The Photography of Dr. Jeff Harper

I have three weeks off for Christmas/New Years holiday every year.  Neither of us had ever been to South America, so why not this year.  There are many issues and complications for my wife to get visas in many South American countries, but Argentina was most amenable . . . and number one on my list of places to see was Tierra del Fuego and the high dessert passes of the Andes mountain range . . . Argentina had both!  So we set off from Aberdeen International Airport one cold December morning bound for Buenos Aires, via Frankfurt, Germany! 23 hours later we landed in Argentina!

Our trip plan was to spend equal amounts of time exploring the city of Buenos Aires, experiencing adventures in nature around the Patagonian town of Ushuaia, and the wine producing area around Mendoza, which also served as a gateway to the high Andes.

We arrived late in Buenos Aires and made our way to our boutique hotel in the Palermo district.  It was wonderfully warm in the evening, as Argentina was in their summer months.

The next day was a Sunday, so we took the underground to the famous Sunday Street market.  I loved the street art in Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires is a very colorful city.  Now I know why the police wear the bright orange vests - urban camouflage!

There were many street performers out, like this puppeteer.

The street market was in a part of town that had many antique and knick-knack shops.

This [embossing?] machine was just waiting for a collector.

We spent the next three days exploring the vast city by foot . . . and shopping. I discovered this sculpture 'grave yard' for old statuary . . . and perhaps some new ones.  Very photogenic.  I took many, many photos in Buenos Aires and will, in the near future post the rest of the good ones here.  BE PATIENT!

Ushuaia - The End of The World!

From the lovely warmth of Buenos Aires, we arrived back in the cold again in Ushuaia - fin del mundo.

The views of the southern Andes were breathtaking.

Ushuaia harbour, where cruise ships stop for supplies, and specialized ships depart for Antarctica.  The city of Ushuaia is the furthest south of any city on earth.

The sunsets from our hotel room in Ushuaia were magnificent.

We had several meals of Patagonian King Crab.  Extraordinarily yummy!

It was mid-summer in Ushuaia and the flowers were all in bloom.

The poppies were especially beautiful.

Unfortunately, all the small over night cruise ships to the local glaciers were booked even before we decided to go to Patagonia (we tried to book in September), however, good guide books suggested hiring a taxi for the day in front of the ship passenger terminal, which we did one day.  We went out to the Tierra del Fuego National Park which is adjacent to Ushuaia.  We saw a lot there, and I will post more photos soon.  This is a beaver dam.

One of our days in Ushuaia was wet, so we took a half-day bus tour north up into the southern Andes.  Marvelous views all the way.  We stopped often at all the points of interest.  We were glad we took the tour . . . we saw so much beauty.

We had an excellent and informative bus tour guide.

The bus tour went as far north as Fagnano Lake.

It was hard to believe that this was a lake!  Lake Fagnano is fed by high Andean glaciers which give it the distinctive green color.

We drove back to Ushuaia through the high pass of the south Andes.

The following day we took another tour, this time to a science center that finds and preserves whale bones for display in museums around the world . . . whales that have dies a natural death.  The tour also would take us to see PENGUINS!

It was summer in Patagonia and the place was alive with flowers.  Our penguin expedition  left from an old homestead.

It was a grey and damp day when we headed off to see the penguins.

We took an inflatable boat out to an island  . . . .

The island was full of hundreds of penguins . . . of different varieties.

Our eco guides taught us how to act and react to penguins (move slowly and do not reach out to them or give them anything).

There were penguins everywhere!

Penguins are not shy.  I guess they thought we were just really tall penguins.

There were many pairs of penguins.

Because penguins are not shy, I could go right up to them and take close-up photographs.  Fantastic!

A mother penguin protecting her little gosling.

We returned to Ushuaia after a quick stop at this vintage Patagonian out house.

Patagonia was wonderful, but we said good-bye . . . and flew off to Mendoza in the far airid northwest of Argentina.

MENDOZA

Our time in Mendoza was split in three (3) parts, with a return to the city each evening. 1) The desert road and winding dirt road up the mountains on Argentina Highway 52; 2) The Uco Valley wine growing region an hour out of the city (and a surprise!); and 3) The drive up Argentina Highway 7 to the Chilean boarder through the magnificent high Andes arid pass.

Central Mendoza was a tree-lined and charming old provincial town.

