Neist Point is a popular destination for hikers and photographers on the Isle of Skye. It is basically the tip of a peninsula and the westernmost point on Skye. Down on the ‘point’ of the point sits a lighthouse and its surrounding buildings. The lighthouse was built in 1909 and used to have people working it, but it has been remotely operated since 1990 and so I assume there are only people there for maintenance these days. The image below shows Neist Point against the sea and stormy skies, taken from the top of the cliff. You can see a trail in the distance that climbs the hill leading to a lighthouse.

I chose to go out to Neist Point one late afternoon with the intent of staying for sunset. The way out there is a single-lane road winding up, down, and around hills and occupied by the occasional sheep. One must always be aware of approaching head-on traffic and planning for who pulls over at the passing area to let the other car go by. For a bunch or tourists, I think we did a decent job and I didn’t see any collisions or cars off the side of the road. Eventually you get to a large carpark at the top of a cliff overlooking Neist Point. As far as I can tell, there was no charge for parking here, which was about the only place on Skye that didn’t. I arrived on a very windy and stormy afternoon, like most other afternoons, put on the rain jacket and went for a hike. The image below shows the view from near the carpark looking down the coast. There is a hike that takes you to the to of nearest high cliff, which I did not take, focusing primarily on Neist Point.

From the carpark there is a concrete path that leads down the cliff and out to the point. It is about half steps and half just a ramp, and there is a handrail to remind you not to plummet to your death. I was blasted by wind and rain descending and eventually ascending this path. The image below was taken on my way down the cliff side. There is a stone wall at the bottom presumably for sheep, but there was no gate so it must not be in use today. As with everywhere else on Skye, there were plenty of sheep on Neist Point.

As you crest the hill out on the point, the old lighthouse comes into view. There was the remains of an old cableway from the top of the cliff for sending materials up and down, I assume and there is also an old boat dock down to the left in the photo below. As you can see, you can walk all the way out to the lighthouse, but it is fenced off and you can’t access the buildings. And I may have forgotten to mention but I was mostly getting pelted with wind and rain during this walk.

I noticed that on the cliffs opposite the lighthouse, there were jagged rocks with waves crashing against them, so I hiked over there to shoot them. I found a nice enough rock to sit on near the shore and sat about trying to frame a few shots. The basic plan was to put the camera on high-speed continuous, find a frame and a place to focus, and wait for a wave. I probably sat out there for 20 minutes or so doing that. It wasn’t terribly cold, just windy as the rain had let up a bit during this shoot. In the image below you can see the waves crashing against the rocks with the cliffs in the distance. This was taken with a long focal length and I was no where near to the water as I am not suicidal. There was also a near continuous mist of spray in the air provided by the wind, so in Lightroom I selected the foreground rocks and ground and increased the contrast and dehaze to make it stand out more against the gray sea and clouds.

It had become obvious that I was not going to see the sun again that day, so I just focused on photographing the gloomy seascapes instead. I would have liked to have seen a beautiful sun set on the coast, but I think I got nice photos and am glad I ventured out here. I took the following photo on the hill leading out to the lighthouse whilst standing next to a sheep. I couldn’t get enough of the greens and grays.

I made it back to the car wind-battered and generally happy with the experience. I’d like to go again on a sunnier evening but I don’t know if I’ll ever be in these parts again. The Isle of Skye is covered with beautiful landscapes and has become one of my favorite places that I have ever visited. Thanks for reading.