Some beautiful landscapes in the Scottish Highlands

The Scottish Highlands is a very beautiful place, with a lot of greenery and large rugged spaces. There are hills and mountains, lakes (Lochs) everywhere, many tracts with extensive greenery and seemingly untouched places, and so on. If you are in Scotland, and head off towards the Scottish Highlands, and are fond of photography, then this place is a visual paradise and can shoot off a large number of shots. Here are some photos from one such place, with natural greenery and light effects.

This is an image where we were climbing to a higher level, on a path that takes us to the main road which was at a higher level. While climbing up, it was late afternoon and because of the slope and the direction of the sun, the sun seemed to be over the horizon and was presenting a lovely portrayal of the light silhouetting the greenery. It was a coincidence, but the light seemed to have a cloud formation emerging from it, and that made for an even more interesting picture.

Sunlight from behind some plants on a slightly higher part of the slope with a cloudy sky (more photos / Print this photo)

This kind of photo would seem nothing great, but people who live in cities typically do not get this kind of view. Lots of trees, nobody else but us in sight, and it being late afternoon, the sun was slowly starting to make its way down; no longer very bright or harsh, and with clouds over the horizon, the sun was covered by these clouds. The trees looked good, although the trees were not overly laden with leaves; with summer on the way in a few weeks, the trees would start developing a lot of new leaves.

Branches of a tree along with clouds in the sky (Print of this photo / More photos)

Yet another photo of a tree, a tree standing on the small slope of a hillock (rather than a hill or a mountain) in the Scottish Highlands. In the immediate vicinity of this tree, the land has more of bushes and grass rather than any other tree. However, the light behind the tree, the spreading of the branches of the tree, all of this make this an interesting location.

An overcast sky in the Scottish Highlands in Scotland, with trees on the hill slope. The aim was to catch the sun behind a tree trunk. (Print of this photo / More photos)

With these photos, the attempt was also to see whether the setting (or slowly going down) sun could be captures just behind the tree trunk, apparently seeming to peek from behind the tree trunk and make a sort of star effect. The photo below does show something like this, and I was satisfied with the final photo (I could have tried HRD and other effects), but the photos here are shown as they come out from the camera, without any effects, and I will continue to promote that.

Sun rays from behind a tree with cloudy sky in the Scottish Highlands (More photos / Print this photo)

The beauty of Loch Ness in the Scottish highlands

When you hear of lakes in Scotland, they are referred to as 'Loch XYZ', such as Loch Ness or Loch Lomond. Why Loch ? Well, in the Scottish and Irish language, Loch is the word for lake, and apparently since it is not a big or fancy word, and something that is easy to pronounce, it is used widely. So, when you look at maps or local signs, they will refer to these lakes as Loch, and if you speak to people in the area, they are proud of these magnificent bodies of water and prefer to refer to them as Loch rather than as a lake.

Mist and cloud in the morning over Loch Ness in Scotland (More photos / Prints)

There are many such Lochs in the Scottish Highlands, and are important to the local economy. These water bodies are the anchor on which the tourism economy of the Scottish Highlands depends upon, and the number of tourists that come to this area for the beauty, the sceneries, the excellent weather, is very important for the economy of Scotland as a whole.

A Merganser drake in the water of the Loch Ness (More photos / Prints)

These Lochs, atleast the most famous ones, are all sided to one side of a hill or mountain; these Lochs are not very broad (some can be less than a kilometer wide at some points), but can be very long. One of the most famous is Loch Ness. The reason it is so famous is because of the name, with sightings over the years of an apparent pre-historic monster called the Loch Ness monster or Nessie (the more affectionate name). This monster (of which presence there is no conclusive proof) apparently lives in Loch Ness, a Loch that is pretty large (it is not immediately much longer or wider than other lakes), but is pretty deep and as a result, the volume of water contained in Loch Ness is one of the largest in the whole of UK.

Man kayaking on the water of the Loch Ness (More Photos / Buy a print)

The surroundings of Loch Ness are very beautiful, with greenery, hills and some heritage monuments (the most prominent being the ruins of Urquhart Castle). There are many boating cruises on the Loch, and one can even take a kayak or similar boat onto the water and enjoy (there is of course no guarantee of what would happen if you come across the monster - if you survive and managed to take photos, you would get incredibly reach).

Man sitting on steps reading paper on shore of Loch Ness (More photos / Buy print)

Because of the greenery around the Loch, the water of the Loch is very murky, which means that various expeditions in the past to try and determine the presence of the Loch Ness monster have come to naught. 

