The Story Behind the Image - Eilean Donan Castle at Night
I was heading north from my home in Gloucestershire on my way to the ferry at Uig, on the Isle of Skye, to the Isle of Lewis. That's a long way, so I booked a B&B in Dornie, thinking that I could photograph nearby Eilean Donan Castle if it was a nice evening.
What I didn't count on was how long the drive was and how tired I would be after 10 hours of steady driving. The weather didn't look promising, either, as I booked into my B&B and settled into my room. I was so tired that I actually was relieved that the evening didn't look promising.
I was relaxing after dinner in my room when I glanced out of the window to see that with that suddenness that only the Scottish Highlands can manage the sky had suddenly cleared and the late evening sun was casting a golden glow in the castle.
My fatigue forgotten, I grabbed my camera and headed for the loch. I photographed the castle from the shore, but after the sun went down I decided to see if I could get a good long-exposure photo of the castle illuminated by floodlights.
It sounded like a good idea so I set up my camera near the parking area on the shore of the loch and waited. And waited.
I hadn't realised that the floodlights would not come on until the light was completely gone, and in summer that doesn't happen until very late. It was past 23:00 (11 pm in old money) when the light had completely gone and the castle was lit by floodlights. What a long day!
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