The Strathaird peninsula is the land in the south of the Isle of Skye that runs from Loch Slapin in the east to Loch Scavaig in the west, ending at the village of Elgol. It has the most concentrated stretch of serious landscape photography ground in Scotland. You can walk or drive from one named location to the next in under an hour and be at the best angle on the main Cuillin ridge in three minutes.

Coruisk House sits at the south-west tip, a minute from the Elgol shore rocks. The locations below are all within thirty minutes of the house, many of them within walking distance.

Elgol shore: the photograph most people come for

What 3 words around microchip.soak.equity, and anywhere west of that along the northern shore of the village.

Direction to face: north-west, straight across Loch Scavaig into the Cuillin horseshoe. This is the only place on Skye where you can see through the full horseshoe, with the main ridge standing in a clean wall on the far side of about five kilometres of water.

Time of day: sunset is the famous window. In summer, that means 10pm or later. In October, around 6.30pm. The Cuillin take direct light on their west faces until the sun drops behind the ridge, at which point the peaks go into silhouette and the sky often goes pink above them. Five minutes of gold, ten minutes of pink, then darkness. Dawn in winter is an alternative because the low sun from the south-east lights the Cuillin from the side without being directly behind the photographer.

Foreground: flat slabs, rock stacks, and loose boulders at low tide. A wide-angle with a rock in the bottom-left leading towards the ridge is the composition a thousand photographers have shot. You can still make it your own with careful tide timing. Check a tide table. Mid-tide, falling, reveals the best of the foreground.

Direction from Coruisk House: turn left out of the gate, walk down to the harbour, take the path left before the pier along the shore. Three minutes. You will see the best stretch of flat rock at NG513135 just as the shore opens out.

Loch Slapin and the north face of Blà Bheinn

Grid reference: NG560195 to 565219, anywhere along the B8083 between the head of the loch and the turn towards Torrin.

Direction to face: west, across the loch into the north face of Blà Bheinn (928m).

Time of day: Blà Bheinn takes morning light beautifully because the face is east-facing. A sunrise shot from the layby at the head of the loch has the mountain lit orange from the top down as the sun hits it. By mid-morning the light has flattened. In the afternoon, the face is in shadow and the light on the loch is better than the light on the mountain.

Foreground: at low tide, the Allt na Dunaiche delta at the head of the loch gives you braided streams, pools, and exposed seaweed-covered rocks. Reflections on the loch on a still morning are reliable. Some of the best Blà Bheinn photographs in circulation are taken from here, not from the top of the mountain.

Direction from Coruisk House: drive north on the B8083 for about six miles. The layby at the head of the loch has room for four cars. Arrive an hour before sunrise for the clean exposure.

Torrin and the Red Hills

Direction to face: east, to the Red Hills (the granite round-topped hills including Beinn na Caillich and Beinn Dearg Mhòr).

Time of day: afternoon and golden hour. The Red Hills take low side-light from the west in late afternoon and turn the colour they are named for, a warm pink-red that the main Black Cuillin never does.

Foreground: the shore of Loch Slapin south of Torrin, at the Kilbride end, with the calcite quarry in the distance. Or, for a longer focal length, compress the hills with a 70-200mm lens from the village road and isolate the shapes.

Camas Malag: the pebble beach

Grid reference: NG581180. Short drive from Torrin, then a walk of about a mile down a landrover track through farmland. Parking at the layby at the junction.

Direction to face: west and south-west, across to Blà Bheinn and the south-east shoulder of the Cuillin.

Time of day: late afternoon to sunset. The light crosses the bay low and catches the rounded pebbles on the beach. The main Cuillin and Blà Bheinn are in the frame across the water.

Foreground: the beach itself, which is largely cobbles and water-rolled pebbles, often wet from a recent tide. In the right conditions the cobbles take on a silver shine that makes everything else warmer by contrast.

