Skye At Night book project

[Tobers]

I’ve been working on this for a few years now, and still have a couple of years to go I reckon.

I’m creating a glossy coffee-table type book. The subject is the Isle of Skye between sunset and sunrise. It’s a mixture of landscape, culture and work life, so a good variation of imagery and contexts. I’m nearly complete with the landscape content, and moving onto the work life content at the moment (but not ignoring other opportunities that arise). The intention is to sell the book up here on Skye, and through Amazon and the website, with all profits to the Skye Mountain Rescue Team.

The project came about after quite a hiatus from serious photography. I lost the urge, had no motivation, and basically couldn’t be arsed. I think I was all photographed-out after about 15 intense years of fascination and adventures. I was quite sad about it, but simply didn’t have any interest. The hiatus was a bit of a downer as part of the reason for me buying a do-er upper to live in on Skye was to enjoy photographing stuff. After 3-4 years, in the middle of winter when there’s a lot of night up here, I thought “why not try photographing things at night” and so the project was born. Plus, there are so many photographs taken of this place that it’s hard to get anything new, but there’s not a lot taken at night. And night time brings many opportunities for creativity with light trails, flashes, long exposures etc.

I’ve got a website up and running, Insta just starting (to get more prolific as I come to publishing time) and TikTok & Facebook profiles ready to rock (no idea what I’m doing there tbh). I’ve also got a Youtube channel with some short behind-the-scenes videos which are mainly intended to be linked to from pages in the book using QR codes, rather than trying to be a new Thomas Heaton or Nigel Danson.

I’ll share a few images and stories in this thread. I’m always interested in feedback, and new ideas so feel free. If you’ve got any experience creating photobooks for general sale (rather than one-offs) please chip in.

Here are two to get started with, both light trail focused.

#1 Here’s a shot of Boreraig, which is a cleared township a few miles up a path from the road to Elgol. The intention of this one is to reflect on the lives of the people who lived in these houses, and their spirits still being there with fires burning in the hearths and smoke rising up from them.



#2 is the Quirang. It took about 3 years before I could get this shot, as it needed a clear night, the Milky Way in the right place, no moon, and time to get up to the top of the island. This was taken at about 1am, and there aren’t many cars about at that time, let alone any going up the Quirang road. I had to leave the camera shooting on the interval mode, get in my car, and drive up and down about 10 times. Much fun! The final image is a blend of a 12 sec sky shot and 3 light trail shots.



Thanks for taking enough interest to get this far!

Andy

 

[Harlequin565]

Great project idea. And what a way to get started again and out of photo-doldrums!

First - please accept this is my opinion! And it's just one opinion!

The images themselves (I had a look at your website) are all great images so this isn't about composition, or quality of work. For me, the issue I had was seeing the context. The reason I'm saying that is because I have that problem with project work. I come up with an idea, shoot a bunch of images, and quickly realise I got caught up on one thing and the "whole" got lost.

The subject is the Isle of Skye between sunset and sunrise

That first image is cracking, but for me, the attention is on the light trails, which shouldn't (by what I took from the beginning of your intro) be the focus. I get the "spirits" idea, but personally it feels really forced and a bit cheesy. If the book was made up of this kind of thing, that would be different, but on its own, it feels a bit incongruous.

The second image is also a great image, but needs finesse for a saleable coffee table book. Maybe just one car trail (or a bicycle/bike?). White at the bottom and red at the top. Give more of a sense of isolation that makes up the majority of the images on your site. You say that at 1am there was no traffic. So why add the light trails? It ceases to become "real". That image looks like rush hour to me

Browsing the other images, you've got busy road bridges, interior cafe/restaurants and "standard" landscape stuff done in what I'd call pretty bright light considering the overall tone of the more atmospheric "near dark" photos. They just don't seem to fit together well - even though, as I said, they are individually great images. The Skye Bridge shot looks really cool in the light you shot it in. But the car [lights] over the bridge really distract and draw attention from the refinery (?) at the back. Finally, I'd lose Dead Dozer, Pink Cave and the restaurant shot. Good photos on their own right, but I don't think they fit in the project.

I hope this isn't disheartening. It's always good to see new project popping up in here and the idea is a great one IMO. For a saleable book though, I think it needs some work on making the focus a bit tighter. Also, please bear in mind, all of the opinion above is based on what you've shared here & on your website. Finally, I've never sold a photo book, so if you disagree with any of this, that's absolutely fine.

 

[Tobers]

Hi Ian - thats superb feedback, many thanks for taking the time to write it up and look through the website.

The website has only a smattering of what is going to go into the book, and curation of the content to provide context is a high priority. It’s definitely going to be vital to ensure that there is a flow to it all.

