Scottish Landscape Panoramic Photography

“When looking at an extraordinary landscape, there are no questions, no answers, no desires, no plans, no worries, no past, no present, no future; there is only a deep silence, only a glance!” - Mehmet Murat ildan

So many of our beautiful Scottish landscapes lend themselves to panoramic photography. From wide open views, beaches, coastal views, islands and historical sites, the spirit of place is enhanced through wide angle and 360° photography. Over the years, my collection of panoramic photographs has become more comprehensive and some of my favourites are presented below.

Wide angle panoramas are usually hand held sequences of images, stitched together to produce the final image. I enjoy presenting a wider view of the landscape to allow a full appreciation of the scale and perspective within the view. Adding an aerial perspective brings another new dimension, particularly where a familiar view is presented from a new, previously unseen viewpoint.

Each 360° panorama starts as a mosaic of up to 250 photographs stitched, blended and manipulated through several pieces of software to achieve the final result. Constantly changing skies, shadows and moving objects add to the complexity but it's all part of the challenge...!

Sutherland coastline


Sunrise over the Firth of Clyde - Dunoon

sunrise over the Firth of Clyde from Dunoon

The view from Dunoon looking across the Firth of Clyde towards Gourock.

An evocative early morning sunrise with a stunning cloud formation from the foreshore at the southern end of the Cowal peninsula.

Clava Cairns - Inverness


Clava Cairns or the Prehistoric Burial Cairns of Bulnuaran are a group of three Bronze Age cairns located near Inverness.

A hugely significant and exceptionally well preserved prehistoric site, Clava Cairns is a fantastic example of the distant history of Highland Scotland, dating back about 4,000 years.

Find more images on my Online Gallery

Mellon Udrigle Beach - Wester Ross

Mellon Udrigle Beach, Wester Ross, Panorama

A late summer evening on the beach at Mellon Udrigle.

Priest Island and the Summer Isles are a few miles offshore with the Sutherland hills in the far distance. From left to right - Quinag, Suilven, Stac Pollaidh, and Ben More Coigach. To the far right sits Ben Gobhlach.

Mol Ban Beach - Oldany Island

Mol Ban Beach, Sutherland
Mol Ban Beach, Sutherland
Mol Ban Beach, Sutherland

Sutherland is one of my favourite sea kayaking areas and there’s just so much of interest along the coast.

The panoramas below are from Mol Ban Beach on Oldany Islnd near Drumbeg. We'd kayaked from Clashnessie around Oldany Island and stopped for a scenic bite to eat on this beatiful beach.

Read the blog post for this trip and enjoy the sea kayaking photography, complete with interactive map.

Wide Angle Panorama - The view over Loch Sunart

Panorama looking over Loch Sunart

Early April and a trip to Arnamurchan, staying at Resipole campsite. A beautiful evening with snow lying on the hill tops and the forecast set fair. A day or two later we had a superb paddle into Loch Teacuis, one of my favourite spots from many years ago when I was based in Lochaline. Enjoy the view and follow the hotspots in the high resolution version of the panorama to find out more....

360° Aerial Panorama - Findon Woods, Black Isle

Findon Woods Aerial Panorama

A springtime flight above Findon Woods, to the north of Culbokie and looking across the Cromarty Firth to Ben Wyvis.

To see more aerial perspectives of the Black Isle, head over to my Black Isle Aerial Virtual Tour and explore the Black Isle from the air. Pan, zoom and enjoy the views, using the interactive hot spots to navigate your way around the Black Isle from a unique and different perspective.

Wide Angle Panorama - Sunset over the Dornoch Firth

Findon Woods Aerial Panorama

Late afternoon in November and the sun sets early in the far north of Scotland. Returning home over the Dornoch Bridge, the setting sun over Struie hill was illuminating the sky with vibrant reds and yellows. The calm waters of the Dornoch Firth reflected the light in the sky over the water. Who wouldn't have stopped to admire and photograph the view?

Skye Sunrise - Isle of Skye

The panoramic view across the Red Cuillin towards Sgurr nan Gillean and Am Basteir

The panoramic view across the Red Cuillin towards Sgurr nan Gillean and Am Basteir.

Spruce Tree - Easter Ross

A vertical panorama of a Sitka spruce tree.
A Vertical Panorama

We're used to panoramic images and interactive images within websites, social media and virtual tours.

Smart phones and apps allow us to swipe left and pan the camera to take in the widest possible view of the location we're in. Facebook allows us to display the scene using inbuilt the gyroscopes in our phones.

But how many of us consider vertical panoramas? As a forester, I'm always looking upwards into the canopy and the crowns of trees in the forest. But most cities have tall buildings which could be displayed nicely from a panoramic viewpoint, especially if the viewpoint is halfway up and from an adjacent building.

So I've photographed a Sitka spruce tree in one of my local forests and photographed it vertically, using 10 images in the panorama.

The portrait style image was rendered through the stitching and presentation software and the photograph here shows the final composite. As with all of the photographs on this page, click on the image and pan and zoom from there.

Ormond Hill - Black Isle

Ormond Hill on the Black Isle

A lone Scots pine tree on Ormond Hill on the Black Isle, standing guard over Avoch Bay and the view towards Chanonry Point.

Loch Glascarnoch - Easter Ross

Loch Glascarnoch Dam

Created in 1957 as part of the Conon hydro electric scheme, Loch Glascarnoch is dammed at its eastern end.

Surrounded by the Fannaich hills, it's a great place for "big landscape" photography. Snow capped An Teallach can be seen in the distance to the west whilst Am Faochagach sits on the northern flank of the loch.

Loch Glascarnoch Dam

The Ben Wyvis massif sits to the eastern end of Loch Glascarnoch. It's a popular mountain for hillwalkers all year round, with superb views in every direction on a clear day.

Tarbat Ness Lighthouse - Easter Ross

Evening Light at Tarbat Ness

Evening light and the setting sun at Tarbat Ness Lighthouse.

A moody sky and the combination of light and shadow with the lighthouse standing guard, before taking over its watch for the night...

Nigg Bay - Black Isle

Nigg Bay on the Black Isle

Nigg bay and the view northwards from Gallow Hill above the village of Cromarty.

360° Panoramic Photography

Commercial Drone Services

360° Immersive Virtual Tours

Photography Workshops

Online Sales and Downloads

Blogs and Journeys

Search the Scotland360° Website



Copyright © 2023 All Rights Reserved by Scotland360° and Angus Mackie
Email Angus · 07780 787034·