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Duncan Cauchi on The Beauty of Skye

by Duncan Cauchi

For those who have never been or even heard of Malta, it is a small island, right in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Its size and location allow it to have several benefits, such as sunny weather almost all year round, many sandy beaches, an intrinsic and diverse culture, and a broad history. Notwithstanding all this, it has its limitations when one is fond of landscape photography. This is because when coupling Malta's small size (122 square miles) with a high population (almost 500,000) and nearly 40% covered with buildings there is not too much left! As a result, I often seek out other countries for more expansive landscapes.

Over the last few years it has become a tradition that, after The Societies' Convention I stay on for a few days with a couple of Maltese friends and travel to different locations in the UK. This year I was particularly excited about the trip as being a brand ambassador, I was entrusted with testing the new Haida M10 Drop-in filter holder system and compiling a field report.

This year's expedition took us to Scotland, a country very dear to me, as I have travelled there several times in my youth. However, in recent years, its significance to me has deepened as my photographic proficiency progressed. Every landscape photographer has that favourite country, that place which he is not only fond of, but is also where he will always find inspiration and will consistently refresh his zest for photography. This place for me is definitely Scotland. It is the mixture of breathtaking countryside, the endless shorelines coupled with the characteristic Scottish weather, which, while for some people is dreary, for a landscape photographer the mixture of snow, clouds, fog and occasionally sunshine adds drama to any given photograph. The fact that the people are so warm and welcoming, the food is endearing and the rhythm of the country is slower and more laid-back, gives me the opportunity to slow down and catch my breath from the pace of the office life.

From my various travels to Scotland, I always prefer to go farther north as this is where the countryside becomes more rural and untouched by man. A personal favourite is Isle of Skye as it has an extensive choice for diverse wildlife, historic sites and natural beauty. I keep returning there as it has a particular charm, which is made even more intriguing when hearing about their historical beliefs in druids and the mystic arts. The first destination we travelled to was Portree which is a great place to set up base, as it is relatively central to many attractive locations. One such are The Bride's Veil falls, which give excellent opportunity for a long exposure. In fact, I managed to capture a 2-second exposure at f/16 using a Haida Drop-in circular polariser to eliminate water reflections. For good composition I intentionally placed the river in the diagonal isto give a sense of direction from left to right while capturing the Old Man o' Storr in the background.

an hour of hard walking, one can take excellent shots providing the weather is favourable. Unfortunately, this was not the case for us – we were engulfed in a blanket of low cloud. The next day we headed for the Fairy Pools, which are considered a natural waterfall phenomenon, whose beauty was further enhanced by a light sheath of snow. Here we headed towards the falls, but as we started to cross the first stream, we were hit by a heavy snowstorm, delaying our climb considerably. However, it was worth it, as once it passed we had clear skies, which provided the excellent blue-sky contrast. Here the exposure was not easy to calculate because of the brightness of the snow. Not to blow out the snowy glens I started by using a Haida ND 4 Soft Grad which gave me an exposure of 1/250 at f8, which translates to a two-minute exposure when adding a 15-stop ND. While waiting for the two minutes to pass, I decided to cut it short at 94 seconds so as not to have over blown highlights in the clouds and snowy areas.

Upon our return to the parking lot the sky was completely clear over the whole island and so the Bride's Veil Falls, 2sec, f/16, 20mm focal length + CPL Fairy Pools, 94sec, f/8, ND 4 stop Soft Grad, 15 stop ND, Focal length 30mm. we decided to try our luck and drive all the way back to Eilean Donan Castle for sunset. This is a personal favourite, as it possesses several structural features that can be used in various ways to compose some good images. Prior to arriving, I did a quick search to check sunset location in conjunction with cloud movement. All this allowed me to have the necessary features required to capture the ideal long exposure. Since the clouds were moving quite quickly, I decided to go for an extreme six-minutes exposure at f/8 using the Haida 10-stop drop-in filter. This created the brush stroke effect in the sky, which in turn was reflected in the loch.

One of our final destinations was Neist Point. The highlight of this location was the lighthouse at the edge of the cliff. Here I challenged myself by stepping out of my comfort zone – instead of taking a single ultra-wide-angle shoot, I took



Updated 27/04/2026 16:44:22 Last Modified: Monday, 27 April 2026