On our first full day at Kyleakin (my birthday, 7 June 2013) we got up at 4 in the morning and headed out towards the harbour in order to be there before sunrise. The previous day during our drive up to Skye the weather reporter on BBC Radio Scotland had mentioned that it would be a clear sunrise with no low-lying cloud, a message which seemed to be directed specifically towards Genie and me. But especially towards me. I had every intention of filming early the next day but there are many sayings about good intentions and we were there to celebrate my birthday – always a good day for bad excuses.
The night porter at our hotel was surprised to find anyone up at that time of the morning and said as much as he unlocked the door for me. "Dawn!" I said. I'd have said a lot more but was still half asleep and struggling with my video camera and tripod. Dawn is the magic time when no shadows are cast and everything has a certain golden tint. If I was to film anything this weekend it would be just before sunrise on this my birthday and it would be at the harbour because I love watery landscapes and I'd already checked the place out the evening before. It was going to be grand.
Cold, though, standing on the pontoon at the harbour with all that water around. I was soon fully awake and started to notice the wildlife. I saw an otter swimming towards me but by the time I'd adjusted the camera he'd decided to dive. There was a grey heron that I also missed. Genie joined me at the harbour a bit later and we've included some of her photos from that day in this little slideshow of Kyleakin Village. The movie I made is just of the harbour at dawn. Both short movies feature the music of Tracing Arcs. Enjoy!
