The Photography of Dr. Jeff Harper

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.

I have lived in Aberdeen long enough now for my new car to need it's one year servicing.  I noticed on my GPS that my garage wasn't all that far from the North Sea.  After dropping my car off (and being told it would take 3 hours), I took off to see if I could find the sea.

It didn't take too long to find the North Sea coast on this beautiful October day.

The route to the Coastal Path was not hard to find.

The path was well-maintained . . . and provided gorgeous vistas of the North Sea.

I was not disappointed by the view.  Here birds nested on the cliffs.

Bird nests on the cliffs below.

I found a comfortable bench that overlooked a grand view:

I sat on my bench listening to the sound of the surf pounding on the rocks . . .

. . . and imagining these caves had some sot of interesting history, perhaps involving pirates, or princesses.

Only a few miles south from Aberdeen city.

The weather, and the light, changes very rapidly along the North Sea.  I got up off my bench and made my way along the cliff side path to look for a way back to the Nissan garage.

Yummie seascapes.

I will come back here many times, I know.

I found the path away from the cliffs, and the Aberdeen Coastal Path sign.  The Scots are great about providing nature lovers with paths and benches . . . and protecting the wild, unspoiled places.

The light became good again, and I was enthrall with the details of the Scottish farmland.

The touch of time, weather, purpose, and humanity.

Old stone walls marked the fields, and provided places for the birds and berries.

Berries still clung to their vines in mid-October. 

Although it was late afternoon, a few late season flowers came out from the shadows still coated in dew.

But most of the flowering plants had already arrived at the seeding stages of their life cycles, like these thistles.

Some undergrowth plants wait for the leaves of other plants to disappear in order to begin their own growth periods.

Back up some walled streets in the berg of Cove Bay . . . .

I crossed under the railroad mainline . . . in perfect light.

My return to civilization was greeted by this not very friendly dog.  Bow-wow.

When we moved into our new house in the Rubislaw Park area we had no idea that just a block away was beautiful Johnston Gardens . . . .

. . . and not just ANY park . . . a park that has won a national award!

And a magnificent park it is too.

I feel very lucky to have a park so nearby.

Johnston Gardens has many wonderful features, like this pond . . . with many migrating ducks and a few sea gulls.

A small stream (Rubislaw Burn) runs though the park . . crossed by this blue bridge.  Sweet.

In late July there was a riot of greenery.

Although Johnston Gardens is really only one city block long, it is full of paths and places of interest.

Small paths run here and there offering secluded benches for the contemplation of Nature.

Here and there the garden benches offer vistas across the burn.

Aberdeen can be a wet and rainy place, so a Classical shelter is provided for getting out of a downpour.

A charity for nature sponsored a 'Wild Dolphin' project which raised over 500,000 Pounds when many of these dolphins were auctioned.  They were placed all over the town.

As it was late summer, most of the flowers were long gone . .  but the berries and seeds remained.

There are so many photogenic scenes in Johnston Gardens.  I vowed to return during all the seasons to see nature's changing face.

The first week-end of the school year my friend and physics teacher drove down to Knockhill Racing Circuit (in my Juke NIZMO!) two hours south.

It started out a nice day, but soon the clouds appeared and a downpour came crashing down.  It didn't dampen the racing however.

This race was the penultimate race in the British Touring Car Series.  Very cool cars . .

The rain really came down for about 15 minutes.