Harris is a picturesque place, of that there is no doubt. Even the most amateur of photographers can capture something quite special with just a little effort.
Some of our most spectacular views can even be snapped from the comfort of your car; in fact, we have at least one famous layby which promises a postcard-perfect shot without having to remove your seatbelt.
But, it’s always worthwhile getting off the beaten track if you want to get under the skin of Harris’ beauty. There are many wonderful corners to explore and much more that's worthy of exposure.
We try to share these less seen scenes through our storytelling and social media posts and, more recently, have been incorporating these hidden landscapes into our packaging design.
With the recent launch of our new gift sets, it’s safe to say we’ve gone above and beyond to share some new and even more spectacular views of our island shores.
To help us do this, we turned to a young local man called Iain Angus Macleod, a keen photographer, brilliant accordionist, and creel fisherman. He also flies a rather cool drone.
Thanks to Iain’s skill with this levitating lens, he’s managed to capture Harris from above and show us how the land and sea looks from a birds-eye point of view.
The results are pretty impressive and help bring a new perspective to the places we are so familiar with, showing them off in a whole new light.
The natural ebb and flow of water, machair, mountain, and moor are revealed from the air. The contortions of rock and undulating lines suddenly combine to create incredible patterns.
As tides roll in, uninhabited islands create waves of interlocked interference, and the breakers become bright flashes of foam and scattered spume.
History is revealed, too, from the stone rectangles of old blackhouses hiding under the regrowth of grass, to the ripples of the now-abandoned run rigs and lazy beds once used for growing crops.
The varying hues and tones of soaked sand can be seen, carving great arcs of beach where tiny footprints tell the tale of animal trails and pre-winter walks.
Secret paths can be spied weaving their way through the dunes, while the winding snakes of salt marsh lagoons blur the lines between what is land and what is not.
And, among it all, the Harris Gin greens and blues of the shoreline lie in stark relief to the black and grey stones of rugged, rocky inlets and scattered islets.
A huge thanks to Iain for helping us to look at island life from another angle, and of course to nature herself, proving once again to be the finest artist of all.
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