0:00:08 > 0:00:11This is one of my favourite parts of Scotland.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14It's known as the Great Wilderness,
0:00:14 > 0:00:17and it's got a majestic grandeur
0:00:17 > 0:00:19that never fails to touch my soul.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27That's a sentiment shared by an old pal of mine.
0:00:28 > 0:00:29Colin Prior is not only
0:00:29 > 0:00:31one of the most influential landscape photographers
0:00:31 > 0:00:36in the world, but he is also a man who, for 25 years,
0:00:36 > 0:00:39has shaped the way we hillgoers look at Scotland's mountains.
0:00:42 > 0:00:47The very first picture I took with my panoramic camera
0:00:47 > 0:00:48was an epiphany for me.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53The light that I witnessed that evening
0:00:53 > 0:00:56was like light I have never seen before.
0:00:58 > 0:00:59From that point onwards,
0:00:59 > 0:01:04I refocused my life so that I could pursue this type of photography.
0:01:18 > 0:01:24Colin Prior has photographed many of the world's iconic landscapes.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28Three years ago, we followed him to the heart of the Baltoro Glacier
0:01:28 > 0:01:31in Pakistan's Karakoram.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35Here, he was capturing some of the world's most famous mountains.
0:01:35 > 0:01:40Now he's back home in Scotland and he's a man on a mission.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43He made his name with a set of panoramic images
0:01:43 > 0:01:47that defined wild Scotland for a generation.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49I pinch myself, just being here.
0:01:51 > 0:01:53The clouds are beginning to pink up now
0:01:53 > 0:01:54as the sun rises,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57and this is going to be orchestral.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00But he's not someone to rest on his laurels.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03Using the latest digital technology,
0:02:03 > 0:02:06he's starting out again with the aim of making a definitive record
0:02:06 > 0:02:08of these special places.
0:02:08 > 0:02:13For the last six months, he's been working in the north-west Highlands.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16Part of the process of shooting these images
0:02:16 > 0:02:20is understanding how we perceive this landscape.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23How do we perceive the natural world?
0:02:23 > 0:02:27And it's not actually what's in the photograph,
0:02:27 > 0:02:29it's where the photograph takes you.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35It's the middle of February.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39Much of the Scottish Highlands is still shut for the winter season.
0:02:39 > 0:02:40There are no tourists about,
0:02:40 > 0:02:43and the hills are virtually devoid of people,
0:02:43 > 0:02:45but it's at this time of the year,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48between the winter and the spring equinoxes,
0:02:48 > 0:02:50that Colin Prior does most of his work.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56People imagine the summer is the best time to take photographs
0:02:56 > 0:02:59because the weather's better, but everything is green,
0:02:59 > 0:03:02there's lots of midges, and if you get good weather,
0:03:02 > 0:03:05it tends to be the result of an anticyclone,
0:03:05 > 0:03:07and you've got blue skies,
0:03:07 > 0:03:09but haze build-up as well.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13Colin's photography relies on that rare combination
0:03:13 > 0:03:16of being in the right place at the right time.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20Yet everyone who goes into the mountains knows just how fickle
0:03:20 > 0:03:22the Scottish weather can be.
0:03:22 > 0:03:27And that's made harder when your home is just south of Glasgow.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29Colin's set himself an ambitious target.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33He wants to produce a set of world-class images,
0:03:33 > 0:03:35and he's chosen three particular mountains
0:03:35 > 0:03:37for this winter's project.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42He's keen on an evening shot of our most remote Munro,
0:03:42 > 0:03:43A' Mhaighdean.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47But to get this means an ascent of a rarely visited peak,
0:03:47 > 0:03:49Beinn Airigh Charr.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51Then there's what many would consider our finest hill,
0:03:51 > 0:03:55a mountain range in miniature, An Teallach.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57But that's all to come.
0:03:57 > 0:03:58Colin is beginning his work
0:03:58 > 0:04:02on the highest of the Inverpolly hills, Cul Mor.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06To produce photographs of his standard,
0:04:06 > 0:04:09determination is as important as talent.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12So the walk in begins well before dawn.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17Of all the areas in Scotland, this is where my heart is.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22There are lots of undisturbed places here,
0:04:22 > 0:04:25and that's really what I thrive on.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30GROUSE CRIES
0:04:32 > 0:04:36The early part of the walk in this morning was quite remarkable.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38The sun came up and glowed in the east.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42And we stopped briefly and listened to the grouse.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44They were sparring with each other.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47We could hear the "Go back, go back, go back".
0:04:47 > 0:04:49Just for a period of five or ten minutes,
0:04:49 > 0:04:51we stood and listened,
0:04:51 > 0:04:52as the sun continued to rise.
0:04:57 > 0:04:58The glens are a bit colder
0:04:58 > 0:05:02and there's mist lying in the bottom of the glen,
0:05:02 > 0:05:06and that's giving the mountains a real ethereal feel.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09Cul Mor rises above that,
0:05:09 > 0:05:11and it's just such an enigmatic mountain,
0:05:11 > 0:05:15and it seems to dominate the whole of the Assynt area
0:05:15 > 0:05:18until, of course, you drive into Elphin,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21and Suilven just rises from the moorland.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26That's what really attracts me to this area.
0:05:26 > 0:05:31And it's not just the visual information that you're after -
0:05:31 > 0:05:33you need to absorb everything.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38I remember reading a blog of a photographer,
0:05:38 > 0:05:43and he had this fantastic moment and he said,
0:05:43 > 0:05:45"And I put my earphones in,
0:05:45 > 0:05:47"and I listened to my favourite track."
0:05:47 > 0:05:49And I thought, "How can you do that?"
0:05:49 > 0:05:51If you want to be a great photographer,
0:05:51 > 0:05:54you need to switch on all of your senses.
0:05:54 > 0:05:55It's not just vision -
0:05:55 > 0:05:58we've got to smell things, and we hear things,
0:05:58 > 0:06:01and that all informs the photograph.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06Today, Colin is taking a different route up the mountain.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08He's keeping to the north-east ridge,
0:06:08 > 0:06:10and that's proving a good choice.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12He planned to go straight to the summit,
0:06:12 > 0:06:16but suddenly, there's a possibility of a photograph.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20I might put it on the sticks and have a shot.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23Because of the conditions today, we've got something really special.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25We've got this wispy cloud,
0:06:25 > 0:06:29and it's just floating over Sionascaig there.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31So I'm going to give it a little shot.
0:06:34 > 0:06:36Just get the legs down.
0:06:39 > 0:06:40We'll have a look.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47OK, I just need to do the focus now.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50It's ironic, in a way, that you've got these...
0:06:51 > 0:06:54..very sophisticated cameras that have got automatic everything,
0:06:54 > 0:07:00and yet I'm choosing to focus manually and to expose manually.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05The key is to be in control of the camera
0:07:05 > 0:07:08and not having the camera control you.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10The histogram is perfect.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12And...
0:07:13 > 0:07:15..the focus is perfect.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17The rest is down to me.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20I don't like it very much.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23There's too much of a contrast between the foreground,
0:07:23 > 0:07:25which has got no light,
0:07:25 > 0:07:27and the background, which has got light.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29What I plan to do now is use a telephoto lens
0:07:29 > 0:07:33and maybe try and isolate some of that movement down there.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40Just don't really have enough light in the foreground,
0:07:40 > 0:07:42but I'm going to shoot this anyway.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47It's certainly not going to win any awards, this picture.
0:07:48 > 0:07:53Colin believes the key to his success lies in meticulous research.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57That includes working out the best day to be on the mountain,
0:07:57 > 0:07:58and the ideal time for his shot.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01But there's more to it than that.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05He needs to understand all the different aspects of a landscape.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10Few people know this area better than Duncan MacKenzie.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14Once he was a policeman, but now he has the stalking rights
0:08:14 > 0:08:17to an area of land south of Lochinver.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19The two men have been friends for years,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22a friendship built on mutual respect.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26There's not a lot of people like Duncan,
0:08:26 > 0:08:29that spend the amount of time that he does in the natural world.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35He's helped me find locations in the Assynt and Coigach area,
0:08:35 > 0:08:40and more recently, he has introduced me to stalking with a camera
0:08:40 > 0:08:44and got me very close to some fantastic beasts
0:08:44 > 0:08:47that we've photographed during the rut.