I didn’t mention that each “subject” will have a double page spread in the book, with a main feature image, one or two smaller context setting images, and a small story or explanatory text. For example, the restaurant image will go with an outside shot of the Three Chimneys and some history. It’ll sit in a sequence of food/hospitality related shots to ensure it isn’t just some weird “here’s some nice food” shot. I’ll also have some other linked images, so for example a seafood restaurant set preceded by the fishermen catching the fish that went on the table (at night obviously).

Hope that makes sense. Grateful for your views not I‘ve explained things a bit further.

 

[Harlequin565]

I didn’t mention that each “subject” will have a double page spread in the book, with a main feature image, one or two smaller context setting images, and a small story or explanatory text.

Yeah, it's not always easy to explain your whole idea in one post. Looking through the lighting in the images gave me a Crewdson-esque feeling and I was assuming that was how you were going. It's clearly not though!

 

[Tobers]

Just

Crewdson-esque

I definitely don't have that budget!!

 

[nandbytes]

Lovely project with some really lovely photographs (on the website too). I am jealous. Good luck with it

 

[Tobers]

On Wednesday night I had conditions I’d been waiting for. A clear-ish sky, near full moon, little wind. A few miles up the road from me is an area of marshy “flow country” type landscape, with some cool lochans dotted with little islands. You get glimpses of it from the road.

For a while now I’ve wanted to get a shot of one of these lochans reflecting moonlight to get a fairly minimalist image just showing the shape in the middle of nothingness. To get the right composition it had to be a drone shot. I’ve got a Mavic Air 2, which is a bit behind the times compared to the new stuff. The exposure needed to be 8 seconds and ISO 1600, not the best for the drone’s tiny sensor. And the 8 second exposure is why I needed a still night. I find it incredible that you can send a small remote controlled aircraft up with a camera and it will hold still enough for a sharp shot over 8 seconds.

Once I figured out the lochan I wanted to photograph after much flying about, and the composition (to include the distant hills but not the moon or its direct reflection), I ended up taking about 40 shots to get 4 sharp ones. I played about with some light trails from cars passing on the road just beyond the lochan but they were too distracting.

So here it is for you. #3 Loch Airigh na Saorach.

 

[Harlequin565]

Beautiful and atmospheric.

 

[David_Mug]

Lovely photographs.

They are your work so be proud of them.

Lots of us would have loved to have taken those pictures.

 

[Tobers]

Impromptu addition from last night's outing.

It was fireworks night down the road at Hotel Eilean Iarmain. I'd been keeping an eye on the aurora forecast as usual, and it was starting to look rather interesting. By the time the fireworks started a pretty nice display was kicking off up in the ionosphere as well. I ended up with a 15 sec f/3.5 ISO 1250 exposure for the main scene to include the aurora, and overlaid 6 individual firework shots at 2 secs f/5 ISO 100. It isn't possible to get it all in one exposure as the fireworks are so bright they completely overwhelm the ambient light.

 

[Tobers]

How to photograph some artisan weavers in a shed at night? I found out when I visited Andrea and Roger who founded Skye Weavers up in Glendale. This is part of the work life theme in the book.

As ever with this sort of thing, I went with an idea of the key shot I wanted, and ended up with a much bigger variety of compositions that I expected. Always keep an open mind!

Having had the pleasure of visiting several times in the past, mainly to buy some of their excellent blankets, I had a decent understanding of what I’d be faced with. Some wooden sheds and an old stone byre, with lighting definitely not suited for photography. This necessitated breaking out the lighting gear - numerous flashes, light stands, umbrellas, radio triggers and a mini softbox.

Here's a few for you from a really enjoyable outing. I learned a lot about weaving, and have way too many choice pics to choose from. Leica Q3 used for all of these. Terrific camera for this sort of thing.

#5 Warping the threads for a new wedding shawl fabric weave.



#6. Tying in. Attaching threads to the loom.



#7 Luscious just-woven fabric

 

[Tobers]

Bit of a delay posting, but the project has been in full swing.

#8 Skye Bridge



#9 Neist Point

 

[Tobers]

Wee video of a photoshoot with some fishermen as part of the “work” theme for the book:

Fishermen - Skye At Night

View: https://youtu.be/MAYrJre3bNE

 

[Tobers]

A few more as this project progresses. I'm really enjoying it, meeting loads of new people and finding out a lot more about the island. Great fun.

#10 Torabhaig distillery



#11 Bespoke furniture maker



#12 Glendale shop



#13 The Woodworker



#14 The Mountain guide, a member of this parish, who I sold a lens to in 2015(!)



#15 Cuillin under moonlight

 

[Fixer]

I 100% love the Isleornsay lighthouse photograph and all your other photographs too - Amazing!

