Polish Flowers

During my stay in polish mountains I decided to use my 135/2L to take few pics of flowers - they looked so nice and colorful, very vividly. Enjoy!

Kotor from the above

Kotor is beautifully located, old city in the middle of mountains. It's nice to have a chance of looking at it from the above. This is possible due to the old road leading from Kotor to Cetinje. It might not be easy to find it, but you must E65 in the direction of the tunnel then turn right to Cetinje as it's marked. Then road is easy climbing up and very curly up to the crossroad just before Trojica when you must turn left. Then you climb more and more enjoying wonderful views. You can see airport with landing/starting airplanes and even open sea. After 20-30 minutes you will reach the view point overlooking Kotor Bay. Now it's time to take off your camera, tripod and telephoto lens to take few pics as I did ;)

Scotland: Dunavegan Gardens at Isle of Skye

On Isle of Skye there's one amazing castle with wonderful gardens - Dunavegan Castle (Isle of Skye). Unfortunately this is one of most crowded place on the island - many russian tourist, so wasn't completely happy with the atmosphere. The castle itself is worth visiting and gardens during spring are something special. Today I want to show you some pics of the gardens and soon will put pics of the castle. Enjoy.

Scotland: Eilean Donan Castle

Eventually I've reached one of main goals of my trip to Scotland - famous Eilean Donan Castle. It's really amazing. I had so much luck to catch it in last rays of sun. And not so lucky in the morning when weather worsened a little bit. But somehow I got quite interesting picture of the castle with completely washed out sky in the background.
Perfect place to stay next to the castle is Beinnedra B&B. Definitely recommended!

Scotland: Back to Glencoe

Glencoe inspired me much. When I was planning the trip, I've made a mistake and decided to get to Loch Achtriochtan on one of the first days. I wasn't completely aware where exactly is the lake and it appeared to be rally taugh to find and moreover to be close to the Glencoe Visitor's Center. So after first visit to Glencoe it turned out that two days later I was there again. It was very good news, because I've alread known a little bit about the place and had time to hike. Lady in Visitor's Center recommended quite easy trail to Devil's Staircase. It was perfect choice as you can see the view from the top on one of the pics below. I also wanted to see Loch Leven with deserted Kinlochleve at the top of the lake and wonderful waterfalls. So we had nice ride around the wonderful lake (view on one of pics below). Because I had seen nice pics from Glencoe Lochan, I stubborny decided to get there. It wasn't easy to find and at first sight wasn't amazing. But after visiting it I belive that it's possible to get nice picture of this place. My isn't nice, however I put it here.
Finally I must say that Glencoe is one of the best place to visit in Scotland. If I had more time, I would do more hikes - next time for sure. This mountains are really wonderful! For everyone visiting Scotland it's a must, but remember to get good guide and detailed map - it's difficult to find places!

Scotland: Oban and Stalker

On our way to Isle of Skye we decided to visit nice city of Oban (with famous distillery) then head to  seaside road and stop by Stalker Castle. Again it was too sunny for good pictures...

Scotland: Kilchurn Castle

As wikipedia says: "Kilchurn Castle was built in about 1450 by Sir Colin Campbell, first Lord of Glenorchy, as a five storey tower house with a courtyard defended by an outer wall. By about 1500 an additional range and a hall had been added to the south side of the castle. Further buildings went up during the 16th and 17th centuries. Kilchurn was on a small island in Loch Awe scarcely larger than the castle itself, although it is now connected to the mainland as the water level was altered in 1817. The castle would have been accessed via an underwater or low lying causeway."
From the photographic perspective it's really very interesting place, but to take good picture you should spend few days in vicinity and wait for a good weather. I had no luck and it was sunny. Too sunny. In the evening it's rather poor light. Much better is in the morning, but not too early. You have to use good waterproof shoes, because to get to the spot you must cross the swap. I also had no luck and it was windy, so wasn't able to catch castle view in the water. But used filter to soften water a little bit. Effect is not perfect. Pictures are generally poor, but research was done and place is worth going in different weather. What I should also recommend from the vicinity is the Craig Villa in Argyll when we were staying. Rebecca - owner - is really nice lady able to tell you a lot of stories and point you out to interesting places in the area. Strictly recommended!!!

Scotland: Cloudy Stirling

Finally I've spent few days in Scotland. First place to visit after arrival was Stirling with beautiful castle and very cloudy weather. Scotland welcomed us without rain, but in a little bit dark atmosphere. On that day I didn't know what would happen later, so wanted to take few pictures even in such unfavorable weather...

Btw. what the crappy interface google introduced to blogspot?!?!?! I can't keep quality of my entries anymore :( sorry...