0:08:47 > 0:08:48On you go.
0:08:50 > 0:08:51As I said to Colin,
0:08:51 > 0:08:55it's all about sensitively managing the deer herd.
0:08:55 > 0:08:57They're here a long time.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01They deserve better than they get, I think.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05In some parts, they're treated more or less as vermin.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07But they're a fantastic animal
0:09:07 > 0:09:10and this landscape, this backdrop,
0:09:10 > 0:09:12just is part of the deal.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15And I love every second I'm up here,
0:09:15 > 0:09:18just looking after these beasties as best I can.
0:09:20 > 0:09:25My job here on the ground is actually to keep these beasts -
0:09:25 > 0:09:28it may sound strange - but keep them happy.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30They have to be killed to keep the numbers down.
0:09:31 > 0:09:36But it has to be done carefully
0:09:36 > 0:09:38and sensitively.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41So what you're looking for are some of the older beasts,
0:09:41 > 0:09:44some of the weaker beasts that have not had good winters
0:09:44 > 0:09:46and you're just harvesting them.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50What I do is I crop the deer all the way through,
0:09:50 > 0:09:52from three years of age,
0:09:52 > 0:09:55right through all the age range,
0:09:55 > 0:09:58and I'm shooting these from July 1,
0:09:58 > 0:10:00so by the time the rut starts,
0:10:00 > 0:10:04I've shot maybe 80-90% of the deer that's to be shot.
0:10:04 > 0:10:09So we're trying to keep the animals pristine on the ground
0:10:09 > 0:10:12and by the time the rut starts,
0:10:12 > 0:10:14my job's done.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18What an incredible mountain that is, isn't it?
0:10:18 > 0:10:20Fantastic, yeah. It's wonderful.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26Colin likes climbing big, high mountains.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28I used to do that a long time ago, but I don't do it now.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32Stags tend to be lower down, and hinds.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36But we do bond together really well,
0:10:36 > 0:10:38and we have a great time on the hill.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43There's lots and lots of people up in the north-west,
0:10:43 > 0:10:48and they all come looking at the hill,
0:10:48 > 0:10:50looking at animals, looking, looking constantly,
0:10:50 > 0:10:52but not necessarily seeing.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57Colin is one of these guys who's very perceptive in what he sees.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02He is constantly looking at light and he will say, "Stop, stop, stop,
0:11:02 > 0:11:03"there's a fantastic light here,
0:11:03 > 0:11:05"can you just give me two seconds?"
0:11:05 > 0:11:06and he'll take two or three shots,
0:11:06 > 0:11:08and that'll be the shots of the day.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12I'm an amateur photographer too,
0:11:12 > 0:11:15and I might have a huge mountain in the backdrop,
0:11:15 > 0:11:18but the light is wrong, and that's not the shot,
0:11:18 > 0:11:22but you think it is, but afterwards, when it's on the computer,
0:11:22 > 0:11:24and you look at it again, you say, "No".
0:11:24 > 0:11:27He knows exactly the right time to take the shot.
0:11:29 > 0:11:30Earlier in the autumn,
0:11:30 > 0:11:33Duncan's skill as a stalker and Colin's with a camera
0:11:33 > 0:11:36resulted in a photograph that now takes pride of place
0:11:36 > 0:11:38in Duncan's house.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42It's more than just a classic image of the annual rut.
0:11:42 > 0:11:48For Duncan, it tells a complex story about this particular deer herd.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50The most important thing for a stalker
0:11:50 > 0:11:53is that all these deer are not looking at the stalker.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55Or in this case, the photographer.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58It's just a natural scene.
0:11:59 > 0:12:01At this time of year, he's at his lowest ebb,
0:12:01 > 0:12:04cos there's nothing on his mind but the girls,
0:12:04 > 0:12:07so he's got to check them for the smell.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11And although they are in season for maybe about three weeks,
0:12:11 > 0:12:16they are only actually receptive to the stag for about 20 hours,
0:12:16 > 0:12:1824 hours maximum.
0:12:18 > 0:12:23So he's got to go around each one, sniffing, he wets his nose...
0:12:25 > 0:12:26..to enhance the smell, as you do.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29Whisky tasting and whatever else.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32As we do.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34So you got him perfect,
0:12:34 > 0:12:37because you got the back leg here coming down the hill,
0:12:37 > 0:12:41and he's just licking his nose and he's planning this girl here.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43It was such a privilege to get that close,
0:12:43 > 0:12:46because the following day, I went off on my own,
0:12:46 > 0:12:50and I found out very quickly how difficult it was.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53Because not only is their eyesight better than ours,
0:12:53 > 0:12:56their sense of smell is, you know,
0:12:56 > 0:12:59innumerably more sensitive.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01If I'd tried to do this myself,
0:13:01 > 0:13:06I'd have been betrayed very, very quickly by my own inexperience.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09But you got the photo.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11You were on the knoll, you pressed the shutter.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13I mean, you couldn't get better than that.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15You've got your diagonals, you've got this,
0:13:15 > 0:13:18what I keep going back to is this, it's so natural.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22A few stalking pals have come in and said, "Wow, that is fantastic."
0:13:22 > 0:13:25You've got his tongue coming out, totally natural,
0:13:25 > 0:13:28this girl saying, "Oh, no, here he comes again."
0:13:28 > 0:13:31This one saying, "Just stand, it's OK."
0:13:31 > 0:13:33THEY LAUGH
0:13:33 > 0:13:35"It'll be over quick!"
0:13:39 > 0:13:43Back on Cul Mor, Colin is on the final part of the ascent.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45And then it's a waiting game
0:13:45 > 0:13:48until the light gives him the images he needs.
0:13:48 > 0:13:49Plenty of time to reflect
0:13:49 > 0:13:52on his life as a landscape photographer.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56I don't know what I would have done had I not been a photographer.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00I started off life working in my father's business
0:14:00 > 0:14:02as an operations manager,
0:14:02 > 0:14:05but it wasn't something I had any affinity with.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12I left with no photographic training and the naive assumption
0:14:12 > 0:14:14that I could become a professional photographer,
0:14:14 > 0:14:16and here I am, 30 years later.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22It's been a fabulous journey.
0:14:22 > 0:14:24I'm one of the few professional photographers
0:14:24 > 0:14:27that have had the opportunity to follow their dreams.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32And after all this time,
0:14:32 > 0:14:35I'm still as enthusiastic about photography as I was
0:14:35 > 0:14:38the day that I first picked up a camera.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50To be here on a day like today is completely unique.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54I mean, this is a world-class landscape.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00It is up there with Machu Picchu and Torres del Paine,
0:15:00 > 0:15:02it's there with the Pyramids.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06It's just amazing, and we've got it on our doorsteps.
0:15:08 > 0:15:09Wow.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13Colin has come here today not just for the view -
0:15:13 > 0:15:16he wants to explore the surreal sandstone towers
0:15:16 > 0:15:19that litter the summit plateau.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23Just the shapes, look at the curvature and the moulding.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26I mean, it almost looks man-made, that.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28And look at these shapes here.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33It's like a giant Play-Doh set.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38There's a nice composition here.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41Yeah, that's good. We'll do this as a shot later.
0:15:44 > 0:15:49This is another area that is potentially suitable
0:15:49 > 0:15:50for later this evening.
0:15:54 > 0:15:55The sun's too hot.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58It's still too bright
0:15:58 > 0:16:00and there's no relief in the mountain.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03It's all very flat illumination.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05The visibility is excellent,
0:16:05 > 0:16:07but I guess we photographers, we're never happy.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12This kind of photography is all about the quality of the light,
0:16:12 > 0:16:16and that means waiting until just the right moment.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19That elusive instant before it's too dark
0:16:19 > 0:16:21and when the sun turns this landscape
0:16:21 > 0:16:26from something impressive to a place that is absolutely magical.
