Scotland

Travel Into the Heart of The Scottish Highlands, Isle of Skye, and Outer Hebrides With National Geographic Photographer Jim Richardson

The Highlands and Isles of northern Scotland are a land draped in mist, heather, and tartan. Castles loom over stormy lochs, deer wander amongst the rolling hills, and every footpath, trail, and glen possesses an untold story of history, warfare, and whisky. Under the guidance of Jim Richardson, Summit is excited to offer a new workshop to explore the history, nature, and culture of northern Scotland.

Beginning in Inverness, we will travel along the River Spey deep into the highlands of Cairngorms National Park to photograph a traditional highland games and explore the stunning hills covered in bright purple heather. We will stay in a historic inn and will have the chance to photograph a private estate and learn about deer, grouse, and raptor conservation efforts in the region.

From the highlands we will travel west to the Isle of Skye, home to the Old Man of Storr, Quirang, Neist Point, and standing stones. We will stay in a seaside historic hotel in the small village of Portree and days will be spent exploring the otherworldly landscape of Skye, visiting distilleries, fishing villages, and lightouses along the rugged Atlantic coast. After amazing days spent in the countryside, evenings will be spent listening to music (with a dram of whisky of course) at one of the many seaside pubs in the area.

To register, please contact matt@summitworkshops.com

Berneray is four miles from St, Kilda, famed for its fantastic bird colonies. Uninhabited, remote and wild, it was the site of incredible feats of cliff climbing by the St. Kildans who hunted the birds.

Glenfinnan Highland Games and Gathering at Glenfinnan. Part of the ceremonies are the raising of the standard to commemorate Bonnie Prince Charlie rallying the Highlanders to his cause at Glenfinnan (which led to their eventual downfall.) Some of the White Cockade Society participated in old Highland costume.

At Rubha na Teampaill near Northton on the Isle of Harris in the Outher Hebrides of Scotland. The ancient church is built atop the ruins of an earlier broch. Ransacked by Vikings in the 800’s it was rebuilt in 1528. Seen with the sheep is: Kenny MacKay, Jr. 17 Northton Northton, Isle of Harris, Scotland HS3 UK Work: 01859 520292

The Uig Sands are a dramatic bay on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis. Seen here at low tide in the evening from the hills surrounding Baile na Cille, a small inn at Timsgarry. Uig is a ‘bay backed machair and hills’ on the western coast of the island of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. The name derives from the Norse word Vik meaning ‘a bay’.

The Callanish Stones (or “Callanish I”), Clachan Chalanais or Tursachan Chalanais in Gaelic, are situated near the village of Callanish (Gaelic: Calanais) on the west coast of the isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides (Western Isles), Scotland ( 58°11?51?N, 06°44?41?W). Construction of the site took place between 2900 and 2600 BC, though there were possibly earlier buildings before 3000 BC. A tomb was later built into the site. Debris from the destruction of the tomb suggests the site was out of use between 2000 BC and 1700 BC.[1] The 13 primary stones form a circle about 13 m in diameter, with a long approach avenue of stones to the north, and shorter stone rows to the east, south, and west (possibly incomplete avenues). The overall layout of the monument recalls a distorted Celtic cross. The individual stones vary from around 1 m to 5 m in height, with an average of 4 m, and are of the local Lewisian gneiss.

What To Know

You will be responsible for booking your flight to Inverness.
Expect cool temperatures and lots of walking.
Because we will be renting out historic and small inns, we will have to be flexible with what room arrangements are available (ex. queen vs. two twins) We will try to accommodate all requests.
Bring extra batteries and memory cards, you will fill them every day!

Topics We Will Cover

2023 WORKSHOP INSTRUCTORS

Jim Richardson - Summit Photography Workshops — Workshop Faculty
Jim Richardson

Program Manager, Photojournalist, Archaeologist
Matt Stirn

Workshop Faculty

Jim Richardson

Jim has work appearing regularly in National Geographic magazine and National Geographic Traveler in addition to Geographic books. Jim is on assignment for Nat Geo projects almost full time and for good reason. Richardson, a onetime newspaper photographer in Kansas and Colorado, brings amazing story-telling techniques along with detailed research to his pictures. Thirty years ago, he began photographing the area around his hometown in north central Kansas.

