Touring: The last of Autumn in Perthsire

[st4]

That's a proper good thrash, down to Glenridding and back to Windermere next morning.
I got stuck behind a Mazda2 and couldn't understand why He kept changing down as my car was just loping along with plenty in reserve.

Eventually I got the chance and Whoooosh...!

Turbos innit, they rule.

My best memory of the V6 E class has to be charging up the Kirkstone at err over 70 (Kmph officer) and having plenty left. Tyres were a bit hot at the top but what the hell, it was fun.

Can't wait to take the wee estate up, nice and nimble for when the turns get tighter....

 

[st4]

Great photographs and write up Steve!

Looks like you got the weather for a nice drive and photographs. I was working down at Cloanaig (just past Tarbert) this morning and it was chucking it down. Finished work at 1:30 and the rain cleared away for the drive back which I must say was fantastic.

I know what you mean about damp roads and RWD though, its fun when intentional but the complete opposite when it catches you out!

Not done the Mull of Kintyre since July

was the A83 ok at the rest and be thankful. Landslips can occur closing the road, so you'd have to go by Dalmally, over to Tyndrum.

Actually if you live in Edinburgh, you may well be faster to go to Inverarray, over the top to Loch Awe, down the A85 to Tyndrum, and along the A84 to Stirling and onto the M9.

 

[@MARK]

To be honest I am surprised you haven't. For a keen photographer and driver there is no finer place to go in the UK. It makes a great family holiday too.

We were up there a couple of years ago in the BMW. Glasgow to Edinburgh to Inverness to Fort William to Perth and home.

With all the hassle with the C350 over the last year, driving for pleasure was simply no longer an option. I actually found myself making excuses not to drive somewhere but to take the train instead.

As you know, that is now in the past and the new car is quickly proving itself to be something rather special.

Suddenly I am looking forward to going for a drive again and look forward to long journeys.

Thus a trip up north is certainly back on the cards again

 

[flango]

Steve as always absolutely stunning photo's and a great autumn run on roads I'm very familiar with so great to see them in autumn colours

 

[BEJ]

As usual Steve, youv'e made me jealous again.

 

[martyp87]

Not done the Mull of Kintyre since July

was the A83 ok at the rest and be thankful. Landslips can occur closing the road, so you'd have to go by Dalmally, over to Tyndrum.

Actually if you live in Edinburgh, you may well be faster to go to Inverarray, over the top to Loch Awe, down the A85 to Tyndrum, and along the A84 to Stirling and onto the M9.

The A83 was perfect. Drove down there on Tuesday/Wednesday too for the same job (which got binned hence returning today).

Send guys down there fairly often and thankfully not once have we had a issue with the landslips.

Over Loch Awe and down past Callander is a nice road but I just love the A83. Was hitting it hard last night, left Norwich at 1pm and arrived at my hotel (Stonefield Castle, magical place!) at 9:30!!!

 

[st4]

We were up there a couple of years ago in the BMW. Glasgow to Edinburgh to Inverness to Fort William to Perth and home.

With all the hassle with the C350 over the last year, driving for pleasure was simply no longer an option. I actually found myself making excuses not to drive somewhere but to take the train instead.

As you know, that is now in the past and the new car is quickly proving itself to be something rather special.

Suddenly I am looking forward to going for a drive again and look forward to long journeys.

Thus a trip up north is certainly back on the cards again

I know the feeling, latterly with the shed and all the hassle with the alignment I couldn't be bothered with the thing.

Now I have the skip back touring whenever I can.

I'm sure the Audi would be good up here.

 

[Ash]

Really excellent pics and write up, all the way through to where to get your scran.
Two questions that show my ignorance:
Q1. when are the best months to visit / avoid? Dec - Feb is going to be dodgy but when else - I'm thinking about midges (mainly W coast?) and endless tourists (August?).
Q2. will you only get shots like these with an SLR style lens and manual settings? I've never taken anything as good as those, in thousands of shots... it can't just be me, can it?

cheers
Ash

 

[230K]

Steve

If you are about Newton Mearns or Dumfries during the week give me a shout sometime.

