First steps to capture the sublime Galloway landscapes in motion
Balcary Cliffs
We like to think that we take some great ride photos. But then we get them up on the Mac and there is one in a thousand that captures the beauty of the day we just had. We do not have any towering peaks in our area, the nearest we come to the levels of awe you need for a sublime landscape are the sea cliffs of the coast. You take a photograph of most of Galloway and it turns it flat and dials down the wow.
Taking Ian a wonderful 26 mile loop
Balcary Bay and Screel in the background
It is beautiful, miles of picturesque and pastoral. But they don’t photograph well unless you look down from a vantage point. Which is why we have taken the first steps to riding with a drone and making a few films. It takes a lot of time to learn this skill and turn our background in still photography into short movies. Then there is the terror of working with an expensive bit of equipment and a lot of batteries to keep charged.
En-route to Glen Trool, Cycle Route 7 (off- road)
There is this great film in our heads and the tech is getting in the way and the hours of learning how to make it do what you want. Quite often the drone has a better idea of how to do the job than we do and you just need to press one of the auto routines and let it do the job. Then there is carrying all the equipment on the bikes and getting enough light and not too much wind.
taking a group out on the 30 mile gravel ride
an old poem in runic letters
We put it off for weeks and just practised on the village green, but the day had to come. We were just going to have a practice run, no pressure. Everything we do with our business has to be perfect so this new medium has to be good. We took the bikes to the Water of Fleet viaduct and started to ride and film. There is a lot of repeating to get things right so you can either ride, film or take photographs but only one of these at a time. We are bad enough to ride with when we are trying to do great photography and this is a level beyond that.
Carrick Drive, on the border to Ayrshire
Gravel riding is fun for women, too
Loch Doon and Warren
Ayrshire “Alps”
Editing can rob you of hours of your life and thank goodness we have a big and fast Mac. You start with 11 minutes and have to junk a load of things that you love as you are aiming for 2 minutes max. You cut and cut and want to tell a story with a beginning, middle and end, and then there is the music.
all is well - just showing the Mavic Air 2
Well I hope you all like what we did, we like it, we may even love it. You can bring your own bikes - anything that has 35mm tyres and above. We can create a short off road holiday for you with us as your guide. We do the whole package from accommodation to picking the routes that you will love - get in contact with us to book on road or off.
Best Gravel Riding in Scotland, South West Scotland, Galloway Forest Park, with Galloway Cycling Holidays (providing also guides and fun).