Mountain and Landscape Photography | On Location with Ian Evans of Mountain Images

Ullswater Morning Mists

It would be inapporpriate to declare any one of the Lake District valleys as being more beautiful or popular than any other, but given the close proximity of, and easy access to, both the Helvellyn and High Street mountain ranges, Ullswater ranks highly in many peoples' minds, including my own. When I decided to capture a new ...

Glen Garry

This is another of those iconic viewpoints, looking west over Loch Garry towards the snow capped mountains of Glen Quoich and Knoydart. Over the years the conifers in the foreground of this shot, when taken from the roadside, have begun to encroach upon the composition, so I now work from a location some 30 metres up the hill ...

Skiddaw, Saddleback and Derwentwater

The familiar shot of Skiddaw, Blencathra and Derwentwater from Catbells (Blencathra is also known locally as Saddleback) is one of the classic views of the English Lake District and, indeed, I had taken and published several similar images of my own many years ago. However, as I set off on this frosty November morning ...

The Saddle from Glen Shiel

When I am in Glen Shiel I cannot resist taking a look at, and then capturing yet another image of The Saddle from the River Shiel. A winter ascent of The Saddle is one of the classic mountaineering routes of the Scottish Highlands, and the view of the peak and its pointed neighbour Faochag from the River Shiel is much underrated and neglected ...

Kangchenjunga - Five Treasures Revealed

THE KINGDOM OF NEPAL formally opened its borders to the outside world in 1949, but for political, cultural and economic reasons it continued to restrict access to several important areas including that around Kangchenjunga, the world’s third highest mountain. In 1988 the authorities finally conceded to mounting pressure ...

The Cuillins from Loch nan Eilean

I had captured an image here in the spring of 1985; the loch was still and clear of vegetation providing an almost perfect reflection of the Cuillins beyond. However, it was too early in the day to light the scene to perfection and the intervening moor was uniformly coloured an uninteresting shade of brown. I had resolved to return but never expected ...

Glen Loyne Shower Clouds

I am a frequent visitor to this location, and the view rarely disappoints. Standing upon this exposed hillside at an elevation of 350 metres, one can expect to encounter difficult conditions on a winter's day when snow showers are hurried across the loch and open glen on a strong north-westerly breeze. Such were the conditions when I took this image ...

Liathach Torridon Panorama

Liathach is arguably one of the most iconic and frequently captured images of The Scottish Highlands - and justifiably so. I cannot recall how many times I have stood on this spot in all seasons and in all weathers. This time it was early February and I was hoping for a good covering of snow, but instead what I got was ice ...

Loch Torridon Sunrise

The mountains of Torridon epitomise everything that I love about the Scottish Highlands. The landscape has a grandeur that is unrivalled anywhere else in the country, and, in particular, the tall monolithic mountains of Beinn Alligin, Liathach and Beinn Eighe rise up evocatively out of a rich tapestry of moorland and loch forming ...

Glen Garry Summer Sunset

This image was one of a series taken over a period of 20 minutes as the sun disappeared over the horizon - in this case at almost that precise moment. This is a very well-known and visited viewpoint and there is nothing new or different here in its content or composition. Indeed, I have taken many images from this viewpoint before, at all times of year ...

Kintail Rainclouds

The weather had been particularly changeable during the early part of the month and after the clearance of yet more overnight rain a showery north-westerly airstream prevailed. In hopeful anticipation of some interesting light and dramatic images I headed west towards the coast and the shores of Loch Duich, from where the summits of The Five ...

Glencoe Sunrise

This was a shot which I had attempted two years earlier, planned well in advance by calculation of the sun's azimuth and altitude when seen from this location, so it was just a matter of patience - and good fortune - that the right conditions would prevail during the window of opportunity that I had identified. It is a classic viewpoint ...

Skiddaw and the Anti-Twilight Arch

The most evocative and uplifting moments I have experienced in the mountains of Britain and the Himalaya have been during the twilight hours, particularly in the pre-dawn, when one is alone, the world around is still, and the only sound to be heard is that of silence. Such was the case one very still and bitterly cold morning in early January ...

Sunrise Over Snowdon

I have a particular affection for Snowdon. It was the first mountain that I ever ascended, it was where I spent the formative years of my mountaineering life and it was also where I carried out much of my 'photographic apprenticeship'. In the years that had passed since, I had paid Snowdon no more than fleeting visits ...

Everest Khumbu Panorama

For those whose interests lie in the related disciplines of mountaineering and photography, the mountains of the Black Cuillin on the Isle of Skye pose probably some of the greatest challenges to be found anywhere in the British Isles. For weeks at a time these precipitous and splintered summits can remain hidden beneath dense and all-enveloping mists ...

The Aonach Eagach Ridge and River Coe

On this visit to Glencoe the objective was to capture a shot of the River Coe with the backdrop of the Aonach Eagach Ridge. I had reconnoitred this view a few weeks earlier but there was little water in the river that day and the light was flat. I have taken many shots of the ridge reflected in Loch Achtriochtan outwith this river flows ...

Ben Nevis Dawn

This study of Ben Nevis was one of many I had considered for that 'autumn window of light' when conditions both on the ground and in the sky can produce some very dramatic imagery. This was a cold morning; the overnight change in the prevailing winds from south-west to north-east had cleared the low level cloud to reveal an upper layer of cirrus ...

