1 - Across the North Sea from Wick
2 - Whitemill Bay
3 - Towards Hoy
4 - Whitemill Bay and its Clouds
5 - Bay of Lopness 2
6 - Bay of Lopness
7 - The Route to Start Point
8 - Doun Helzie
9 - Doun Helzie Towards Stronsay
10 - Mull Head
11 - Deerness
12 - Deerness Towards Copinsay
13 - Between Lamb Holm and Glimps Holm
14 - Beauly Firth from North Kessock
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Bay of Lopness
Sanday's Bay of Lopness reveals a bizarre and potent anomaly; the wreckage of a German, B-98 Destroyer. This doesn't detract from the beauty and desolation of the bay, its pristine, white beaches and the exotic, azure and turquoise sea.
It adds an historical dimension, another layer of displacement to an already surreal panorama. In fact the bay points directly to Norway, as the crow flies that brings about another tier of immersive and intriguing history to the Orkney Isle's.
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Doun Helzie
Witnessing beaches that look like the Caribbean certainly defies expectation; a surreal panorama in the "cold", Northerly outer-reaches of the UK.
Doun Helzie has numerous caves, small inlets that are mesmerisingly beautiful and occupied by numerous species of sea birds.
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Start Point
The land runs out at the Northern-most point of Sanday, a slippage into the Northern Sea and then resolution in a tiny island hosting a funky, black and white lighthouse. It's aptly named, Start Point.
At times the Orkney's have a suburban feel, an absence of trees, a flat sprawl of fields and hedgerows and splays of dwellings punctuating the expanse of green. However, when suburbia resolves in the sea, the sense of displacement is emphasized and the oddity of farmland or hamlets juxtaposed with the North Sea is both intriguing and evocative.
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Beauly Firth
I stumbled upon North Kessock by accident, stopping just north of Inverness for a short rest after hours of relentless driving and an awareness that Beauly Firth, where River Ness empties into the sea, was a sight worth shooting.
From the main road there are steep steps descending to a small village that breaks onto the shore and resolves in the glass-like water of the Firth.
I altered the camera settings while I was there, slowing the shutter speed slightly and increasing exposure. The colours of Beauly Firth, on a sunny day, are bright, varied and attractive. I exploited this during the editing process, ending up with an aquarelle-type effect.
To the left of the photo is the famous, Kessock Bridge, impressive in both its design and length.
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Mull Head at Deerness
Mull Head at Deerness, is a dramatic and compelling coastline situated on the north west of the Main Island of Orkney. Coastal sandstone plummets into the sea, scattered and broken by erosion.
At one point along the coastal route you can see a 360 degree view that takes in the North Sea towards Norway, the Northern Orkney Isles and the Linksness coast on the Main Island. It really is a breath-taking experience to perceive such a vast panorama at once evoking tranquility and inspiring awe.
The experience is not dissimilar to a cyclorama in a theatre giving an impression of a 360 degree landscape. Victorian art has also communicated similar ideas exhibiting paintings of a landscape in a circular room or hides that have been developed in rural areas that allow for 360 degree views.
The "Brough of Deerness" has a fascinating natural architecture where the sea has eroded the coastline to the point where a small outcrop of rock stands apart from the coast. There are also deep inlets carved out by the sea, such as "The Gloup", with steep walls and inhabited by a myriad of bird species.
Simon
