Not sure whether you should read or listen to the Clanlands book accompanying the STARZ Men in Kilts show with Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish? This review should set you straight.
Outlander Photographer Aimee Spinks
Aimee Spinks is the photographer who brings you those marvellous still images from your favourite TV show, Outlander.The image above shows Aimee with Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe on the last day of filming Outlander Season 3 in Scotland. You can find her out there in the mud and rain, all hours of the day and night capturing the action as it’s filmed, equally at home in the rugged Scottish landscape or the huge controlled environment of the studio. Aimee’s work has added an extra and important dimension to the world of Outlander.
An award-winning British photographer, Aimee knew early in her career that she wanted to do this work in film and television. She has been working in the industry for nine years and describes the hard slog of getting to her current position where she gets to work on wonderful shows like Outlander, aswell as movies and other TV shows. She says that perseverance, and constantly learning from others, are some of the keys to her success. She began her work on very small projects and gradually became well known, and carved a niche for herself in the industry.
I talked with Aimee about her work on Outlander, in the middle of the COVID_19 virus crisis. Of course this situation has had a huge impact on her work. Aimee is currently busy with promotional work for her most recent project, The Old Guard starring Charlize Theron and Matthias Schoenaerts and also her other passion in life, competitive pole dancing.





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Outlander Fan Tales – Lisa
Lisa’s Outlander story started with a bargain. A self-confessed latecomer to the Outlander party she has made up for lost time, and now runs a fun-fan twitter account. Read on for Lisa’s story.
My sister told me that I should watch a show named “Outlander”. I wasn’t very interested. Then she told me again. And Again. I finally looked it up on IMDb. Ronald D. Moore, huh? Well, I loved the reboot of Battlestar Galactica and had always been a Star Trek fan so now I was intrigued. I said to my sister, “I’ll make a bargain with you. I’ll watch Outlander if you watch Battlestar.” While she has yet to watch BSG (Sisters!), I went all in on Outlander.
After bingeing the first two seasons (with my own ‘Jamie’ watching along side me), I read all the books, joined online communities, and suffered through my first Droughtlander awaiting the premiere of Season 3. Reading the books was a huge undertaking for me as I’ve never been much of a reader, and certainly not a quick one. But my husband was working full time and heads down getting a Masters so I had some time on my hands. I enrolled myself in a Masters course of my own: a degree in Outlander Studies, completing the books in seven months (quite an accomplishment for me).
How hooked was I? I started collecting first editions that I could find, and I even convinced a friend in Scottsdale to pick up a signed copy of the 25th anniversary of Voyager for me (Thank you, Diana Gabaldon, for signing the book and a photo of my trip to the Highlands!). Like a reporter on the scene, he texted me everything that was happening at the event while I roamed the grocery store.
How has my Outlander journey changed me?
1) Relationships. I often ask myself What Would Claire Do? Like many others, I was particularly drawn to the central relationship between Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) – how they support, care for, and love each other as demonstrated in their words and actions. WWCD has served as a model for me as I endeavour to be more empathetic in my own relationships.

2) Travel. Outlander pushed me to finally book a trip to Scotland, and I became one of the nearly 500K Americans who visited Scotland in 2018. Although I didn’t take a specific Outlander tour, I still managed to see many related sites while touring, including Glasgow Cathedral (L’Hôpital des Anges) and Glasgow University (Harvard), Bakehouse Close (the print shop), Culloden, and Holyrood Palace. Even more fun, I met up with other fans I knew online and we saw Grant O’Rourke (Rupert) perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

3) Mind and Body. After tackling the full Outlander canon including the short stories and Lord John Gray series, I’m now reading more than I ever have. And through My Peak Challenge, Sam’s program for self improvement and charitable giving, I’ve become more active, dropped weight, and have met other “Peakers” in my area.
Finally, to make a positive contribution to the Outlander community, I started a twitter account that combines my two obsessions – trivia and Outlander. I’m a competitive trivia player and Outlander is a goldmine of trivia – from characters, to locations, to history, and so much more. My account, @PubOutlander, covers the books, show, cast, crew, history, Scotland, and more. I’ve been so thrilled with the positive response from everyone who enjoys the feed. Thank you for playing along!
I know that so many people have been fans from day one. I was 25 years late to the party and appreciate how open this fandom is to late-comers like me. No matter when or how anyone started their Outlander journey, we all enjoy sharing our love of this truly epic story with its inspiring characters. With all the strife and stress in our lives, I’m fortunate to be part of a fandom community that is so enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and encouraging.
