Somewhere I've been meaning to visit for a long time. I'm ashamed to say up until now it's been a go-through to get to the Isle of Mull. This trip was a step in the right direction at putting this right. It's a beautiful place, and the surrounding area is stunning. Making one trip to the area doesn't do the place justice, and it won't be the last time I visit.
Oban is known as 'The Gateway to the Islands'. The name Oban itself literally means “little bay”. It's a fitting description as there are many trips you can take to the surrounding islands, most notably Mull. But the place has so much more to offer, especially if you're interested in the outdoors and, like me, wildlife...
A Pine Marten crosses a fallen tree branch on the search for food...
The main focus of visiting Oban and the surrounding area was to look for Pine Marten.
I’d been introduced to Robert Cruickshanks of ‘Ootmahoosewindae’ (if you’re interested in watching Pine Marten, I’d strongly recommend getting in touch - www.ootmahoosewindae.com).
While my main focus would be at night with camera traps, I’d also hoped to see and photograph them at sunset. Pine Marten are crepuscular and, in the long summer days, sometimes venture out in daylight. Unfortunately the activity of the Pine Marten had dropped a little in the week leading up to my visit and, as such, they didn’t show during the day while I was there - such is the chances you take when working with wildlife!
Despite this we had plenty of visits from the Pine Marten at night. Robert is an all-round nice guy and helped me out an awful lot with setting up the camera traps. An extra pair of hands is always welcome!
I’d been introduced to Robert Cruickshanks of ‘Ootmahoosewindae’ (if you’re interested in watching Pine Marten, I’d strongly recommend getting in touch - www.ootmahoosewindae.com).
While my main focus would be at night with camera traps, I’d also hoped to see and photograph them at sunset. Pine Marten are crepuscular and, in the long summer days, sometimes venture out in daylight. Unfortunately the activity of the Pine Marten had dropped a little in the week leading up to my visit and, as such, they didn’t show during the day while I was there - such is the chances you take when working with wildlife!
Despite this we had plenty of visits from the Pine Marten at night. Robert is an all-round nice guy and helped me out an awful lot with setting up the camera traps. An extra pair of hands is always welcome!
Pine Marten in woodland habitat
So the trip started with the long journey north. As I don’t do it often (not half as often as I’d like) I always get excited as the prospect of it. The journey from my home in Yorkshire up to Glasgow isn’t particularly notable, but once you’re past Glasgow and heading into the Trossachs National Park, skirting the shores of Loch Lomond, then it becomes far more interesting!
From my other two blogs of the area I’ve already described how beautiful the place is, but I can’t stress it enough. I feel very lucky that I’m able to drive there rather than having to take a flight. Many people forget what amazing places we have on our doorstep, relatively speaking. I won’t go into a long descriptive about it on this blog - all I’ll say is travel the area for yourself and you’ll see what I mean.
So I reached Oban around midday, excited at the prospect of exploring the area and hopefully coming away with some Pine Marten photos too. I was staying at Elderslie Guest House (www.obanbandb.com). The owners made me feel welcome right from the off and I’d recommend anyone visiting the area to stay there!
The first port of call was to meet Robert. He was incredibly friendly right from the start and we hit it off. It’s clear that Robert is passionate about the area having grown up there, and equally keen on the Pine Marten that visit his garden. What I would give to have these creatures coming to my garden! Robert showed me around the area to get a feel for the place and to look for suitable camera trap locations along the route the Pine Marten took to enter his garden. There was a beautiful forest carpeted in moss which was the first successful spot - more on that later.
The famous Black Guillemots of Oban's harbour
With the Pine Marten thwarting my plans to see them during the day, I came up with some other ideas of what to focus on. Exploring the area just to see the place was high on my list, but I’d heard about Black Guillemots that nested in Oban along the harbour. So on my first full day I drove down to the seafront. While driving along the harbour I saw a couple of people with cameras and long lenses - it seemed a good spot to check for the Guillemots.
They're not worried by people walking past!
I parked up and, sure enough, there they were. On any workshops I run I emphasise the importance of getting down to the eye-level of the animal. While it was all too easy to stay up on the road and look down at the seabirds, there are steps leading down to the rocky beach (at low tide) allowing for much more intimate portraits.
Black Guillemots
As always in urban environments I got some quizzical looks from passes by wondering what I was doing with a long camera lens. The birds were very confiding and didn’t seem to mind the presence of people close by. I guess they’ve become used to it living in a busy port.
