Finding the Fisherman's Bothy

March 06, 2025

I have no idea how I heard about the Fisherman’s bothy. Even now, as I’m writing this, I’ve been searching and searching online for information about it but I can find nothing. As far as I can piece together, it’s refurbished (it does look very smart, nice new roof, well looked after) and it’s probably now a privately owned holiday home. If anything, the lack of information just adds a nice bit of mystery to the adventure.

So I’d heard snippets of a red tin roof bothy on a beach near Nairn, but no definite information about where it was. My trick is to scour google maps for car parks that are off the beaten track, and then just walk and hope for the best.

On a warm, breezy morning we walked through gorse bushes along grassy tracks until we emerged at a long stretch of very quiet beach, which felt like it went on for miles and miles. We picked a direction and started walking, and not too long later a tiny pin prick of a white building with a red roof was visible all the way along the coast. When you’re there, it feels like the bothy is a million miles away, but the backpack was filled with rolls of film, snacks and a flask of coffee so I felt invincible.

The walk is mostly on the beach, unless the tide forces you to scale the pebbly bank and back into the gorse tracks. You eventually reach a strange sparse area, which leads right up to the building. It really does just sit by itself, a bit of a beacon in a sandy, grassy desert.

The bothy is locked tight, they mean business. It’s most certainly not intended for public use (inside, at least) but there are benches at either end so you can pick the most sheltered and rest your feet before heading back.

We set ourselves up on a bench and unpacked everything onto a stump and had a good little hangout while chatting about what could be inside. The only open windows are up high, and whilst they’re absolutely adorable, they’re not ideal for nosey buggers like myself.

A good walk, a good amount of steps on my health app and a tired dog later, the day was successful. It always feels good to get a roll of film back when you’ve been excited to see the results, and they’re just as good as you expected.

A Findhorn Winter

February 26, 2025

I’m currently spending winter in a funny little nook of Scotland… the village of Findhorn. I’ve been here since November, and have another three weeks left before it’ll be time to move on to a new pitch and a new area.

Findhorn is an unusual place… a quick google will tell you it’s a bit of a spiritual hub, and attracts people from all over the world. It’s also an eco village, and has some of the coolest, most interesting builds I’ve ever seen. I’m notorious for getting bored on walks, but I have to say, Findhorn has kept me entertained. You could wander the Eco village for hours, taking in the building materials and designs, seeing what they’ve used in their gardens. There’s character everywhere.

Strangely, I spent the first few months here just not picking up my camera. I was going through one of my ‘I just don’t have to urge to photograph’ phases, even though there’s photographs on every corner. I think sometimes you just have to absorb an area first, before documenting it on film.

Since I shot these on 35mm, I’ve been out on a different morning with the mamiya and fired off a roll of medium format. I have a feeling that I light metered half the roll incorrectly (that’ll teach me for jumping between film stocks) so fingers crossed I haven’t cocked up any good shots.

I’ve been lucky again to land in an area that is ideal for bike rides. I’d do pretty much anything to avoid riding on roads… I’m more of a ‘coffee in a flask, camera in my bag’ kind of rider and I just want to potter along safely and take a break with a good view. Half the time, I’ll have one earphone in and my riding playlist blasting (00s emo mostly, I’m not ashamed).

Other than that, this roll of film was shot on morning walks, coffee on the go, and up at a log cabin in Lairg that we visited on a couple of days off. Quiet days, trooping through a mild winter, enjoying the quiet before a busy summer on Skye starts.

The Moody West

February 12, 2025

Is it a road trip through Scotland if it’s not pelting it down with rain and blowing an absolute hoolie? Of course it’s not. I know it’s not exactly original to complain about the weather up North, but I am actually not complaining. It’s not ideal to walk the dog in, I won’t lie, but it really is the type of weather that gives me the photographs I love. I headed off on this little wander specifically for a dose of mountains, as we’ve been spending the winter on the Moray coast, a flatter, less dramatic area of Scotland (it does have it’s own charm though…. those pink skies). I really crave the drama of those lochs and glens when I’m away from them, especially after spending the last three years in Aviemore. I’ve been spoilt.

If you’ve followed me on any sort of social media platform before, you’ll know I love a good hut. If it’s dilapidated, with mountains in the background and a chimney rising from it’s knackered old roof, I’ve hit the jackpot.

I spotted this one for the first time years ago, when I first discovered the joy of aimlessly driving around, huge medium format camera in tow. We parked nearby in our old (and I literally mean old, it was a 1989 Talbot express) motorhome. We slept in a gravel car park, hoping the river didn’t break it’s bank with the never ending rainfall and leave us stranded, but still venturing out to walk the dog and to eventually stumble upon the hut.

At the time, my creative focus was completely fixated on working with wool, and my camera had been tucked away in a cupboard for a good few months. I do this a lot…. pick up my camera in ebbs and flows. I tend to throw myself into new things, and obsess over them until I know the craft well enough to make room for all my previous interests to trickle back into my brain.

But, about 5 years later, I happened to be driving in the area with my creative focus on shooting film again and my favourite moody weather creating the perfect backdrop. It was meant to be, and I got my favourite shot of the trip. It made the cut for my online shop, and is available as a print here.

Of course, between hut hunting and winding on rolls of film, I have to make time to take Fox to a beach. This little red fella is my number one priority, and nothing makes me happier than seeing him get those little feet in the sand. This time, it was silver sand, as the lucky bugger got to visit Morar beach on a quiet winter afternoon and have the place to himself.