Glencoe offers one of Scotland’s grandest locations, especially at the
denouement of a winter storm. This panoramic was taken about 20 minutes
after the snow had stopped fallen and clouds still covered the cone
shaped volcanic monolith of Buachaille Etive; there is an emphatic sense
of place and sense of mood. We were very fortunate to be here in these
conditions and we were all very rather humbled by the vista in front of
us.

This is the celebrated gateway to the Scottish Highlands and
a land known not just for its natural beauty, but for its bloody past,
particularly the Clan feuds between the MacDonalds and the Campbells.
The drive through Glencoe encourages a silent historical musing as
intense as any road I know in the world. Shit happened here.

But
there is also an untamed regality to the region that has long drawn
filmmakers and, of course, this goes full circle, as this remote part of
the world has long been associated with the Fleming family and
particularly Ian Fleming - the creator of James Bond. He lived here
before moving to Jamaica in 1946.

A pivotal sequence in the 2012
Bond movie “Skyfall” was shot on the road down from the A82 to what was
Ian Fleming’s nephew’s shooting lodge - Dalness. The location was well
chosen and all those that are drawn to the mournful beauty of Scotland,
appreciated the subtle alchemy between Bond’s DB5 and the quintessential
Highland topography. I doubt any other Bond location has as many daily
visitors as that Glen Etive Road.

This photograph was taken near
the entrance to that road on the West Highland Way. We had watched the
weather forecast every day for 10 days before the shoot and not in our
wildest dreams did we ever expect the light and the snow cover to be
this kind to us. We still had to move quickly with the props and I had
to find compositional balance in my frame, but the weather was the
transcending component. We were back at Dalness for breakfast.

This
photograph is personal. Scotland is my home and I think we did Glencoe
proud. No wonder Sam Mendes chose to shoot here in the Skyfall movie and
the truth is that we got luckier than him with the weather.

I would like to thank the Alba Police force and Phil Fleming for their help in making this shoot happen.