this stone post(?) in the foreground, providing depth, and the beautiful dark blue lake far below. The weather looks fine here too!
Kind regards
Gunnar

LOOOK13 (19046) 2009-09-29 9:51

Salut.
Et une de plus...
Elle est superbe,grande profondeur, nettetй extra, un bon premier plan, des couleurs naturelles,etc...
Bravo.

chawax (20764) 2009-09-29 10:53

Hi Kath,
Wow, great point of view ! Colours are very nice and the landmark in the foreground gives a good depth to the photo. Just a shame you didn't let a little space between left corner and the landmark.
Regards,
Olivier

vasilpro (41801) 2009-09-29 11:14

Hello Kath,
Very nice nature composition, very good clarity and sharpness, very nice atmosphere.
Have a nice evening, Vasilis.

darek1978 (13361) 2009-09-29 11:32

Hi Kath,
As I said before I like a lot this type of green landscape. Excellent composition with great POV and very good depth. I also like the subtle shades of green. Thanks for sharing the impressive natural view.
Best regards,
Darek

pauloog (11751) 2009-09-29 12:08

Hello Kath,
This must be Scotland! A great view with an excellent composiition, a perfect foreground with good depth. A pleasure to look at and a fine reminder of my tour of Scotland a few years ago.
Regards,
Paul

Sistercosmo (242) 2009-09-29 12:37

Hi Kath,

fantastic shot, excellently composed. I love it. Glad you were so fortunate with the weather! :-)

Take good care and have a nice evening,
Linda

Graal (103040) 2009-09-29 12:50

Hi Kath,
very nice valley and interesting mountains. Nice blue colour of water. Good note, well continuation theme. I like it.
Gr., Aleksander

TopGeo (38220) 2009-09-29 13:07

Hi Kath!They are known a lot of landscapes of countryside of Scotland from films But no this here They is beautiful the lake and the hills the background clean it adds! Good the note for the place...compliments
regards
Georgios

emka (158988) 2009-09-29 15:07

Hi Kath, Wonderful landscape, beautiful valley in the mountains, nice lake, interesting monument. Scottish Highland is so beautiful.

regards

Malgorzata

bona (15057) 2009-09-29 16:11

MacLaren, the same of the F1 car constructor?
Wonderful place. I really wish ti visit Scotland and UK onde day.
Gorgeous colors!
Thanks
Andre

danyy (0) 2009-09-29 23:12

Bonjour Kath,
des lumiиres qui tranchent bien les ombres , une palette de verts qui tй"moigne de la diversitй de la vйgйtation, un trиs joli coin de nature typique de cette rйgion. J'aurais cadrй un rien plus а gauche ou alors pris un poeu de recul.
Trиs amicalement,
Daniel.

subhendu_bagchi (26091) 2009-09-30 7:31

Namaste Kath,
with its all historical background it offers us a great scenic beauty. The greeneries, the river, the sky and the mountains are nice to see. The ruin in left foreground added a lot to it. Sharpness and depth is great here. A very good composition. Tfs.
Have a nice day.
Subhendu

Longroute (19600) 2009-09-30 8:54

Ah! Scotland again... I haven't been here but I can recognize the environment: a narrow valley with a long lake at its bottom. I think you took it from the logical and best pov, showing a great sense of depth and distance and with that Creag an Tuirc in fg to enhance the DOF. I feel a certain plasticity in the image, and not only for the rock, those hills at the left seems tridimensional. I love this intermigle of water and hills. Interesting note too.

All the best,
Donato

gilou530 (34) 2009-09-30 10:39

salut kath
une vue bien large de cette vallйe ou la pierre du premier plan donne de la profondeur, nickel comme d'hab
amitiйs
gilbert

PixelTerror (0) 2009-09-30 12:06

HI Kath
This little stone construction is a pleasant introduction to this deep view of the behind loch, ewell expsoed image
have a nice day JY

plimrn (21344) 2009-09-30 13:04

Hi Kath,
You've really framed a beautiful composition with the view down the lake, the sunlight and shadows on the hillsides and the sweep of cloud. The map adds interesting detail, that is really a LOOOng lake

Sounds like you were lucky you couldn't turn around.

