The Photography of Dr. Jeff Harper

It was another cold and bleak Saturday . . . big clouds, a strong wind, and some blue sky poking through here and there.  The days are short this time of year here northeastern Scotland.  "Let's take a drive up to Huntly and see the castle this time."  "OK."  After a beautiful 40 mile drive from Abrdeen, we settled into a delicious lunch in the bar of the Gordon Arms Hotel, Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

On our walk to Huntly Castle, my wife and I couldn't help but chuckle at this Chinese take-away.  Literally every town in Scotland, no matter how big or small, has a Chinese take-away!

We parked in the city center, and after a delightful lunch in the town square, and walked up the tree lined entry to Huntly Castle.

You come up on Huntly Castle from behind old walls  . . .  and get your first glimpses through the stone framed windows.

The first castle was built on this spot in the 12th century, but it was torched in 1452.  Sometime in the mid-1500s this beautiful structure was built in its place.

The beautiful and mysterious Huntly Castle ruins.

The castle out-buildings held a few surprises:  the killing floor of this sheep butchery must have been high technology at the time.

A sign by the Scottish Trust explained that these features were meant to contain sheep entrails and blood . . . haggis catchers!

The back, or working, side of Huntly Castle is very imposing on this grey late Autumn day.

A structural element is missing off the back wall.  The 'windows' are purely functional and meet features of the interior without care for the exterior aesthetic consequences . . . as defense is the prime consideration in castle building.  My love of 'wall histories' was consummated in full here!

A chilly afternoon at Huntly Castle.

But it was time to explore the interior of this famous, so called, "haunted" castle.

The hunting scenes over the door attest to the castle's past use as a stop-over for royal visitors of the time on hunting trips to the wilderness of Scotland.  Robert the Bruce even stayed in the older castle in 1307.

The interior was empty and parts of the roof were open to the sky.

The castle was completely abandoned by the 18th century . . . and all the interior decor and features have long since been stripped.  The Scottish National Trust seems to have been responsible for installing the flooring on the second level and the improvised structural bracing seen here and there.

A window view out on the gloomy day.  The sun never rises very far into the sky this time of year, but it goes down very slowly which extends the sunsets for a long time.

As I made my way over to the rooms on the south side, the light became fantastic.

You can see the structural bracing in the yummie light and shadow . . . I'll try it in Black and White . . . .

Oh yes.

The sun at last sunk beneath the low cloud cover to shine a golden light through the windows of Huntly Castle!

Oh! The light! 

I realized I was standing in the castle tower, and looking up I was surprised to see the high walls lit with golden light.

An otherworldly sight!  The castle tower lit from the inside!

The recreated slotted ceiling lattice and fine light.

Perhaps one of the best photos I have ever taken . . . the only thing missing is a body in a noose hanging from the high castle tower ceiling.  Too bad I didn't have my 16-35 L-II lens with me.

A marvelous, cold, quiet space.

There are many stories of ghosts in Huntly Castle lore.  This happens not to be one of them . . . it's my wife's dancing shadow.

Castle shadow ballerina.

Self Portrait With Wall no.24. I'm a shadow of my former self.

All good things must come to an end . . .  time to leave Huntly Castle.  It gets dark early, and we have a 40 mile drive ahead of us.

I was met with this skyview as soon as I stepped out of the castle door.

The Aberdeenshire countryside around the castle was delightful.

The preferred view was straight up into the Autumn Scottish sky.

The sun is always low in the sky in this part of Scotland at this time of year.  Wonderful moods on the day.

We passed around the front of Huntly Castle on our way out.

What an imposing structure it must have been in its day.

Huntly Castle ruins in their full splendor.  The golden light of only moments earlier had gone.  I looked up at the tower and was glad I was lucky enough to be there at the right moment today.

The walk back to Huntly through this line of old trees was very pleasant.

The trees, in anticipation of an icy winter, had pumped up their turgor (sap pressure) to guard against freezing.  I'm glad I took that botany course in university now.

We returned to Huntly under an ever-changing light.

We walked through sunset-bathed Huntly, poking our noses into small shops.  We stopped in one cafe for free coffee and pastries . . . it was their grand opening!

We enjoyed our day trip to Huntly, but it was time to head home.  We wanted to stop at one of the Farm Stores we passed on the way . . . and I had hopes of standing in a farmer's field and shooting the rapidly developing sunset.

Th sunset did not disappoint!  I let my darling wife off at the Farm Store and drove out into the countryside on a farmer's road.

With the sun setting at such an acute angle, it took many minutes to fully develop.

In the tropics, like Bangkok (where I lived until five months ago), a sunset would begin and end in a matter of minutes . . . .

. . . but this most beautiful of sunsets lasted nearly 40 minutes.

This horizontal swirling braid moved fast enough for me to see it twisting.  Incredible.

If there were such things as flying saucers, this is the cloud from which they should descend!  WOW!

It was a big sky full of beauty.

I chose the Canon 24-105mm L-series lens, and tried to keep it around f8 hand-held for clarity.

As I stood by my car getting ready to put the camera away, I happened to look straight up . . . .

. . . and caught this shot of the reflected, and refracting, light of the sunset on ice crystals from yet another weather pattern moving in from the west.  What a great way to end the day.