What’s this month’s image? It’s the famous Queen’s View close to Pitlochry, looking down Loch Tummel.

Did you do anything to it? Very little. I’d photographed this on a previous trip to Pitlochry but it was mid-afternoon, the sun was very bright and there was a huge amount of contrast in the scene. I didn’t have any of those problems this time around. In fact, the light was just very flat. It’s taken towards the end of the day, but there’s almost 100% cloud cover meaning that the scene was pretty flat. The mono conversion works, but I’m not overly inspired and it’s probably only here in the absence of anything more striking. Not every day has a winner…

What’s it doing here? I had a workshop on Harris and Lewis at the start of the month which was fabulous. You can read my comments, and see some of the images here. That was a fantastic trip, which included a getting my first decent image of the Northern Lights, so inevitably almost anything after that would be a bit of an anti-climax photographically speaking.

We like to get away at least once a month and hadn’t been up around Pitlochry since I stopped working. It was a very enjoyable trip - we did some walking, enjoyed the scenery and ate and drank well. But, for all it’s splendour, for the photographer Pitlochry is not at its best in mid-March. The trees are still a bit sparse, but without the cleanliness that snow or frost would bring, and the spring colours have yet to fully emerge. The light wasn’t great either - dry (which was good for getting out and about), but lots of cloud cover and all a bit flat. Autumn, however, would be a different story and I’m sure we’ll be back later in the year… The handful of images give a taste of what might be on offer.

Pitlochry Dam

Fonab Forest

Clunie Path View

Falls of Dochart

Have you been up to much else? After the excitement of Lewis and the relative (photographic) disappointment of Pitlochry there hasn’t been time for too much else. We managed a walk around the Kelpies before meeting Emma for a birthday lunch, which is always good. They are striking sculptures and very popular photographic structures that work in most conditions. I’ve dabbled at the rugby again, but I’m not sure I’m getting any better.

I was also back at CoDI through in Edinburgh, building up to the big push at the Fringe in August. The shows are always entertaining and informative and there are one or two new performers lined up between now and August. Finally, the end of the month saw a club outing to Dunure Castle. Happily the weather played ball and there were a couple of half-decent images to be had. I’ll definitely be back on a solo trip.