Seascape photography on the Isle of Tiree

I recently spent a week doing some seascape photography on Tiree, which is in the Inner Hebrides. Tiree is a very small, remote island that feels very much back to nature. There are a couple of small shops on the island along with the basics, but not much else. So this island isn’t for everyone, particularly if you like shopping or entertainment! But if you love beaches, seascape photography, waves, cows, sheep, complete freedom, and a real sense of nature then you will love it. To me, it is heaven and I would gladly spend much more time on the Isle of Tiree.

We arrived off the ferry which runs from Oban via Coll and eventually on to Tiree, with a few hours to spare before getting access into the accommodation that I have rented. So I headed down to the beach only to be greeted by some of the most spectacular conditions I had seen in a long time. As a seascape photographer, I can wait years for waves like these. And here they were just waiting for me.

So without hesitation, I was down by the water’s edge with all my kit for some seascape photography. I had just bought a new lens for my Fuji XT3 and was at this point very glad I did as it is great for seascape photography. It is the 100-400mm zoom lens, so getting in nice and close to the beautiful waves was no problem at all. The backlight was so beautiful and the sea spray was at its best, along with flashes of turquoise green as the waves turned. I left the beach a few hours later feeling completely overjoyed at the seascape photographs I had already captured.

The house I had rented was down on the very edge of a sheltered shoreline on Tiree. It was purposeful because there’s nothing I love more than being able to swim in the morning in the sea direct from my accommodation. It is the height of luxury for me. so every morning I went into the sea and soon realised that there were a few seals that showed up without fail to try and figure out what was happening.

Inspired by this, I popped my Fujifilm XT3 into its underwater housing and began to take my camera in regularly. The seals stayed a little distance away so it was tricky to capture a decent image of them, but it did open my eyes to seeing the beauty around me and wanting to capture the skies, the birds, the clouds from the water. Seascape photography can take many forms and it was a delight to be able to explore photographing the sea from both the beach and from in the water on the Isle of Tiree.

Seascape Photography on Tiree

I spent a few days slowly wandering on the beaches of Tiree searching for seascape images and watching the waves. But also I noticed that when I looked down there were some truly wonderful mini landscapes happening in the sand. It is often the way that when we slow down and really look, we can see things that we otherwise wouldn’t notice. Patterns in the sand, details of shells, seaweed or simply creating images that show the feel for a place as opposed to a purely descriptive image.

It was a truly wonderful week photographing seascapes on Tiree , beautiful waves, a slow and gentle time which I chose to spend simply being creative for my own well-being. I usually take December and January each year and choose to do something for myself in these months that is good for me. Creativity usually forms a large part of that, and in recent years, so does wild swimming. If I can combine the two then all the better!

You can see the YouTube video from Tiree here