Douglas Weir Photography

Douglas Weir Photography This page is dedicated to my photography from around Scotland and occasionally from more far flung destinations.

It mainly covers landscapes but can occasionally feature the odd sports and wildlife image.

Just over a week ago I was fortunate to head out for an overnight in the Southern Cairngorms.With bag packed and my chos...
30/04/2023

Just over a week ago I was fortunate to head out for an overnight in the Southern Cairngorms.

With bag packed and my chosen summit to camp on I headed to the Glenshee area of the southern Cairngorms, my intention to camp on An Socach to take in the views of the surrounding mountains. The forecast was good, if a little less than ideal for photography - cloudless skies being the order of the day. Winds were to be brisk but these died down overnight which was good as it was a little exposed on the wide plateau that makes up the top of An Socach.

This image looks to the south as sunset approached; my view from the tent taking in the summits to the south of me. I think from the map these are Carn Bhinnein (L) and the western slopes of Glas Tulaichean.

A couple of weeks ago I headed across the country to Assynt with Icarus Owen Photography, our intention was to camp over...
20/02/2023

A couple of weeks ago I headed across the country to Assynt with Icarus Owen Photography, our intention was to camp over a couple of nights and hope the weather was (relatively) kind to us.

As it turned out it was wet, very wet with most of the countryside saturated and Loch Assynt and the surrounding rivers and lochs all well above their normal levels. This made finding a camp spot tricky and the prospect of any decent photos was pretty much wiped out with the constant drizzle and strong winds.

We persevered through much of Friday afternoon with little to show other wet feet and soaked cameras. Retreating as the light faded we eventually found a place to camp that was relatively bog free and settled in hoping Saturday would prove better. Err, no.

Saturday dawned reasonably well and we hoped the forecasted rain would somehow miss us but an hour or so after being up and about the rain appeared and settled in to ruin our day. With the way the ground was already saturated and the rain to last well into the night we reluctantly called it a day and made our way back home.

These three images pretty much sum up the weather, the first one of the island was taken on the Friday with the other two on Saturday. We briefly glimpsed Suilven as the rain squalls cleared but the was quickly closed down again!

It's taken me a while to finally sit down and look through the images taken whilst out in the snow looking for Mountain ...
29/01/2023

It's taken me a while to finally sit down and look through the images taken whilst out in the snow looking for Mountain Hares on The Cairnwell (it feels like a life time ago and all the snow has long gone!)

I've a few more than I first thought, not all great and most are heavily cropped but they cover a fair amount of what we saw over the few hours we spent on the mountainside.

Winter Birches - 4My final image from the set I took out in the Birch forest.The snow was falling quite heavily by this ...
15/01/2023

Winter Birches - 4

My final image from the set I took out in the Birch forest.

The snow was falling quite heavily by this point and had a softening effect on trees that weren't that far from me. This one stood out to me as it was framed by the closer trees on either side, with the snow giving depth to the scene as my main subject was much softer and brighter than those trees immediately around me.

I also experimented with shutter speeds to try and capture a sense of motion in the falling snow.

I'm slowly working my way through a few more images. This is another one from my snowy wonderland out by Dinnet and Loch...
12/01/2023

I'm slowly working my way through a few more images. This is another one from my snowy wonderland out by Dinnet and Loch Kinord. I have to say in such conditions it's a bit of a struggle to edit colour balance without it feeling a little odd. The lack of colour in the scene doesn't help much for reference either!

In this one I liked the placing of the old trunk as it mimics to an extent the trunk of the still living tree. The fungi on the stump looking for all intents like snow cover steps.

Another image taken just after Christmas during a heavy snow shower in the birch forests out beside Dinnet.With the heav...
07/01/2023

Another image taken just after Christmas during a heavy snow shower in the birch forests out beside Dinnet.

With the heavy snow falling I was aiming to pick out single trees and use the reduced visibility to give a sense of depth to the image. Colour was pretty much non-existant in the white out conditions!

