A photography course made easy by beautiful Easdale Island

The salty spray spatters my face as the sparkling blue Atlantic gives way to distant chains of hills on the horizon. In the foreground a grey clump of rock comes into focus. White cottages line up like sentries. It’s a three-minute crossing but it feels as if we have arrived in another world. “Welcome to Easdale” reads a hand-decorated slate sign. My journey ends and my adventure begins.

I am a novice photographer, keen to learn the tricks of the trade, and to my untrained eye Easdale Island looks filled with potential. It is why I signed up for On Assignment, a two-day residential course on Easdale run by Colin McPherson, a professional snapper.

McPherson has been running courses here for nine years — but his connection to the smallest permanently settled Inner Hebridean island goes back more than 30 years. Initially an inquisitive holidaymaker, he spent a year living as part of the community on Easdale until his career took him elsewhere. He remains what the locals call a part-time islander: belonging to a network of people who invest time and effort to help sustain life on this rocky outcrop on Argyll’s coast.

• An unforgettable day trip to the Isle of May

I am housed, with the six others in the group, in two charming traditionally designed cottages. Built 25 years ago, the accommodation is spacious and modern, with great facilities. I’m sharing my cottage with two others, each with our own bedroom. Beyond the front of the cottages a panoramic view expands from the Firth of Lorn to the Isle of Mull, the sun sending shafts of light on to its dark, distant shoreline.

Although only 62 acres in size, with a population of about 60, Easdale has a rich and important history. During its heyday it was the centre of Scotland’s slate quarrying industry — not for nothing it came to be known as “the island that roofed the world”.

Easdale’s slate industry led to it being known as “the island that roofed the world”

COLIN MCPHERSON

McPherson is evangelical about the island and passing on knowledge gained from 35 years as a photojournalist and documentary photographer. “I love this place and am committed to bringing visitors here to experience its beauty and helping people understand what life is like in a small island community,” he says.

• Where will you go this summer for a Scottish island escape?

The course begins with a short session setting the scene for how and where we can photograph on the island. We are introduced to locals and encouraged to think about themes and illustrating contemporary life here. There is plenty of time to explore, to capture the incredible natural environment, and we get hands-on tuition and support. I am relieved to meet other novices whose skill levels are below mine. This is not a geek retreat: it’s about identifying what to document — and how to get the best results.

Easdale has more acres than people

ALAMY

There is so much to photograph. The first thing I notice are the whitewashed traditional quarry cottages. Arranged in neat rows around a large grass square, they sit snugly in lush green vegetation. Beyond them, a vast expanse of deep blue ocean. There is slate everywhere, from piles of spoil left over from the mining days to tiny outbuildings and sturdy drystone walls. McPherson shows me how to work the angles and shapes to perfect a beautifully composed image. More possibilities arrive in the form of the ferry crisscrossing the sound, a carpenter’s workshop, and wild swimmers readying themselves for a dip in a flooded quarry. I take photographs as if I am gathering wildflowers (also abundant on the island).

Easdale’s tiny harbour

ALAMY

The home-cooked fodder is excellent. All meals, from a delicious five-bean chilli to hearty lunchtime vegetable soups with local cheeses and warm crusty bread, are eaten communally. It’s definitely more holiday camp than boot camp.

On the second day, we learn how to edit the material, then there is a show-and-tell session in which we get feedback — and applause. At our final meal it occurs to me that although we have only known each other for two days, we feel like a team.

Elderflower on Easdale, taken by Jean West

JEAN WEST

When the sun rises over Easdale next morning, I find I am not quite ready to leave our lovely cottage on this brave wee island inhabited by a hardy few. Reluctantly I board the passenger ferry and drift back to Ellenabeich on the isle of Seil. But locked in my camera are visual stories hard won. “Are they any good?” I ask McPherson in an email later. “Not bad,” he replies. That’ll do me.

Jean West was a guest of Easdale Experiences (easdale-experiences.com). The two-day On Assignment photography course costs £495, including three nights’ accommodation and all meals. The Easdale ferry departs from Ellenabeich on Seil (£2.70 return)