Blue Hour Buachaille Inverse - Glen Coe

This is one of three shots taken this morning on Beinn A’Chrulaiste if the cloud/temperature inversion surrounding the iconic Buachaille Etive Mor that sits between Glen Etive and Glen Coe in the Scottish Highlands.

For anyone thinking of visiting this area for the purpose of landscape photography this is absolutely one location that I would recommend that you shouldn’t miss. in terms of time to reach the location, excretion levels used v exhilaration and scenery throughout the walk it’s by far my favourite place to go when I visit the area. it’s only around 50 - 80 minutes walk from the car park at the side of the A82 to this location depending on ground conditions or fitness levels and once you reach the spot that looks down over the valley you have a an amazing 190+ degree panoramic view reaching from Rannoch Moor on the left right over the iconic Buachaille Etive Mor and beginning of Glen Etive in the centre and Glen Coe to the right. (not that I could see much of that this morning due to the cloud/temperature inversion that I was actually there to shoot) but on a clear day this vista offers up some incredible views of the surrounding area.

Getting up this hill is not that difficult, but given that it’s not one of the Munro’s it seems to be more frequented by photographers than hill walkers overall so the path is narrow and in some places very hard to distinguish and can be slightly boggy under foot so waterproof walking boots are definitely recommended for any time of the year. (I’ll leave a list of some equipment that I used with links if anyone’s looking for inspiration or for a starting point for their own mountain photography shopping list)

For more information on the location, equipment and settings I used to capture this image, please continue reading below

Equipment, Settings and Location

Camera, Lens and Tripod

Nikon D750 - (1/6s, ISO100, 80mm @f/16)

Nikkor 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5g ED VR

Benro Mach 3 tripod with g3 ball head

Hoya CPL (Circular Polarising Filter)

Clothing And Equipment

Camera Bag - LowePro Powder 500AW

Walking Boots - Scarpa Ribelle Lite OD

Gloves - Black Diamond Crag

OS (Ordinance Survey) Map and Compass

Head Torch - Black Diamond Storm 400

Location

Buachaille Etive Mor, Altnafeadh, Scottish Highlands. (See Map Below)