Scotland Through A Lens: Photography in the Highlands with Fiona Campbell

Living in the heart of the Highlands, it’s hard for  Fiona Campbell not to be inspired by the ever changing vistas and incredible untouched scenery around her. 

Credit: Fiona Campbell.

I’ve loved photography forever but because of a serious illness I wasn’t able to do it.

Photography helped me recover. It made me get out into nature for more extended periods which was in itself really beneficial. I have been taking pictures for about six years now.

I live in Corpach just outside Fort William, right in the heart of the Highlands – it’s hard not to be inspired by such ever changing vistas.

I love that every view seems relatively untouched and has a wildness and a remoteness about it. 

The wildlife is always a thrill too. The more extreme the conditions the more empathy you feel for the animal and the more interesting the photos can be. 

I’ll point my camera at anything at all that I find interesting – from little abstract patterns to great vista. But  wide angles are what I love most. 

Credit: Fiona Campbell.

In the winter time I love going on a hunt for ice patterns to put in the foreground of a vista. It can provide really unique images which are never the same twice. 

I’m not the most patient person, in fact I have zero patience. I am not one of these people who can put up a tripod and just sit and wait for hours for the light. 

I don’t use a tripod at all for the most part so I can go out at interesting times like golden hour and just walk and see if anything catches my eye without carrying around a heavy kit. 

The most challenging aspect of photography in Scotland has to be the weather. I don’t have the luxury of nice light all the time so I do have to return to the same place time and time again to get the best conditions. But when it happens, it’s pure joy.

It’s the elusiveness of great conditions that give me the addictive high that keeps me going back again and again.

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