Traveling Whisky Country

The Working Photographer has been out on really tough duty: traveling Whisky Country in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. I know, you really feel for my plight. (I'm thinking of forming some sort of support group for others who have to endure this sort of abuse.)

Actually, we had blast. Traveling with Jim Turner my neighboring gallery owner, arch photographer (alas he had to leave his 5x7 at home), and budding single malt fan, we started in Orkney and headed south, crossing on the car ferry from St. Margaret's Hope to Gill's Bay, then down into Speyside, the heart of Whisky Country.

Along the way we stopped at Balblair distillery, seen here under a brooding Scottish sky, where we were given a warm welcome. Up in Kirkwall we shot ourselves silly in Highland Park and down in Dufftown we had a great day at Glenfiddich. We fell in love with the Lynnfield House hotel in Kirkwall, where Malcolm Stout shared his great collection of Orkney whiskies, as well as revealing his favorite of favorites (to be revealed later.) Then in Craigellachie, where we stayed at the cozy Highlander Hotel, we had the run of Duncan Elphick's great collection, not to mention the delight of going across the street to the Craigellachie Hotel where their legendary collection has grown to over 700 single malts! Between these two there may well be more single malt whiskies in this town that there are people.

But the meat of all this for the Working Photographer is that distilleries are not an easy place to shoot. They tend to be a bit dark in all the best places, they guys are busy at work, and there isn't a lot of time to do elaborate lighting. So in the coming entries I'll bring some of those images to these pages and share a bit of the on-the-fly solutions Jim and I came up with.

And I'll share some of the great events that just dropped into our laps along the way. Like the "blackening" in Kirkwall. A nod of the Working Photographer's head to any reader who knows what a blackening is.

Later,

Jim

Posted via email from jimrichardson's posterous

Comments

[Fraser]

Blackening - Driving round and round in a flatbed, drunk and making lots of noise, prior to marriage... =]

[Jim]

Bingo, Frazer! You left out the part about pouring gook all over the poor husband-to-be and there are local variations, including stranding the poor guy attached to some light pole with bundle wrap. But you get the official "Working Photographer Nod-of-the-Head." Congratulations!

[Roger Wyrick]

Jim,

I greatly like the composition of this photo. So, even after visiting a dozen distilleries, you still take a great image. It must be the mark of a working photographer.

Roger