The city is built around Independence Park, where people congregate in the evenings.

As Highway 52 left the city of Mendoza, the houses became older and made of adobe.

A cactus in the sky.

As is often the case in a desert environment, there are different zones created by differences in elevation, moisture, and soil . . each with its own unique flora and fauna:  I passed through a zone of cacti.

Driving through the high desert scrub brush towards the Andes on Highway 52 . . . one of my favorite things to do is drive on small desert roads with the horizon far off at the end of a ribbon . .  and the windows all open with the radio loud.  I hadn't done that in a long tome.  Too long.

Such a lovely place!

A white Catholic altar . . . in the middle of nowhere . . . made it somewhere.

The weather alternated between cloudy with a light sprinkle and bright sunshine.

As I neared the base of the Andean foothills, I came upon a zone inhabited by Alpacas, a relative of the Llama.

The group of Alpacas stopped to check me out.  They are ridiculous with cuteness!

This is what I had come to see . . .

. .  the secret valleys up along the twisting gravel mountain road.  Astonishing!  This is my favorite topology and geography. 

And by 'Twisty Road' I mean very twisty road!

Just me, my rent-a-car, and a winding mountain track.  I loved driving up into the hills on this road.

I ran out of time before I ran out of wonder - I didn't want to drive back in the dark.  The view from the top was vast.

I had to chuckle at this sign . . . . talk about understatement!

I saw one other Alpaca high up on the mountain side.

I got out of the car and took a short walk to a promontory overlooking the big plain, the Pampas, of Argentina.  There were beautiful plants in bloom . . . and hungry wasps.

I took in one last grand view and drove back down the mountain to Mendoza. The next day, New Years Day, we would go to the Uco Valley vineyards.

We got up early, even though we had celebrated New Years Eve at a fun party with a bunch of vacationing Brazilians at the Hilton the night before.  The Uco Valley also had beautiful old adobe vineyard structures.

I love the character, like a face, of old doors and windows,  I was in photographers' heaven with these examples.

Old doors . . . what is the enticement for me?

It was a beautiful day for a drive around the vineyards of Uco Valley.  If you have ever had Argentine wine it probibly came from this valley.

We found a gourmet restaurant out in the vineyards and had a fabulous lunch.  The owner made some nice art with his empty wine bottles.

This old wall, something out of the 19th century, gave me the feeling of an era gone by.

We saw many of these roadside shrines along the hilly road back to Mendoza from the Uco Vally.  They were either 'Lets hope the Virgin Mary can assure good brakes' shrines, or were shrines to someone who lost their life on the highway nearby.  I stopped at a couple of them.  The next day my wonderful wife booked a surprise!!!

The surprise was a day spent at a mountain hot springs spa!  Win Win!

A natural hot spring has fed the spa for over a hundred years.

A little cold glacial water from the river is added to each pool so that they become progressively less hot the further down you go.  You start at the bottom and work your way up until you arrive at the pool that is cooking you.  I got cooked . . . turned lobster red and had to be told to get out and get in the cooling shed!  We spent a wonderfully relaxing day at the spa.  The price included a "buffet lunch" . . . which turned out to be a feast of every kind of food know to mankind . . . from Japanese to Indian, to health food, to Argentine delicacies, all of it delicious.  We stuffed ourselves!

 More to come!

We took a late November 2014 day trip to see the quaint seaside villages of Gardenstown and Pennan.

The quaint village of Pennan, Scotland hugs the North Sea.  It's hard to believe that such beautiful places exist!

Only one fishing boat left in the Pennan harbour.

A dark and stormy morning in Pennan.

Tucked in behind the village was a remarkable cottage.  Amazing!  I want to live here!  There was a small inn in Pennan (closed) that we vowed to stay in come Spring.

We drove along the narrow country lanes of north Aberdeenshire.

We followed the road signs to down a steep hill to Gardenstown.

I loved these Gardenstown fishermens' sheds.

Gardenstown is still a fishing community, but most of its income now comes from tourism and movie production (the TV series The Barons was filmed here).

All of Gardenstown's streets ran down to the sea.

A picture perfect seaside village.

We walked out to the edge of Gardenstown to take in the view looking East - before returning to the town for a drink.

The pub company was good at the 18th century Garden Arms Hotel.

We drove further west along the north coast to McDuff, where we stopped for a late lunch/early dinner.  It was a wonderful day on the stormy Scottish coast.

