I’m sure every photographer has had the dream of packing in their day job and heading off to the wilds to spend all their time taking great pictures, with the knowledge that you can always be in the right place at the right time for those special shots, that you will be up and out for every sunrise and sunset amid spectacular scenery and that the weather will always be perfect.
Well, I’ve done just that. Or rather my day job got rid of me (thanks Civil Service cutbacks!) and anyway, I couldn’t face another day of mind-numbing tedium. So, I took on some consultancy work, let my house and packed everything I needed into my camper van. That was the best part of 3 years ago, and I’m still at it.
Needless to say things are never as easy as they look, and life has a habit of turning round and biting you on the bum, but all in all, I am surviving. The perfect weather has been spasmodic to say the least, and I can testify to the general impression that Scotland is getting wetter. The idea of getting up for sunrise gets less appealing when you can feel your bed being buffeted by a Force 9 wind and the whole vehicle vibrates with the power of the waves crashing at the foot of the cliff below. But on balance the good times make up for the bad, and even when I’ve been sitting in the van for days on end waiting for the weather to break, the question ‘Where would you rather be, here or back at work?’ is still very easy to answer.
Well, I’ve done just that. Or rather my day job got rid of me (thanks Civil Service cutbacks!) and anyway, I couldn’t face another day of mind-numbing tedium. So, I took on some consultancy work, let my house and packed everything I needed into my camper van. That was the best part of 3 years ago, and I’m still at it.
Needless to say things are never as easy as they look, and life has a habit of turning round and biting you on the bum, but all in all, I am surviving. The perfect weather has been spasmodic to say the least, and I can testify to the general impression that Scotland is getting wetter. The idea of getting up for sunrise gets less appealing when you can feel your bed being buffeted by a Force 9 wind and the whole vehicle vibrates with the power of the waves crashing at the foot of the cliff below. But on balance the good times make up for the bad, and even when I’ve been sitting in the van for days on end waiting for the weather to break, the question ‘Where would you rather be, here or back at work?’ is still very easy to answer.