Taken on the 02/01/2023 looking north to the Lairig Ghru from the summit of The Cairnwell across the southern Cairngorm ...
04/01/2023

Taken on the 02/01/2023 looking north to the Lairig Ghru from the summit of The Cairnwell across the southern Cairngorm Plateau.

It was a truly stunning day to be up in the mountains with some fresh snow having fallen overnight. I was out with Jason (Icarus Owen Photography) with the intention of photographing Ptarmigan and Mountain Hares. While we saw plenty of hares moving about the snow covered slopes we didn't see any Ptarmigan.

While the whole of the southern Cairgorms bathed in January sun the peaks that line the Lairig Ghru were shrouded in cloud. The skiers in the lower part of the photo give a sense of scale to the whole area.

This was taken last week in a Birch Forest on a hillside while the snow fell rather thickly.With a forecast for snow out...
03/01/2023

This was taken last week in a Birch Forest on a hillside while the snow fell rather thickly.

With a forecast for snow out toward Aboyne and Ballater, I had half an idea of where I wanted to be and in what conditions. I headed off to the Birch Forests that surround Loch Kinord and trudged up a hillside through knee deep snow and heather.

I'm not the best at woodland photography, manly struggling to see the wood for the trees 😆 (sorry, couldn't resist) but it's something I'm looking to improve upon. I just really liked this scene, although I will admit the completely white conditions were a bit of a struggle to photograph!

I had a wander out to Linn of Dee yesterday with the expectation to find it a bit snowy compared to out at the coast. I ...
27/12/2022

I had a wander out to Linn of Dee yesterday with the expectation to find it a bit snowy compared to out at the coast. I had no real plan in mind other than to have a wander and explore a new area next to the River Dee.

I found myself wading through knee deep, snow covered heather to explore the hillside around a group of Scots Pines. Light was in short supply as the low sun barely cleared the ridge to the south and there was a fair amount of cloud about keeping it hidden.

This was taken in a brief moment of light hitting the higher slopes where I was, picking out this lone tree on the hillside.

I'd just like to wish all my followers on here a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.It had been a few years since I posted...
24/12/2022

I'd just like to wish all my followers on here a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.

It had been a few years since I posted anything on here until just a few months ago and it's been great to see a few familiar names pop back up after all that time as well as some new ones 🙂

I'm hopeful that 2023 will see a more regular contribution to this page as I aim to be out with a camera on a more regular basis. And with that I'd like to thank every one of you that keeps an eye on what I'm up to on here

Meall Leachachain, Braemore ForestThese mountains line the north side of the roadside when driving to Ullapool and are a...
23/12/2022

Meall Leachachain, Braemore Forest

These mountains line the north side of the roadside when driving to Ullapool and are an impressive sight, particularly in the conditions we had.

With snow covering pretty much everything including the road in places it was quite a sight to behold. The low cloud was broken in places and this let the low sun catch the rounded tops and shoulders of the mountains.

Pulling up in one of the many car parking areas that line Loch Glascarnoch we had views to the north west and could watch the light play across the slopes. I had the 100-400mm lens on and hand held this one. The break in the clouds allowing a small amount of blue sky to be seen above the sunlit top.

Beinn Àirigh Charr, Letterewe ForestI hope I have the right name for the mountain in this image!Last Friday I found myse...
15/12/2022

Beinn Àirigh Charr, Letterewe Forest

I hope I have the right name for the mountain in this image!

Last Friday I found myself, along with a friend, in the Torridon/Loch Maree area in what was pretty spectacular conditions. The trip was supposed to include a couple of nights further north in Assynt but this was cut short and it ended as a day trip across the country.

We'd pulled into one of the car parks on the banks of Loch Maree and I spotted the light on this fairly distant peak at the west end of the loch. After digging the camera out of the car I threw on the 1100-400mm and went all the way to 400mm to isolate the mountain and the light that was playing across the slopes.

I converted to B&W as I felt it suited the image as it was mainly tones of blue and white anyway!

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