Glencoe, Scotland

Ian Fleming - the creator of James Bond - was the grandson of Scottish financier Robert Fleming, who was a material landowner in the Highlands. One of the most coveted estates in the family was Dalness in Glen Etive, near Glencoe. Before WW2, Ian Fleming spent many days in this most dramatic of locations and this did not escape the attention of British Director Sam Mendes, who used the very same estate and glen as the location for the climax of his 2012 Bond movie - Skyfall. This is Scotland at its untamed best.

The road off the A82 from Glencoe to Dalness attracts camera heavy tourists, in part because of its volcanic beauty, but also because of Skyfall. I was keen to use the exact location where Daniel Craig and Judi Dench had a moment of reflection outside his parked Aston Martin DB5. After that, all hell broke loose.

With the help of the Alba traffic department of the Scottish Police, we were able to secure permits to briefly close the road. We were fortunate with the weather; this is not a blue-sky place and ideally, we wanted some snow and a hint of menace in the sky. There is a mournful beauty to the highlands that is visually compatible with flat light and low cloud. The sky falls low in Scotland.

This was a personal shoot for me given my heritage and my early childhood memories of skiing in Glencoe. Every shoot matters, but this one had an edge. The crew all stayed at Dalness and I think that put us in the right spiritual zone to do justice to Ian Fleming.

I want to thank the Fleming family, Torquil McAlpine and Alba for their support and help with this project.