Note: this is also the starting point for the walk to Boreraig and Suisnish, two clearance villages. If you are a landscape photographer with half a day, this walk takes in the best long-view shots of the southern Cuillin from the coast on Skye, and adds the ruined village photographs on top.

Spar Cave and Glasnakille

Grid reference: NG538129. Roughly a mile east of Elgol along the coast road to Glasnakille. Park at the signed lay-by. Walk down the steep track to the shore. The cave entrance is at the end of the beach.

Direction: looking back out of the cave, south over the water.

Time of day: strictly tide-dependent. The cave is accessible only around low tide. Check a tide table. Allow a two-hour window either side of low water. At high tide you cannot reach the entrance without wading.

What you are photographing: a long, narrow limestone cave with a flowstone floor of calcite. The cave is about 50 metres deep, head torches are required, and a tripod is essential because there is very little natural light more than five metres in. This is a set-up shot, not a grab.

Note: Spar Cave is delicate. The flowstone floor is fragile, so walk only where you see other footprints, do not touch the stalactites, and no flash directly on the formations. This is not a busy location and it rewards a photographer willing to plan for tides.

Camasunary Bay

Grid reference: NG510187. 90 minutes on foot from the B8083 parking area at NG545173, over the Am Mam pass.

Direction: west, to the bay with the main Cuillin behind, or back south-east to Blà Bheinn.

Time of day: morning for the Cuillin from the shore, early evening for Blà Bheinn from the south side of the bay. Golden hour light at Camasunary in late September is particular: low, long, and side-lit from the south-west.

Foreground: the river mouth, the curve of the beach, the rebuilt bothy, the grazing sheep. One of the most complete compositions on Skye.

The walk in and out takes a morning or an afternoon, so this is not a quick shot. Plan for a half-day.

The Elgol coast path, between Camasunary and Loch Coruisk

For photographers willing to walk, the coast path from Camasunary towards Loch Coruisk passes through some of the rarest-photographed ground in Scotland. The section between Camasunary and the Bad Step has a raised view out to Rum, Canna and Soay from 50 metres above the sea, with peaks across the water. The Bad Step itself is a Grade 1/2 scramble, not for photographers carrying a full kit unless very sure-footed.

Weather patterns

Weather on the Strathaird peninsula moves fast. The classic west-coast rhythm is squall, break, squall, break, which is good for photography in one way (dramatic light through gaps) and hard in another (you have to keep the kit dry).

A few specifics worth knowing.

Morning mist. Loch Slapin and Loch Scavaig often have low mist sitting on the water at first light in September and October. It burns off by nine. It is a short window and rewards a photographer already at the shore before sunrise.

Afternoon rain. In May and June, a rain front often moves in from the west in the afternoon, then clears by evening. If the forecast is rain at three, sunset at 10pm can still be clean.

Winter light. December and January have low sun all day. The Cuillin are in side-light from around 10am to 3pm. It is often the best photography window of the year for the ridge, if you are prepared for cold and short days.

Cloud inversions. Several times a year the tops are clear and the glens are full of cloud. Blà Bheinn summit on an inversion morning is one of the great views on the island. You have to be up the mountain early on the right day.

The green flash. Sometimes visible from Elgol at sunset in clear weather, as the sun drops behind Rum. It is short and not reliable, but if you watch the top limb of the sun as it disappears and you catch one, you will not forget it.

Practical: where to stay

Coruisk House is the third building on the right as you come into Elgol. Four rooms in the main house, two thatched self-catering cottages next door. The Elgol shore locations are a three-minute walk from the front door. The Loch Slapin and Camas Malag locations are a short drive back up the B8083.

Dinner is at 7pm, four courses, £105 a head, by reservation with twenty-four hours’ notice. In summer, sunset at Elgol is after dinner. In autumn and winter, sunset is before dinner and you can be back in time to sit down.

Book rooms, read about An Nead. Phone +44 (0)1471 866 330. Email info@coruiskhouse.com.