Black Guillemot
Apart from one day on my trip the weather was dull and overcast. While that can be good for wildlife photography as it diffuses the light and ensures no harsh contrast, ensuring I exposed the dark feathers of the birds correctly meant I’d turn the water in the background into silvery white. I was happy to make do with this where it was necessary, and otherwise I’d look for more interesting backgrounds.
Black Guillemot
This series is just from an hour spent with these animals. More images of them are in the gallery page (www.alastairmarsh.co.uk/-/galleries/collections/britain/oban).
Black Guillemot
So the order of the photos in this blog are slightly all over the place. While it’s true that I spent my first full day with the Black Guillemots, the Pine Marten photos aren’t in order. The first night with the camera trap actually proved to be one of the more successful, so those images are further down the blog (my feeble attempt to keep you interested in reading this!). Anyway, I’m sure you aren’t bothered about that!
Pine Marten on a rainy night
The two photos of Pine Marten on a log above and below are from the second night. It was forecast for rain. Using a backlit flash in heavy rain can create a nice effect, so that was the plan. The weather had other ideas and it was more of a light drizzle. Still, I like these two images and you can make out some rain in the top left of each.
Pine Marten on the forest floor
Robert had shown me the route the Pine Martens took when they came into the garden. You could make out a narrow groove in the ground where they walked, as they tend to follow the same pattern each night. That meant a good chance of capturing images as they came through. I’m always like a kid at Christmas checking the camera after leaving it out for the night, and equally like a kid that’s received a lump of coal for Christmas when nothing shows up! On this occasion though, I was fortunate to have a number of hits on the camera trap, with the photo above being my favourite.
Another shot from the same series as the opening image, across a fallen branch
In case anyone is interested how the camera trap technique works, it’s basically creating an outdoor studio with a motion sensor so when an animal triggers it, the flashes set up to light the scene and camera all trigger at the same time. It’s a great way to take photos showing more natural behaviour without you disturbing them. It’s also a great way to take wide angle images of wildlife that otherwise wouldn’t let you anywhere near them. For the more technical out there, I tend to set my camera settings as below;
Shutter speed - anywhere between 1/100sec. to 30 seconds (depending on how much ambient light you want in the image).
Aperture - anywhere between f/8 and f/16 to ensure sharpness.
ISO - usually around ISO800 or ISO1000 (or higher for star scapes) so I can keep the flashes on a lower power, allowing for faster recycle times.
Flashes - on manual power anywhere between 1/8th - 1/16th usually, depending on the distance.
The key thing to remember is natural light sources come from above (i.e. the sun or moon), so always put the flash above your subject. Obvious when you think about it!
The photo above was actually taken on my last night in Oban, and is part of the same series as the opening shot of this blog. It took 3 nights to get the image I was happy with, but that was more my trial and error than the Pine Marten not playing ball.
Shutter speed - anywhere between 1/100sec. to 30 seconds (depending on how much ambient light you want in the image).
Aperture - anywhere between f/8 and f/16 to ensure sharpness.
ISO - usually around ISO800 or ISO1000 (or higher for star scapes) so I can keep the flashes on a lower power, allowing for faster recycle times.
Flashes - on manual power anywhere between 1/8th - 1/16th usually, depending on the distance.
The key thing to remember is natural light sources come from above (i.e. the sun or moon), so always put the flash above your subject. Obvious when you think about it!
The photo above was actually taken on my last night in Oban, and is part of the same series as the opening shot of this blog. It took 3 nights to get the image I was happy with, but that was more my trial and error than the Pine Marten not playing ball.
The beauty of the Scottish Highlands
On my second full day Robert introduced me to a local game keeper who looked after a vast area of land around a loch on the west coast. He had a strong name - Alasdair (the proper Scottish way!).
The plan was to explore the area that Alasdair looked after for photographic potential. Alasdair is looking to set up short breaks in the area for both photographers and outdoor enthusiasts alike, so watch this space!
The plan was to explore the area that Alasdair looked after for photographic potential. Alasdair is looking to set up short breaks in the area for both photographers and outdoor enthusiasts alike, so watch this space!
Have you ever seen pheasants in a boat?!
The area is stunning, even on a cloudy day while I was there. The loch is beautiful and calm, the scenery is to die for and wildlife abound. It’s an area fantastic for eagles, deer, owls and, with a little work, Pine Marten. I’m sure there’s plenty of other species there too! Oh, and boat loving pheasants as per the photo above…!