0:16:26 > 0:16:28The light's beginning to come off that tor -
0:16:28 > 0:16:30do you see that, on the left?
0:16:31 > 0:16:34So I think we're probably about the best time.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38The light will get warmer, but we're going to get more shadow.
0:16:39 > 0:16:40So I feel that...
0:16:42 > 0:16:44..we're going to very quickly be past our best.
0:16:49 > 0:16:50Perfect.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52CAMERA CLICKS
0:16:52 > 0:16:53Yeah, I quite like that.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01This is our last shot, we'll just let that light drop down a little.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05And I'm going to get some beautiful colour in this stone.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08I need to do this justice, and I'll try my hardest.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14I think the sun is just about in its final stages of descent there.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17Any longer, and it's going to drop into that cloud,
0:17:17 > 0:17:19and we're going to lose the intensity.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21We've got lovely yellow light here,
0:17:21 > 0:17:22and I think it's about time...
0:17:24 > 0:17:27..I took that final shot.
0:17:27 > 0:17:28CAMERA CLICKS
0:17:28 > 0:17:29Fantastic.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31What an end to a perfect day.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42This winter has been one of the most unpredictable in years.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46In the north-west, snow-covered mountains were a rarity,
0:17:46 > 0:17:49yet it all started out with great promise.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51In November, the temperatures plummeted,
0:17:51 > 0:17:54and there was a week of outstanding weather.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57Colin was here, joining photographers
0:17:57 > 0:18:00Adrian Hollister and Eddie Ephraums.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02They were running an innovative workshop
0:18:02 > 0:18:05simply called A Portrait Of An Teallach.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08It attracted people from far and wide
0:18:08 > 0:18:10and invited them to express their own vision
0:18:10 > 0:18:13of a mountain that dominates the landscape.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18Few people can fail to be awed by its grandeur.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22Capturing it in a single image is a far more difficult challenge.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25It's like food for the soul.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27This is when you wonder about taking photographs,
0:18:27 > 0:18:30because photographs actually won't convey this.
0:18:31 > 0:18:32You know?
0:18:34 > 0:18:37For me, it's just the shape and the colours.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39They're simply breathtaking.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42I know it looks black and white there,
0:18:42 > 0:18:44but you can see how the shades work together
0:18:44 > 0:18:45to give you that impression of colour.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49And it's trying to capture that, in one single image.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54I've started by taking the whole thing,
0:18:54 > 0:18:57but now I'm just looking at individual details.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00You can't describe it, so you have to be here.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03And whilst we try and take pictures home
0:19:03 > 0:19:05and people say, "Wow, that's wonderful",
0:19:05 > 0:19:09it's difficult to really project what you feel when you're sat here.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14Colin has chosen a location that is ideal
0:19:14 > 0:19:16for capturing this huge mountain.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19The group are up early and begin their walk in darkness.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23It's a big effort for everyone.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25But soon, the rewards are obvious.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29We've just been so incredibly lucky this morning,
0:19:29 > 0:19:31with the conditions we have.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35The sun is just breaking the horizon at the moment,
0:19:35 > 0:19:39and you can see it's picking up on Lord Berkley's Seat.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43Just fantastic to have the group out here and witness this.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47There's very few days each year...
0:19:48 > 0:19:51..where you've got conditions like this,
0:19:51 > 0:19:54and I pinch myself, just being here.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56The clouds are beginning to pink up now
0:19:56 > 0:20:00as the sun rises, and this is going to be orchestral,
0:20:00 > 0:20:03the colours that will appear on An Teallach.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09Just really being spoiled for choice, I think,
0:20:09 > 0:20:11knowing where to photograph,
0:20:11 > 0:20:13because everywhere you look, it's just stunning.
0:20:14 > 0:20:19There's only a small opportunity before the light changes.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22It's trying to make the most of it, before it all goes.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29Just been really wonderful at the top here. Really wonderful.
0:20:29 > 0:20:30That light over there,
0:20:30 > 0:20:33I've not seen that orange light for a very long time.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37We've got the, sort of, Antarctic thing,
0:20:37 > 0:20:40with all the hills around in the snow,
0:20:40 > 0:20:43and the light just clipping the tops of the mountains.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47Photography's all about trying to take an image of something
0:20:47 > 0:20:51you see and feel, and I don't think you ever quite achieve it,
0:20:51 > 0:20:53so you're always striving and reaching.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58Can't quite believe I'm here, can't quite believe I've made it.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00For me, this is an Everest moment.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04I never thought I'd be able to achieve anything like this.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07And I'll look at this photograph and it will unlock everything,
0:21:07 > 0:21:10I will look at that, and I'll be able to re...
0:21:11 > 0:21:16..revisit - feel the cold, feel the wind, and be here again.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21It was just breathtaking.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24You could hear the wind, you could hear the...
0:21:24 > 0:21:25You could hear the silence.
0:21:30 > 0:21:31At the end of the week,
0:21:31 > 0:21:33there's an exhibition in the new gallery
0:21:33 > 0:21:36at the National Trust for Scotland's Inverewe House.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39It's a tense moment for the photographers,
0:21:39 > 0:21:42as the audience of local people have an intimate knowledge
0:21:42 > 0:21:43of this mountain.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45Thank you all for coming.
0:21:45 > 0:21:50This workshop was entitled Portraits Of An Teallach.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52The main reason for that is that
0:21:52 > 0:21:56a portrait says not only something about the subject,
0:21:56 > 0:22:00but also about the person that's taking the photograph,
0:22:00 > 0:22:03and also the relationship between the two of them.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06And what we were really hoping for this week
0:22:06 > 0:22:10is to have photographs which really illustrate the relationship
0:22:10 > 0:22:13between the photographer and the mountain,
0:22:13 > 0:22:15as well as illustrating the mountain.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19Every member of the course
0:22:19 > 0:22:22has interpreted An Teallach in a different way.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25Colin's photographed the mountain on many occasions,
0:22:25 > 0:22:29and his panoramic views are amongst the most acclaimed work.
0:22:29 > 0:22:30But he's not satisfied,
0:22:30 > 0:22:33and is keen to take an image that'll do justice
0:22:33 > 0:22:36to the complexity of this mountain range.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40This winter, he wants to be right in the heart of the mountain,
0:22:40 > 0:22:43and has decided to head up to the summit.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47That means starting in the early hours of the morning.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50It's the sort of thing you do every night, don't you?!
0:22:50 > 0:22:54Ten to three. Hopefully we'll be there before the dawn.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57There's nothing quite like chasing the sun.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06I've always said that photography is a form of meditation.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11And the walk in helps create that.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17There's been occasions when I've worked commercially
0:23:17 > 0:23:21where I've arrived on mountain tops by helicopter,
0:23:21 > 0:23:24and the whole experience overwhelms that.
0:23:28 > 0:23:33This connection that's created as you walk up the mountain
0:23:33 > 0:23:37gets you into the pulse of the natural world.
0:23:37 > 0:23:44And I do believe that it helps inform you, in a subconscious way,
0:23:44 > 0:23:45to create better images.
0:23:47 > 0:23:49Originally, Colin had visualised a picture
0:23:49 > 0:23:52where the peaks would be covered in snow.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55But the superb conditions during November didn't last
0:23:55 > 0:23:57and for weeks, the weather has been appalling,
0:23:57 > 0:24:00with high winds and driving rain.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02Today has been a gamble,
0:24:02 > 0:24:05and already, things are not looking good.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08It's really clear, we're going to have great visibility,
0:24:08 > 0:24:11but the winds are just going to make it impossible.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15There's just no chance of us going to the summit
0:24:15 > 0:24:18and being able to shoot a thing.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20I don't think we're even going to be able to stand up,
0:24:20 > 0:24:23we're beginning to struggle now, we're being blown around,
0:24:23 > 0:24:26and the chances of putting a tripod up
0:24:26 > 0:24:30and a camera on top of it are just not going to happen today.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33Today has been a failure
0:24:33 > 0:24:36and Colin comes down off the mountain.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42There's An Teallach now - there's hardly any evidence of snow,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45it's just been blown off it completely,
0:24:45 > 0:24:48which is unsurprising, given the winds that we saw this morning.
