New Islay video: A Whirlwind Tour of Islay

Announcing the relaunch of the blog this morning I hinted there might be a second ‘Christmas present’ coming up. Having only finished editing it late in the evening on Christmas Evening I still had to upload it this morning. But it all worked out and I can proudly present my latest Islay video. It’s a bit different from the videos I’ve made previously. To start with it has music. Then it’s monochrome. And it’s quite fast paced. A bit of an experiment, I’m very curious to see what people think. Here it is:

In 4.5 minutes I’m taking you on a quick journey around Islay, taking in as much as possible in such a short period. Admittedly some of the selections were influenced by the availability of footage, in other areas I had to make difficult choices what to show and what to omit. Here is a list of the places you can see in chronological order:

1. Port Ellen buoy
2. Port Ellen lighthouse
3. Port Ellen warehouse
4. Port Ellen houses with passing Islay Coaches
5. Port Ellen Maltings
6. Port Ellen pier/marina and village
7. Laphroaig approach from loch
8. Laphroaig smoking pagoda
9. Laphroaig stills
10. Dunyvaig castle and Lagavulin
11. Lagavulin distillery
12. Bowmore distillery approach from sea
13. Bowmore Main Street
14. Round Church
15. Barnacle Geese in front of Port Charlotte
16. Barnacle Geese at top of Loch Indaal with Paps of Jura
17. Bruichladdich approach from sea
18. Bruichladdich over distillery
19. Bruichladdich spirit safe (making Port Charlotte spirit)
20. Past Loch Indaal lighthouse to Port Charlotte
21. Port Charlotte pier from above
22. Port Charlotte Main Street towards Port Charlotte Hotel
23. Loch Indaal lighthouse with breaking waves
24. Waves breaking over Port Charlotte pier
25. Saltire flying in Portnahaven
26. Rhinns of Islay lighthouse and fishing boat
27. Seal in Portnahaven
28. Waves breaking near Port Wemyss
29. Single track road towards Kilchoman
30. Approaching Kilchoman Church
31. Ruin of Kilchoman church from the air
32. View of Machir Bay
33. Beach view in Machir Bay
34. Otter in Machir Bay
35. At the wreck in Machir Bay
36. Above the wreck in Machir Bay
37. Breaking waves in Saligo Bay
38. Waves blown back by wind in Saligo Bay
39. View towards Sleeping Giant / Opera House Rocks in Saligo Bay
40. Saligo Bay from the air
41. Barnacle Geese feeding at Gruinart
42. Barnacle Geese lifting off at Gruinart
43. Barnacle Geese over the Gruinart marshes
44. Barnacle Geese over grazing cows
45. Approach to Finlaggan from the air
46. View of the house ruin at Finlaggan from the air
47. MV Hebridean Isles arriving in Port Askaig
48. Passing McArthur’s Head lighthouse

I still think that’s quite impressive for 4.5 minutes, also a sign of how much Islay has to offer. It might be too fast and hectic for some, but then it might be exciting and fresh for others. I’m normally not a big fan of music for videos (certainly for my videos) and prefer more natural sounds, but here it felt appropriate so I used some. To avoid any rights issues (not to mention that the lyrics I feel often don’t really fit) I didn’t use any big hit(s) known to many but used some free music offered by Google. No lyrics, so no risk of conflict there either. The style of music will probably not be to everyone’s taste, I like the speed and energy in it.

Now it’s over to you, I hope you enjoy and like the whirlwind tour of Islay. Let me know what you think.

Author: Armin Grewe

I blog about Islay. View all posts by Armin Grewe