THE SCOTTISH NORTH COAST 500
Tristan Sharman
Welcome dear reader, to A Pastime in Focus, my editorial series about enjoying photography as a hobbyist. As a magazine, PRISMA originated as a place to bring together amateur and professional photographers into one community, and with this column I hope to provide continuity to that mission. Naturally, as when trying anything new, starting photography as a hobby can be a daunting experience with many ups and downs. However, on the flip side of that, I also believe that fostering photography as a hobby when you already work with cameras and visual storytelling professionally can be just as challenging.
Once you ‘go pro’ and commercialise your photography, it can be tricky to re-enter the hobbyist mindset. At least that has been my experience. Having taken on a fair share of professional photography gigs, and currently working as a video producer full time, I have found myself falling increasingly out of photography as a creative pastime and am now actively looking for ways to rediscover that recreational enjoyment with a camera.
Still, I strongly debated the merits of basing my first article of this column around what can effectively be boiled down to some holiday snaps. Though, then I reminded myself that holidays indeed are as far as you can get away from work, aside from retirement of course, but alas I am a long way off from that yet. A trip away breaks your routine, offers you new and exciting places to try to capture through your viewfinder, and frankly is a great place to bring a camera.
Photo: Tristan Sharman
This past May, I embarked on a road trip of the North Coast 500 (NC500): a tourist route circling the northernmost tip of mainland Scotland. As the name suggests, it is 500 miles along… so long as you start counting at Inverness. From there it’s best to circle counterclockwise, starting with a tour up the towns and cliffs of the east coast up towards John o’ Groats, the northernmost settlement on the mainland UK. From there you head west, past glorious sandy beaches and turquoise waters, into increasingly dramatic mountains and valleys, carved by the last ice ages. From the northwestern points of Durness, you head south, between coves, and if you are brave enough, down the iconic Applecross mountain pass.
From there the west coast is yours to explore. The NC500 is a strictly mainland route, but the Isle of Skye is an excellent nearby area to crown your trip. Now all this needs time to take in, and get around. My first time doing the route was 4 years ago, when a friend and I mustered a whistlestop 5-night tour. The scenery was immense, but we viewed most of it through a windscreen. We were constantly on the move, except for the periodic dips into one of the narrow route’s many ‘passing places’, safe havens for when an oversized caravan is lumbering towards you from the other way. Our persistent hurry to meet our planned checkpoints did not mean the landscapes were any less impressive, nor the drive any less memorable, but there was not much time to smell the roses. Less ‘we came, we saw, we conquered’, and instead more ‘we came, we saw, we kept going’. Add to this that I was the sole driver, and photography was not really on my mind back then, particularly on the singular day spent driving from Wick (just south of John o’ Groats) all the way to Ullapool. How naïve I was back then. This year was different.
Photo: Tristan Sharman
Photo: Tristan Sharman
First off, I wisely brought a co-pilot with a driver’s license. However, more importantly, we took a leisurely 8 days to complete the circuit. Indeed, we stayed around Durness for 3 nights, allowing for a much calmer and richer exploration of the surrounding hikes, beaches and photo opportunities. As obvious as it might sound, you should allow for more time out of the car than you spend in it, especially if you want photography to be part of your road trip. You cannot take photos whilst you are driving, and even as a passenger, for Scotland’s infamously wet weather will indeed continuously encourage you to keep the car windows up. For when you do stop, however, make sure to keep your camera in an accessible place. Once you have pitched and collapsed a tent several times, you may lose your appetite for digging bags out from the depths of your car. As for what you choose to capture: whatever piques your interest.
Plan as much of your NC500 itinerary as you want, but part of its charm is the impromptu stops on the side of the road, be that a dramatic view, a local’s freshly made cheesecakes, or a glimpse of the wildlife. My personal best photo opportunities on this latest trip were along the walk to Stoer Head, complete with rocks and a lighthouse, and a boat tour with Calum’s Seal Trips based in Plockton. No doubt, though, Applecross provides incredible views too, when not shrouded in cloud that is. But that is the NC500 and, indeed, photography for you. The conditions might be a little unpredictable, but it is still worth making and capturing moments that are uniquely yours, just for fun.
This article is part of the PRISMA Editorial Series ‘A Pastime in Focus’