Can a leopard really change its spots?

This blog may seem a tad off-centre but I promise is is actually photography related, sort of.

To start at the beginning with the name of my website, LP66, for those that don`t know me, it stands for Lazy Photographer, which came about as a result of health issues and surgical recovery that took way longer than I expected. Rather than get despondent about the situation, I decided to embrace it, and embarked on a mission to do my landscape photography from within the confines of my condition. So rule one was photos had to be taken within 200m of the car, due that being the distance I could comfortably walk carrying all my photography gear, trouble was, I got far too comfortable with the lazy way of doing things. I found it was becoming far too easy to make excuses not to do something that required getting up from my chair and actually moving... which isn`t good for landscape photography. It is amazing how sneaky proper laziness is, bit by bit, little by little it ends up firmly pressing you into your seat, mind you, the same can be said for all other addictions, you don`t take any notice till it is too late.

Back in February `24 I organised a landscape photography trip to Glencoe and surrounds, and that was where the first inkling that the Laziness was becoming an issue made itself known. On our arrival in the Highlands, the weather was very McScottish indeed, horizontal rain on the driving wind with the occasional flurry of snow and sleet thrown in for good measure, we decided to head to Fort William and see if the weather was any better, and as that was where our hotel was, it seemed better than getting soaked trying to take images of a mist shrouded Buachaille Etive Mor, the iconic mountain in Glencoe. The rain had turned to a fine misting by the time we got to Fort William, and as any good organiser of events will know, one must always have a plan B and usually C, D, E & F for good measure. I took my party of photographers to the village of Caol at the top end of Loch Linnhe, where there is a shipwreck. The walk from the carpark to the shipwreck is not very far, maybe 500m... but it felt to me like I had done 5000m.

Shot in the back

The Shipwreck is really worth a visit if you happen to be in the area, and if the weather plays nice you get the ship and Ben Nevis in one shot. After about an hour photographing the location we made our way back to the car and went for lunch, which was when my past self tried to make itself heard and tried to get me to see the error of my Lazy Ways, which I suppressed like any LazyPhotographer worth his salt would. Or so I thought!

Sunday dawned bright and cold, with quite a lot of cloud, enough to make photography light a bit tricky, so off to Glencoe we went and fortunately, the three iconic locations for photographing Buachaille Etive Mor are all with 50m of where you can park the car, at least on a cold February morning.

Mountain Hut

The mountain hut can be photographed from the lay-by at the foot of The Devil`s Staircase, on the main road. no walking required, although this image had me drop down about 60m from the road.

Buachaille Etive Mor

This image was taken roughly 30m from the car, parked on the Glen Etive road. Easy enough to do, just keep your eyes peeled for Red Deer, those stags are big, and while they generally move away from humans, surprise them and you could find yourself being decorations on his antlers.

After this trip, my past self kept prodding me, it would just not rest, and as I was about to give in and listen, Laziness and Life got together and scuppered any plans Old Self had of making himself heard, for the next 18 months anyway.

In September 2025, I was down in Devon on holiday, and decided to go look for seal colonies, and was pointed to a bay just up from Bull Point Lighthouse. I parked my car at the caravan site, which I was allowed to do as we were staying at its sister site, and walked to Bull point, about 1km along a tarmac lane what has gentle gradients for fit folk... and what felt like cliff faces for someone of my athletic inabilities. From the lighthouse, you then "double back" along the cliff path with stunning scenery. It was at point that i passed, and greeted an elderly threesome, sat on the rocks admiring the view, I continued along the path to be confronted by what can only be described as the stairway to heaven, a steep and never-ending set of steps going up, and up, and up. I got to almost the top when I had to sit down and let my heart rate recover, and my legs to stop burning. While I was slumped on the stone I could hear voices, feint at first, but getting ever louder, chatting intermingled with laughter and I thought it must be a group of adventure junkies, super-fit 20somethings showing off. Like hell it was, around the corner comes striding the geriatric threesome, giggling and laughing like they was ambling round the local beer garden, and off they went leaving me staring in open mouthed wonder at the fitness these old folk had. I never did see any seals and I made my way down to the cliffs above the bay where they were sighted only to realise... what goes down... must goes up. I really should have retraced my steps when I first stopped , not continued, anyway, there I was in the bottom of a bowl faced with 3 choices, go back, go forward, or take the path that looked like it would be shortcut back to the lane I started from. Top Tip.. Do NOT take what you think is a shortcut... ever! It turned out to be the steepest, longest route I could have chosen, 3 times I nearly called the coastguard or mountain rescue to airlift me out , but I persevered and finally made it back to my car. And all the time I was struggling to put one foot in front of the other and contemplating abandoning my camera gear, Old Self was chuckling from the depths of my psyche, chastising me, but also encouraging me to go on, it would not shut up.

Back at my caravan the seeds of a plan were planted, tentatively I carefully nurtured the seeds, with the guidance from Old Self, and as Christmas approached I started on the mission to change from a LazyPhotographer into a photographer that can at least hold a normal conversation while walking up a slight incline. It is now the end of January and I have managed to lose 5kg and average out at 8000 steps a day. So there is hope for me yet.

Take Care & Stay Safe.