If you've ever thought about Scotland at all, does the idea of a beach ever enter your head? Probably not? When filming or photographing landscapes or seascapes it can be difficult to find a point of interest. It's a good idea to try to find a story within the story. What will bring this landscape to life?
Embo Beach Rugged Rocks
24th August 2022
We often think of Scotland as rugged mountains and fantastic lochs of which it has an abundance but also one of those lochs may contain a monster. The famous Loch Ness Monster.
Scotland also has many beautiful beaches. I was on a fabulous beach in Scotland near a tiny village called Embo in Dornoch getting some cinematic video footage with my drone.
The area is known locally as Grannie's Heilan Hame (Highland Home) which is apparenty based on a song written in the 20th century by Thomas Sandy Macfarlane who imigrated to America.
Source
Embo Beach Scene Looking North
Flying up and down the beach near the shoreline was brilliant. Not a soul to be seen in miles and perfect flying conditions.
To be honest I didn't notice it at first as I was so engrossed by the fantastic scenery all around me.
Embo Beach Scene Looking South
I started filming the gulls sitting on the rocks by the oceans edge which was very cool as they were not disturbed by the drone at all. I'm flying a DJI Mini SE which is very quiet and at 40 altitude feet virtually silent.
Gulls Resting On The Rocks
As the drone flew down the beach I came across more gulls sitting resting on the shoreline rocks.
Colony of Gulls
Suddenly something caught my eye as I was passing over the rock formations and I wasn't quite sure what it was? Can you see it in the sea below left of centre?
What Is That?

I took the drone in for a closer look and was even more baffled by what I was seeing. I don't believe in monsters and we are miles from any loch?
Looks Like Nessie!

I pushed the drone closer to see what the heck this thing was. The tension was high. Had I finally caught a sea monster up close and with a high definition camera?
Here It Is Revealed

It's just an old pipe of some kind but it got my adrenaline flowing for sure.
It was an interesting day with some spectaular scenery and with the added excitement of almost capturing Nessie for real.
There are many sea creatures that we still have no clue about and it is possible that we may discover an actual living explanation for all those sightings of the Loch Ness Monster.
What do you think?
Embo Beach, Dornoch
The photograph above is of the Park Dean Holiday Camp near Embo where we were staycationing in a caravan. It has adopted the name Grannie's Heilan Hame for some reason?
It was a nice camp in the middle of nowhere. Just how I like it.
Even though it was August it was pretty cold and windy but it was fine.
We had plenty of sunshine and just enough wind free days to get some drone flying done which is always a consideration when drone flying.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the story. Remember to share your drone photos with the community.