I am over there most weeks now for the foreseeable future..

230K

 

[st4]

Really excellent pics and write up, all the way through to where to get your scran.
Two questions that show my ignorance:
Q1. when are the best months to visit / avoid? Dec - Feb is going to be dodgy but when else - I'm thinking about midges (mainly W coast?) and endless tourists (August?).
Q2. will you only get shots like these with an SLR style lens and manual settings? I've never taken anything as good as those, in thousands of shots... it can't just be me, can it?

cheers
Ash

Avoid dec to feb, march, April may are good. June to aug are too but busy and sept to oct are ok.

SLR and decent gear helps. Try whatever camera you have on a tripod and editing lightly with soft

 

[st4]

Really excellent pics and write up, all the way through to where to get your scran.
Two questions that show my ignorance:
Q1. when are the best months to visit / avoid? Dec - Feb is going to be dodgy but when else - I'm thinking about midges (mainly W coast?) and endless tourists (August?).
Q2. will you only get shots like these with an SLR style lens and manual settings? I've never taken anything as good as those, in thousands of shots... it can't just be me, can it?

cheers
Ash

Ps midges not that bad. People go to Italy on holiday and face Mosquitos etc, midges ain't an issue. See the links I put up for @Mark and Tan, these are worth doing.

Ps a decent bridge camera is ok but an SLR body and a reasonable lens is way better.

 

[BEJ]

Plus Steve enhances his shots to a certain degree in photoshop.
We had a discussion about this and we agreed that the main aim is to get it right in the camera, meaning less photoshopping.
( I hope I've remembered correctly Steve)

 

[st4]

Plus Steve enhances his shots to a certain degree in photoshop.
We had a discussion about this and we agreed that the main aim is to get it right in the camera, meaning less photoshopping.
( I hope I've remembered correctly Steve)

There is no avoiding this. So long as the exposure and composition are good and you've not blown out sky or dreadfully underexposed the image will be ok and easily enhanced with some treats. See that shot of the snow in the foreground. As to not blow out the sky I had to take a shorter exposure than was ideal for the snow. No issue, apply some burning to the snow area, some shadow removal to lift out some detail and job done.

 

[Dryce]

Q1. when are the best months to visit / avoid? Dec - Feb is going to be dodgy but when else - I'm thinking about midges (mainly W coast?) and endless tourists (August?).

Up north even the tourist season doesn't get that busy. (It's not like the Lake District.) Though we usually suggest people aim for June or September. No matter what you do you take a risk with the weather.

Midges? I spent years wondering what people complain about -yes there are a few but no big deal. Or so I thought Then we took some friends to Glencoe one still warm morning and stopped along the way. Thick clouds of the things and we had to retreat for cover.

So I think the reality is that the west coast where they are potentially bad is generally windy. If it's windy they're not a problem. However if the wind does drop right down .....

Q2. will you only get shots like these with an SLR style lens and manual settings? I've never taken anything as good as those, in thousands of shots... it can't just be me, can it?

Steve has a good eye. I don't think it would matter what camera he uses.

Decent P&S camera will do a decent job. A bridge camera better. A compact system camera can do a very good job. DSLR is more flexible.

Tripods are useful. With a non-DSLR you have the option of using a lighter tripod as long as it's not too windy because non-DSLRs are typically a lot lighter and have much less mechanical vibration.

A camera that has the option of producing 'raw' images offers a bit more flexibility in trying to process an image to pull out detail and recover highlights. The higher end P&S models and bridge cameras often have the option to do this must many owners are not aware of it.

 

[st4]

I more or less agree with dryce but even with midges it's worth coming. Don't rule out the Cairngorms and royal Deeside either

Shooting RAW is a must, the amount of information and detail captured allows a lot of images to be recovered.

Nikon one prices iirc match those of the entry level DSLR. I prefer the bulky feeling of the SLR as opposed to a system camera. More buttons and less menus work for me which leans me to SLRs but the system cameras are really good.