0:24:50 > 0:24:55The weather over the last 15 years has changed quite significantly,
0:24:55 > 0:24:57and what was typical,
0:24:57 > 0:25:00particularly at this time of the year,
0:25:00 > 0:25:05would be four, five days of really evil weather,
0:25:05 > 0:25:08dropping down lots of snow in the mountains.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12And there would be a day at the end of that bad period of weather
0:25:12 > 0:25:16where it was absolutely breathless.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22That stability in the weather just doesn't happen any more.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24If we get snow,
0:25:24 > 0:25:29the wind tends to swing round into the west or the south-west,
0:25:29 > 0:25:31and the snow's gone very quickly.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35Colin's following in the footsteps of a pioneer
0:25:35 > 0:25:40of Scottish landscape photography, Robert Moyes Adam.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43Adam spent his professional life as an illustrator
0:25:43 > 0:25:46at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh
0:25:46 > 0:25:49but throughout his life was a keen photographer
0:25:49 > 0:25:52who kept copious notes about his work.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55In 1908, he had a half-plate field camera
0:25:55 > 0:25:58made to his own specification
0:25:58 > 0:26:00and, with this, produced landscape images
0:26:00 > 0:26:03that are still considered as classics.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06His collection of glass negatives is housed
0:26:06 > 0:26:10at the photographic collections at St Andrews University.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12I will just ask that you wear gloves.
0:26:12 > 0:26:13They are original objects,
0:26:13 > 0:26:16and the issue with glass plate negatives
0:26:16 > 0:26:19is that they are still chemically quite active.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23It's important to preserve them with some integrity.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25Very excited to see these.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28That's obviously An Teallach.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31Robert Moyes Adam usually did quite long exposures on his negatives
0:26:31 > 0:26:34to get the most detail in the landscape,
0:26:34 > 0:26:36which usually blew out the sky.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39So, over... It was very overexposed skies.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42So, typically, he would then take another negative just of the sky,
0:26:42 > 0:26:44and then work them together in the dark rooms.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47And when you say a long exposure, typically, how long would that be?
0:26:47 > 0:26:50Really, it depends on the light that day, but...
0:26:50 > 0:26:53- Ten seconds.- No, you're probably looking at several minutes, really.
0:26:53 > 0:26:55- Really?- Yeah. So, none of his...
0:26:55 > 0:26:59He never had any action shots, really, in any of his work.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02So, there's another one for you.
0:27:02 > 0:27:03That's a more distant view of An Teallach -
0:27:03 > 0:27:05I know where that's taken from as well.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07These are tremendous, just to see them.
0:27:07 > 0:27:12He wouldn't take many unexposed plates up the mountain with him,
0:27:12 > 0:27:15because he would wait for the perfect shot.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19And there is this legend now that he climbed the same mountain every day
0:27:19 > 0:27:22for five days, waiting just to get the one shot,
0:27:22 > 0:27:26and didn't take a single shot until his last day.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28And he was sort of looking at the time, because he says,
0:27:28 > 0:27:32"I have to get down, my train back to Edinburgh is in a few hours,"
0:27:32 > 0:27:34and the skies cleared just in time for him
0:27:34 > 0:27:36to take the shot that he wanted.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38Just fantastic to see these negatives,
0:27:38 > 0:27:41just like stepping back in time.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43All of these were actually digitised in the '90s,
0:27:43 > 0:27:45when we acquired them from DC Thomson,
0:27:45 > 0:27:47as part of the Millennium Project,
0:27:47 > 0:27:50to catalogue all 15,000 of his negatives.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52- 15,000?- 15,000 negatives.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56- So... - Incredibly prolific photographer,
0:27:56 > 0:27:58to have shot that number of images.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02Yeah. Robert Moyes Adam was probably one of the first photographers
0:28:02 > 0:28:06to go out and thoroughly document the landscape -
0:28:06 > 0:28:09and photographing the landscape with the passion...
0:28:10 > 0:28:13..that he did, it really comes through.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15I was reading up a little bit on some articles
0:28:15 > 0:28:18that we have in the archive about him,
0:28:18 > 0:28:22and they said, "He really is Scotland's photographer."
0:28:22 > 0:28:28And pretty much everyone in Scotland had, at some point, in their house,
0:28:28 > 0:28:29one of his photos.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31This is a lovely image, isn't it?
0:28:31 > 0:28:33- Mmm. - Just really fantastic to see that,
0:28:33 > 0:28:36and just to learn a little bit more about this great photographer,
0:28:36 > 0:28:39who's, I suppose, one of Scotland's unsung heroes.
0:28:39 > 0:28:40Yeah, I think so.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46Colin's not simply content to look at Adam's work.
0:28:46 > 0:28:48He wants to try the kind of camera
0:28:48 > 0:28:51that was used to produce those original images.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56In recent years, most camera shops have vanished from the high street,
0:28:56 > 0:28:59but at Beauly, outside Inverness,
0:28:59 > 0:29:02Ffordes hold one of Britain's largest collections
0:29:02 > 0:29:05of second-hand and vintage cameras.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08This one dates from Adam's time.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11You had to get it right almost first time with film.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13- Yeah! - You haven't got a second chance.
0:29:13 > 0:29:14I remember it well!
0:29:15 > 0:29:18And I think it's more of a challenge
0:29:18 > 0:29:19to your photography,
0:29:19 > 0:29:20and you spend more time
0:29:20 > 0:29:22looking at the images
0:29:22 > 0:29:24before you actually take them.
0:29:24 > 0:29:28It's obviously going to be difficult for me to take this camera out
0:29:28 > 0:29:30and actually use it,
0:29:30 > 0:29:34because we don't really have the film that works with this camera.
0:29:34 > 0:29:36We've got the film, but we don't have the plate holders.
0:29:36 > 0:29:37We don't have the holder.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40The modern holders won't fit this.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43So is there another camera that you've got here
0:29:43 > 0:29:46which essentially works on the same principle?
0:29:46 > 0:29:48Yeah, I've got a choice of other cameras.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52It was just a different era, and I just love these cameras,
0:29:52 > 0:29:54they were so beautiful.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56It's the interaction with the camera,
0:29:56 > 0:29:57it's not just the fact it's film.
0:29:57 > 0:30:02I mean, I think, also, life is so busy nowadays
0:30:02 > 0:30:05that it's nice to get back to basics,
0:30:05 > 0:30:08and have a camera which isn't quick and easy-to-use,
0:30:08 > 0:30:11and that you have to spend time on, and that time, also,
0:30:11 > 0:30:14you have to spend on looking at the image,
0:30:14 > 0:30:17and composing it and taking it.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19It all adds to the experience,
0:30:19 > 0:30:21and ultimately, I think, the quality.
0:30:21 > 0:30:25- Right, that's your lens, all ready to go.- Thank you.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28Slots into there, and locks into place.
0:30:28 > 0:30:30And these are the dark slides...
0:30:30 > 0:30:33OK. I'm getting excited again, Steve.
0:30:33 > 0:30:35- Getting excited!- I'm not telling you anything you don't know,
0:30:35 > 0:30:37you should know how to do this!
0:30:37 > 0:30:39Well, I think that's everything, Steve.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42- Good.- I think I can go and be a photographer now.
0:30:42 > 0:30:43Sounds a good idea!
0:30:44 > 0:30:49This camera produces a negative that is five inches by four inches.
0:30:49 > 0:30:52But it takes an expert to get the best out of it.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55Colin returns to An Teallach,
0:30:55 > 0:30:57and one of the places where he thinks
0:30:57 > 0:30:59Adam took his original pictures.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02I feel like a matador here on the hillside!
0:31:02 > 0:31:03I remember this well.
0:31:03 > 0:31:05I don't miss it, I have to say, not in the least.
0:31:07 > 0:31:11So, this is a modern camera that's made in Japan,
0:31:11 > 0:31:16and it's very much in the style of these early cameras.
