A bucket list shot that I picked up at the end of March on my trip to Lewis. This took several attempts as cloud thwarted the first effort, and the second effort with 20mm didn't seem to work either. So for this one I stood as far back as I could and used 35mm. . The location is also quite tricky to shoot at because a bright red light from a transmitter near Stornoway wants to interfere with most compositions (you can just make out the faint glow to the bottom left of the image). . Happy Easter weekend! . #astrophotography #milkyway #nightscape #callanishstones #scotland #visitscotland #thisisscotland #lovescotland #hiddenscotland #isleoflewis #outerhebrides

An image taken on Thursday evening during twilight, hence the cooler, bluish tones to this one. Also featuring a very mild aurora storm. . This location in Perthshire makes for a good stop en route to Loch Tay. I was with @stevenrobinsonpictures and we were blessed to have no breeze whatsoever, which meant we got excellent star reflections in the reedy waters of this small lochan. . #scotland #astrophotography #perthshire #nightscape #twilight #milkywaychasers #aurora #scottishlandscape #landscapephotography

Perched high amidst the hills towering over Glen Lyon in Perthshire is the rock formation known as the Praying Hands of Mary (or Fionn's Rock). . Taken in the early hours of Good Friday on a late night jaunt with @stevenrobinsonpictures - grateful for the banter and company as it helps to motivate when you have an hour's trek to make in the dark. . This shot had been in the planning for a year and now that we're heading out of milky way core season, it was one last chance in 2025. Luckily we were both blessed with crystal clear skies and no wind as a reward. . Tracked using Move Shoot Move's Nomad Star Tracker @moveshootmove and the stars softened using a polarpro heavy mist filter @polarpro . Happy Easter to all! . #scotland #astrophotographer #astrophotography #nightscape #milkyway #milkywaychaser #milkywaychasers #astrofotografia #perthshire #perthshiremagazine #hiddenscotland #outdoorphotographymagazine #visitscotland #thisisscotland #momentsintime #starrynights #moveshootmove #polarpro

Taken on my first morning on Lewis around a fortnight ago, at Garry Beach. The light was simply beautiful, and the day developed into one of sunshine, showers and rainbows. . #isleoflewis #outerhebrides #seascape #landscapephotography #scotland #lovescotland #thisisscotland #beachlife

The last light of the day strikes the aptly-named Cliff Beach on Lewis. . #scotland #landscapephotography #outerhebrides #isleoflewis #scottishlandscape #lovescotland #icu_scotland #outerhebridescollective

We're fast approaching the end of the astrophotography season in Scotland, as the night soon becomes twilight. . Every Spring, though, between February and April we get treated to the milky way core rising in the south east at around 4am. The finale of the season before se get to see it again in late August to the south west (but thankfully at the more sociable time of around 11pm). . So on my recent trip I took advantage of Harris' lack of light pollution and a really clear sky earlier this month to capture this image of the pre-historic MacLeod's Stone with the core of the milky way rising behind it. It was shot at about 4.15am, just after a low crescent moon had set behind me. . Thanks for looking and enjoy the weekend! . #astrophotography #milkyway #milkywaychaser #milkywaycore #isleofharris #nightscape #astrophoto

The tide races in at Dal Beag on Lewis. This image was taken on an overcast day after some morning rain. One of the few occasions where it was possible to shoot images during the daytime without scenes being overly contrasty. . #isleoflewis #seascape #landscapephotography #scotland #swoosh #campervanlife #scottishlandscape #outerhebrides

From a sunset walk along the beach at Reef on Lewis' Bhaltos Peninsula - a really charming and quiet part of the island. . I'd been before during the daytime and was impressed by the dunes, however as the light faded, the better shots were to be found at the shoreline as the colours developed beautifully after the sun had set, reflecting in the waves and sand. . #scotland #scottish #seascape #seascape_lovers #seascapephotography #lewis #outerhebrides .

Garry Beach on Lewis. Taken on the first morning of my recent trip to Lewis and Harris. . #seascape #lewisandharris #scotland #outerhebrides #landscapephotography

An image from a lovely evening last week at Scarista Beach on Harris. . The week turned into largely blue sky weather which is less than ideal for photographing the beaches on Harris (although it suited my astrophotography efforts superbly). However there were still moments of nice light to support seascape work as well. . Hope you're all enjoying the sunshine across the UK (as much as me!). . #isleofharris #scotland #seascapephotography #seascape #pastels #stayandwander #dreamdestination #dreamylight #specialmoments #outerhebrides #outerhebridescollective

Perched above Nisabost Beach (aka West Beach or Traigh Iar) on Harris is MacLeod's Stone, a prehistoric standing stone. I headed up there on Wednesday night at about 11pm to capture this shot, and was still there at 5am, capturing the milky way core rising in the south east (I'll post that image shortly). . #aurora #scotland #isleofharris #nightscape #outerhebrides #outerhebridescollective #visitscotland #itsprimupnorth #astrophotography #astrophotographer #stayandwander

A glorious sunrise building over the Callanish Stones on Lewis. . Taken as a long exposure to remove some of the complexity in the clouds. This was last week (Tuesday morning), one of the better sunrises during my trip. . #callanishstones #isleoflewis #lewisandharris #scotland #landscapephotography #outerhebridescollective

