It’s #TravelTuesday and I, Dave Williams, am here again! I write to you today from the top of the Quiraing on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. I’m waiting patiently for the gale force wind and sideways torrential rain to stop so I can walk a trail and fire off a few shots as part of my Due North series. It’s testing my patience, if I’m being honest. Hopefully in the morning (Tuesday) I’ll have a. gap in the weather that I can make the most of.
Today I want to touch on the subject of Instagrammable locations, and by that I mean locations made famous by hitting the Explore section of Instagram so often. In particular, I’ll be talking about the Glenfinnan Viaduct.
Made famous following Harry Potter and The Chamber Of Secrets, when Harry and Ron are flying in the blue Ford Anglia when the Hogwarts Express arrives behind them, this location attracts droves of tourists wanting to see the train come around the tracks.
This location, like so many, is feeling the effects of being made somehow famous. From the photo you may think it’s a rather solitary location, and you’d likely think the same if you saw a BTS image I took on my phone: –
When I show a pano from the location you’ll see that the truth of the matter is quite different.
(Apologies for blotching out the tripod – it is a pre-produciton model and it’s still super secret)
You’ll see that there’s actually quite a horde of spectators waiting for the Jacobite Steam Train to pass by, and I’ve had to crop the edges to ensure the faces of the people behind me can’t be seen. There’s probably 60 people, and this is a weekday during school time.
Instagram and other such influences have made otherwise out-of-the-way, tranquil locations become very popular. It’s a catch-22 for us, however. We want to be the only people to know about such a place, but we wouldn’t necessarily know about it if it hadn’t been made ‘instagram famous’. My personal thoughts are that we should embrace it, enjoy it, share the space, and shoot the best and most unique image we can.
Much love
Dave