0:31:16 > 0:31:20We've got a lever here that allows us to open and close the shutter.
0:31:20 > 0:31:22You can see the focusing screen.
0:31:22 > 0:31:26The difference is that it gives you an image of what we're looking at,
0:31:26 > 0:31:29which is inverted and upside-down.
0:31:30 > 0:31:33I'm going to set the shutter speed to half a second,
0:31:33 > 0:31:36and the aperture to F-22,
0:31:36 > 0:31:38and we'll pull out the dark slide.
0:31:41 > 0:31:42And it's just a simple case of...
0:31:44 > 0:31:47..looking at the mountain and shooting the picture.
0:31:49 > 0:31:50And that's how simple it is.
0:31:50 > 0:31:52We put the dark slide back in...
0:31:54 > 0:31:56..and that's our exposure made.
0:31:56 > 0:31:58Lock it off.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00Out comes the double dark slide.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04We'll invert it,
0:32:04 > 0:32:05and in it goes again.
0:32:07 > 0:32:08Cock the shutter.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13Out with the dark slide.
0:32:13 > 0:32:14Just let it settle.
0:32:18 > 0:32:19Sorted.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24So, that's the photography over for the day.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27And that's what these photographers would have been up against.
0:32:27 > 0:32:32Once a film has gone, even the light changed into something dramatic,
0:32:32 > 0:32:33we have no film left.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37The process doesn't end there.
0:32:37 > 0:32:41Today, the film needs to be sent to a specialist lab to be developed.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44Colin has had to wait to see the results.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47They look as if they've come from another era.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51They could be the prints that Robert Adam actually produced,
0:32:51 > 0:32:53they've got that sort of feel to them.
0:32:53 > 0:32:57And, of course, it's the fact that they're reproduced from film.
0:32:59 > 0:33:03The 5:4 camera demands a certain discipline.
0:33:03 > 0:33:07Every process, every lever that you move within that camera,
0:33:07 > 0:33:09there's a pitfall there.
0:33:09 > 0:33:11And I found that the 5:4 camera
0:33:11 > 0:33:14actually got between me and the subject,
0:33:14 > 0:33:20and instead of it being an invisible conduit that allowed you to capture
0:33:20 > 0:33:23what was out there without actually noticing it,
0:33:23 > 0:33:25it just worked against the experience
0:33:25 > 0:33:27of creating these images.
0:33:31 > 0:33:35It's now February, and there's still been no significant snowfall.
0:33:35 > 0:33:38It's more like spring than the middle of winter.
0:33:38 > 0:33:40With photography on standby,
0:33:40 > 0:33:43Colin uses his time to learn more about this mountain,
0:33:43 > 0:33:46and there's no-one better to explain its intricacies
0:33:46 > 0:33:49than climber and geologist John Mackenzie,
0:33:49 > 0:33:51the Earl of Cromartie.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54They're planning to walk to
0:33:54 > 0:33:56Loch Toll an Lochain high in the mountain.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58It's a great vantage point
0:33:58 > 0:34:01and it's somewhere Colin's always meant to explore.
0:34:01 > 0:34:03We are blessed with, here and in Coigach,
0:34:03 > 0:34:07having wonderful mountains, which are basically inselbergs -
0:34:07 > 0:34:12isolated things which have been sculpted by ice
0:34:12 > 0:34:13and just left standing.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16In fact it's like a layer cake - you've got Lewisian gneiss,
0:34:16 > 0:34:193,000 million years old, give or take a few million,
0:34:19 > 0:34:20then you've got...
0:34:20 > 0:34:22On top of that, you've got your Torridonian,
0:34:22 > 0:34:25and then on top of that, you've got the Cambrian quartzite,
0:34:25 > 0:34:28a mere 650 million years old.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30And if you gave it a huge kick,
0:34:30 > 0:34:32you'd separate all the three layers!
0:34:32 > 0:34:35It's amazing to think that that Torridonian sandstone
0:34:35 > 0:34:40was once eroded itself from giant mountains into these rivers.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43Deep time. That's very hard to comprehend.
0:34:43 > 0:34:47But of course, the shape of the mountain is relatively recent.
0:34:47 > 0:34:49All glacially sculpted.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52Who knows what they originally looked like?
0:34:52 > 0:34:55I mean, the whole thing is slightly incomprehensible,
0:34:55 > 0:34:59it's a bit like trying to grasp light years.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03- Yeah.- It's the same sort of magnitude of time to distance.
0:35:04 > 0:35:06And it's not just the large-scale features
0:35:06 > 0:35:08of the mountain that are impressive.
0:35:08 > 0:35:10Most of us would walk up here
0:35:10 > 0:35:14with no idea of what's underneath our feet.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17Right, OK, here, we have an example of pipe rock.
0:35:17 > 0:35:22Worm casts. 550 million-year-old worm casts
0:35:22 > 0:35:24in Cambrian quartzite.
0:35:24 > 0:35:26As you can see, there was quite a population of worms.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29They obviously liked living in colonies.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31Perhaps they had a social time.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34I suspect they would have been like tube worms, you know,
0:35:34 > 0:35:38with frilly tops, too soft to be fossilised - but the casts were.
0:35:40 > 0:35:41In the old days, they thought this
0:35:41 > 0:35:43was one of the earliest forms of life,
0:35:43 > 0:35:45but we now know that life actually has been...
0:35:45 > 0:35:48Fossils have been found in billion-year-old rock,
0:35:48 > 0:35:49and possibly even earlier.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52- Incredible, isn't it?- It's old.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55But it's the youngest of all the rocks here.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58I've walked over many quartzite slabs like this,
0:35:58 > 0:36:02and never known that these were, in fact, worm casts.
0:36:02 > 0:36:04Now that you've explained that,
0:36:04 > 0:36:06I'll get far more pleasure than if...
0:36:06 > 0:36:09- Well, walking over our ancestors! - That's right, yes!- Yeah.
0:36:13 > 0:36:14You've got to remember
0:36:14 > 0:36:18the fantastic age of some of these hills.
0:36:18 > 0:36:23An Teallach is relatively young, compared to the Lewisian gneiss.
0:36:23 > 0:36:25But I have to admit, I go to mountains because
0:36:25 > 0:36:27I think they're beautiful.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30Geology is an important aspect of it,
0:36:30 > 0:36:31because I like to know what I'm climbing on.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36The best rock of all to climb on here, really,
0:36:36 > 0:36:38is the Lewisian gneiss.
0:36:38 > 0:36:41It may be slightly presumptuous, but I often feel,
0:36:41 > 0:36:43when you're rock climbing on beautiful rock,
0:36:43 > 0:36:45it's like climbing over a sculpture.
0:36:45 > 0:36:49And you can look at the micro as compared to the macro -
0:36:49 > 0:36:52wee plants, or wee crystals even, and little pockets,
0:36:52 > 0:36:54and you look at stuff with great intensity.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57Obviously, you're concentrating, aren't you, 100%?
0:36:57 > 0:37:01But it's the feel of it, it's very, very tactile.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04Just to feel the rock, and move with it -
0:37:04 > 0:37:05not against it, but with it -
0:37:05 > 0:37:07it's like moving with the wind
0:37:07 > 0:37:10rather than trying to battle against it.
0:37:10 > 0:37:12You're just connected with the rock.
0:37:12 > 0:37:15I think you would like to think that you're connected,
0:37:15 > 0:37:17you have a degree of rock intelligence,
0:37:17 > 0:37:20and you can sort of find the easiest way
0:37:20 > 0:37:23on your given route, or whatever.
0:37:24 > 0:37:28And I think, perhaps, when you're on the mountains,
0:37:28 > 0:37:30you live more intensely.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33When we're down on the flat lands,
0:37:33 > 0:37:36and you're stuck in front of a computer,
0:37:36 > 0:37:38or behind it, whatever, you know,
0:37:38 > 0:37:41OK, you are living and you're doing your work sometimes,
0:37:41 > 0:37:45often with great intensity, but up here, there's a freedom.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48I don't think you can really replicate that.