Program Manager, Photojournalist, Archaeologist

Matt Stirn

Matt is a photographer, writer, and archaeologist based between Boston and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He holds a graduate degree in Environmental Archaeology and focuses on stories related to culture, history, and conservation. Matt is a Contributing Editor for Archaeology Magazine, a National Fellow at The Explorer’s Club and has written and photographed over three dozen feature stories for publications including Smithsonian Magazine, National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Global News, and GEO. Matt’s work at Summit is diverse and ranges from assisting at our core workshops to planning and running many of our international and destination workshops.

Workshop Information & Itinerary

Trip Highlights

Small Group Experience (7 Students, 3 Faculty)
Experience Scotland Alongside Jim Richardson
Photograph a traditional highland games
Photograph the Scottish Highlands in Cairngorms National Park
Explore the Isle of Skye
See the standing stones and stunning beaches of the Outer Hebrides
Stay in private lodges and historic inns

Costs Included In Tuition

Not Included

To register, please contact matt@summitworkshops.com

Workshop Itinerary

Aug 20

Arrive into Inverness at any time

Aug 21

We will depart in the morning for the Scottish Highlands and drive through stunning scenery to our small village in Cairngorms National Park.

Aug 22

We will wake up early and make a short drive to the Lonach Gathering, a traditional gathering where hundreds of highlanders in traditional dress march from village to village to eventually meet for a highland games. This will be a fantastic day learning about highlander culture and witnessing many of the wild and unique events at the games.

Aug 23

In the morning we will wake up early to photograph sunrise over the Cairngorms. The day will be spent exploring the national park and spending time at a private reserve learning about conservation in the highlands.

Aug 24

This morning we will bid farewell to the highlands and make our way west and over the sea to the Isle of Skye. The drive will take much of the day but we will have plenty of opportunities to photograph stunning scenery throughout the journey.

Aug 25 – 27

Our base for the next several days will be in the majestic fishing village of Portree, where wooden fishing boats are moored at the steps of our hotel. We will spend our days exploring the highlights of Skye including the Old Man of Storr, Neist Point Lighthouse, and Quiraing. Because of the long summer nights at our northern latitude, we will be able to have nice dinners at the local pub before heading back out to photograph sunset each night.

Aug 28

Leaving Skye, we will take a car ferry to the Outer Hebrides, the Isles of Lewis and Harris. Our private hotel, the Baile Na Cille is located on white sand shores of the North Atlantic and will offer a spectacular base to explore the surrounding isles.

Aug 29 – Sept 1

We will spend our days exploring the neighboring Isles of Lewis and Harris. If the weather cooperates, we will spend one day on a private boat to explore the spectacular Isle of Saint Kilda, home to tens of thousands of seabirds and puffins.

Sept 2

It will finally be time to return to Inverness, but the adventure isn’t quite over. A ferry across the North Sea will take us to the port town of Ullapool where we will meander our way along lochs and rolling hills to Inverness. After a final dinner and pint at the pub, we will bid farewell to an amazing journey.

Sept 3

Depart anytime.

Scotland

Travel Into the Heart of The Scottish Highlands, Isle of Skye, and Outer Hebrides With National Geographic Photographer Jim Richardson

To register, please contact matt@summitworkshops.com

What To Know

Topics We Will Cover

Conservation Photography

Travel Photography

Storytelling

Landscape Photography

2023 WORKSHOP INSTRUCTORS

Jim Richardson

Matt Stirn

Jim Richardson

Matt Stirn

Workshop Information & Itinerary

Trip Highlights

Costs Included In Tuition

Not Included

To register, please contact matt@summitworkshops.com

Workshop Itinerary

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