Beauty of a Loch (one among many) in the Scottish Highlands

The terrain of the Scottish Highlands is wonderful when you are driving on the highway that runs through different sections of it. The presence of Lochs, of hills, of taller sections of hills that have rock (but not much of ice) and abundant greenery makes for an interesting drive through the region. When driving in the region, suddenly you will come across a Loch where there is no real mark of civilization;  where you can see the natural beauty of the area. Our journey started by driving out from Edinburgh, and within a few hours, we came across the first Loch. The road had a side parking area, atleast one where you could stop, there was little traffic on the highway, and just trees everywhere with the water of the Loch visible through the trees (or one could go through the trees and get closer to the water). As we moved along, came across different types of lakes, some bigger than the others, some which had a shore where one could go easily to the Loch, and others which were located at a lower level than the road and it was not possible to go down.

Irregular shoreline of a Loch in the Scottish Highlands (More photos | Get prints)

Just like the above photo, there are more photos that show the beauty of the Scottish Highlands. For example, the next photos shows an expanse of a nameless Loch that is much wider and apparently the water would be much deeper. In this place, there was no way to get to the shore, since the water level was much below the road, almost like a cliff kind of feel. The Loch looked beautiful, and almost unspoiled (if you ignore the fact that there is a highway through which we got there).

Rugged outdoors and waters of a Loch in the Scottish Highlands (More photos / Prints)

Beauty of a Loch in the Scottish Highlands along with hills

One of the most famous attractions of Scotland (and the Scottish Highlands) are the numerous Lochs that are present all through (Loch is the Scottish/Irish name for lake). These are formed in different configurations, with some forming along a natural fault in the earth, and others forming on the sides of hills. Typically most Lochs are not very wide, being long and narrow. Many of these Lochs have been kept unspoiled, with the natural outdoors look, and look very beautiful. So, typically you have Lochs along with hills / mountains being very beautiful.

Water of a Loch along with hills in the Scottish Highlands (More photos here)

The calm waters of a Loch along with the hill right next to the Loch. The hill (as in previous photos) is covered with scrub / sparse vegetation, and with the rock of the surface of the hill showing. The whole appearance of the hill is that of a beautiful natural outdoors look. If you look closely at the water, you will see the surface of the water seems disturbed for part of the surface, and looks totally calm for the rest of the surface. There is no sign of civilization here, just nature and the unspoiled look of the lake.

The narrow section of a Loch between a hill and the shore on the other side (More photos here)

This photo is one of my favorite photos, showing the absolute beauty of the Scottish Highlands. There is the hill with sparse vegetation (showing the rugged nature, since the greenery on the hills is sparse, and it is mostly rocky) and with a Loch right next to the hill. The Loch can be pretty long, but the width of the water is pretty narrow, which is something that I have seen in most of the Lakes that I saw in Scotland. It looks exceedingly beautiful; we had stopped at the side of a highway, and could see this wonderful sight, just standing there at the shore of the lake and enjoying the view, the wind and the calm. 

Low mountains and hills in the Scottish Highlands, with their scrub

The Scottish Highlands is a beautiful part of Great Britain. Its region of great rugged outdoors, hills and mountains, lochs, and abundant greenery make for a beautiful location to which a large number of tourists want to visit. In addition to a large number of lakes, there is the incredible weather, and castles that dot the region in different places. Some of the places will seem like any other town (although the surroundings will be far more beautiful) while others will seem far more isolated and yet beautiful. For example, the photos below have been taken from a highway passing through the region, showing some of the hills (covered with scrub) in the region.

Hills in the Scottish Highlands, covered with scrub (More photos here)

2 hills in the Scottish Highlands, both covered with scrub. Most of the hills in this region are covered with Scrub, not even grasses or lush vegetation (maybe because of the local weather and soil conditions - if anybody knows the answer, please mention so in the comments). The weather overhead is not yet rainy, but it could change at any instant and become darker and start raining.

Sheer cliff and rocky face of one of the hills in the Scottish Highlands (More photos here)

The sheer cliff face of a hill in the Scottish Highlands. The top part of the hill is covered in sparse vegetation, but it looks like the impact of weather or some more sudden event caused the erosion of the cliff face and fall of the side of the hill. This kind of cliff face, although not very high, is something that is treasured by climbers who like this kind of challenge (this particular one would be more used for training rather than for any serious activity).