0:38:04 > 0:38:06Colin, I'll come and join you.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09That's an unusual-looking erratic there.
0:38:09 > 0:38:12Quite incredible that when the ice melted,
0:38:12 > 0:38:17it left this perfectly balanced on these small stones.
0:38:17 > 0:38:18That's right.
0:38:18 > 0:38:21And if you push a wee bit harder, you'll...!
0:38:21 > 0:38:26It's essentially a sandstone boulder,
0:38:26 > 0:38:30resting on two quartzite smaller boulders,
0:38:30 > 0:38:32placed by ice.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35I'd like to get a photograph of this.
0:38:35 > 0:38:37Stay there. That's nice.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40I think you're hiding the other pebble.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43Sorry, it's not quite such a sophisticated machine as yours.
0:38:44 > 0:38:46That's extraordinary.
0:38:47 > 0:38:48Thank you.
0:38:57 > 0:39:00This is beginning to look a bit more like it.
0:39:00 > 0:39:02It's pretty fantastic, isn't it?
0:39:02 > 0:39:05- Wow!- Not many corries like this.
0:39:05 > 0:39:09This is superb. I can see a picture in my mind's eye already.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13It's going to be a morning picture.
0:39:13 > 0:39:16From this position, all the elements are in place.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19We've got almost a sort of linear face there...
0:39:19 > 0:39:21- Yeah. - ..but it's not one-dimensional,
0:39:21 > 0:39:23there's still a bit of depth.
0:39:23 > 0:39:27And with the early morning light hitting that,
0:39:27 > 0:39:29it's just going to be crimson, you know,
0:39:29 > 0:39:31that Torridonian sandstone,
0:39:31 > 0:39:34and all these tiny little granules
0:39:34 > 0:39:37that reflects back that early morning light.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39Now, it might take me one trip to do it,
0:39:39 > 0:39:41it might take two or three.
0:39:41 > 0:39:43But there's a great photograph here.
0:39:44 > 0:39:46Today's expedition has changed
0:39:46 > 0:39:48Colin's thinking about this mountain.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51Originally, he planned a shot from the summit.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54Now he thinks this is where it needs to be.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56Having finally been to this location,
0:39:56 > 0:39:58I can see the potential there,
0:39:58 > 0:40:01and I think there's a far greater opportunity
0:40:01 > 0:40:06to capture something magical about this mountain from this point,
0:40:06 > 0:40:09and not from the summit of Bidein a' Ghlas Thuill.
0:40:10 > 0:40:12But with the unseasonably warm weather,
0:40:12 > 0:40:14An Teallach will have to wait.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20Colin's fascinated by every aspect of these mountains,
0:40:20 > 0:40:22and especially how the Gaelic place names
0:40:22 > 0:40:25are important to our understanding of them.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28Clarinda Chant is originally from London,
0:40:28 > 0:40:33but she's always felt a deep connection to her Celtic origins,
0:40:33 > 0:40:36and, 15 years ago, moved up here.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39Gaelic was a language when English
0:40:39 > 0:40:42was not even a gleam in somebody's eye.
0:40:42 > 0:40:44It's a very ancient language.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50Once I knew the language, when I first looked at a map,
0:40:50 > 0:40:52and the whole sort of...
0:40:52 > 0:40:56The whole landscape came to life, really, for me.
0:40:56 > 0:40:57- It came alive.- Yes.
0:40:57 > 0:41:01And obviously, without a knowledge of Gaelic,
0:41:01 > 0:41:03I don't understand the significance
0:41:03 > 0:41:06of some of these names - and if I did,
0:41:06 > 0:41:09the landscape would mean a great deal more to me.
0:41:09 > 0:41:13Yes. A lot of Gaelic in the landscape
0:41:13 > 0:41:16is to do with shape and colour,
0:41:16 > 0:41:18and the animals that were important to them,
0:41:18 > 0:41:21which is why you don't often see things to do with sheep,
0:41:21 > 0:41:24because sheep didn't really count.
0:41:24 > 0:41:28You've got Ben Ean, which is Bird Hill.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31Sometimes, of course, there are people.
0:41:31 > 0:41:34Here, you've got Druim Poll Eoghainn.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37Eoghainn is a man's name. Ewan.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40But more often than not, it was to do with shape,
0:41:40 > 0:41:42particularly body parts.
0:41:42 > 0:41:48The obvious one is the stack on Cul Mor itself.
0:41:48 > 0:41:53All stacks were just called "bod", which is penis.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56A lot of the Victoria map-makers cleaned them up.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59Am Bodach, which means "the old man".
0:41:59 > 0:42:03But this one, for some reason, escaped the clean-up,
0:42:03 > 0:42:06and has retained its "bod".
0:42:06 > 0:42:09Somehow it does reflect the Victorian mind-set.
0:42:11 > 0:42:17They didn't mind the word "cioch", which is breast.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20But they wouldn't have penis!
0:42:20 > 0:42:24And that's leaving it for future generations wrong,
0:42:24 > 0:42:26and then, eventually,
0:42:26 > 0:42:29just a degrading of the whole language, really.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32And our knowledge, our basic knowledge of what's gone on.
0:42:32 > 0:42:37OK, let's have a look at the An Teallach map.
0:42:37 > 0:42:42I would like to understand more about what is in this landscape
0:42:42 > 0:42:45from the Gaelic words, which I don't understand.
0:42:45 > 0:42:49- Yes.- Because the more knowledge you have about
0:42:49 > 0:42:51the outdoor and the natural world,
0:42:51 > 0:42:55the more enjoyment you can have from being on a walk.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57Yes, totally, absolutely.
0:42:57 > 0:42:59And knowing the Gaelic words
0:42:59 > 0:43:02is a very intrinsic part of that, really.
0:43:02 > 0:43:07Sgurr Fiona - what would you read into Sgurr Fiona?
0:43:07 > 0:43:11Well, I mean, the obvious thing is a woman's name, Fiona.
0:43:11 > 0:43:12No, no, it isn't, actually.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15The Gaelic for Fiona is something quite different.
0:43:15 > 0:43:17Probably just means beautiful, "sgurr"...
0:43:17 > 0:43:21"Fiona" could be wine, of wine.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24But unless there was a burn there, that was sort of wine-coloured,
0:43:24 > 0:43:26or the mountain itself...
0:43:26 > 0:43:27I doubt there's vineyards there!
0:43:27 > 0:43:31No, I doubt that very much!
0:43:32 > 0:43:34Colours in Gaelic are more...
0:43:35 > 0:43:38They're not as cut and dried as in English!
0:43:38 > 0:43:40Dubh can mean black,
0:43:40 > 0:43:43but it can also mean a sort of darkness,
0:43:43 > 0:43:47a greyness, or even a sort of sinisterness.
0:43:47 > 0:43:50Well, I'm going to try my hardest to learn.
0:43:50 > 0:43:53I mean, I can't promise that my pronunciation
0:43:53 > 0:43:55is going to be particularly good,
0:43:55 > 0:43:57but I will try and absorb your lessons.
0:44:00 > 0:44:04There's one other image Colin wants to achieve this season.
0:44:04 > 0:44:08It's a winter shot of our most remote Munro -
0:44:08 > 0:44:10A' Mhaighdean.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13So I've joined him for the long walk into the Letterewe wilderness,
0:44:13 > 0:44:18where we're planning an overnight camp on Beinn Airigh Charr.
0:44:18 > 0:44:20The weather is overcast, but at long last,
0:44:20 > 0:44:22there's snow on the higher summits.
0:44:22 > 0:44:26And whatever the conditions, it's wonderful to be out here.
0:44:26 > 0:44:28This is my idea of heaven.
0:44:28 > 0:44:31We're in this big, wild area.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34It's just fantastic to be in amongst this.
0:44:34 > 0:44:37Even the names themselves stir my emotions.
0:44:37 > 0:44:41Loch Maree, A' Mhaighdean, Ruadh Stac Mor, An Teallach...