What a treat for my final night on Harris - something of a bucket list moment, getting aurora on Luskentyre Beach. . I took this image at about 11pm last night. I'm now home and shaved, showered and sitting in my comfortable chair, reflecting back on a week of travels around Lewis and Harris (I did shave and shower on the trip in case you're wondering!). . At the moment, the moon was still up, helping to illuminate the foreground to enable me to keep the shutter speed relatively fast to pick out the pillars in the aurora and the breaking of the waves. . Now to catch up on some sleep. If you're out hunting aurora tonight or this weekend, good luck! . #aurora #northernlights #luskentyre #scotland #hebrides #outerhebrides #outerhebridescollective #lewisandharris #nightscape #auroraborealis

One of the images I managed to grab at Elie on New Year's Day. I've only just got around to processing it, as it required a fair bit of work with stitching in PTGui. . The onset of the sub-auroral red arc complicated matters a bit in terms of composition, requiring me to have to move mid-way through taking the pano. It wasn't evident on the back of the camera initially. Anyway, I think it all came good. . Working at 35mm allows you to lose most of the foreground distortion, and pulls the night sky's detail closer, although it often means taking multi-row panos. . #scotland #elie #fife #astrophotography #landscapeastrophotography #sonyalpha #sony35mm14gm

As we say goodbye to the Winter constellations, we say hello to Mirror Man who, in case you'd not been active on social media this week, has returned to Loch Earn at St. Fillan's. . #scotland #astrophotography #winterskies #nightscape

Another image from Friday morning' shoot on the cliffs near Arbroath, Angus, this time looking east at about 3am, and using a 35mm lens to fill more of the frame with the Deil's Head sea stack and the milky way. . There was some aurora behind my left shoulder, and also some air glow over the horizon, hence the reds and greens that we're seeing in this image. . Tracked sky (Move Shoot Move Nomad): 2 minutes, ISO 400, f/2.2. . Long exposure foreground (6 minutes, ISO 400, f/2.8). . #astrophoto #astrophotograpy #milkyway #scotland #angus #arbroath #nightscape #alphashooters #moveshootmove #visitangus

It's the start of milky way 'core' season, which means northern latitudes get to glimpse the brighter 'core' region of the milky way just before dawn. In Scotland, this means facing south east at around 4.30am. . This was taken at around 4am on Friday morning, when the east coast of Scotland was being treated to some exceptionally clear skies. I tracked the sky (f/2.8, ISO 400 and 3 minutes) and then doubled the length of the exposure for the foreground. I'm now using Move Shoot Move's Nomad star tracker, which seems to hold up really well in terms of tracking performance. . #scotland #astrophotography #moveshootmove #milkywaycore #milkyway #angus #nightscaper

So this is an image where I aimed to capture the faint section of the winter milky way arch as it rose over a photogenic rocky outcrop. You can make out the constellations of Cassiopeia and Perseus. High cloud was moving over the scene, creating a somewhat soft and dreamy nightscape sky. . #scotland #astrophotography #nightscape #moveshootmove

In landscape astrophotography there's no substitute for working under truly dark skies. It doesn't matter what gear you have or how good you are in post-processing, light pollution prevents the capture of the faint details in the night sky and plays havoc with editing. . This is an image taken on Lewis back in March of last year. Darkest skies in Europe. Shot at 12mm, so i was up close to the foreground boulders. Two exposures, blended in photoshop. Both foreground and sky exposure settings: 3 minutes, f/2.8 ISO 800. I used the lowest setting on my headlamp to illuminate the foreground just a touch. . This section of the milky way is especially faint, and barely perceptible to the naked eye, even under dark sky conditions. It straddles the constellations of Gemini, Auriga and Perseus. . For this particular image I've used a Photoshop plugin called StarXterminator. This tool allows you to edit the stars separately from the sky, which means you don't 'damage' the stars (lose colour, bloat them) when editing the sky. Thanks to @stevenrobinsonpictures for the suggestion as it's a game changer for me. . Thanks for looking. Hopefully some more night sky opportunities in the coming weeks and months. . #scotland #astrophotography #isleoflewis #outerhebrides #milkyway #landscapeastrophotography #starxterminator

Now that we're into February and we're starting to get slightly longer days, I'm looking to re-start on the roadtrips. . I'm looking forward to returning to Lewis again and hopefully getting clear skies. Perhaps in March, a year after this image was taken. The Outer Hebrides surely provide some of the darkest skies in the whole of Europe. . This image was taken at the ultra-wide side of life, at a focal length of 12mm, requiring me to be inches from ground and the near boulders. I took three separate images of the foreground, focussed at different points and then stacked them. The sky was a separate 5 minute tracked shot. . Working in the pitch black and trying to ensure you think through the shot and act as accurately as possible is always the fun challenge with astrophotography, albeit less so when it's freezing. Each time, something new is learned, either in the planning, in the execution, or behind the computer afterwards. . #lewis #isleoflewis #scotland #outerhebrides #astrophotography #milkywayphotography

Social Media

Light, Land and Sky

Instagram