Thank You Jon Gary Steele: A Look Back at his Wonderful Outlander Sets and Design
first posted at Outlandercast on Feb 5th, 2020
by Janet Reynolds and Andrée Poppleton
Jon Gary Steele helped make the Outlander TV show a fan and critic favourite, overseeing set design and creating some amazing sets. This tribute post looks back at some of his most memorable sets.
Outlander Season 5 Update #2 – Filming Begins
(first posted at outlandercast in June 2019)
Maybe you’re a newbie to the OutlanderFandom (welcome!) or you’ve been here a while (yep, we’re in it for the long haul). Fans seem to fall into two categories it comes to behind-the-scenes content: Those who want everything to be a surprise, fresh and new, when the show airs, so they avoid social media, and those who voraciously soak up all the details of production and want to find out everything they can to keep themselves happy and engaged during the long #Droughtlander.
If you’re (with me) in the latter group, this post is for you. It’s a wrap-up of what’s been out there on social media so far and a look at the ways you can keep in touch and up-to-the-minute with happenings in the Outlander world.
Instagram (IG) and Twitter are the best platforms to keep up to speed in the fan world. Those who’ve solely relied on Facebook for their social media updates might want to consider branching out. Those who are already engaged on Twitter and Instagram might be interested to learn of some new names/accounts to follow. I’ve got a handy list below.
The story behind the scenes so far ….
The cast began to give us a wee keek into the start of production back in April via their IG accounts and stories (for newbies, IG stories are found by tapping the red circle at the top left of a page, and, be quick, they only last 24 hours!).
Lauren Lyle’s slightly muzzy view of the first table read
César Domboy in Makeup
Sam Heughan’s rather low-key announcement that he is now a producer on the show
Sam locates his trailer
Caitriona Balfe showed us her first Season 5 script on Instagram
Sam reconnects with his makeup artist Wendy Kemp Forbes – see below for how to connect with a Wendy on social media
Sophie Skelton becoming a redhead again
Next, we started to see some views of traveling to the locations, the locations themselves, and some technical stuff from the camera operators who frequently post on social media. (More on accessing those accounts later.) Fan pics emerged with the first sighting of Jamie Fraser’s Outlander Season 5 look and garb. But will we see him in a kilt this season? Fingers crossed. Please!
From César’s IG STORY – a moment to relax under sunny skies in bonnie Scotland
First fan pics of Jamie Fraser’s look for Outlander Season 5
Then we got the official view of Jamie and Claire from Outlander STARZ
Local fans posted some BTS pics of Fraser’s Ridge, River Run and also what might either be the regulators’ camp or the gathering. Time will tell on that one.
Frasers Ridge has a few additions perhaps?
River Run getting ready for action after the winter.
A campsite in the woods somewhere in Scotland. The Gathering? Or the regulators?
Amazing attention to detail, as usual
Outlandish Journeys was there when all the extras were going to and from the action. What about those gigantic hounds? I wonder how they would get on with Rollo? But of course Rollo is living far away with young Ian at their new home with the Mohawk. Million dollar question: Will they show us some of their life with the Mohawk in Season 5? Hope so.
… and then …. they spotted Murtagh …… (follow the link above to see more video from Outlandish Journeys.)
OutlanderSeason 5 casting announcements so far have been a bit thin on the ground, but a big thrill rippled through the fandom when we got our first glimpse of Adso! This is the kitten that Jamie finds and gives as a gift to Claire. Hearts melted at the sight of that British shorthair and the Outlandervet wrote a really cool post about the cat here. See more details on following her account below.
That wasn’t an an end to the animal antics. Sam showed us a rider’s eye view of his and Caitriona’s horses, and Richard gave us a look at his riding lessons.
And then we got a view of them all riding along as they gave a shout out to their favourite team, the Glasgow Warriors. From Sam Heughan’s IG:
Sam let us know how tired he was at the end of a long week, but somehow still had the energy (superhuman?) to look marvelously stylish and at ease when he met the Prince at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Actress and talk show host Aisha Tyler visited Sam and Caitriona at work one day.
The first of June is World Outlander Day. Who has ever heard of a book/TV series having its own international day?
Sam and Caitriona celebrated World Outlander Day at an airport on their way to the FYC Emmy event in LA
Emmy season is upon us, and the cast and production team attended a panel in LA. Imagine flying to LA for two days for an event, then back to Scotland and work the next day. No time for jet lag for this intrepid team. @jill_millander on Twitter was a fan on the spot that day and took this candid video of the cast between photos.
And Jill took this photo of “bendy Cait,” which we later saw from Sam’s eye view.
Now they are back at work, and apparently, it is rainy and muddy! So, what’s new?