0:44:41 > 0:44:44But this is the hill you're taking me up today, Beinn Airigh Charr.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47- What does it mean, do you know? - I gather, in Gaelic,
0:44:47 > 0:44:50it means the hill of the twisted sheiling.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53- OK.- So, there were sheilings,
0:44:53 > 0:44:56and I think they're marked on the map quite clearly
0:44:56 > 0:44:57at the bottom of the mountain.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00So, the crofters would have moved their cattle up there.
0:45:00 > 0:45:02I thought for a moment you were going to say,
0:45:02 > 0:45:04because you're going to have to drag me up there,
0:45:04 > 0:45:07it's the hill of the twisted old photographer.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09We'd better go. We'd better get up there,
0:45:09 > 0:45:10before it's dark.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16- All right, we're off. - Good.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30I tend to carry a pretty lightweight pack if I can,
0:45:30 > 0:45:32even when I've got all my camping gear in it,
0:45:32 > 0:45:34I try to keep the weight down, and I assume you're the same.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37But just coming up that wee steep bit, I suddenly realised,
0:45:37 > 0:45:39you've probably got a big camera in there as well.
0:45:39 > 0:45:40Well, over the years,
0:45:40 > 0:45:46I've managed to reduce my bag from probably about 23 kilos to about 17.
0:45:46 > 0:45:50But there's always that extra litre of water that needs to go in when
0:45:50 > 0:45:51you're camping on top of a mountain,
0:45:51 > 0:45:55because just before you get to the top, you've got to lift that water.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59And of course, that's another kilo going into your pack.
0:45:59 > 0:46:01But there's no short cut to that.
0:46:01 > 0:46:02If you want to take photographs,
0:46:02 > 0:46:04you really need to camp overnight up here.
0:46:04 > 0:46:06You see, that's where you and I are different.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09I would never camp on the summit of a mountain,
0:46:09 > 0:46:11because it's the most exposed place of the mountain.
0:46:11 > 0:46:13But presumably, you just want to stick your head out of the tent
0:46:13 > 0:46:15and see what the weather's doing.
0:46:15 > 0:46:17That's the great thing. After you've got your tent up,
0:46:17 > 0:46:19you've had something to eat,
0:46:19 > 0:46:22it's just a question then of waiting for the sun to set,
0:46:22 > 0:46:24and hopefully you're going to get something in the evening.
0:46:24 > 0:46:28If fate is in your favour, then you'll get something.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31Interesting. You make me wish I'd brought my camera with me.
0:46:31 > 0:46:33Well, you've brought your phone!
0:46:41 > 0:46:43Colin, it's just struck me that you and I share
0:46:43 > 0:46:45very similar backgrounds.
0:46:45 > 0:46:47We were both born and brought up in Glasgow,
0:46:47 > 0:46:49neither of us liked school very much,
0:46:49 > 0:46:51and we both ended up climbing mountains.
0:46:51 > 0:46:53When you were a youngster,
0:46:53 > 0:46:56did you ever envisage that this was what you'd be doing for a living?
0:46:56 > 0:47:00Never. I had no real idea of where my future path lay,
0:47:00 > 0:47:04and it just really evolved this way.
0:47:04 > 0:47:08Photography was something that I sort of fell into,
0:47:08 > 0:47:11and a passion for mountains grew as a result of that.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18I found photography when I was about 23,
0:47:18 > 0:47:21and then I've always had this deep-rooted passion
0:47:21 > 0:47:22of the natural world,
0:47:22 > 0:47:24and I found that I could best
0:47:24 > 0:47:27express it through mountain photography.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31Your work has influenced at least a generation
0:47:31 > 0:47:35of hill walkers and hillgoers.
0:47:35 > 0:47:39Are you aware that you have changed people's perceptions of mountains?
0:47:39 > 0:47:42Not really, but I do remember in the early days,
0:47:42 > 0:47:45when I started working with that panoramic format,
0:47:45 > 0:47:49and shooting images at dusk and dawn,
0:47:49 > 0:47:52people would see these big prints that I published,
0:47:52 > 0:47:53and some people couldn't believe
0:47:53 > 0:47:55that it was Scotland they were looking at -
0:47:55 > 0:47:57they felt it was the Rockies,
0:47:57 > 0:48:01because I was photographing the mountains in that red light,
0:48:01 > 0:48:03which people, I guess, hadn't seen before.
0:48:07 > 0:48:09Oh, that's fabulous.
0:48:09 > 0:48:11Well, the light looks fantastic,
0:48:11 > 0:48:14I think I might just try and get a quick few shots.
0:48:14 > 0:48:17- Oh, yeah. - Before we do anything else.
0:48:17 > 0:48:19Oh, beautiful. So, what have we got here?
0:48:19 > 0:48:21- We've got Ruadh Stac Mor... - Beinn Liath over here.
0:48:21 > 0:48:22And, of course, Slioch.
0:48:22 > 0:48:25- Oh, wow.- What a panorama, hey?
0:48:25 > 0:48:28And these lochs kind of leading the eye into all that.
0:48:28 > 0:48:29It's wonderful.
0:48:30 > 0:48:32Come on, Prior, get working!
0:48:33 > 0:48:36I'll just watch. I'll watch the master at work.
0:48:38 > 0:48:40We've got some pretty good light at the moment.
0:48:40 > 0:48:42It's obviously not warm yet,
0:48:42 > 0:48:44because the sun's not really beginning to set.
0:48:44 > 0:48:48But there's no guarantee that, when the sun does drop,
0:48:48 > 0:48:51that we're going to get the light that I'm anticipating.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54So it looks pretty spectacular at the moment,
0:48:54 > 0:48:58so I'd like to try and just shoot something right now.
0:49:00 > 0:49:04If we get something later, it's a bonus, but right now,
0:49:04 > 0:49:06it's not bad at all.
0:49:10 > 0:49:14Well, that looks like the light for the time being.
0:49:14 > 0:49:16We've got a couple of hours before sunset,
0:49:16 > 0:49:19so probably a good time to get our tents up
0:49:19 > 0:49:21and maybe even have a brew-up.
0:49:21 > 0:49:22Get in the sleeping bag, it's freezing!
0:49:22 > 0:49:24Yeah, that would be great.
0:49:29 > 0:49:31When I come out to these places,
0:49:31 > 0:49:33I do love camping out on a mountainside.
0:49:33 > 0:49:35In fact, I quite often say to people
0:49:35 > 0:49:39that the only way to get to know a mountain is to sleep on it.
0:49:39 > 0:49:43I totally agree with that, and the longer you're there,
0:49:43 > 0:49:45the more it permeates.
0:49:45 > 0:49:49It's a sort of latent understanding you have of the rhythm of that land,
0:49:49 > 0:49:52and, of course, if you're trying to take photographs of it,
0:49:52 > 0:49:55then that comes across in the images.
0:49:59 > 0:50:01Barry Lopez, in Arctic Dreams,
0:50:01 > 0:50:04once wrote that what we do when we're in the landscape
0:50:04 > 0:50:07is that we disassemble it.
0:50:07 > 0:50:09And what we as photographers are doing
0:50:09 > 0:50:13is we're reassembling the pieces through the viewfinder
0:50:13 > 0:50:17in a way that corresponds to the way we see or feel
0:50:17 > 0:50:19about that particular landscape.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22So, it's really, really important to spend time and, you know,
0:50:22 > 0:50:26stopping in a lay-by and jumping out of a car to take a few photographs
0:50:26 > 0:50:27can never achieve that.
0:50:29 > 0:50:30Greetings! I'm quite glad we got
0:50:30 > 0:50:34some photographs before we put the tents up!
0:50:34 > 0:50:36I was just thinking, wandering up there,
0:50:36 > 0:50:40I suppose, while we both climb mountains for a living, in a sense,
0:50:40 > 0:50:43I've got to think up the words to describe the experience
0:50:43 > 0:50:45of being in the mountains.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48I'm a purveyor of words, if you like.
0:50:48 > 0:50:49- You're a wordsmith!- Aye!
0:50:49 > 0:50:53I've been inspired by some of the great wordsmiths in the past,
0:50:53 > 0:50:56like WH Murray, like Tommy Weir.
