PHOTORAPHY WORKSHOP ASSYNT AND

ASSYNT TRIP OVERVIEW

DATES 17-21 October 2018 STARTS/FINISHES Inverness DURATION 4 nights/5 days COMFORT Classic LOCATION TRIP GRADING Easy PRICE £1395

Spend five days developing your photography skills with Colin Prior

Private en-suite accommodation at Ardvrek House in Ullapool

Enjoy fresh local cuisine at the Ceilidh Place in Ullapool

Climb Stac Pollaidh to capture dawn over Suilven and Cul Mor

Tutorials and critique sessions with individual feedback on each participants work

Workshop restricted to nine clients plus Colin and assistant

TRIP DETAILS

Our base at Arvrek House https://www.ardvreckhouse.com/ on the outskirts of Ullapool is perfectly situated for easy access to the Coigach and Assynt landscape. During the workshop there will be opportunities to shoot at dusk and dawn if conditions are suitable. Otherwise, we set off after breakfast for our chosen location – a journey that normally takes around one hour where we photograph throughout the morning, breaking for packed lunches. In the afternoon we drive to another location where we can re-position for sunset, arriving back at Ardvrek House around 5.30 p.m. If time permits there may be opportunities to critique some of the day’s images before heading out for dinner. During the course of the workshop there will be tutorials and a group critique session. ASSYNT TRIP DETAILS

WHAT’S INCLUDED IN THIS PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP

Four nights accommodation in at Ardvrek House.

Each client will have private accommodation with en-suite facilities.

Breakfast, packed lunches and evening meals are included throughout.

Personal tuition, critique sessions and tutorials.

All transport during the trip, starting and finishing in Inverness.

GRADING: EASY

Easy straightforward hiking generally over good trails with no major ascents. The days are fairly leisurely and we spend about 6-8 hours outdoors. Terrain is mainly on paths or hill trails which may be muddy underfoot in places. Daily walks are mainly glens or coastal hikes with some ascents up to 450m (1500ft). TRIP ITINERARY

Below is a typical itinerary, which inevitably will change to take advantage of the optimum weather conditions each day. The decision about the following days location will be made in the evening when the most accurate forecast has been studied.

Day 1 - Pickup: Torridon and Loch Maree Day 3 - Stac Pollaidh

Colin will meet you underneath the main display board An early rise for the pre-dawn climb of Stac Pollaidh. A in the arrival hall at Inverness Railway Station at 0830 well-maintained footpath winds its way up and takes on Wednesday morning. Inverness is a small station so around one hour to reach our location on the north it will be easy to identify Colin. On the final day of the slope. Views from the top, over Loch Sionascaig, to workshop we will return you to Inverness Railway Suilven and Cul Mor are spectacular and it is without Station at 1500, allowing clients to connect with the rail doubt, one of the best locations in , to witness a services south. sunrise. We will return to Ardvrek House for breakfast at 1030 and in the afternoon will depart for a moorland After the group has met , we will head for Torridon and walk which terminates on a secluded beach overlooking Loch Maree , stopping to photograph and Loch Suilven. Clair in Glen Torridon. After lunch, we will drive to Loch Maree where we will have the opportunity to photograph Day 4 – Achnahaird Bay from a variety of locations. We will depart around After breakfast we depart for Achnahaird Bay, where we 1530 for Ullapool following the coast road to Braemore will follow a path along the cliff-tops overlooking Enard junction and arriving at our guest house around 1700. Bay. The views across the sea towards the Assynt and Coigach mountains create a spectacular backdrop – Day 2 – Clachtoll and Point of Stoer Suilven, Cul Mor, Stac Pollaidh and punctuate the horizon with their enigmatic shapes. After Today we will drive north to Clachtoll where the white lunch we will head to where we can shoot the sandy bay gives way to a rocky foreshore. Pink boulders, late evening sun over the , before retiring composed of Torridonian sandstone, are interspersed to the Summer Isles Hotel for refreshments. with veined, green rocks of Lewisian gneiss – the Day 5 - Dundonnell building block of the north-west Highlands. After lunch, we will continue our drive to Stoer Head Lighthouse and After checking out, we will drive to Dundonnell and take a short walk across the moorland, to a location ascend to a high point, which gives unbroken views of An which gives superb views of the lighthouse on its rock Teallach. The well-wooded area has stands of mature promintory. On our return, we will stop at a view-point trees, which eventually give way, and the which overlooks the mountains of Assynt and Coigach - Massif is revealed in its entirety. After lunch we will , Suilven, Cul Mor, Cul Beag, Stac Pollaidh and depart for Inverness at 1330 to arrive at Inverness Ben Mor Coigach can be seen, linearly, on the horizon. Station 1500 where the workshop will conclude.

