Fairy Glen of Balnaknock Photo

Photographer’s Note

Magic of Skye 3: The Fairy Glen of Balnaknock, near Uig, Isle of Skye, Scotland.

Continuing our walk through the Trotternish we descented the main ridge into the tiny village of Balnaknock. BALNAKNOCK (Gaelic: Town of the hill) is home to an incredible and mysterious geological formation known locally as the Fairy Glen.

These strange enchanting little conical mounds are said to be inhabited by fairies. We didn't see any fairies on this day - but we could feel their presence.

North Skye Geology:
This area is dominated by basaltic lava flows of early Tertiary age, which form the characteristic flat-topped, terraced hills of Duirinish, Waternish and Trotternish. Beneath the lavas, particularly around the coastal areas of Trotternish, a variety of sedimentary rocks dominated by sandstones and shales, of Jurassic age are seen. These sediments are intruded by horizontal sheets ("sills") of basic igneous rock ("dolerite") related to the lavas. Numerous spectacular landslips have occurred here due to the thick pile of lavas overlying relatively weak sedimentary rocks.

Timmok, tars, Gregtom, wilkinsonsg, petertee has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

tars (808) 2005-06-08 4:52

Very nice and sharp landscape photograph with freakish lava rocks and lovely lake. I like the cloudy sky and his reflections in the lake.
Very well done..... Tars

dkeus31 (24548) 2005-06-08 6:26

Hi David,
Nice framing and reflexion.

Gregtom (7041) 2005-06-09 4:16

Beautiful shot, David! This is the land I love and want to visit soon with my camera! Lovely composed and exposed!
regards,
Grzegorz

wilkinsonsg (8640) 2005-06-09 13:33

Interesting note, and the image is very well rendered, clear and sharp and true to life :)

jarosz0 (517) 2005-06-10 1:43

Sharpness , composition and point of view are excellent. I like this cloudy sky and its reflections on the water.

softflower (0) 2005-06-20 11:51

Superbe photo David, j'aime beaucoup ce paysage verdoyant.
bravo !
Nico.

colinbrenchley (6120) 2005-06-23 18:03

Excellent landscape shot with excellent composition and clarity

oddhelge (46) 2005-07-01 18:48

Beautiful shot. Maybe to sharp??? But excellent composition and colors. Well done :)

windosil (668) 2008-04-11 15:47

Hi, David,
Brilliantly realistic record of the texture and colouring of lochans and hillsides found in many Hebridean islands.
Lovely composition with the edge of the dark cloud echoing the line of the reed-fringed water.
Just one thing bothers me - the stones at the top of the knock seem to be hanging out away from it, due to the sharpening.
But it will beone of my favourites, thank you.
Winifred