And finally, a wrap on a series of night shoots and Caitriona Balfeclearly does not like the midges. Anyone who has spent time in Scotland will surely agree on that.
Do you want to keep up to speed with all things Outlander? Not sure where to start? Besides following Outlander Cast of course on Facebook, Twitter and IG, here is sampling of other names and accounts that are great to follow on IG and Twitter. Some people might not know that on IG you can also follow a #hashtag. In the search box enter, say #samheughan or #outlanderseason5 and you will see all the posts that have recently used that #hashtag. From that feed you may like to pick out accounts that interest you. There are SO many. Likewise on Twitter you can enter a #hashtag in the search box, say #samheughan, and you will get a list of all the recent posts. Again you can browse here to pick the accounts that interest you.
Searching #hashtags on Instagram and Twitter
Some interesting Instagram accounts
First of course, the stars and supporting actors, some are obvious account names, others slightly different from the person’s name — eg Lauren Lyle is laurenlyle7, John Bell is johnhunterbell and Richard Rankin is rikrankin.
Here are some other great accounts to follow, especially if you’re interested in Outlandernews and looking behind the scenes.
Matthew Roberts: matt_b_roberts executive producer and photographer extraordinaire. He posts mesmerising pictures of Outlander locations and interacts freely with fans, sometimes playing little games on his page
Gary Steele: jongarysteele Gary is the amazing production designer for Outlander. His IG account reflects his interest in design and architecture and he posts beautiful images of interiors and exteriors around the world. He also shares details of his set and location designs.
Wendy Kemp Forbes: wendybirdmua Wendy is Sam Heughan’s makeup artist (yes, she created those scars!) and he describes her as a close friend and his “rock.” Wendy posts personal stuff as well as occasional BTS gems and insighst into the world of the makeup artist.
David A Stewart: daviehollywood Davie is Sam Heughan’s driver and, as well as his personal posts and great location photographs, his account has fun stuff about him and Sam traveling to and from work in all weathers and at all times of day. Coffee and chewing gum feature heavily!
Mary Barranco: barranco.mary Mary is a fan who keeps up to the minute with all things Outlander, relating to production, the actors, fan pics, etc.
Michael Carstensen: steadimike Mike is a steadicam operator on Outlander. His account is a mix of personal stuff and interesting BTS pics and videos, some of it with a technical bent, and sometimes he puts really good BTS videos in his IG stories.
Barry Waldo: barrywaldo Barry is Gary Steele’s partner and his account is a fun mix of personal stuff, everything from travel adventures and cooking escapades to occasional gems of fun times with the cast and production/set design pics. Barry and Gary hosted some Outlanderpeeps for fun times at Easter.
The Rank and File: richardrankinfans If you’re crazy about Richard Rankin, this one’s for you!
outlander_forever : a fan account for all things Outlander
outlander_america: a newsy account with a wide focus on the show and the actors
Aimee Spinks: aimeespinksphotography Aimee is the award-winning photographer who takes all the official stills for Outlander.
Jon McCormick: jolly_boy_barnet Jon often posts technical camera stuff and cool BTS vids on his IG stories. You have to be quick!
Buzz Critchell: buzzcr You can find more camera stuff mixed with personal stuff and some good BTS vids on his stories sometimes.
@newglasgowgirls: Full discloser, I am one of the newglasgowgirls and our IG is a fan account with newsy Outlanderstuff and a focus on the actors, their careers and other projects.
So, on to Twitter– that place of fun, games and unlimited angst! You can pick and choose the accounts to follow to minimise the downside. Here are some of my suggestions:
The stars and cast, of course. You can find them all by searching their names in the search box – see pic above. Remember for celebrities and well known folks the blue tick next to their name signifies that this is their own verified account. No blue tick, and it’s not them.
And here are some others that you might find interesting/worthwhile
@Outlander_starz– the mothership
@Writer_DG– Diana Gabaldon, the actual mother of all things Outlander
@w_network– this great Canadian network that puts up really cool Outlandervideos
@OutlanderHQ– great fan site with lots of Outlanderstuff
@laughoutlander– a maker of superior and often hilarious outlandish memes
@Outcandour– our resident Outlandish vet and feisty feminist who wrote that cool post about Adso
@OutLandAnatomy– our resident Outlandish medico who sees the world of Outlander through an anatomical lens
@InverOutlanders– the Inverness Outlanders, a group on the spot in Scotland who give lots to the fandom including maps and self-directed outlandish tours
So, I hope newbies may now have an insight into ways they can follow all things Outlander and for those longterm fans, that you found something new here. Can anyone add to my list of great names/accounts to follow on IG and Twitter? If so, please leave them in the comments below.