Idea:
Having 'romped around' the Cuillin Ridge and the InPin and such, is too trite of me to suggest a Piper on the top of Sgùrr Alasdair just before dawn ?

Irrespective, great ideas and efforts. Puts the rest of us to shame I am sure !

 

[Tobers]

I 100% love the Isleornsay lighthouse photograph and all your other photographs too - Amazing!

Idea:
Having 'romped around' the Cuillin Ridge and the InPin and such, is too trite of me to suggest a Piper on the top of Sgùrr Alasdair just before dawn ?

Irrespective, great ideas and efforts. Puts the rest of us to shame I am sure !

Many thanks - I'll see if I can rustle up a piper. Great idea. Either a piper or a captive haggis.

 

[Tobers]

Time for another update. The haggis escaped unfortunately, so you'll have to put up with the following:

#16: Here's the kit I'm using for this project. Basically, the smaller and lighter, the better. Firstly, the Leica Q3 (1) is a very small and high quality instrument that handled the majority of the people and documentary pictures. It’s unobtrusive, fast to operate, yet possesses a very high resolution sensor and a fixed 28mm f/1.7 lens that are excuisite together. It works very well with an external flash, which is fitted into a small octagonal softbox (2) to soften the resulting light. This combination is fast to set up and easy to use.

For most of the scenery and landscape pictures, a Sony A7III was used with a 16-35 f/2.8 lens (3). This is a fast and flexible lens ideal for capturing wide views and dramatic starscapes. The Sony is very technically proficient and, strangely, better at high ISO (sensor sensitivity) than the Leica. A 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 lens (4) had an occasional outing when a long zoom was needed and a fast shutter speed wasn’t a requirement.

Aerial photography was courtesy of a Mavic Mini 4 Pro drone (5). Being very lightweight it is both easy to carry, and subject to fewer restrictions than heavier drones. A drone is like a tripod in the sky. You can make a composition that would be impossible otherwise, as well as using the drone to add light or effects to a scene at night.

The fourth camera is used for all the accompanying videos. This is a GoPro 11 with a Media Mod (6) and a DJI wireless microphone. Capturing video at night is really tricky but hopefully the results give an insight into how the photographs in this book were made.

Lastly, I always carry a Garmin 66i GPS (7) when I’m out and about. This provides Ordnance Survey mapping, and also crucially includes the Garmin InReach satellite messaging and SOS service. This enables me to call for help if I am in serious difficulty, and it also pings my position to Mrs T who monitors where I am to make sure I'm not stuck down a hole. Well worth it.



#17 Deer control at night. An essential part of managing the environment up here. Far more regulated than the posh tweed townies that come for a weekend's stalking, this is a different kettle of fish altogether and requires adherence to strict legislation and certifications.



#18 Very nice starlit sandy beach. Amazing shoot this one.



Behind the scenes video of the above shot:

#19 Absolutely superb traditional music concert from Session A9. Standing ovation for these guys. Brilliant. This is at Sabhal Mor Ostaig, the national Gaelic language and culture centre.

 

[Tobers]

Things are progressing nicely now. I have my ISBN allocated, my Amazon seller account sorted, and I have finished off all the photography for the book. I've now got too many images so need to do a bit of a cull.

Some recent shots that won't be culled:

#20 Aurora over Broadford Hospital. This happened just after I had finished shooting the night shift in the hospital. Sony A7III with 16-35 f2.8



#21 Some of the night shift team in Broadford Hospital. Leica Q3, three-image composite, one for the base image with no people, and two shots to light the two groups, with the dangly x-ray machine in the middle as that's where the fold goes for this double-page spread.



#22 Night shift ambulance team. Leica Q3 with small octabox to camera left.



#23 Some of the Skye Mountain Rescue Team volunteers. 7-shot composite with Leica Q3. One for the shot with no people or light, then a shot per person lit close-in with a small octabox.



#24 Farmer Ruaraidh with new lamb. Leica Q3 with small octabox camera left.





Lots more people pictures than scenery recently as I saved the people shots to the end. This is because I didn't want people waiting 5 years to see their pics in the book, so I've done most of the people shots in the last 12 months. I started the scenery pics 5 years ago.

Now I've got to finalise the layout and text (nearly done tbh), get the foreword written by the head of the Skye Mountain Rescue Team, then I'll get a small number of full hardback jacketed copies printed to drum up pre-orders at the shops on the island.

I'm contemplating a "book launch" here on Skye, which would need a lot of publicity to get a good attendance. More thought to put into that. If you've done anything like this before do let me know as I'd appreciate any ideas.

 

[Fixer]

Nice . . . Put in the work to reap the rewards !