Rannoch Moor Moonset and Sunrise

If I have a preference, it is for sunrise rather than sunset; I love watching the sun rise on a cold frosty morning and bathe the landscape in its warm yet delicate colours. I also enjoy the stillness and silence of the pre-dawn; a time when one can be at peace and feel at one with nature. This image of the peaks of the Blackmount across Rannoch Moor almost took itself ...

Slioch from Loch Maree

Slioch is one of the classic mountains of the Scottish Highlands; rising in splendid isolation from the eastern shores of Loch Maree its complex summit offers oustanding views in all directions and is a magnet for any self-respecting mountaineer or hill-walker. The mountain presents its finest aspect to the north-west and its shapely ...

Ben Nevis in Winter Raiment

Ben Nevis in Winter Raiment is probably the most significant image that I ever captured. It was through the sale of this particular image that the idea to launch my business, Mountain Images, was born. Ben Nevis totally dominates Fort William, the West Highland town to which I moved during January 1981. My first full winter season there ...

Glencoe Autumn Reflections

Glencoe Autumn Reflections was captured on an almost windless day of soft and often transient light. There was some haze in the atmosphere produced by a slow incoming frontal system from the west. I had carried out some photography on Rannoch Moor and also higher up Glencoe but the light did not have any real impact on the mountains ...

Snowdon Autumn Reflections

Snowdon was the first peak that I climbed when I first took an interest in mountaineering and photography over 45 years ago, and so to this day I always enjoy returning to Snowdonia, an area I regard with much affection. The view of the peaks of the Snowdon Horseshoe - Y Lliwedd (898m, 2947ft.), Yr Wydda Fawr (1085m, 3560ft.), Crib Goch (922m, 3026ft.) ...

Snowdon Horseshoe from Glyder Fawr

Snowdon was the first mountain that I ever climbed – over forty years ago. Then, as now, I was fascinated by the complexity and sheer majesty of its great north-eastern cwms and ridges of Cwm Dyli, Cwm Glas, Crib Goch and Crib-y-ddysgl. Those who climb Snowdon by way of Crib Goch and Crib-y-ddysgl will indeed experience in some measure ...

Ogwen Valley Winter

I probably spend more time researching images and viewpoints in the studio than I do taking pictures out in the field. That was certainly the case with ‘Ogwen Valley Winter’. I certainly believe that planning a shoot well in advance and thoroughly carrying out all the preliminary work leads to a successful outcome when the time comes to fire the shutter ...

Striding Edge Helvellyn

The circuit of Striding Edge Helvellyn and Swirral Edge – the ridges that cradle Red Tarn – is probably one of the most popular excursions in all of the English Lake District. It attracts thousands of visitors every year. For many, the crossing of Striding Edge and Swirral Edge – with a visit to the summit of Helvellyn en route – is their first ...

The Glyders

The Glyders – from my earliest days of mountain exploration I have always been fascinated by the magnificent natural architecture of summit, ridge, buttress, cwm and llyn exhibited by this mountain range in central Snowdonia. But whilst I always enjoyed walking and climbing these mountains, I never fully appreciated their sheer beauty and complexity of ...

Sunset Over Skye

I am always watchful of changing weather patterns and at this time of year a developing high pressure over Scandinavia will often provide an interesting sunset over Skye and the west coast of Scotland. There is no guarantee that this will always be the case as such a high pressure system can also produce flat grey cloud that barely moves throughout the period ...

Liathach from Loch Clair

On this particular morning I had headed out in hopeful anticipation of some interesting dawn light on the mountains of the far north west of Scotland, but when I reached Ullapool the cloud was down to sea level accompanied by a roaring easterly gale. So I headed back south towards Torridon but as soon as I left the sunny coastline ...

Spring Snow On The Cuillin

For those whose interests lie in the related disciplines of mountaineering and photography, the mountains of the Black Cuillin on the Isle of Skye pose probably some of the greatest challenges to be found anywhere in the British Isles. For weeks at a time these precipitous and splintered summits can remain hidden beneath dense and all-enveloping mists ...

Bla Bheinn Reflections

This mountain and location needs little introduction from me. Regardless of how many images I already have from this spot, no two moments are ever the same and I am always compelled to take yet another. This was a perfect morning and I was returning from a shoot above Elgol when I was attracted by this almost perfect reflection of Bla Bheinn in Loch Slapin ...

First Light on An Teallach

An Teallach is one of the most distinctive and popular mountains of the Scottish Highlands; its distant and jagged ridge is a familiar sight to those travelling between Inverness and Ullapool. In translation An Teallach appropriately means 'The Forge', a name fully justified if one is fortunate enough to witness the first rays of the morning sun ...

Thamserku from the Dudh Kosi Valley

For many trekkers who fulfill their lifetime's ambition and walk the trail to Everest Base Camp in the Khumbu region of Nepal there is but a singular objective in the mind. But those of us who visit more than once or who have a discerning interest in the mountains and the region, it is obvious that there are numerous subsidiary peaks worthy of closer attention ...

Photographic Prints of Classic Mountain Landscapes

On Location with Ian Evans