Driech* is pretty much how the weather has been in the far north for the last few days. Just as well we’re used to the vagaries of Scotland’s summers and have learned to pack accordingly. The local outdoor and fleece shops have done well enough from us in past years, so now we’ve got lots of warm layers to peel off as the mercury rockets up to and occasionally past 12 degrees C.
This is the North Coast 500; 500 miles starting in Inverness, around Scotland’s extremities and back to our starting point – all in five days.
Regular DS contributor, Bob Hamilton and I planned this trip late last year, following a big write up and some spectacular photographs of the route in one of England’s daily newspapers. Bob made the necessary hotel bookings, setting our rendezvous and starting point as Beauly, just a short distance north of Inverness. DS’ Pascal was also supposed to join us, but sadly (for us) family commitments took him to Australia instead.
Quickly filling Pascal’s place was the other DS-er Philippe, who signed-up, but as quickly opted out as personal circumstances overwhelmed his plans at the last moment. So, Bob and I set off as a duo.
Not co-incidentally, I discovered that Beauly is the home of Ffordes, from whom Bob had arranged the loan of Leica’s new SL and its sole boat anchor-sized lens, the 24-90 zoom. I arrived the shop as he hefted the camera/lens for the first time and I wondered aloud whether Charles Atlas had arranged a loan of much needed muscles as well. It’s a beast of combination and I was keen to see whether mass and quality were joined by a straight line.
Why was I there and not at the hotel? I’d caved and arranged the purchase of a used M9, which Ffordes had very kindly kept to one side, pending my arrival. This was to be my first serious foray into Leica-land and I was keen to discover whether I liked it and more importantly, whether I was correct in thinking that neither adapted NEX-7, or Fuji X-Pro were doing sufficient justice to my M-mount lenses.
More about that later.
Our route was to take us from an overnight in Beauly to Helmsdale, Bettyhill, Rhiconich and finally, two nights in Gairloch, before heading back to Inverness. 500 miles – 800km – in five and a bit days. Easy.
Well, not quite. It’s easy if you drive at a gentle pace and don’t stop every few metres to drag out tripods and cameras. Then you’ll cope well. If like us, every shadow and rain cloud held photographic promise, getting into the hotel du jour before dinner was always going to be a struggle.
This is high summer in Scotland. Bob was born here and I’m married to a Scot, so we were both well prepared for the vagaries of the weather. We saw everything from brilliant sunshine to thick lowerin’ clouds, rain, high winds and at one stage, a promise of sleet. Still, it was brilliant and we both shot the big landscapes, mountains, lochs and tiny intimate views that this incredible route delivers at almost every turn.
From Beauly to Helmsdale, past the many famous distilleries on the way. A stop at Glenmorangie to stock up on some fine Scottish Communion Wine was followed by a brief visit to a (thankfully) clear John O’ Groats and a splendid view of the sea stacks at Duncanby Head.
It was here that Bob’s bad feelings for the SL came to a head; after several attempts en route, he’d become aware that the camera/lens simply didn’t focus correctly – he was testing it against his own S type and knew exactly what he was looking at/for. So, the genius camera went back into the photo bag and didn’t re-appear until it’s hand-back at Ffordes several days later. A shame really, it promised so much.
Meanwhile, my Leica foray was going gangbusters; I’d quickly learned the basic quirks of the M9 body and aside from focussing in portrait mode, was having few failures and lots of very pleasing success; 60% of the shots I’d taken on the 500 were with the M9 and around 20% of those were (in my rating system), keepers.
I really enjoy the M9’s focussing, the light metering and gentle, understated colour. At 18mp, it’s fine for landscapes and I’m looking forward to a run with it in London to see how it delivers in (coversion to) black and white on the street. What has become clear already, is that I was right – at least in part – in thinking the adapted NEX-7 and X-Pro weren’t delivering all of these lenses. The outrageous cost (even second hand) of the M9 being easily offset by the uptick in image quality I’m seeing.
Lens-wise, my series 2 35mm f2 Summicron is a stellar performer on the M9. So is my decades old 50 f1.4 Summilux. It’s curious; there seems to be a constant hubbub in my bag when that and the 35 are side-by-side, out of use, as though they are jostling for my attention.
A final note; the previous owner had replaced the red dot on the front plate with a black logo, which disappointed me at first, but I’ve got to quite like its stealthy persona…
From John O’ Groats, we motored past Thurso, the nuclear station at Douneray and on to Bettyhill. Day three took us through some pretty wild countryside to Rhiconich and then our final stop at Gairloch. Day 6 saw us heading back to Inverness, Bob to return the errant SL, me to Farr for a couple of night’s R&R prior to driving south to Grantown-on-Spey. More of that in the next post…
* Urban dictionary: A combination of dull, overcast, drizzly, cold, misty and miserable weather. At least 4 of the above adjectives must apply before the weather is truly dreich.