HLJ, Pat

tyro (30513) 2009-09-30 15:09

Hello, Kath.

You have presented a stunning photograph and a very interesting and well-researched note to accompany it.

The colours are typically Nikon: beautifully natural and with lovely greens and browns that well befit a scene such as this. I often think, when comparing Nikon pictures with those of Canon (which I use) and the rest, of the days of 35mm reversal film: Kodachrome was famed for its vibrant colours but Agfa CT18 was a much finer medium with better colour rendition to use for scenes like this. I think the comparison with the above-mentioned digital cameras is similar.

Apart from that observation, the composition is superb and the sharpness and clarity spot-on.

Excellent!

Kind Regards,

John.

paura (25802) 2009-09-30 16:23

Kath,
Fantastic dep here in your f/16 shot. A very beautiful landscape shown in a very well composed photograph.

regards

Paulo

coco (30439) 2009-09-30 22:41

Hola Kath.

What wonderful and nice landscape with a fine composition and great colours.

Well done and thanks for sharing.

Waylim (25436) 2009-10-01 0:27

Hi Kath,
It is a beautiful shot, I love the fresh green spring like colors, Beautiful day with nice cloud, good light, not too strong, great clarity all over the river leads the vision into the distant hills and clouds. the only thing I would have done a bit different is to pan over just a little more to the left. Thanks.
Way

buscape (6219) 2009-10-01 4:41

Hello Kath,
wonderful capture of this lovely landscape with good light and beautiful colours. You have chosen a very nice POV to show the valley with the diagonal running blue river. The landmark in the foreground helps to create this fantastic depth. Thanks for this great composition and your informative note.
Best wishes,
Helmut

Dyerco (10185) 2009-10-01 7:34

Hi Kath
A marvellous little treasure. Lots of green tones that are nicely exposed with the side lighting. There is a good diagonal that takes our eye from the marker to the horizon.
Phil

npecanhuk (79329) 2009-10-01 8:24

Hello Kath!
Very beautiful and pleasant landscape!
Your photo is very good with excellent sharpness, exposure, dof and natural colors! The pov was quite privileged and very well chosen and the composition is pretty effective and attractive, though simple!
I love reading your note too - I felt as if I were traveling with you!
TFS - congratulations!
Best regards,
Neyvan

Cricri (176) 2009-10-01 10:32

Hi Kath
Bonne utilisation du rocher pour donner une trиs belle profondeur du lac, j'aime sa couleur bleu donnent un joli contraste avec le paysage aux multiple variиtйs de vert, belle image
Friendship
cricri

carper (96) 2009-10-02 9:24

marvelous place Kath,
a fine point of view, good depth, fine balance a pleasure for the eyes, very good photo job here, have a good evening Kath and a good weekend.
regard jaap

Wandering_Dan (3449) 2009-10-02 14:10

Hi, Kath -

Another gorgeous shot of fabulous country. (Or should that "fabulous shot of gorgeous country"?) Great use of lighting, and powerful diagonals.

Best,
Dan

josepmarin (59385) 2009-10-03 4:32

Hello Kath,
The landscape is fantastic from this POV, I like the depth of the image across the valley and such a blue lake, which makes fly our look up to the infinite, while the stone element in foreground adds a nice reference.
As usual, the quality of the image, the light and the colors are to a high level.
A beautiful composition.
Best wishes,
Josep

Angshu (56760) 2009-10-03 7:22

Hello Kath
I presume it's the Creag an Tuirc on the left corner...this structure pivots the shot well, but I do wonder why so tight to the left? It's great to see the different variations of green and the fine contrast with the deep blue of the loch. Good depth and sharpness as well
Best Regards
Angshu

