Living, Working & Exploring in the Heart of Argyll
Marc Pickering
Landscape Photographer & Works Supervisor with Forestry and Land Scotland.
HOATA: Your passion for photography shines through your work, but it’s not your ‘day job’, what do you do for a living?
MP: No photography isn’t my full time job, I want to keep my love for it by not relying on it for income, so my day to day job is as a works supervisor for Forestry and Land Scotland! It’s the ideal job for me as I get to spend my days working in the forests and landscapes of Argyll.
HOATA: You obviously love the outdoors, has that always been the case? What’s the best thing that you’ve seen in the Heart of Argyll.
MP: Yes I’ve always loved the outdoors! I grew up on the east coast until I was 10, most of my time was spent playing on the beaches, walking along the cliffs or fishing with my dad and uncle! Moving to the west coast and Argyll meant even more time spent outdoors, cycling and hill walking! I’m lucky through my forestry work to have seen some amazing things, notably climbing to osprey and eagle nests, which is just an amazing experience! [NB: Marc is qualified to do this with FLS]
On one occasion I was lucky enough to get this amazing scene from a hill above Loch Awe looking north! We have some incredible scenery here, but no two days are ever the same and as a landscape photographer, it’s what helps to keep the passion for photography alive
I think the best things I have ever seen in the Heart of Argyll, apart from the northern lights, has to be either a stunning cloud inversion over Loch Awe or my first time photographing a barn owl hunting!
A lot of my photography trips involve very early starts, 3am at times to get to the top of a hill before sunrise!
Living, Working & Exploring in the Heart of Argyll
HOATA: You capture light in incredible ways, including the elusive Northern Lights. These aren’t ‘quick snaps’, can you describe a typical trip out with your cameras?
MP: That’s true, most of the images I capture are planned to a certain extent! I generally have an idea of the location and type of image I want to capture but obviously the weather can be a big hindrance! Some images can take years to have everything line up - the light, clouds, wind, has the heather flowered or bog cotton at its peak. It can take a lot of planning and a lot of failed attempts to finally get something I’m happy with! The image here took four years to have everything line up just how I envisioned it.
As for the northern lights, I’ve been lucky to see them in the arctic circle and Norway before but it’s great at this solar maximum to get them here now! I generally don’t wait for the alerts to go off, I head out before dark to find compositions that will work and then sit and wait until they maybe show up!
Photography for me is not just about making images but more so getting time to sit and enjoy the landscapes and nature.
Living, Working & Exploring in the Heart of Argyll
HOATA: You have some well-deserved time off; how do you make the most of your time in the Heart of Argyll? And any tips for first time visitors with photography in mind?
MP: Time off is definitely a rare thing these days but for visitors coming to the Heart of Argyll with photography in mind, they are certainly spoiled for choice! From the castles and standing stones for the history fans, Kilmartin Glen (especially on a cold autumn morning) is a must!
For some big landscape views, a simple hike up to Dunardry Trig Point above Cairnbaan has to be one of the finest views in Scotland in my opinion!
Living, Working & Exploring in the Heart of Argyll
For nature and wildlife photographers, Taynish and Keills would be my suggestion as there’s so much to see there from deer, to otters and eagles!
Autumn in the Heart of Argyll is the best time to visit too I think, Perthshire draws the crowds for the autumn foliage but Argyll can easily rival of not beat the better known spots for some dramatic autumnal scenes.
HOATA: Just for fun, what question should I have asked? MP: Haha! That’s not an easy question to answer… I guess, where can you buy my prints? link below: https://marcpickeringphotography.uk/
HOATA: Thank you for taking the time Marc; this has been a stunning piece to prepare!
