Elgol

Elgol delivers the single best low-level view of the Black Cuillin without setting foot on the ridge. Park at the top of the village and walk down the steep brae to the shore by the slipway, then launch from the shingle. Straight ahead across Loch Scavaig the whole serrated Cuillin skyline rears up, and on a still morning it doubles in the water for a mirror shot that is hard to better anywhere in Britain. Turn the camera the other way and the layered sandstone shelves of An t-Aird and the pillar rock make a strong foreground. Boats run out to Loch Coruisk from here, so you get moving subjects too. Gotchas: the road in is long, single-track and tiring, and the parking is genuinely tight - arrive early. The Cuillin generate their own weather; expect sudden katabatic gusts pouring off the corries and rapid cloud on the tops, so pick a settled high-pressure day and don't push far out over open water. Low tide opens up more launch shingle and cleaner foreground rock. Morning light hits the ridge face-on; by late afternoon it flattens. Keep clear of the pier and any wildlife-trip passengers.