Didi (61591) 2009-10-04 1:19

Hi Kath
A few steps on your right to include the whole stone in the frame.
But it's a very great landscape under magnificent lights.
Best regards

JCG (35153) 2009-10-04 3:03

Hello Kath,

As we can see it on the map, it is the end of the road… One cannot be mistaken !!! An ideal point of view to obtain a marvellous panorama on the valley and this beautiful lake. This commemorative point on the left gives a good depth to the image and I appreciate much the pleasant luminosity and the harmonious natural colors. Pretty photograph and thank you Kath for the interesting note.

With all my friendships and very good Sunday,

Jean-Charles

gunbud (34066) 2009-10-04 19:20

Hi Kath,
What a beautiful view of this splendid loch.
The water is the most stunning blue ane it enjoys a love frame of rugged mountains.
Love the dramatic sky that adds to the wonderful depth.
The foreground monument leads the eye nicely to this beautiful scene.
Regards, Tom

jusninasirun (17529) 2009-10-04 22:42

This is so beautiful, Kath. That rock hits the sweet spot with the valley in view. You have registered very good details and metered your D300 pretty well for this shot.

Well done and best regards,
Jusni

Tweety (4546) 2009-10-05 1:39

Bonjour Kath,
Superbe paysage ! J'adore le premier plan ! Les couleurs et le ciel sont aussi trиs agrйables.
Bravo а toi !
Christophe

bosskokoss (2272) 2009-10-08 22:56

Hello Kath. Fantastic view, nice colours and good sharpness. Fine composition with excellent contrast. Regards Piotr.

leonorkuhn (16237) 2009-10-09 9:08

Hi Kath,

I saw a documentary on NatGeo explained that these loch were formed when the glaciers melted at the end of the last ice age. Amazing scenery, very good POV, great light and colors.

Greetings from Brasнlia
Leonor

Tue (93606) 2009-10-14 14:29

Hi Kath,
This is such a lovely Scottish landscape with a great view on the loch and the hills. The sunlight is just great and I love the natural colours. Thanks a lot for sharing!
Regards,
Lars

pablominto (53746) 2009-10-19 22:28

Hello Kath,

A good point of view to show this lovely lake, or loch..!
The valley runs in a fine diagonal in the frame, and the spring greens are very appealing in the fine light...
a balanced composition with the Rock of the Boar as an effective attention catcher!

Greetings,
Pablo -

guillaumejm (0) 2009-10-26 14:31

hello kath
A very nice compsoition with thic rock in front. great depth and marvelous lake colour. Soctland reminds me a such beautiful country. Hope I'll come back in the future.
warm regards
JMarc

axiotea (21651) 2009-11-22 5:52

Hello Kath
First of all, I thank you for having taking consideration of my very small problem - at the end, I've removed the links, re-wrote/sent my note and it finally worked ;)
Indeed, a well chosen pov... I love that 'rock of the boar'(it is called like this because they were hunting boars in the past?)here well positioned and adding a good depth. The light is also very attractive and gave pleasant colours, especially for the blue tone of the loch which looks great!
Cheers
Marilyn

jmcl (14535) 2009-12-02 11:22

Hi Kath,

Do you know the "Braes o' Balquhidder" from the album "Capernaum" by the Tannahill Weavers .. maybe my all time favorite Scottish song ... it is the deep blues of the water that really amplify this scene for me .. great vastness and depth .. wonderful image. take care, John

Bluejeans (64251) 2010-02-05 5:39

Ola Kath,
Que beleza de vale com este rio a correr , a vegetaзгo tem bonitos tons de verde , muito interessante este bloco de pedras no primeiro plano , boas cores, parabйns!!
Um abraзo Gonзalo

Bom fim de semana

fds (9963) 2010-12-05 22:06

very beautiful landscape with the fjord between the mountain very beautiful colors