Photography
14th to 19th May 2012
This trip is organised and run by Light & Land - www.lightandland.co.uk
Eigg is an island of outstanding natural beauty, unspoilt, spectacular and photographically inspirational. Visits to the fantastic coastline at Laig and Camus Sgiotaig (the Singing Sands) will be central to the trip. With the Isle of Rum as a backdrop, fascinating rocks and shore details for foregrounds, the variety provided by high and low tides as well as different times of day, there are endless photographic opportunities at these two locations alone.
The crofting landscape is typically Hebridean – isolated crofts, some ruinous and with abandoned agricultural machinery, dot the landscape in picturesque settings. Those at Cleadale nestle under the towering cliffs of Beinn Bhuidhe, while the abandoned 17th century township of Grulin lies at the foot of An Sgurr.
Eigg is the largest (5 miles by 3) of the Small Isles group of the Inner Hebrides, lying to the South of the Isle of Skye and only ten miles from the mainland. Following the pioneering community buy-out in 1997, the island is now managed in partnership with the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Highland Council in order to ensure a viable future while sustaining its unique environmental and cultural heritage.
The walk to the summit of the pitchstone ridge of An Sgurr (1291ft) leads across wild moorland and ends with commanding views of the island and beyond to Rum, Canna, Muck, Skye and the mainland. Eigg is rich in wildlife including Golden Eagle, Corncrake and Otter, but most striking at this time of year, is the colour provided by the flowering plants – there are over 500 species, including twelve orchids.
Subject to weather conditions we may make an afternoon excursion to the Isle of Muck (30 minute sail), the fare will be included, allowing three hours ashore to explore the small Isle of Muck.