Ross Armstrong, a photographer from the mainland explains why Tiree offers some excellent photographic opportunities.
“Washing lines adorn the landscape on Tiree. They are dotted across the island and every whitewashed cottage seems to have one. There is a reason there are so many. The island is not only the sunniest, but also one of the windiest places in the British Isles so it provides the perfect drying conditions which residents are more than happy to exploit! I wanted to show how windy Tiree is and I thought this would be an interesting way of doing it.
I took this image in a small area called Vaul. The fallen pole in the foreground caught my eye and I thought I could incorporate it into my composition. I wanted to include the whole washing line in my shot for maximum impact, and because I was using a wideangle zoom lens I could easily accommodate its whole length.
I don’t believe in always following the rules and I felt using the washing line to divide the frame in two created a stronger composition than following the Rule of Thirds. I made sure the clothes didn’t overlap with the ground because this created a more pleasing image. I was shooting handheld, but fortunately my lens has image stabilisation so I was able to ensure my composition was sharp.”
