Image Details
Heading north from Gruinard Bay the road starts a long ascent up the Druim Nam Fuath; at the top is a fine viewpoint from which one can enjoy the entire panorama of Little Loch Broom. Descending from the view point for about two kilometres brings one to the entrance to a side single track road running north-west, parallel to Little Loch Broom, and eventually ending at Badluarach.
On the day this photograph was taken I had been on the hill above Badluarach for the first time exploring the area and it's opportunities for landscapes. I was not having the best of days, found nothing to inspire and after a while decide to move to a different spot.
I walked back down the hill to the single track road and started to walk back to the car, about a mile away. After a few minutes I happened to look behind me only to be presented with the scene above. I couldn't move quick enough to get a shot of this, the showers had been fleeting and I knew the rainbow could fade quickly. I had time for two shots each with a different lens.
The fact that I had been presented with such a good foreground is pure serendipity, on most occasions when rainbows present themselves it is usually in a spot where getting a good composition is difficult or downright impossible.
It was autumn, the rowan tree's leaves had been stripped leaving only the berries behind and the traditional stone byre with it's red corrugated roof complemented the splash of colour made by the rowan. On the opposite shore of Little Loch Broom the dark silhouette of Cailleach Head is pointing the way to the Summer Isles seen to it's left.
On the opposite shore is the village of Scoraig. To reach this village it is necessary to either take a boat across from the jetty at Badluarach, or take the long walk in of about five kilometres over the hill from Badrallach where the road on the opposite shore ends. There is no road to Scoraig, nor an electricity supply either, the villagers generate their own from windmills. I will write in further detail about this remarkable community with other photographs at a later date.
Copyright © 1998 Gordon C Harrison All Rights Reserved