601 - Quiraing
Today I met the real Old Man of Storr.
If you saw my last adventure, you’d notice that it was nearly impossible to see any resemblance of an old man in those rocks. No face, no thumb, no nothing. Unless I’m completely missing something.
But it was a new hour, and a new rock face awaited us. This one was called the Quirang, which was a vast hillscape in Scotland that’s surprisingly difficult to pronounce.
I was immensely excited for the Quirang, because it’d been featured in numerous films. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Snow White and the Huntsman, and Stardust to name a few.
Alara and I showed up in the dead of the afternoon, which was perfectly fine because it’d been overcast for most of the day. But that’s the dangerous part about overcast weather- I can easily fall into spells of shooting up all day without break.
In fact, we just shot the Eilaean Donan Castle and Roy Reserve yesterday night, Old Man of Storr this morning, hiked Brother’s Point after that (no photos) and here we were at the Quirang for sunset. Yowza!
In normal parts of the world, you’re mostly limited to sunrise and sunsets, which acts as an element of self-control. Kind of like tolerance, with certain drugs. Out here in the soft rain, I could mainline sweet, sweet landscapes all day long.
I slammed the door of our Mercedes AMG shut and we hopped out. Lush, rolling hills as far as the eye can see. We walked a quarter mile or so, and stopped. I was looking for a proper vantage point, because there were infinite choice spots.
But out of nowhere, a strange figure caught my eye. A subtle side profile of a face entrenched in the rocks. The more I stared at it, the more it came to life- until eventually a full fledged being crawled out of the land:
“The Real Old Man”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G
[ISO 200 ~ 61mm ~ f/7.1 ~ 1/250s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
If you look long enough in the center rock, you’ll notice the eyes, forehead, nose, mouth, and chin of a Scottish entity. The rock to the lower right of it also resembles a sort of claw, fighting to escape the dirt and rocks.
The real Old Man of Storr.
I kept walking. That scene left me feeling a little strange.
Time for a new subject. I looked around, but it was green in every direction. Pulling a centerpiece out the landscape here was proving to be a little tricky.
Why was that face staring so intensely? Suddenly I noticed some purple flowers that screamed for my attention:
“Purple Veins”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G
[ISO 400 ~ 24mm ~ f/9 ~ 1/200s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
What a beautiful photo. I looked up from my viewfinder as luscious dopamine filled my bloodline.
Alright. Well I got to put a bow on this post somehow. I’ve been thinking deeply about how this face could have been a warning for previous mistakes I’ve made in life- because although the stone face isn’t inherently scary, I do feel like it has an undertone of horror to it. At least to me.
The first thing that comes to mind is how unbalanced my life used to feel in the past couple years. Completely overdoing the photography portion of my life, to the point where I couldn’t focus on building the more important things in life- family, friends and relationships.
The past year I’ve felt a sense of peace that I haven’t felt in a long time, because I’ve had time to slow down and think about what’s really important to me.
Shooting 24 hours a day, traveling constantly, and using photography as a vehicle for escapism needed to slow down. At a certain point it’s a literal drug for me, and seeing that face in the rock after going on 3+ shoots in the past 24 hours felt like a subtle reminder of that mindset.
Not to say I haven’t enjoyed this immensely.
Stay tuned for our next adventure, where our precious rental Mercedes breaks down hours away from civilization.
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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