All the details of the North Coast 500 are here: North Coast 500
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Good Morning;
I would like to invite your contributors to consider changing the formate of their work as presented in this context. These articles are interesting, but I feel could be significantly more helpful to we amateurs/enthusiasts by discussing the intention of the photographer regarding the attempt to create an artful work involved in capturing the image. While I’m sure owning a Leica camera and lens system might be a desirable thing, I’m sure most readers don’t and won’t. What might be more helpful is citing the technical aspects of the shot (f Stop, shutter, and focal length, and focus point) and issues of composition to achieve the artful look the shooter is after, with a self critique of succeeding, or not. After all, a camera is nothing more than a box with a receptor, a transparent lens of sorts, and a shutter. Its what is done with that instrument that counts. When the lens is a critical factor, discuss why. In fact, one of the missing fields in most photo discussions, is the information regarding the various combinations of lens setting in creating that unique artistic work, that well may fail with other setting. I fear most amateurs work so hard to get the “exposure” correct, they fail to work that setting to be creative.
It may be that I’m just not up to the skill of your readers and need to go about my business of improvement. But it seems there is a lot of skill behind the scenes that, if shared, would be very helpful, even to your better shooters.
Sincerely,
David Mack
David, the very mantra of the DearSusan(s) is to not do what every other blog on the Internet does. As photographers and bloggers, we write about what we do and occasionally about how we do it. Our reviews are unscheduled and entirely non-technical.
That sets DearSusan pretty much apart from the rest and to be blunt, we see little benefit in changing the content to deliver the same ideas and opinions that everyone else offers.
You’ll also notice that the word art rarely appears on our pages. Pascal has been known to utter the “a” word occasionally in a post, but for the rest of us, we’re just glad to come away from a shoot with something worthwhile. Art? I can’t speak for the others, but in our Photoshop world, I haven’t got a clue what it means.
In closing, I appreciate your comment(s) and welcome them. I hope I haven’t convinced you to stop coming by…
Great and very inspiring images from both photographers that makes me wanting to go back to Scotland again.
Cheers
Joakim
Hello! To both of you.
Great trip, typical scottish weather it reminds me that I have a few Barbour waxed jackets in my closet.
Well I guess that Leica quality control is the same as all other brands so-so. I will keep my M6 and 35mm Summicron together.
By the way Mr. Perton did you try those Leica optics on a Sony 7R-2? Or is it as some rare reviewers dare say:” native lenses to native cameras”.
I read Sony are great with a ton of adapters and two tons of lenses, but then a very few photographers say stick to Zeiss-Sony or Zeiss lenses for better results.
Well it is the old quest for the Holy Grail.
Thanks.
Gianfranco
I am reminded why my paltry few scottish ancestors left, never to return. Your shot of the scottish summer, Paul, is like the French description of summer in Brittany – you can tell if it’s summer, because the rain drops are warmer. Except that in poor Scotland’s case, they aren’t (warmer, I mean).
For me, Bob’s shot of Logie Burn Farm is the winner – but it may be the patch of sunshine that makes me fixate on that shot – others are “artistic” and show photographic genius, but the subject matter is – what’s that word? – “dreich”! Sorry – I inherited an aversion to bleak & miserable, they (the ancestors) were in Elgin which can be perishingly cold.
When I saw your shot of Kildonan Burn, Paul, I was reminded of a shot I took of my friend Kathy’s 14-yr old brown Dachshund – I’m not yet sure if I am to be forgiven, but the dog had stuck her head in an empty bag formerly holding dog treats and was trying to shake it off – I captured the spectacle with an almost identical amount of blur – it appealed to me, but Kathy has yet to pass judgment on it.
Truly glorious pics. Thank you for sharing – this and Bob’s earlier postings are inspiring. Yes, to snag a Leica, of course! But more so to plunge into these isles on such a quest. Thanks again, guys,
Scott
My jaw fell when i saw “Sunset over Torrisdale Bay”, is there by any chances a way to get a print of this beauty ?
Wonderful article in every way, i’m just a bit sad to see the images in a so small definition (well, only for the 800*xxx ones) otherwise it was a pleasure to read and watch. It is like i had the chance to travel with you two so thank you !
And for those who want something more technical, most if not all of the images still got their EXIF, there is a nice plug in for Safari/Firefox that allows to see them easily (i think it’s Jeffrey’s Image Metadata Viewer), i use it a lot !
Cheers !
I’ll pass your request on to Bob…
There are so many fine shots here that I won’t dare to claim that one is my favorite. On the other hand, differences between the 3 systems are IMHO clearly visible. Which one appeals to whom is for each of us to decide. As to the lack of proper focusing of the Leica SL, that is sorry news, because it is a camera that Leica needs to succeed.
However, the star of the show is not a camera, however clever they may be. It is not a photographer, however talented. It is Scotland. And all I can say is, [old fashion] “I shall return!”, or [more modern] “I’ll be back!”
Thanks Philippe, wish you’d have made the journey too.
Hi paul,
An excellent photographic result has been achieved in capturing the unique atmospheric ruggedness of this part of Scotland. The images have allowed one particular viewer to ‘feel’ the atmosphere that accompanies the air, land and water … well done.
Sean