0:50:56 > 0:50:57Nan Shepherd, of course.
0:50:57 > 0:51:00Nan Shepherd, of course, the great Cairngorm poet.
0:51:00 > 0:51:04Who are your inspirations? Are your inspirations writers like that,
0:51:04 > 0:51:07or other photographers?
0:51:07 > 0:51:09Well, it's a combination.
0:51:09 > 0:51:10I mean, throughout my life,
0:51:10 > 0:51:15as well as looking at some of the early photographers' work,
0:51:15 > 0:51:19and contemporary photographers' work on a pretty regular basis,
0:51:19 > 0:51:22I've also read a great deal
0:51:22 > 0:51:25about people who've spent time in the outdoors,
0:51:25 > 0:51:29cos I've learned from them what they took
0:51:29 > 0:51:31and what they expressed.
0:51:31 > 0:51:34People like Barry Lopez, for instance, and Nan Shepherd.
0:51:36 > 0:51:41What I find so inspiring about their writing is the insight,
0:51:41 > 0:51:43it's things that they've experienced
0:51:43 > 0:51:45and have had the power to describe it
0:51:45 > 0:51:49in a way that most people would be unable to.
0:51:49 > 0:51:52I mean, Nan Shepherd's great line, of course,
0:51:52 > 0:51:56which I think...right at the end of The Living Mountain, is,
0:51:56 > 0:52:00"The thing to be known grows with the knowing."
0:52:00 > 0:52:03It's about learning, and it's about experience,
0:52:03 > 0:52:07and I think it's about growing spiritually in these places.
0:52:07 > 0:52:12And I've found that reading books by people like Barry Lopez
0:52:12 > 0:52:15and Nan Shepherd and WH Murray
0:52:15 > 0:52:20has helped me define what my role is in the outdoors.
0:52:22 > 0:52:24Peering out of the tent, it's clear that today,
0:52:24 > 0:52:27we're not going to get a magical sunset.
0:52:27 > 0:52:30We're now looking at a beautiful, mysterious,
0:52:30 > 0:52:33but not particularly photographic landscape.
0:52:33 > 0:52:35The good news is that Colin's
0:52:35 > 0:52:37earlier image of A' Mhaighdean is superb.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39So, time for a wee celebration.
0:52:40 > 0:52:42I've got the brew on, Colin.
0:52:42 > 0:52:44Well, I thought we could have an aperitif.
0:52:44 > 0:52:46A bit of coffee here. What have you got?
0:52:46 > 0:52:49Oh, my goodness, that's posh-looking.
0:52:49 > 0:52:51- Slainte.- Slainte mhath. Here's to the mountain.
0:52:51 > 0:52:53- Indeed.- Cheers.
0:53:03 > 0:53:05Time's running out for Colin.
0:53:05 > 0:53:08The weather is as unpredictable as ever,
0:53:08 > 0:53:11and he still needs that shot on An Teallach.
0:53:11 > 0:53:13He must seize every opportunity,
0:53:13 > 0:53:17and again, he's out in the early hours of the morning.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20I've been trying to capture an image of An Teallach
0:53:20 > 0:53:24that captures not just its majesty but its very essence.
0:53:24 > 0:53:29And I'd like people to be able to look at the image
0:53:29 > 0:53:33and for it perhaps to conjure up the sort of environment
0:53:33 > 0:53:38where eagles live and fly, and where wildness truly exists.
0:53:41 > 0:53:44And that's a great thing about landscape photography.
0:53:44 > 0:53:49It allows the photographer to arrange the elements
0:53:49 > 0:53:52in a way that corresponds to the way that they feel
0:53:52 > 0:53:54about that particular environment.
0:53:58 > 0:54:01Here, you've got this whole cliff face
0:54:01 > 0:54:04rising from Loch Toll an Lochain
0:54:04 > 0:54:06straight up to Lord Berkeley's Seat.
0:54:06 > 0:54:09And it creates this depth to the picture
0:54:09 > 0:54:12that you don't quite get from the higher point.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15So I'm really excited about the opportunity here,
0:54:15 > 0:54:19but whether it's going to happen this morning, I'm not sure.
0:54:24 > 0:54:26I know where the location is, I just need the light.
0:54:29 > 0:54:31This area creates its own weather, though.
0:54:31 > 0:54:35I mean, even against weather forecasts,
0:54:35 > 0:54:38it's...not always too accurate.
0:54:42 > 0:54:44Well, this looks like the spot.
0:54:45 > 0:54:50Good news, the loch's not frozen, so it's giving us a good contrast,
0:54:50 > 0:54:55that sort of deep blue-black in amongst the white now.
0:54:55 > 0:54:58I just can't see the top of the mountain at the moment,
0:54:58 > 0:55:01so fingers crossed that this cloud will pass through
0:55:01 > 0:55:05and give us a bit of light, that ephemeral moment
0:55:05 > 0:55:09will hit the summit just as the clouds part,
0:55:09 > 0:55:11like the opening of the Red Sea.
0:55:17 > 0:55:18It's just all waiting.
0:55:19 > 0:55:20It's...
0:55:22 > 0:55:26If the light breaks through here,
0:55:26 > 0:55:30and that cloud just lifts a little bit more,
0:55:30 > 0:55:31we might have this picture.
0:55:34 > 0:55:38Ideally, we want to be shooting this at sunrise.
0:55:39 > 0:55:41We've got, in reality,
0:55:41 > 0:55:45probably 10-15 minutes, and after that, it's over.
0:55:49 > 0:55:53There's an awful lot going on here. It's very lively, the weather.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56And there doesn't seem to be any indication
0:55:56 > 0:55:59that the summits are clearing.
0:55:59 > 0:56:01It's coming and going, it's patchy.
0:56:03 > 0:56:06There's fundamentally so many different elements
0:56:06 > 0:56:09that need to come together to give us this picture,
0:56:09 > 0:56:13and it's just going to take that one moment.
0:56:14 > 0:56:16It's not looking too exciting.
0:56:20 > 0:56:24It's clear enough in the east, right enough. It's just here.
0:56:26 > 0:56:28An Teallach's a magnet for clouds.
0:56:31 > 0:56:33We need to wait, it's a waiting game.
0:56:34 > 0:56:36Patience.
0:56:36 > 0:56:40Deep patience, as the Inuit...
0:56:40 > 0:56:42They have a word for it.
0:56:42 > 0:56:43Quinuituq.
0:56:46 > 0:56:52It's that waiting at a seal's breathing hole with a spear poised,
0:56:52 > 0:56:56ready to throw it, for hours on end.
0:56:56 > 0:56:59Waiting hours for a second.
0:56:59 > 0:57:01I've waited years for this second.
0:57:05 > 0:57:07Feet are like blocks of ice now.
0:57:11 > 0:57:13It's dramatic, though, isn't it?
0:57:13 > 0:57:15Just beginning,
0:57:15 > 0:57:18the pink's just beginning to touch the tops of the clouds.
0:57:20 > 0:57:21Which is a good sign.
0:57:24 > 0:57:26- But not across there! - HE CHUCKLES
0:57:28 > 0:57:31Today, the wait is worthwhile.
0:57:31 > 0:57:34The photography gods are smiling on Colin,
0:57:34 > 0:57:37and just as the sun rises, the clouds part.
0:57:38 > 0:57:41We've got the clear ridge now,
0:57:41 > 0:57:43and we've got a bit of sunlight on it, finally.
0:57:45 > 0:57:46Fantastic!
0:57:48 > 0:57:50So, all the waiting paid off.
0:57:52 > 0:57:54That sun on my back is just lovely.
0:57:54 > 0:57:55And so is the picture!
0:57:55 > 0:57:58I'm a happy man. What more can I say?
0:58:06 > 0:58:07What a great mountain!
0:58:07 > 0:58:09What a great mountain indeed.
0:58:11 > 0:58:14We've been with Colin for six months,
0:58:14 > 0:58:19and the result of all that effort is just a handful of photographs.
0:58:19 > 0:58:22But these images convey the very essence
0:58:22 > 0:58:24of these great Scottish mountains.