So I guess the title of this blog might have got you wondering what I am taking about, No need to panic though, I haven't taken leave of my senses and started to photography white porcelain.
Whist up on the Isle of Skye last week, let's just say that on a couple of days the weather was rather inclement. There are only so many waterfalls that you can try and shoot and it becomes difficult to keep things dry especially when the Scottish Rain in coming at you sidewards driven by a strong northerly wind. As per last weeks blog and when when all else fails, then you can always search for some woodland and see what you can find, It does offer you some sort of protection from the elements.
The wood that was found was near to the famous "Fairy Pools" on the western side of the Island. This is a really popular venue for people to visit and the waterfalls their are just stunning with turquoise water and the Cullin mountains making a fantastic backdrop. It does however get very busy and finding a compositions without someone in it can prove to be challenging. I much prefer the hidden fairy pools, when is a location not known by many people and certainly isn't published in any guide book.
Anyway, back to the wood. With it's close proximity to Fairy Pools and a few place to camp, you can image that it gets busy and well used, either by people parking there to avoid paying the £5 charge for the official car park or others just wanting somewhere to camp for free. And there, lies the problem and the name. Now I know that we all need to answer the call of nature and for a man it is certainly easier. Going into the woods when there is no public convince around would also be the sensible thing to do. However...... why when answering the aforementioned call of nature would you choose to leave your toilet paper lying around. Ok so it is degradable and it is certainly better than plastic ( off which there were numerous plastic bottle, which seem to blight any popular location these days ) but surely it would be just as easy to put it into a bag and take it home with you or deposit it in the nearest bin. I am not just talking about the odd bit either. It was everywhere you looked for a good 50m or so into the wood in all directions. I had to walk a long way to find a safe place to shoot. Thankfully walking deeper in the wood did allow me to stumble on the image above which was a bit of a bonus.
It does make you wonder why people behave in this way but I guess it is indicative of the world that we now live in. More and more people are heading out to enjoy the great outdoors and with Covid many more are choosing to do this is the UK. I can only see things getting worse with general littering and its a problem that needs to be addressed. I can't begin to count the number of plastic bottles and crisp packets that I picked up last week when out and about. I do have a plea though which is; take home or dispose of your rubbish responsibly and if you do come across any plastic bottles etc then try to pick at least one of them up and get rid of it.