Wim van Velzen photography - landscape

Sunart & Kingairloch


Ardgour	Glen Tarbert	Resipole 1


Camuschoirk 1 large	Glenborrodale 1	Glenborrodale 2 large	Resipole 2


Resipole 3	Camuschoirk 2	Camuschoirk 3	Camuschoirk 4


Camuschoirk 5	Camusnacroise 1	Camusnacroise 2

The area around Loch Sunart (just north of Mull) is the remote kind of landscape I like a lot. Scattered villages in the middle of vast mountains and lochs. Sea lochs who wrinkle their way into the land.

To me this area is very special because of the pieces of original oak woods. After ages of pressure and clearing, the are now partly protected by the Forestry Commission.

Because they are situated near the sea, they actually are small rain forests. The oaks are overgrown by lichens, ferns and all kinds of ivy everywhere. Bracken, bog and rocks make up for a special floor. Small burns meander to the sea.

The 'forests' of the hills beyond up to Loch Shiel couldn't be more different. Row after row and section after section are planted with spruce-fir, spruce-fir and spruce-fir. After a section is cleared, the look like the area around Orthanc, after the disastrous plans of Saruman. Scotland reminds me of 'The Lord of the Rings' (yes, I read and reread it way before the film), but that's another story.

return to top | Moidart, Feb. 2007