F*ck the midges, If you like it Capture it!

In this episode, I am in the Galloway National Park in South West Scotland where I try to capture a compelling shot despite the dreadful Scottish midges. So my mantra was never truer: if you like it, capture it. I had decided to take the family for a short camping trip for the weekend as I did not have a shoot on Sunday (for once in a long time). For those of you who are familiar with Scotland and its summer residents on the west coast, this story context will not be unknown. Initially I had thought of going to the English Lake District, but being spoiled with the Scottish Outdoor Access code(giving you the right to pretty much wild camp wherever you wish in Scotland) i realised quickly I would not be able to do that in the English National Park and tried to find a location I had not been in Scotland. In my hour of planning I had been mindful of the midges situation given this is July, and so I checked what risk was at the Galloway Nation Park and according to http://midgeforecast.co.ukthings were to be pretty promising in Galloway. Well, I guess the site admins had not gotten the memo! When we arrive there things were great, great loch, sunny day, no midges to be seen. We decided to hike around the loch, and as soon as we got shadowed by the high pine trees, the nightmare started. As long as we were walking it was fine, and we were wearing a fleece jacket, so things were good. Suddenly my photographer’s eyes caught a compelling shot opportunity and decided to go on that cracked dry muddy beach. Accessing it was a bit of a challenge as there was a bogus patch to cross but we made it. Once on the dry beach, the sun was hitting strongly, and I decided to remove my jacket. As I was setting up my tripod and working out the angle for my frame, little did I know the cracked dry muddy beach was, in fact, the spawning grounds for the mighty midges, and within a minute I found myself in Robert Capa’s shoes on Omaha beach in 1944. I grabbed my jacket as quick as I could, beating the flying beasts out of it, took my scarf as a turban and my Stetson hat on top. Took one single shot, pulled my iPhone and made that little 30sec video for you guys. Below is that shot I made. Was it worth it? You tell me, but at least I went home with a story and a shot that illustrates it. So if you like what you see, CAPTURE IT !!!