
Eilean Donan is a 13th-century castle located in the highlands of Scotland and is considered one of the most iconic. Situated on an island pinched between three great sea lochs it is easy to see why. First inhabited in the 6th century, there have been four different versions of the castle built or rebuilt during the Scottish conflicts that have taken place over the centuries.
The castle lay in ruins for over 200 years following its destruction during the Jacobite uprising in the early 1700s. Lt. Colonel John MacRae-Gilstrap purchased the island in 1911 and started a restoration that took 20 years to complete with the castle re-opening in 1932.
On a recent trip to Scotland, Eilean Donan was high on my list of locations where I hoped to capture and create an ultra-high-resolution VAST photo. I knew that the famous Scottish weather was sure to be a challenge in my quest. Capturing all the images that will be assembled to create an ultra-high-resolution image, like this one, takes time. And in Scotland, time means changing weather. It can be cloudy and raining one minute and then suddenly the sun can appear, illuminating only certain areas of the landscape only to disappear as quickly as it appeared. Changing weather is the enemy when creating ultra-high-resolution VAST photos. When I arrived on location at Eilean Donan, I was greeted with bright but overcast conditions and with good cloud definition. That was the perfect moody weather to match the iconic castle in its iconic location. If that weather and light remained constant, it would be the ideal situation for capturing literally thousands of photos that would be assembled into one homogeneous scene.
As luck would have it, the weather held while I captured all the images needed for this creation. Ten minutes later I was caught in a downpour and was thankful I had already started to pack up my gear.
This image is like many I have created recently with a technique that is starting to produce my signature look. I don’t shy away from including a very close foreground, and although it is time-consuming, highly risky, and technically challenging, it presents a finished work with incredible in-focus detail in an expanded view from front to back (see the uncropped version).
As a side note, you may notice the Scottish flag is at half-mast. This is because this photo was captured just a few days after the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Date & Time | September 12, 2022: 11:58am - 1:07pm |
Location | Eilean Donan Castle, Dornie, Kyle of Lochalsh, United Kingdon |
Coordinates | 57.274308, -5.516290 |
Focal Length | 135mm |
Aperture | f/8 |
Shutter | 1/160 sec |
ISO | 400 |
Num of Exposures | 2456 |
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Total Pixels | 686,425,352 px |
Width | 37,052 px |
Height | 18,526 px |
Aspect Ratio | 2 : 1 |
Date & Time | September 12, 2022: 11:58am - 1:07pm |
Location | Eilean Donan Castle, Dornie, Kyle of Lochalsh, United Kingdon |
Coordinates | 57.274308, -5.516290 |
Focal Length | 135mm |
Aperture | f/8 |
Shutter | 1/160 sec |
ISO | 400 |
Num of Exposures | 2456 |
Here are some rough guidelines for this specific photo: