Capturing the Hills of Glencoe & Scotland with the GFX50S II

Scotland has many treasures packed into its territory, with an array of breathtaking mountains, sweeping vistas and countless scenes of natural beauty around every bend. It’s this variety that attracts photographers and adventurers from all corners of the globe to witness its raw beauty. With such an incredible ensemble of landscapes, it’s often a daunting task to plan a trip here, figuring out how to squeeze every ounce of beauty out of this country. For this trip, however, the theme was mountain adventures and preferably on a grand scale which is something Scotland isn’t shy of.

The aim of this project was to put Fujifilms’s latest medium format offering, the GFX50S II, through its paces in some of the wildest corners of Scotland. Equipped with their newest lens offering for the system, the GF35-70mmF4.5-5.6 WR, and prepared for any conditions Scotland may pass my way, I headed off on a week-long trip to experience the allure of Glencoe and Torridon first hand, and hopefully capture some of the indubitable beauty of The Highlands on the journey. 

Now my initial thoughts when I was approached with this project were that this camera would be too large and heavy for some of my adventures. I like to pack light, taking only what I need for summit camps, rightly so too with most of the hikes I had planned involving more than 1000m elevation and enough distance to boot. The GFX50S II feels and handles more like a full frame camera, and weighs just 900g giving the feeling of a very portable system and packed away nicely into my 55l rucksack.

Glencoe

I arrived in Glencoe at around 4pm on a bright sunny afternoon, a tingle of excitement rang through my body as I thought about the hike ahead, regardless of the 26 degree heat. The hike up secret valley is gorgeous and as I passed day hikers making their way down, my attention turned to the summit and hopefully having it all to myself. My plan was to camp on Stob Coire Nan Lochan (SCNL) and make my way over to Bidean Nam Bian, the highest peak in all of Bute and Argyle for sunset. After a steep, hot hike I arrived at the summit with ample time to set up camp, make dinner and take on some water before sunset. From SNCL the view is breathtaking, glorious peaks and glistening lochs laid out as far as the eye could see. 

As the sun descended with gentle elegance I made my way to Bidean Nam Bian to see what that summit had in store. Upon reaching the true summit I was again taken aback by the views, with this opening up new vistas down Glen Etive and right out to Mull. After setting up my tripod I set about shooting, conscious of the heat haze and low cloud visible on the horizon. I was immediately impressed with the camera grip and general feel of the camera, giving me plenty of purchase on the body with a well thought out thumb rest to give you a strong grip in hand. The first few images I took with the GFX50S II I still remember well. With the increased depth of field when compared to crop sensor cameras, the front to back sharpness of the image was evident even on the LCD screen. However, with conditions not playing ball I decided to turn in for the night and see what sunrise had in store for me.

With the long Scottish summer days in full swing, my 4am alarm heaved me out of a laborious hike induced sleep. The sound of the tent zip pierced the mysterious silence as not a drop of wind graced this summit. As I gazed out down the valley my eyes stretched wide and my heart pulsed, the fatigue drained from my body and replaced by sheer elation. I was above a dense layer of cloud in the valley, circling the surrounding summits. The sun was still veiled below the horizon with the granite grey cloud seeped through the valley in ripples. Cloud inversions are covered by photographers, a rare occurrence where conditions align and leave you speechless and this was no different. 

With my tripod set up there was something about gazing through the large bright viewfinder on the GFX50S II that helped me visualize the scene better. Taking my time and dialing in the best composition felt easier to do with this camera. I opted to shoot wide initially, taking in the whole scene, and then trying to focus on the drama in the scene, which happened to align with where the sun rose. Finally I snapped a photo of me and my tent, to tell a story of my camp here and what I had witnessed when I first opened the zipper at 4am. Because of the large sensor, the size of the pixels are larger and I noticed the increased dynamic range, being able to perfectly expose images directly pointed at the sun without blowing out the highlights or being left to pull back as much of the shadows as possible in post, which was mind blowing to me. Content with my first adventure of the trip and unsure how I was going to top it, I packed up leaving behind no trace and hiked down ready for Torridon, but the adventure didn’t end there.

As I hiked down, weary eyed, I spotted a couple of deer off to my left. I hastily grabbed my camera out to grab some photos, and that’s when I noticed the stags. There were 4 stags lined up on a plateau above the cloud inversion and as I drew closer 2 of them moved perfectly into a small gap between the mountains where they could be made out clearly. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing as nature aligned perfectly for a couple of moments to allow me to grab this shot, before the stags went on their way and it was time for me to get to the car.

Torridon

Torridon is a mountain utopia consisting of magnificent sandstone pinnacles that rise steeply from the valley floor. It is an area I have come to know well, fascinated by it’s mesmerising scenery and remote peaks. Meeting up with my friend Alec we opted to take on a lesser known peak in Torridon that doesn’t boast a munro status, so often doesn’t draw the crowds like it’s more popular neighbours Beinn Alligin and Liathach do. On another blisteringly hot day we set off aiming for another summit camp, hopeful of a repeat of my Glencoe adventure due to the similar conditions forecast.

After a burdensome hike we reached the south summit, where we dutifully set up camp just in time for sunset. As if by a touch of magic low cloud seeped into the valley floors surrounding us, and as the harsh rays of daylight turned to the orange and pink hues of sunset we were spoilt for choice in angles to shoot. Soon golden light filled the sky, billowing over Torridon and uncovering each crevice of the lands. Due to the variety of shots on offer here I left my tripod at my tent, also giving me a chance to test out the improved Ibis capabilities.

As the night loomed I was shooting comfortably at 1/60s (conscious of being handheld) and producing stunningly sharp images which is incredible as due to the size of the images medium format produces even a slight shake is very visible. The medium format sensor also paves the way to much less noise in the images giving a much cleaner final image than crop sensors. Me and Alec were both speechless at what we had just witnessed, as I’d never been graced with an inversion for sunset. After a quick drink we put our heads down for the night, excited for what may await us in the morning.

As we awoke the next morning we were greeted with very similar conditions to the night before, no wind and still some low cloud in the valleys taking different paths into the distance around us. We opted to head for the true summit that had escaped us the night before due to time restraints. We were both excited to see what new views this summit may hold as we trudged the path over, Liathach looking mighty in the distance. As the sun started to rise I snapped a quick image of Alec finding his own angles to shoot.

The sun had risen higher as we approached the true summit but a low lying cloud kept its harshness from us, allowing the colours of the landscape to flourish even in daylight. This new summit opened up a new valley and the scenery was spectacular in every direction I looked. I stood in awe as one of the most perfect mornings unfolded in front of me. It felt as if we were uncovering a forgotten side of Torridon, an authentic part of this place that was far from the path most trodden by tourists. 

Only equipped with the GF35-70mmF4.5-5.6 WR for this system would normally have bothered me as I usually like to carry a telephoto, however this makes way for another advantage of shooting medium format. In post processing I found the cropping ability to be superb, being able to pick out small details in my wide shots and hone in on them, with the image still staying razor sharp. Landscape photography is something that I’m truly passionate about and I couldn’t believe the conditions Scotland had graced us with on this trip. Before we packed up and headed down we made a quick tea and made sure to take it all in a little deeper in knowledge of the fact Scotland’s weather may not be so kind the next time. 

I think as soon as I clicked the shutter for the first time on the GFX50S II I was converted to medium format. Over the course of the week any apprehensions I had subsided and I thoroughly enjoyed using this camera. One final comment about this camera was how much fun I had editing these files. The colour reproduction was just phenomenal and led to smoother tonality, meaning I had complete control over each colour in the image. The final result was some fantastic photos, that I can print considerably larger than I have been able to with the crop sensor cameras I’ve used previously. This camera is now a staple in my kit even for longer hikes and I’ve been won over by the ability to produce larger images with excellent image quality, amazing depth of field and the wonderful colour reproduction I’ve seen with this for my landscape photography.