The mist rolls in over a loch on the west coast of Scotland
Just the drive into the area was amazing to see, and the potential for great photography was abundant. Imagine the photo above at sunrise or sunset…
A family of Mute Swans create a nice focal point on a crystal clear morning across a loch
While exploring the area we saw a family of Mute Swans gracefully swimming across the loch. I was lucky there was no wind so the water became a mirror of the forest above. I quickly grabbed the camera and went down to the water’s edge and took a few photos, as the image above shows. Mute Swans may be a common species and well photographed, but in a setting like this any subject looks great.
I stupidly left my tripod behind so had to make do with finding sturdy rocks as a support for long exposures!
We had a recce of a few areas Alasdair took us to. The forest in the area particularly captured my attention and imagination. Moss festooned rocks, long vibrant green grasses, rushing rivers and primeval looking trees create an environment that I just love. The whole area seemed prime Pine Marten habitat as well as many other woodland creatures I’m sure. I could easily spend an awful lot of time there!
Pine Marten country
I stupidly left my tripod back at the B&B not thinking I would need it for this trip. Note to self - always bring a tripod as you never know when you’ll need it!
Still… I found some sturdy rocks to place the camera on to get some long exposures of the river. At least I’d remembered a polarising lens!
Still… I found some sturdy rocks to place the camera on to get some long exposures of the river. At least I’d remembered a polarising lens!
Mute Swan reflections
I’m extremely thankful to Robert for introducing me to Alasdair and arranging the trip, and equally to Alasdair for agreeing to take me around and showing me the area. It’s visiting places like this where I’ve never been before, and exploring new areas that turn a trip like this into a mini adventure.
The same family of Mute Swans gracefully moving across a loch
So, as mentioned above, the series of images below were actually from the first night in Oban. It was the one day of good light, so I’d been sat waiting with Robert in his garden in the hope they might show up at sunset and it’d be an opportunity to get some daylight photos of them. They had other ideas though…
I wanted to create a deep forest feel to this camera trap setup, with simple lighting - I think the pose of the Pine Marten adds the final element
From checking the woodland they used to enter the garden earlier that afternoon on the first day, there was a particular tree that caught my attention, right on the Pine Martens’ route in. This became the first area for the camera trap set-up. Messing about with a combination of flashes, flash power and using flash gels (to change the colour of the flash) I was eventually happy and we moved away and waited in Robert’s garden at an elevated point to watch in hope they would come to us. Robert had set up a sensor in the woods and, sure enough, around 9.30pm/10pm the sensor’s receiver flashed to alert us something was moving through the woodland.
A pair of Pine Martens
I got excited as there was just enough daylight in the garden. If they came through the woodland, hopefully setting off the camera trap in the process, and into the garden, I was ready with a second set-up using one off-camera flash aimed to balance the ambient light. The idea with the second set-up was to create a daylight image of the Pine Marten at sunset. Shortly after Robert’s sensor receiver started flashing to tell us something was in the woodland on the other side of the garden, the camera trap was triggered making it look like lightning was going off.
More images from the same evening's camera trap set-up
This happened repeatedly for 5/10mins at a time over about an hour. Robert and I expected a Wood Mouse was triggering the camera trap set-up. We left it for a while just in case and once it’d had gone too dark for my sunset image (with no luck) we ventured into the woodland to check the camera trap. I was amazed that it hadn’t been a Wood Mouse after all, but that two Pine Marten had been coming and going in the woodland all along.
I reset the flashes to change the lighting and decided to leave the camera trap set-up where it was for the night. The five images in this series are my favourites from the many times the Pine Marten triggered the set-up. I wanted to create a deep forest feel to these images. Along with frame-filling portrait images of wildlife, I like to show them in their habitat. I think the latter type of photo tells much more of a story about the animal, placing them in the context of their home and allows for more creativity. The flash positioned on the other side of the tree to give a backlit spotlight adds a different element to these photos.
A simple Red Squirrel portrait, but how can you say no?!
Another plan during the day was to visit a Red Squirrel hide owned by Philip Price of Loch Visions (www.lochvisions.co.uk). Red Squirrels are a species I’ll never grow tired of. They’re amazing animals with so much character.
I knew from looking up Philip’s hide prior to the trip that there was lots of opportunities to work with different lenses to photograph them. While I do like close-up shots, I’m trying more and more to think a little differently and showing the animal’s environment. Just like with the Pine Marten series above, this is what I wanted to achieve with the Red Squirrels. Philip’s hide was the perfect place in which to do this as it overlooks Loch Craignish and a beautiful landscape either side.
I knew from looking up Philip’s hide prior to the trip that there was lots of opportunities to work with different lenses to photograph them. While I do like close-up shots, I’m trying more and more to think a little differently and showing the animal’s environment. Just like with the Pine Marten series above, this is what I wanted to achieve with the Red Squirrels. Philip’s hide was the perfect place in which to do this as it overlooks Loch Craignish and a beautiful landscape either side.
