JUST as the saying goes that “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing,” the same kind of thinking applies well to photography. When it comes to stepping into the great outdoors with a camera, there’s rarely such a thing as the “wrong weather”, just the need for the right clothing, the right photographic gear and the right attitude.

Scotland is one country that proves the rule, with opportunities for exceptional photos come rain or shine. In fact, the country’s changeability and unpredictability is one of the things that makes the country so attractive to landscape photographers. Not only does Scotland have diverse scenery that can easily stand it’s ground against the best in the world, including mirror-still lochs, indomitable mountains, moody glens and luminous beaches that look like they fell right out of the Caribbean, but in Scotland a photographer never knows what she or he might get from one expedition to the next.

One day, you might get a flood of sunlight, other times sparse light cracking through brooding grey clouds. Stand in any spot and mist might clear or come in, the clouds might part or thicken, the sun might shine sharp heavenly rays or diffuse soft melancholic light, with new conditions and new photographic possibilities every second. In Scotland, you’ll never see quite the same scene or picture twice.

Thankfully, Scotland’s mountains and munros, glens, lochs, beaches, forests and coastlines are tough and adaptable enough to look fantastic whether their colours are lit up by the summer sun or coated with thick, snow – or in every kind of weather in-between.

Anyone who’s driven in Scotland will know that you can witness spectacular sights from the roadside. But, as is often the case, a bit of effort goes a long way. Light & Land photographers, including Joe Cornish, Valda Bailey, Paul Sanders and Phil Malpas, have made it their business to get to know Scotland’s most beautiful landscapes, which are often reached with a short or long walk, guiding photographers to incredibly photogenic locations, from Glencoe and the Cairngorms to the Isle of Skye, and teaching them the skills necessary to bring out the best of the landscape with their cameras and turn their visions into works of art. The company has been operating for 25 years this year, running photographic tours and workshops in the world’s most captivating locations, from Tuscany to Kenya, Provence to Kyrgyzstan. But it’s Scotland that they return to year after year for landscapes that Joe Cornish calls “mythic, epic and unforgettable.”

Here, the master landscape photographers pick their favourite walks in Scotland to access some of the country’s most striking and photogenic landscapes, from Scarista to Stac Pollaidh. With or without a camera, the landscapes you’ll experience on these walks will justify every single step.

The Choire Mhic Fhearchair, below the Triple Buttress, Torridon

By Joe Cornish

This walk is only around 10 miles, so it’s not a marathon in distance. But as an experience, it is mythic, epic, and unforgettable. There are two short (five-mile) routes to approach Coire Mhic Fhearchair. All others are longer.

From the north, it’s a long steady slog from Grudie Bridge beside lovely Loch Maree. By far, the better way is from Glen Torridon. A path rises steeply, then gradually, all the while describing a gigantic S curve that hugs Liathach’s towering eastern flank. It propels you into Coire Dubh Mor before traversing Sail Mhor in a reverse helter skelter that rises to a balcony that reveals one of the wonders of northern European landscape.

Coire Mhic Fhearchair is an immense rock amphitheatre hidden between the twinned mountain ridges, Ruadh Stac Mor and Sail Mhor. It shelters a beautiful loch, 667 metres above sea level, meaning that the elevation gain of the walk is almost exactly 600 metres.

Framed by this awe-aspiring geology is the Triple Buttress of Beinn Eighe, a magnet to superhuman rock climbers and mere mortal landscape photographers alike. The whole landscape is so north-facing and so overshadowed by its flanks that it almost never sees direct sunlight, except at sunrise and sunset in mid-summer, and then only fleetingly. Therefore, it’s a huge lighting challenge to the photographer, although, as I discovered by walking there once in the middle of winter, snow and soft light relieves the situation.

Whether you take a camera or not, this walk is hardcore, requiring plenty of drinking water, especially in summer, and food and clothing that can help you survive the inevitable changes in conditions. Apart from the ‘goal’ that is the Triple Buttress, the truth is that photographic wonders aplenty await all around, as you have entered the heart of Torridon, arguably the most dramatic region in all of Scotland.

On all three of my expeditions here, none of the photographs I laboured over begins to do justice to such a landscape. The hardest part of the walk is to tear yourself away from this encounter with the sublime and return to Middle Earth. At least the journey back is all downhill.

Stac Pollaidh ridge walk

By Paul Sanders

I’ve done the walk up Stac Pollaidh in the Northwest Highlands a couple of times. Starting from the car park below, the path can be seen disappearing over the road and walking through the bushes on the opposite side. You pass through a gate and then there’s a steady climb over open moorland.

The path is really good for the most part. Following the path, you start to climb more seriously, although it's not difficult walking. You get amazing views over Loch Lurgainn and Cul Baeg when the path splits head right through a deer fence and up.

You eventually get views of Suilven and the stunning vista of Assynt. The path splits again as you go around, with the left fork going to the ridge and the right fork following the base of the mountain. The ridge climb has some scrabbling involved but the views are just stunning from the top. The Summer Isles are visible on a good day. I love this walk as it really feels like you’re on top of the world. The rocky towers at the top are beautiful in their own right but to sit at the top and survey the whole of Assynt is truly breathtaking.

