Scotland inspires world’s photographers
courses has steadily increased over the past few years, and Ruth attributes the boom in business in part to social media platforms, such as Instagram, where unusual, remote and striking travel pictures garner much sought-after “likes”. What’s more, with most people now carrying a good-quality camera around in their pocket in the form of a mobile phone, photography has never been more accessible. Collated under hashtags such as #Explorescotland, #Scotlandshots and #Visitscotland (which has been used more than two million times alone) the vast and varied snaps help to project our small country onto the world stage – and even our weather adds to the allure, according to Ruth.
Ruth said: “In the last three or four years, Skye has just exploded with tourist photographers and, personally, I think social media has played a big role in that – people see photographs of these amazing places and want to come for themselves. Skye, specifically, is really like a miniature version of Scotland, so it’s the ideal place to come and practise photography without having to actually go too far and find your own locations.” She added: “The light is one of the reasons that people come up here, too. We might think, ‘Oh it’s raining again’ but, for people visiting, the light is very unusual. Our usual sunshine and showers makes the light do crazy things, and for landscape photographers it is absolutely spectacular.”
As part of their monthly episodes, Ruth and the Photography Online team have been counting down the top 10 views of Skye, including locations such as the Quiraing and The Storr which, although other-worldly to visitors, can easily get overlooked by locals – until seen through fresh eyes.
Ruth said: “You do just get used to living here and forget how amazing Scotland really is. But that’s what’s so good about hearing from people on our Youtube channel – it gives you a bit of a reality check.” Malcolm Roughead, Visitscotland chief executive, said: “Scotland’s stunning landscape and world-famous scenery is one of the top reasons why people visit.
It’s no surprise that so many people want to capture that magic on film and remember it for years to come. Our research also shows that photography, mostly likely viewed on social media, can help inspire future travel plans, with almost a third of visitors using images taken by other holidaymakers to plan their Scottish experience.”