Photographer captures image of snow-covered Highland castle

A photographer who captured a snowy image of a Highland castle said the photo looks like a picture “from a chocolate box”.

Eilean Donan castle, on the banks of Loch Duich, Highlands, was photographed on November 27 covered in a light dusting of snow, with mountains in the background.

Nick Watson, 35, from Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, was returning from a visit to the Isle of Skye after leading a photography tour.

He said the image was so picturesque it looked like a chocolate box.

The castle currently standing on Eilean Donan was completed in 1932 after the island was bought by Lt Colonel John Macrae-Gilstrap in 1911.

It was the site of a Jacobite-supporting Spanish garrison which was blown up after they were defeated by the Royal Navy in the rising of 1719.

Father-of-one Nick said: “We almost didn’t get to see it.

“We had been on the Isle of Skye for a week and we were supposed to be getting the ferry but it was cancelled because the sea was too rough.

“We ended up driving over but had we got the ferry, we wouldn’t have stopped at Eilean Donan, so it was a blessing in disguise.

“There was snow on the hills so we went up for a look on the viewpoint.

“The castle’s not even that old.

“I knew the viewpoint was there but the guys I was with hadn’t been there before so I wanted them to get a shot of it.

“I have been up there a few times but I’ve never shot it in the snow like that before.

“The few times I’ve been up there before, there are no leaves on the trees so they are all brown, so it can look a bit messy but in the snow it looks really nice.

“It looks like the kind of shot you’d see on a box of chocolates or a box of biscuits.”