Primordial Boreray: Frame 9,300

©National Geographic Society

Heading out into the Atlantic for the distant island of Boreray, I was hoping to see something wonderful.  But I never expected to be met by thousands of gannets swooping off the island's towering cliffs, down through the encircling clouds and out toward the boat.

The evening light, the birds in their multitudes, and the hulking cliffs gave me frame 9,300.  It was a gift.

Boreray, an uninhabited crag 40 miles northwest of North Uist,  had lured me back. Anyone who sees this island is enchanted. It is incredible to consider that islanders from nearby Hirta, near the big island of St. Kilda, came here with ropes and scaled the cliffs hunting for birds to eat. But the human residents of Hirta have been gone since 1930, and no one even tries to get onto Boreray any more. It is a wild place once again.

Local seaman Seumas Morrison had brought me here on his boat named Enchanted Isle, a fitting name for a craft making its way through the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. When light broke through the clouds as we approached the island, I knew instantly just how lucky I was,.  I was determined not to waste the opportunity. Seumas' crew member held onto me as I slid back and forth across the back deck in the wildly pitching seas. I kept my motor-drive Nikon going relentlessly as the magical light played on the face of the cliff.  I shot wide and then tight. We caught a swell and water sprayed across the deck and my camera. The birds were everywhere.

In the middle of it I couldn't help myself and stuck my head into the cabin where Seumas was braced against the wheel. I yelled over the roar of the engine, "This is worth the price of admission!  You done good!"

Then I went back to shooting and drinking it the wonder of it all.

The light lasted another seven or eight minutes. We circled the island a couple of times hoping for more, and I got another frame on the southwest side as the last flash of light turned the clouds red.  (I told of this moment in an earlier posting.) Then the show was over. The light did not return. We put into Village Bay at Hirta for the night with the hope of seeing a great sunrise. We didn't.

The camera survived, though parts have the look of salt water corrosion. I hope to get back to St. Kilda again to see Seumas and catch up on news on the Isle of Harris where he lives. But I doubt to ever have an evening like that again.

I should be thankful. And I am.

Jim

P.S. Traveling to St. Kilda is a great and I can heartily recommend the two boat operators who got me there.  Seumas Morrision goes to several of the islands in the Outer Hebrides.  You can find his web site here:  http://www.seaharris.co.uk/  

Angus Campbell operates Kilda Cruises and concentrates on the St. Kilda trip. You can find his site here: http://www.kildacruises.co.uk/boat/

They're both great guys. And I wish you luck on the weather.

Tomorrow: Morning on the Grimersta River

You can see pictures from the article and more on the National Geographic web site, here: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/01/hebrides/richardson-photography

Posted via email from jimrichardson's posterous

Comments

[Rawhead]

Oh my god; that is an epic, epic shot. I don't even have words to describe the awe.

I will bookmark this shot, and whenever I get into an argument with a film purist who tries to claim "digital has no soul," I will direct them to this shot. Bravo.

[Jim Richardson]

Rawhead, Thanks so much. I'm glad you like the picture. You are kind.

As for the "digital has no soul", well, I've never understood that. If you want to make digital look like film, you can do that. Or you can just make it communicate and that's what photography is supposed to do. I'm just glad it works.

Jim

[Sylvia]

This is an amazing image! I have been enjoying this series very much. Your photos propel the viewer into the landscape as though we are there, not an easy thing to accomplish.

[Brian Johnson]

Mr. Richardson, I want to thank you for posting the story behind the photo. I, along with my mother, met you briefly on Christmas Eve at your studio. You were nice enough to show us some of these shots and give us a quick lesson in how to spot digital from film photographs. I want to thank you again. It's not everyday you meet a National Geographic photographer and have them give you a little impromtu teaching season.

- Brian Johnson

[Stuart Atkins]

I stumbled across your photos completely by accident, through a link on The Online Photographer and felt compelled to comment on yet another masterpiece in this wonderful series. I love your descriptions of how you arrived at the images also; they are a perfect accompaniment to the work. I just wish my landscapes could capture even a fraction of the power of yours.

[Don Parsons]

Great shot....

Really has a lot of "feel" to it. Man, that's good.

[Jim Richardson]

Brian, Great to see you in Small World. We had a good time when you and your mother were there. Don't wait until Christmas Eve to come back.

Jim

[Dave Polaschek]

Thanks for sharing the stories behind the photos, Jim. Nice to see photos I noticed in the magazine with much more description than fits within the yellow borders.

[Aaron]

Thanks Jim for all that you have shared here.
I look forward to reading your blog each day, it's one of only a few that I check regularly.
I am an avid NG reader, but as I usually get the issues about 6 months late (living and working on a ship makes it hard to receive my subscirption directly) I have loved being able to read your stories about each shot.
Thanks again and i hope you can keep it up.

Aaron

[wilson ixcot]

u r one my favourite photographer !!!!

[Julietdh]

Your website is now a thumbnail on my iPhone homescreen so I can gorge my eyes every day on your beautiful, epic, awe-full shots. Thank you for showing me things I didn't know I had to see x

[Catie Murphy]

Last week's NGPotD of the ragged shore at Mangersta got set as my computer background image, but it was only yesterday's NGPotD--the sheep--that made me notice there were several in a series there, and made me click through to the NG gallery.

And this is the shot that stupidfied me. Once I'd collected my senses, I was inspired to come find your website. I hoped for a gallery and had no expectation of your blog or the photography tips and stories found herein, but man, I've read back three or five pages and feel like I've snuck into the back of a master class. Thank you so much, for both the photographs and the lessons here!