For an October Monday night concert in Glasgow, I had to panic out of my office and make a mad three hour drive to Glasgow to get to the arena in time for the concert.  I decided not to take my camera in and just enjoy the music.  I'm glad I did.  James Taylor puts on a wonderful, warmhearted concert of outstanding music.  He is just as good, if not better, than he has ever been.  His band is great and his cast of sidemen and women were worth the price of admission in their own right.  This is the iPhone photo from the night.

We made a quick trip to Glasgow to take in a James Taylor Concert.

The cocert was on a Monday night, so I had to take a 'Personal Day' off from work . . .  which meant we could take in a little shopping in Glasgow before we took the three hour drive back home to Aberdeen.

The old downtown shopping area has been nicely redeveloped into walking streets and these marvelous Victorian gallerias.

This galleria had some incredible woodwork . . .

. . . and a wonderful greenhouse roof. 

There were some fine photo opportunities in these galleries.  I LOVE this ____________ playing.

We took some 'B-Roads' home to check out a couple of castles we hadn't seen yet. Unfortunately we got here too late (only 15 minutes of opening time remained) to pay the 30 pounds entry fee.

They wouldn't even let us walk in the castle gardens!  I stole this shot over their garden wall.  So there!

On Sunday, October 26, 2014, I walked out the door and across the street into an autumnal Johnston Gardens.

Johnston Gardens is beautiful.  I have seen it in Summer and Autumn now.

It was a cold day . . . but a few summer flowers still clung to their branches.

The pond was full of jousting and frolicking ducks.

A blazing red tree in Johnston Gardens.

A leaf covered path leads out from Johnston Gardens that follows the North Burn of Rubislaw.

The burn runs behind, and below rows of suburban granite stone houses.

The burn would now and then be clogged with leaves and sticks.

With the leaves off the trees, the moss was in full growth mode.

Walker Dam on the burn.

Autumn's red berries.  My plan for the day was to take a long walk to the big park two miles away . . . but I became distracted by the amazing tree bark textures around me . . . and instead spent the better part of an hour studying bark and taking photographs.

My brother and his wife came for a four day visit to see us in Scotland in late October.  That meant a road trip, of course.  No visit north up the A96 would be complete without a stop at the Baxters simulated old village and store on the River Spey.  Unfortunately the Christmas Shop wasn't open yet.

A road trip in Scotland necessitates several stops at various castles.  Aberdeenshire has more castles (see list here) than any shire in the entire UK.  This is a back gate to Fyvie Castle, with claimed 13th century origins.

Magnificent Fyvie Castle.  Unfortunately were there before opening hours . . . be we combed the castle grounds and posed for numerous photos.

Finding castles often leads to discovering wonderful rural roads.

Scottish rural roads often lead to quaint villages.  It was fantastic day for landscape photography.

We stopped to poke around an old rural church cemetery . . . looking for our family name on grave stones.  We didn't find any here.

Our next stop was at the incredible ruins of Elgin Cathedral, which dates from 1224.

Elgin Cathedral must have been a magnificent structure in its day.

Wonderful scenes and vistas through the ruins.

A part of one vestibule was still standing . . . .

A long exposure shot of the medieval wooden ceiling of the vestibule at Elgin Castle.  Fantastic

What's left of a statue of an old Pope or Bishop at Elgin Castle ruins.

We stayed at the Melrose Villa B&B in Inverness.  It was nice.

The beautiful River Ness flows through Inverness.

We took an evening walk along the River Ness and enjoyed the evening light on Inverness Castle.

We crossed the River Ness on this iron Victorian pedestrian bridge.

No matter who comes to visit, they all want to take their pilgrimage to Loch Ness for a little monster spotting.

It's also good to stop off at Urquhart Castle, on the banks of Loch Ness.

We took a different, and longer route home through a gorgeous river valley.

We stopped periodically to enjoy the sights . . . and sounds of a wild Scottish salmon stream.

Old sturdy rural churches marked our way.  Struy Church.

Beautiful nature in Scotland.

After the road turned to gravel, we came upon a 'holy fountain' dedicated to a saint.  My sister-in-law gathered some of the water.

Saints used to wanter the forests and trails of the Scottish Highlands and river valleys.

It was a good, but short road trip . . . and it was good to see my brother and his wife again.