Having a go at some remote wide angle images of the Red Squirrels
I wasn’t blessed with great weather, but you’ve got to make do with the conditions that are given to you. So I was able to get some close-up photos using a 500mm lens as the first image and the one below show, as well as using a wide angle on a remote trigger for the one above. The Red Squirrels here were very obliging!
The gnarly oak tree branch is the key element for me in this shot
Probably my favourite image, and why Philip’s hide is so good, is the one below. Taken using a 70-200mm lens, I was able to show the beautiful view in the background while focusing attention on the Red Squirrel in the foreground.
I still like the one above, more for the oak tree branch though!
I still like the one above, more for the oak tree branch though!
Red Squirrel with a view - Loch Craignish in the background
To have a hide where you can let your creativity run wild, along with obliging critters to pose for you, is a recipe for great fun!
There are more images from my time with the Red Squirrels in the gallery page, quoted earlier in the blog.
There are more images from my time with the Red Squirrels in the gallery page, quoted earlier in the blog.
A Pine Marten sniffing the ground for traces of food
So my last night in Oban came far too fast. I was keen to try again in the woodland area but this time to create a different feel to the images. I decided to use a blue flash gel on 3 flashes for this set-up, trying to create a look of moonlight. I’m not sure how well I achieved that, but I’m happy with the image above and below nonetheless!
The visits from the Pine Marten were far more fleeting than the first night, and the image above is the best from the series.
On reviewing the images on the back of the camera, I was also surprised to see a Hedgehog had found the set-up as well. It was great to add another species to the collection and, more importantly, great to see a Hedgehog! Sadly the species is in desperate need of our help, and their numbers are rapidly declining.
If you live in an area where Hedgehogs are known, and you have a fence around your garden, please leave a small hole to allow them to pass through. While females will stay in a garden and find food, males travel large distances and, without passages to get from garden to garden, they’re restricted. Also, they’re lactose intolerant so don’t leave anything out that will affect them. You can buy specially designed Hedgehog food which doesn’t cost a lot, and leaving a small dish of water works wonders.
The visits from the Pine Marten were far more fleeting than the first night, and the image above is the best from the series.
On reviewing the images on the back of the camera, I was also surprised to see a Hedgehog had found the set-up as well. It was great to add another species to the collection and, more importantly, great to see a Hedgehog! Sadly the species is in desperate need of our help, and their numbers are rapidly declining.
If you live in an area where Hedgehogs are known, and you have a fence around your garden, please leave a small hole to allow them to pass through. While females will stay in a garden and find food, males travel large distances and, without passages to get from garden to garden, they’re restricted. Also, they’re lactose intolerant so don’t leave anything out that will affect them. You can buy specially designed Hedgehog food which doesn’t cost a lot, and leaving a small dish of water works wonders.
A surprise visitor on the camera trap - a Hedgehog found my set-up!
To finish this blog, I wanted to make a small mention about the two images below. As above, I was hoping to add to the ever growing collection of Pine Marten images during the day, but the activity at the site in Oban had unfortunately dropped off. I’m sure this will pick up again next year when, hopefully, a Pine Marten mother will have kits and bring them to Robert’s garden.
I had seen on Facebook a friend had posted some images of Pine Marten in daylight not too far from where I was, albeit a 3hr drive away. I decided it was too good an opportunity to miss so, on one day on the trip, I made my way across to Perth and then north to Mark Johnson's newly built hide. There are some fantastic photos of Pine Marten coming from the hide and anyone wanting to see them should look it up on Facebook or via his website;
www.fusionimagery.co.uk
My luck wasn’t in unfortunately - I think it was getting late in the season to see them during the day. It was late July after all. However, a pair of kits did show for about 5mins at roughly 9.45pm. ISO’s were high and shutter speeds were low, but I’m happy with these two images nonetheless.
I had seen on Facebook a friend had posted some images of Pine Marten in daylight not too far from where I was, albeit a 3hr drive away. I decided it was too good an opportunity to miss so, on one day on the trip, I made my way across to Perth and then north to Mark Johnson's newly built hide. There are some fantastic photos of Pine Marten coming from the hide and anyone wanting to see them should look it up on Facebook or via his website;
www.fusionimagery.co.uk
My luck wasn’t in unfortunately - I think it was getting late in the season to see them during the day. It was late July after all. However, a pair of kits did show for about 5mins at roughly 9.45pm. ISO’s were high and shutter speeds were low, but I’m happy with these two images nonetheless.
