The Hermitage

If you have my Scotland Calendar 2027 hanging on your wall next year, an autumnal scene from The Hermitage will accompany you throughout October. The shot came about on a second attempt, so to speak. On my first visit to Perthshire I was told, quite candidly, that I was actually three weeks too early. From the end of September, the trees in Big Tree Country, as the region is called because of its forests, would change colour, and it would be spectacular, especially for a landscape photographer. That tip was worth its weight in gold. I timed my next visit for autumn accordingly and was indeed greeted by splendid colours. If you’ve ever fancied marvelling at an Indian Summer but Canada is too far away, Perthshire, with its many deciduous woodlands, offers a genuine alternative.

The Hermitage woodland lies on the A9 near Dunkeld, and it was once part of the landscape garden of the Dukes of Atholl. The most popular destination for visitors here is Ossian’s Hall, built in 1782/83. The folly sits on a rock above the River Braan, which plunges into the depths just below with a loud roar. The waterfall is known as Black Linn Falls. Visitors entering the hall in those days would first have seen an almost life-size portrait of the legendary Gaelic bard Ossian. With great fanfare, it was pulled aside to reveal a room with mirrors on the walls and ceiling, in which the waterfall could be viewed from a wide variety of angles. The guests must have been thoroughly impressed. Whether Ossian ever existed is uncertain. The Scottish writer James Macpherson had passed off his poems as translations of Ossian’s works, though he presumably wrote most of them himself. That takes nothing away from the magic of the place. Even today, you get a wonderful view of the natural spectacle from the small balcony.

I wanted Ossian’s Hall, the centrepiece of The Hermitage, to feature in the frame itself, so I crossed over to the other side of the river. There I fought my way a short distance cross-country through the woods and down over the rocks to the water’s edge. From there, the folly seems like a hidden gem among the trees.

I used quite a few filters for this shot. A polariser provided saturated colours, and a graduated filter balanced the bright light in the treetops with the shaded areas below. Added to that was an ND64, to give the water a dreamlike appearance. The exposure time, however, had to be kept short enough to avoid motion blur in the branches.

Once I had the shot in the bag, I sat on the rock next to my tripod for a long time, listening to the gurgling water and watching the colourful leaves dancing through the air. I enjoyed breathing in the fresh, woody scent of autumn. Much of what you experience on location cannot be captured in a photograph. I hope the scene nevertheless gives you a lovely glimpse of autumn as you look at it.