The Photography of Dr. Jeff Harper

While cleaning the house and putting away some of our shipment, I happened to look out he window and was amazed at what a beautiful day it was.  There may not be too many of these left before winder arrives, so my darling wife and I dressed up for a trip to the countryside, and Drum Castle.  First we stopped at the amazing Mains of Drum Garden Centre and had a cup of coffee and a brilliant scone.

A 'Fairytale Sky'.

Drum Castle, founded in 1325. I couldn't tell which was the front and which was the back of this castle.  It didn't matter.

Drum Castle.

Castle architecture is a lost art.

Architectural detail on the new section of Drum Castle.

These castle features are fascinating to me. Although the light was not great . . . it kept peeking out from behind a cloud, then disappearing again . . . until . . .

I was at last rewarded with some bright, clear light from behind those scrumptious billowy clouds.

A lovely day for a Scottish castle wedding . . . and the perfect setting.

The woods around Drum Castle are not 'natural,'per se; they have been planted over the centuries with interesting and rare trees and shrubberies. I have no idea what these maroon-colored treed were . . . .

There was a stand of these; each seemed to glow maroon from the inside.

We did not go inside the castle . . . we had come for a walk in the woods.  We followed the signs leading us through the forest to the gardens.

The gardens were old and well maintained.

The gardens were an enchanted place.

One can imagine all sorts of forest creatures loitering around this pond when the humans are nowhere near.

Parts of the castle walls enclosed other gardens.

A castle gate enticed us inside the formal gardens.

The inital impression was of a formality in design.  But the wildness of Nature filled every circumscribed space.

The clinging vines covering the castle walls were beginning to turn the colors of Autumn.

I think I am going to have to keep coming back here every week for the next month to see the entirety of the Autumnal transformation.

I was in a continuous swoon!  Having spent the last seventeen Autumns in the tropics, I realized, all at once, the immense beauty of Fall colors in the far northern latitudes.

On the verge of Autumn.

All around the castle garden walls, a riot of color.

There was so much, nay, too much to see in this magnificent garden.

There were amazing beddings of furry white ground cover.

Nature uses her devices over and over again; fur.

Bright, optimistic white burst.

The gardener here had quite an eye for impactful arrangements, I'd say.

End of summer fruiting.

Abundant rose hips.

A Drum Castle rose.

Beautiful flowers and bedding, all surrounded by high walls festooned in Autumn colors.  A beautiful day.

Pure Beauty.

There are many garden spaced separated by high castle walls . . . and garden gates.

Many of the flowers were beginning to decay in the remnants of the summer light.

The last autumnal floral array . . .

A red splash on the castle garden wall.

The light alternated between bright direct sunlight and the muted, flat light of a cloudy day.  It was a real challenge.

You can't miss with white flowers on a dark background.

There is a beauty in roses, and their hips.

These are 200 year old gardens . . . planted and replanted over and over again.

I love these thick planted beds: the colors and the complexity.

We are only weeks from regular frost here in Abedeenshire . .  the impermanence is palpable.

These dense planted extended the length of one wall . .  and the sun shone one them all at once . . . I was breathless once again.

Incredible.

My compliments to the garden architect.

We crossed paths with the wedding party and their photographer several times in the gardens.

Every turn revealed new vistas.

There were waves of flowering plants . . . .

. . . . . hedges of flowing plants . . . .

. . . . all the last flowers of summer.

It was getting late . . . .

. . . . the sun was getting below the tree line . . . .

. . . . I had to reluctantly admit it was time to leave.

We walked out the path we entered on . . . but . . .

. . . but now the path seemed mysterious in the gathering gloom.  We walked faster towards the castle.

The shadows in the forest grew longer, deeper.  I would not want to be out here in the dark.

We were glad to see the castle again.

Last light at Drum Castle.

I watched the sky all day, appreciating the giant structures there.