Wild Camping Landscape Photography Overnight Trip in Cairngorms National Park
Available All Year Round
Prices
1-1 tuition £400 Overnight
1-2 tuition £700 Overnight (for you and a friend)
Wild Camping is a great way to photograph landscapes at either end of the day enabling us to capture both sunset and sunrise, and depending on the weather there is the possibility of some astrophotography in the dark skies of the Cairngorms National Park.
We will take the opportunity of spending the night in the wild to hike deeper in to the Cairngorms and take some landscape images.
The Cairngorms National Park is a varied location with forests and mountains punctuated by rivers and lochs and there are many long distance routes that we can take to get to some unique locations.
We will discuss which route appeals to you when you make contact about a booking. This overnight trip is a combination of Forests and Lochs and Mountains guided landscape photography days.
Along the hike we will often utilise short breaks with some photography, so your camera should be easily accessible.
And don’t forget you will need to provide your own camping equipment, although I will send you a recommended kit list for an overnight trip.
We may even make use of the extensive bothy network throughout the Highlands depending on the route we take.
As an overnight trip we will begin at 10:00 on Day 1, when I shall pick you up from your accommodation and we shall head to the parking area for your selected route.
We will begin our hike, we won’t be in a rush to the campsite and can walk leisurely to where we will spend the night.
Along the way we should find some subjects to photograph, such as forests, lochs or rivers, so having your camera gear easily accessible near the top of your bag will be very useful. We will also pause for lunch on the way, getting to our camping spot in the mid afternoon.
After we have pitched our tents and set up our sleeping bags we will explore the area for photographic opportunities and may hike a little farther to get into a good position for sunset. While exploring we will discuss possible angles for sunrise, thinking about orientation and particular features that will interact well with the early morning light.
After our sunset shoot, we shall sit down for some dinner and chat before bed. If we have clear skies forecast we will also take this opportunity to set up our camera for some astrophotography, working on star trails or the milky way depending on conditions and compositions.
The next morning we will be up before sunrise, and will head to the location we scouted the evening before. We will then breakfast and pack away our camping gear, before either retracing our route in or forging a new path in a circle back to the car. Along the way we can explore more photographic opportunities, noticing how the landscape changes in comparison to the light of morning and afternoon.
We will head back to your accommodation and with any luck, you will have some amazing images ready to edit!
In the car there will be a box of fresh fruit and a box of chocolate bars, and some hot water to make hot drinks, such as coffee, tea or hot chocolate. You are welcome to help yourself and we will take regular breaks.
You will need to bring your own packed lunch for the day, but if you are unable to bring a lunch we can stop at a supermarket or shop for you to buy your lunch for the day.
As well as lunch, as this is an overnight trip, you will need to bring some dehydrated meals for dinner and breakfast. Bring extra food as its always good to have extra to snack on!
Depending on your level of photography, I can give you as much tuition as you desire. If there are some things of which you are a bit unsure, please do not hesitate to ask me about them. I am there to help you achieve what you want out of photography.
I will show you some tips and tricks that I have been using when taking pictures, and we will look over composition and finding the subject in the landscape.
That being said, if you know what you are doing and only need some help finding locations then I am sure you will enjoy a night under the stars in Scotland.
We will talk about some techniques that I use when I photograph the different environments, such as Intentional Camera Movement and slow exposures to create abstract images.
We will also talk about optimum weather for landscape photography and ways we can plan photography days out to try and maximise our opportunities in the field.
Payment will be taken at the time of booking via bank transfer or Stripe to secure your dates
Fitness Level
Depending on the route, but either way it will be a long hike to the camping spot and out from it with heavy backpacks of camping and photography equipment. You need to be able to carry your own equipment over rough terrain, and we may need to negotiate some fords.
What’s Included
Photography Tuition
Transport to and from the parking area to your accommodation
Water, hot drinks and snacks
Possible Locations We Will Visit:
Lairig Ghru
Loch Einich
Loch Avon
Upper Glen Feshie
Upper Findhorn Valley
Loch Spey
Ben MacDui
Braeriach
What’s NOT Included
Equipment Rental - unfortunately I don’t have equipment such as cameras, lenses, filters, tents and stoves to lend you for the day and you will be required to provide your own
Meals - please don’t forget to bring a packed lunch for the day, I would recommend bringing a little extra than you normally would as it is a long day, as well as dehydrated meals for dinner and breakfast.
Recommended Equipment
The links below are affiliate links to amazon.co.uk this means that if you make a purchase, amazon will pay me a small commission, this does not affect the price for you but it helps to support my work and it means amazon earn less too!
DSLR/4:3/Mirrorless Camera (a camera of some description, I use a Canon 1DX mark II and can recommend the Canon 5d mark IV also)
Wide angle lens (such as Canon 17-40mm f4 or Canon 16-35mm f2.8)
Medium telephoto lens (such as Canon 24-105mm f4 or Canon 24-70mm f2.8)
Long telephoto lens (such as Canon 70-200mm f2.8)
Filter set including a polariser (such as the Lee Landscape Photography Kit)
Tripod (such as 3 Legged Thing Winston Tripod)
Waterproof jacket and trousers (such as Berghaus Deluge Trousers and Jacket)
Warm clothes, hat and gloves
Spare Batteries, memory cards and anything else you may need
Intervalometer (for astrophotography)
Plus items from my Camping Equipment Kit List
Don’t forget your Lunch, Dinner and Breakfast!
Please familiarise yourself with the Health and Safety Policy regarding Guided Photography days and in particular the Risk Assessment for your chosen activity. By booking a guided session, you agree to the Terms and Conditions set out in the booking form.