Location Guide: Loch Ness
There are many locations on Loch Ness worthy of photography, so this article is going to focus on a couple of my favourites.
As I am based in the Cairngorms National Park, to get to Loch Ness I can either go to Inverness and drive down the west side on the main Loch Ness route or I can drive down the east side to Fort Augustus.
When I’m going to Loch Ness for photography I tend to do the latter, heading down the east side and then returning via the west to Inverness and back down the A9 to where I live.
With that in mind, my first location is the Falls of Foyers and we are going to travel in a loop from there.
Heading from Foyers to fort Augustus and then back up the west side of the loch, eventually ending up heading towards Inverness.
The map shows the 4 photographic locations described in this article:
Falls of Foyers
Fort Augustus
Invermoriston
Urquhart Castle
Falls of Foyers
This is a rather majestic waterfall, cascading down an almost vertical granite cliff face and it runs down into the infamous Loch Ness. It’s a wonderfully easy location to get to, as it is sign posted and the walk is not too strenuous.
As with all waterfalls and moving water, a dark overcast day or even a rainy day are the best conditions to capture it.
When I went it was a glorious summer’s day, and high in itself wasn’t a bad thing but it did cause a very harsh shadow line as the trees essentially became a sundial. With some minor adjustments in Lightroom and waiting for the light to dim briefly, I managed to minimise the impact of the shadows. I also utilised my Lee Little Stopper to slow my shutter speed and allow the water to smooth itself.
I decided to convert the resulting image to black and white because of the harsh light of summer that seemed to bleach the landscape and I felt the contrast of the image looked better as black and white.
To get here is fairly easy, you can just head down the A85 from the A9, it’s signposted Fort Augustus.
On the way you will come to the village of Foyers. There is a public car park next to the village shop and the waterfall is just across the road from there.
It should be signposted.
Cross the road and follow the track through the woodlands and down the hill a little way. It leads you to a viewing area for the falls, which is the only place really to get an image as the location doesn’t suggest itself to exploration.
Head back to the car and continue your journey! Next stop Fort Augustus!
Fort Augustus
Fort Augustus is a nice little village at the southern end of Loch Ness. It’s pretty famous because it is the start of the Caledonian canal that connects Loch Ness to the sea at Loch ...., Fort William. This was extremely important during the industrial revolution, enabling better access to the North of Scotland.
As this is famous for the canal, that’s what we are here to photograph. The canal features a set of impressive locks, essentially an elevator for boats. The boat pulls into an area, gates close to isolate it from the canal, and water is either pumped in or let it to lower or lift the boat to the level of the canal on the other side. An ingenious way of making a boat climb stairs.
If you can arrange it, this would make a good sunset location as you will probably be shooting towards the west looking up at these great iron gates.
Again fairly easy to get to, if you are travelling from Foyers, you will see the locks of the canal before you find a parking place. So, once you have gone past them, there is a public car park just up the road. And you will immediately know your way back to the location.
Invermoriston
This location was a big surprise to me, it’s about half way up the western side of Loch Ness and is an absolute treasure. I spent quite a while there, much to the chagrin of my family as a five minute stop turned into an hour and a half exploration.
If travelling from Fort Augustus, or in other words the south, you cross over a bridge before coming to the car park. Park on the car park and head back towards that bridge.
There are walks either side of the river, but my favourite was the western side.
On the eastern side of the river there is a small summer house built on to the cliff edge that can make for some interesting views but I struggled to get a composition featuring the house, I’ll have to take another look at the place soon!
On the western side there is another bridge for pedestrians, which is very old and made of stone and can make a great feature. There are also several canyons, carved out of the granite by the river.
Another good location for a cloudy day, as you are amongst a bit of forest and the river rapids looks great smoothed out.
Urquhart Castle
The last stop is the castle ruins of Urquhart. The site is run by Historic Scotland and is a great day out for the family. It does mean that is only accessible during opening hours and it’s almost impossible to see the castle outside of that time.
I would try and make it a day that has as few tourists as possible, otherwise you are going to have to have incredible patience and wait for the best opportunity when they eventually wander out of the way.
This is a very important historical site, and it’s history are what make it an important photographic location. The castle was once one of the largest in Scotland, it had a sordid history, constantly being attacked by various clans from Scotland and the English. It was last used during the Jacobite uprising, when it served as a garrison for the English who withstood a siege by Jacobite forces. When the Jacobites were eventually defeated at Cromdale and the siege was called off, the leaving English forces blew up the castle, as its strategic location and fortifications could be a problem if there was another war and they had to siege the castle.
The castle is super easy to find, as it is on the main road with a massive sign saying come to the castle! This is the last location I’m going to discuss in this article.
You can continue your journey up to Inverness or head back the way you came. It’s also possible to do this route in reverse if you wanted!
Conclusion
Loch Ness is a massive lake, the biggest in the UK. There are many more locations that I have failed to mention, but these are some my highlights. You should definitely explore the shores of the loch extensively, if you do visit the area.
These places are just some of the stand out locations you can photograph around the loch, and there are plenty of opportunities to photograph the loch itself and the surrounding mountains.
If you have any other suggestions of locations please let me know and I’ll check them out!
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Written by Daniel Long
Daniel Long created DRL Photography as a place to showcase his work as a photographer. Daniel has learnt a lot about photography and wishes to impart this knowledge with you, although the world is an ever changing place and he always says “you can never learn everything.” So as he makes his way, he continues to learn knew techniques, skills and information about photography. He focuses on Landscape and Wildlife photography and Daniel has a special focus on Scotland, his home away from home. As well as writing about photography and taking pictures out in the field, Daniel offers guided photography days so he can share his knowledge and locations in an effort to give his clients the best opportunities possible. Have a browse around this website to see his images, guided experiences and articles about photography. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to get in contact.
