Scotland photography vacation, Far Northwest

Planet

All of our photography vacations are essentially small group travel and capped at 10 guests. Whenever possible we will explore our locations by foot which helps reducing pollution, environmental noise and damage.

We operate a ‘leave no trace’ policy when out in the field; all locations visited are treated with the ultimate respect to maintain them for future generations.
We are committed to offering low impact vacations. Photography is generally a quiet, contemplative activity and our guests are always careful not to leave traces or intrude in any way on other people’s life and activities.

Our accommodation is very close to our photography locations allowing us to keep driving to a minimum.

We support local environmental associations through passing on information about their policy and raising awareness of current issues and environmental sustainability. We actively encourage guests to travel responsibly and to consider the following guidelines:

• When out in wild places to keep erosion to a minimum, keep to footpaths or rights of way and avoid stepping on, or picking native flora.

• When near wildlife or bird colonies minimise human disruption of the natural environment taking considerable care during breeding seasons so as to not disturb nesting birds and wildlife.

• To take the time to carry out some research about Coigach and Assynt and its unique environment and history.

• The use of re-usable bottles for water is recommended to all our guests.?• To respect local customs religion, traditions and personal property boundaries.

• To avoid taking photographs of local people and places of religious significance without permission.

• Send copies of photos to local people if promised.

• To read labels and buy local products such as food and souvenirs so that money directly benefits the community.

• To reduce pollution and carry out all litter from locations visited. Waste should be recycled wherever possible.

Wherever possible we work electronically and promote considerate use of digital resources. We are primarily web based for all administrative communications with minimal use of office paper.

People

We are happy to work with local community groups supporting their promotion of tourism through the provision of free, high quality photographs. Specifically, these can be passed to the Coigach and Assynt Living Landscape Partnership for use in their Sense of Place Toolkit and stock library.

Tourism is an important source of income for the local community in Cooigach and Assynt. Our accommodation is provided by a small family-run hotel and all the food for the vacation will be purchased locally rather than brought from elsewhere.

Our Coigach and Assynt tour visits locations that are less frequented by tourists, avoiding the creation of “honey-pots” that can damage the environment and erode community heritage and goodwill.

We choose to run our photographic vacations during the off-season when we can really make a difference to the local tourist economy. We collaborate closely with local businesses and partners who have been carefully selected for their shared respect for our sustainable ethos and environmental values. We work with local operators and our photographic guides are trained to share our commitment to responsible travel wherever possible.