The ridge walk is an out and back route but you can get all the way around the base if you wish.

Scarista Beach, Isle of Harris & Lewis

By Valda Bailey

One of my favourite Scottish walks is the stretch of white sand that is Scarista Beach on Harris. Perhaps it’s not the longest walk in the world, but for me it is one of the most uplifting. To amble alongside any lapping tide is to immerse oneself in the natural world and give pause for thought, but to walk beside the very edge of the North Atlantic ocean, where nothing much stands between you and Newfoundland, only increases the feeling of awe and appreciation for man's vulnerability and insignificance.

If the weather is right, one could be forgiven for thinking one is in the Bahamas, such is the intensity of the turquoise sea. When set against the white sand and with the distant heather-covered Ceapabhal mountain, its natural beauty more than makes up for the occasional midge that tries to impose itself on the absent-minded ambler.

I first visited the Hebrides about five years ago, just as photography was slowly taking over my life, and I realised the raw landscapes that I sought to capture were abundantly evident in the Outer Hebrides. I am lucky that I now get to return there as a teacher of photography on workshops and tours. It’s a privilege I hope I will always appreciate.

The Herald:

The Study, in the Pass of Glencoe

By Phil Malpas

I first completed this walk in 2006 and have repeated it almost every year since, as part of the Winter In Glencoe photography workshops that I guide. It is always a highlight of my year and something I really look forward to. I feel that the mountains call me back, a call that I can’t ignore. Their beauty and majesty is simply awesome.

We are so lucky to have some of the world’s best scenery right on our doorstep. Even better for me is when this majestic scenery is transformed during winter into a magical wonderland that cries out to be photographed.

For me, winter not only enhances the big view, but snow and ice can offer an infinite number of compositions, particularly in the details where frozen streams, waterfalls, water in general, trees and rocks suddenly reveal a myriad of intricate patterns and forms.

For this walk, you need to park in one of the lay-bys on the north of the A82 where the old military road crosses the main road. Follow the old military road in a westerly direction for about a kilometre before a final scramble up to the viewpoint from which this photo of The Three Sisters was taken, at The Study.

The beauty of this walk is that the full view doesn’t present itself until the last minute, when it becomes possible to see the full majesty of Glencoe laid out before you. The Three Sisters are often shrouded with cloud and the best photographic opportunities occur either in late morning or at the end of the afternoon. This is a short easy walk, mostly on a good path with a fantastic reward at the end. For me, it’s perfect.

Portencross on the Ayrshire Coast

By Mark McColl

I live in Ayrshire on the West Coast of Scotland, an area dotted with the ruins of ancient castles, sandy beaches and rugged coastline. I like to get to the coast as often as I can, usually to walk the dogs with my family, quietly reflect, or to make images when the light is right.

One area in particular that I have been visiting for many years is Portencross, near West Kilbride in north Ayrshire. There is a car park close to Portencross Castle, my usual starting point. From there, a path winds past a small harbour to the old pier. The views across to the Isle of Arran and to Cumbrae are breathtaking.

I usually follow the path on past the pier, and explore the geology of this piece of coastline. The areas of sandstone with their jagged shapes along this stretch are really unique, and mirror those at Corrie on the Isle of Arran just across the sea. These are well worth photographing, especially towards sunset when the light is soft.

The walk itself is not that long, only a few miles, but it often takes me hours as I stop to make images or to let the dogs sniff amongst the seaweed.

Stacks of Duncansby, northeast coast

By Clive Minnitt

A short drive to the east of the busy and touristy village of John o’ Groats is a short yet spectacular coastal walk along the far north-eastern tip of Scotland. On a clear day, magnificent views as far as the Orkneys await those who venture out along the three-mile, there-and-back, cliff-top walk. You may even delight in being alone there, as I was when I scouted this location for a photography tour of the North Coast 500.

Park at the lighthouse and follow the signs south to the Stacks of Duncansby, sticking as close to the cliff edge as possible for the best views of these wonderful sea stack formations standing proud out of the North Sea. Along the way, keep an eye out for the seabird colonies and seals that frequent the area.

For the adventurous, there is a steep and sometimes slippery path that leads down to the rocky shore. Once you’ve walked to a point beyond the last stack, I suggest that you stay awhile, enjoy the views and take in some of Scotland’s finest fresh sea air.

Ideally, aim to walk this route starting just before dawn with a clear horizon over the sea. Early light illuminating the cliffs and turbulent seas will add to the atmosphere in what is a stunningly beautiful setting. This is both a walker’s and photographer’s paradise. Although this walk could be completed in little over an hour I would recommend taking several hours. Why rush such a great experience?

Light & Land (https://www.lightandland.co.uk/) run photography holidays and workshops across Scotland, guided by Joe Cornish, Phil Malpas, Valda Bailey, Paul Sanders and other photographers, including Glencoe, Knoydart, Torridon, the Cairngorms, The Ayrshire coast, Harris, Skye and the NC500. They also run tours across the UK and international locations, such as Italy, Botswana, Albania and Vietnam. The company is 25 years old this year. See https://www.lightandland.co.uk/ for details of tours and workshops.