Returning to the Fort William and Glencoe areas of the Scottish Highlands in autumn was a trip I’d waited many years to make. My first trip to the region was in 2010 when we spent a week in a little cottage in Glencoe, a trip that ignited my passion for Scottish landscape photography. Since then, I’ve photographed many areas of Scotland, but this was my first return to this area when the colours are at their autumn peak. I was in the area for 48 hours staying at the brilliant Glen Nevis Holiday Park and I tried to make the most of my time, re-visiting some of the popular scenes but also venturing into the unknown to look for new compositions and opportunities. The trip was long overdue and became a mission to capture the vibrant autumn colours and to capture fresh imagery for my location guide, future calendars, and Alamy stock collection. This part of the Highlands has always been a favourite destination, there’s a brief window each year when the colours reach their peak, and I was determined to catch them at their most vivid.

Scottish weather is known for its unpredictability, and true to form, I encountered a mix of cloud, rain, fog and bright sunshine. Thick low clouds created a subtle backdrop to the mountain ranges, hiding and revealing the peaks. The overcast afternoons evened out the bright autumn colour creating some intense moody image. There were breaks of bright sunshine mixed in and I was particularly lucky on the final morning where I experienced a beautiful bright sunrise on my drive home with spectacular low cloud. I stopped multiple times on the road heading south in Glen Coe, Loch Tulla and finally on the shores of Loch Lomond.

As this is a photography blog, the blurb ends here and I’ll let you click through some of the highlights of the trip in the images below.

(Click to view full screen and on mobile scroll sideways to view the next image).