Eigg and Rhum Sunset from Camusdarach

Eigg and Rhum Sunset from Camusdarach, a photo by Christopher Swan on Flickr.

I've been trying to make an image like this for years, but there was always something not quite right - it was too cloudy, i hadn't separated the skerries out or on one occasion I had a load of fingerprints on a filter which made a mess of the image! This time however, I had it all planned... I use The Photographers Ephemeris App to work out sun positions and I knew from this location the sun would set in between the islands of Eigg and Rhum so I was really keen to make this image on this trip. The first night i went up it was too cloudy (but still nice - I'll post some of these shots maybe), but on Sunday it had been a glorious day and I thought i was in luck. I'd scouted out the location during the day, and knew from the tide levels which rocks would be visible. The clouds did roll in a bit, but I was sort of happy with it as it would add something else to the sky. As I set up the shot and waited the sun gradually dipped and slipped over the northern point of Eigg into low clouds, but luckily it seemed to flare through them and produced this orange/red glow. The wind had got up by this time and was harrying the water into patterns which seemed to dance across the sea. It was a fantastic experience to see.

– Christopher Swan (http://www.christopherswan.co.uk)