There seemed to be a never ending column of storms heading in from the west, keeping me indoors. Some of these were too savage to head anywhere, never mind the summits i'd planned to do. There had to be a break at some point.
Thankfully it arrived, with brief moments of decent weather between the snow storms. I found myself heading towards Strontian and the celtic rainforest, an ancient oakwood in the north west highlands. The remains of what once was, before we destroyed our way across the country. It's well worth a visit if you happen to be in the area, worth also reading up on the location too. I'd been on Aonach Mhor but it had to be scratched due to high winds and extreme winter conditions. When you are in or around the Scottish mountains it's important to stay safe and if the conditions don't permit it. Don't go up, the mountains don't care if you are an expert. Don't push on thinking it'll get better, It probably won't. Stay safe and think about the situation, if your with others keep in mind they may not tell you how they feel and you will need to look for what others aren't telling you. Extreme cold can creep into you, especially if you are not moving much. Apologies for sounding like a bit of a nag, but it's important to stay safe, no image is worth injury or worse. I've lost count of the amount of times I've scratched a summit due to the conditions, I know I'll go back though. I'll get the shot the next time, or i'll keep going back until I do. Persistence is part of the photographic journey. With the shot below, I used a 70-200mm lens, with a view to compressing perspective and drawing the mountains in and adding intensity to the scene.
