599 - Eilean Donan Castle

Today a rainbow led us to a pot of gold. I couldn’t make this up. 

It all started when we were chillin’ on the side of the A87 in northern Scotland. I’d snagged a couple photos at Glen Roy Reserve, but I felt like I had one more sunset in me.

If you could even call the last shoot a sunset. The sun was dipping in and out of the clouds until it eventually departed behind the mountains. 

This left us with another 45 minutes of photography until the sun completely set. And with it being my first day in the Scotland highlands, I sure as fuck wasn’t going to let that go to waste. 

I stepped on the gas of our rented-ass Mercedes c300e AMG and we were off. My makeshift plan was to make it to a castle down the road by sunset, but it was going to be close. 

The good thing was that castles were a dime a dozen out here- the same way there were Pueblo ruin sites every 10 feet in Utah. If I missed this one, there would be a plethora of alternatives we could hit in the upcoming days. 

This castle in particular was named “Eilean Donan” and it was fully restored, resting in the middle of three lochs. Yes, you read that correctly. Lochs. A thing that only seems to exist in the UK. 

The castle was built in the 13th century primarily as a defensive maneuver, but the original structure is loooong gone. Since then it's been built up then destroyed several times, because [insert king here] got mad and went to war with [insert neighboring town here.] Rinse and repeat.

As we cruised down the road to the castle, several beautiful sites tempted to lead me astray. This included but is not limited to; an abandoned lakeside boat, a glistening forest, and a field full of fluffy sheep.

But nonetheless, I kept my head up and the pedal down, and before we knew it we’d arrived at the infamous stronghold. Precisely 30 minutes before sunset. Not close after all- I guess I’m just used to chugging around in the ole’ oh seven Prius.

We got out and looked around. There was one primary viewpoint, but the light wasn’t going to hit it well. I could tell this for a fact- despite the fact that a vanlife couple was filming themselves drinking wine on a blanket right in front of us. 

They’ll learn one of these days. See, the sun was setting on the other side of the castle- which meant that when it got lower, the castle would be cast in a shadow with an overblown sky in the backdrop. No bueno.

I quickly grabbed Alara’s hand and told her we need to get to the other side, ASAP. Even if there’s nowhere to stand. And thus, our adventure across the treacherous rocks began. 

Now, I wouldn’t say there wasn’t a path over here, because there was. But it was small and designed to access what appeared to be a cottage. It was of minimal help for the view we needed.

Our path to greatness involved slippery, moss covered rocks. Alara clearly had planned ahead though, because she was wearing cozy hiking shoes meant for hiking. What a smartie.

Here I was, holding $4,000 worth of equipment moseying about in Vans.

For my first composition, I landed on this photo:

“Nature’s Symmetry”

Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G

[ISO 1000 ~ 24mm ~ f/8 ~ 1/200s]

(Want a Print? Get one here.)

Where, as you can see, golden light is hitting the castle damn near perfectly. Absolutely brilliantly, if I might add. 

I also found this angle to be particularly enticing because the rocks almost reflect the shape of the bridge/castle. It felt like a proper way to integrate the structure with nature. 

I got two more angles of it, utilizing different foregrounds:

“Rock Fort”

Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G

[ISO 1000 ~ 24mm ~ f/8 ~ 1/250s]

(Want a Print? Get one here.)

“Tangy Castle”

Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G

[ISO 1000 ~ 24mm ~ f/8 ~ 1/320s]

(Want a Print? Get one here.)

The wild thing is that if you look closely at that last image, you’ll notice small clips of rain. The clouds were moving so fast that small pockets would randomly spray down on us.

And then as if to take credit for the entire show, a rainbow appeared. They always say rainbows lead to a pot of gold. But I’d never interpreted that as golden light. Whoa…

I finally understood it all. The nature of the universe was in my hands.

As far as photography goes, I didn’t snag a photo of it. Because it wasn’t close enough to the castle (or any other subject) to be anything other than a photo of just a rainbow.

But nonetheless, I was happy with the treasure I got today. Until next time, amigos. 


I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.

Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.

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600 - Old Man of Storr

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598 - Glen Roy Reserve