MORE INFORMATION

GETTING THERE THE PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE:

This trip starts and finishes in Inverness. Transport to and from the workshop start/end points

For train time-tables, costs and reservations refer to Travel insurance and personal equipment these websites: Meals not mentioned in the itinerary www.firstscotrail.com Alcohol and soft drinks, laundry www.thetrainline.com Gratuities www.seat61.com Any other items not mentioned as included

MEETING INSTRUCTIONS RECOMMENDED PERSONAL EQUIPMENT Colin will meet you underneath the main display board in the arrivals hall at Inverness Railway Station at 8.30 The ability to respond to Scotland’s changeable weather a.m. on Wednesday. At the end of the workshop on with appropriate clothing will enhance your enjoyment. Sunday, we will return you to Inverness Railway Station The key is to bring comfortable clothing, which will at 3.00 p.m. maintain your body temperature under a variety of weather conditions. If you are at all susceptible to the cold, a down jacket or a similarly insulated jacket is the ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD most effective way to keep warm and can quickly change Ardvreck House is modern, spacious property with a your mental outlook. large lounge area and affords great views to An Teallach, across . Bedrooms are located on the upper Lightweight boots level and each guest will have private accommodation Waterproof jacket and trousers with en-suite facilities. Dinner is at The Ceilidh Place where the best seasonal produce from the Highlands is Hat for sun protection or warmth served. The restaurant has a ‘Fairtrade’ status and a Casual clothes for evening wear policy of buying the best of local produce too. The Personal wash kit restaurant offers an excellent choice of wines, beers and whiskies. Optional: sunglasses, sunscreen, and lip salve TRIP PRICING

The trip price is £1395 per person. Group size up to nine clients and this ensures that Colin can give a one-to-one tuition and a critique session. PHOTOGRAPHY EQUIPMENT

Cameras – Camera equipment is very much a personal choice and is dependent on individual preference, budget, and experience. Whether you shoot with a 35mm DSLR or a mirror-less system is unimportant. What is important however is that you are familiar with your camera’s layout and menu structure and understand the differences between the shooting modes.

The information below is intended only as a guide to help you get the most from your experience.

Camera bag – bring a camera bag that allows you to Filters – many photographs find it difficult to shoot an comfortably carry your equipment over rugged terrain. image without some sort of filter. A filter needs to add Backpacks distribute the weight between your shoulders value and if it isn’t then you are potentially degrading the and hips making walking much easier than a bag with a image by placing a sheet of resin in front of your lens. shoulder strap and are normally protected from wind The most commonly used filters in digital photography and rain. are graduated neutral density filters. These differ from neutral density filters in that they allow you to control Tripod - the ideal tripod needs to be light enough to contrast locally. They come in a variety of densities and carry comfortably but sufficiently robust to be used in gradations but in my experience, the most useful are a winds. A tripod engenders a more contemplative 0.6 soft and 0.6 hard gradation. Several brands of ‘grads’ approach to the photography and allows the use of are available but by far the best are manufactured by Lee slower shutters speeds. A wide range of models are Filters. They also offer a professional filter holder which available from Manfrotto and Gitzo and for more allows the gradation to be moved within the holder, advanced photographers, carbon fibre tripods offer a relative to the scene. lighter weight solution to those made of aluminium. Backup and storage – Ensure that you have adequate Lenses – like cameras, these come down to personal memory cards and a means of backing up your work, choice and will be determined by the type of subject either on a laptop, iPad or supplementary hard drive. matter normally pursued. Many photographers choose Bringing your own laptop will allow you to see what you two zoom lenses; a 24-70mm and a 70-200mm, which have shot each day and will facilitate critique sessions. will account for 90-95% of the images taken with only two lenses. Another popular combination is 24-105mm Remote release – essential to eradicate camera shake and 100-400mm. Some photographers prefer to work when the camera is mounted on a tripod. with prime lenses which offer improved performance at Spare batteries – bring extra batteries for backup. their designated focal lengths which means carrying more lenses and accordingly more weight. If the intimate Lens cloth – a lens cloth is useful for removing rain or landscape interests you, a 100mm Macro lens can be sea spray if it finds its way onto a lens. ideal. HOW TO BOOK

We accept bookings online, by phone and post. Booking place although, in all cases, we require a completed online is straight forward and enables us to confirm your booking form (either online or by post) with details of all reservation immediately. Before booking, it is important persons travelling. If booking by post, we accept all of that you read the relevant Trip Dossier and our Booking the above payment methods plus cheque or bank Terms and Conditions. If you have any doubts regarding transfer. If booking online we will confirm your booking your suitability for a trip, please contact us. immediately, including a copy of the Trip Dossier and an invoice for payment of the balance. If booking by any To book online, simply click the relevant link from the other method, we will confirm your booking within seven trip page on our website. You will then be asked to days of receipt. complete the online booking form and proceed to payment. All payments made are directly through Worldpay in a totally secure environment. INSURANCE

For online bookings we accept payment by Maestro, Visa It is a condition of booking that you are insured against Electron, Visa Debit and Solo debit cards or medical and personal accident risks. This must include Visa/Mastercard/American Express credit cards. Please cover for the activities to be undertaken during the trip. note that there is no charge for payment by debit card We also strongly recommend you take out cover for but a 2% surcharge for payment by credit card. A deposit cancellation and curtailment and baggage cover. We of 25% is required at the time of booking unless you are work with and recommend Campbell Irvine Insurance booking less than 56 days before departure. In this case, whose policies are specially designed for adventure full payment of the trip price is required. holidays and are underwritten by AXA Insurance.

Should you prefer, you can call us with your reservation Insurance can be arranged directly at: and card payment. This will enable us to confirm your www.campbellirvine.com COLINPRIOR

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