The Photography of Dr. Jeff Harper

The Tattie Hols were upon us so we decided to take an extensive road trip North and East.  The Tattie Hols date from a time when the schools would close so the children could help bring in the potato (tatties) crop.  The Scots still take this holiday (hols) and so does my school. We drove north out of Aberdeen and stopped at the Baxters roadside attraction.  It is a factory store of a company that makes shortbread and baked goods.  They had an "authentic" old village there for tourists.

Yes, there was a "Christmas all year" kind of shop there too . . . .

ELGIN:

This is more like it: the fabulous ruins of the Elgin Cathedral (c.1224). . . and perfect light.

We had a tee time in Inverness, so I did not go in to explore . . . it's only an hour from Aberdeen.  I'll be back.

Fantastic.

INVERNESS:

We finished our golf game and made it to our hotel just as a magnificent sunset burst across Inverness.

We checked into the Winston Guest House in Inverness.

The Winston Guest House was a wonderful old building.

After a world class pizza (who knew you could get such a great pizza in Inverness, Scotland at Zizzi's) we walked back to the guest room to see the Inverness Castle (Caisteal Inbhir Nis) fully lit.  A castle has stood on this site since 1057, but the current red sandstone structure dates from 1836.

Last night's sunset was good, but this  morning's sunrise over the Inverness Castle was GREAT!

Inverness Castle is beautiful at any time of the day.

Inverness is a good town to just stroll around in . . . this church was just around the corner from our Guest House.

Wonderful detail . . .

Old Inverness was just across the Ness Canal.

A path ran along the canal at Inverness . . .

. . . where beautiful castle-like homes sprouted among the vegetation for miles.

LOCH NESS:

Our first view of Loch Ness was impressive.

Even if there were no "mystery" surrounding Loch Ness, it is a wonderful place to visit.

I watched the waves for awhile and saw the occasional "compounded wave" . . .  larger than the others . . . and took this photo of it.

I enlarged (cropped) the above wave image and, lo and behold, there's Nessie!  I did not enhance this photo in any way other than cropping.  Isn't that a large fin-like protrusion along side?  Could those really be demon eyes on The Loch Ness Monster?  No, not really.

We were not the first people to visit Loch Ness.

If there ever could have been such a thing as the Loch Ness monster, this is what it could have looked like, if there could have ever been one, which there couldn't have been.  Great photo op though.

The ruins of Urquhart Castle stand on the shores of Loch Ness.  There is archeological evidence that the first castle or fort was built on this spot in the 560s. The current castle ruins date from the 11th through the 13th centuries.

Urquhart Castle is THE archetypical castle ruin.

A trebuchet stands in front of Urquhart Castle, a reminder of the many sieges that took place here, and the cause of the present state of destruction.

Beautiful artistic workmanship on this medieval weapon of mass destruction.

Urquhart Castle ramparts and the remains of the castle tower on the shore of Loch Ness.

My new boss invited my wife and I to join him at his golf club for a round of links golf.  My golf it pitiful, but my wonderful wife gladly accepted; she is a very good golfer.  I asked if I could caddy for her and take photos.  The club granted permission.

But of course this is not your ordinary golf course.  It is the sixth oldest golf course on earth, The Royal Aberdeen Golf Club.

Tom Watson, the famous PGA golfer, once said the front nine at Royal Aberdeen is the best nine holes in golf.

Royal Aberdeen is without a doubt the most beautiful golf course I have ever seen.

Unbelievable beauty . . . and a tremendous challenge for even the best golfers.

Any mistake is punished on this course.

Dune, green, pot bunker.

There are wonderful views of the North Sea coast throughout the course.  Amazing.

It was a great day.

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.

I decided not to spend the whole wee-end in my office . . . especially when the weather was still good.  We headed out east on North Deeside Road . . .

Our destination was Banchory, about 30 miles west of Aberdeen.  When we arrived we took a small road toward the river because we had heard that the salmon were jumping.  But, when we arrived at the River Feugh, we could not resist going in for tea and scones at The Falls of Feugh Restaurant.  Yummy.

Such a yummy place indeed.

The river Feugh was a fast and rocky stream.

We stood on a bridge and some old local people told us that today there was only one large and one small salmon trying to make it up and over the rapids.  We saw the large one make a great leap . . . but fail.

Our next destination was a farm store that had been recommended to us in the area.  We took to a country lane dotted with wonderful cottages here and there.

Several people had been talking to us about the charms of the rural farm stores.  Finzean Estate Farm Store was nondescript on the outside.

But on the inside it was a food photographer's dream!

The low, flat light was perfect for capturing the subtle shades and shifts of light.

Yes, I have to say it, a veritable cornucopia!

I was taking so many photos of the vegetables that I actually drew an interested crowd of onlookers!

We bought parsnips, hot peppers, and garlic.

I love to photograph vegetables.  What's wrong with me?

Just give me a cabbage and some good light . . . .

. . . and I'll even shoot in black in white, in spite of the color!

They had more for sale than food . . .

. . . lots of honest, simple items.

We left the farm store and went on down the country lanes of Aberdeenshire.  I love how people name their homes.

We drove deeper into rural Aberdeenshire and were rewarded with a blanket of yellow ferns along the road.

Blue grey light on the white beech bark above a carpet of yellow.

It was a perfect day to be in the forest of Abedeenshire, Scotland.

I have never seen this yellowing fern array in my life.  Very beautiful!

We have equipped ourselves with the perfect road trip vehicle: the VW Taureg AWD 2.0 Diesel . . . 50+ MPG!

We meandered around on the small Aberdeenshire country roads until we came to the Potarch Hotel.  We went in had had a wonderful lunch.

After lunch we walked fifty meters to the stone bridge over the upper River Dee.  It was a perfect end-of-summer day.

A perfect day for some fly fishing on the River Dee.

Aberdeenshire on the brink of Autumn.

We followed a nearby sign pointing to a "Forest Walk."  We thought we were going to be walking in the wilderness, but instead the path followed the road, albeit a wooded road.

There were some very sweet cottages along the way.

I love these old walls being reclaimed by Nature.  There is know way to know how old these walls are . . . perhaps from Medieval times.

One of the great things about forest walks in Europe is coming across a vestige of some older era . . . slowly dissolving back into the earth.

Although it was the fifth day of Autumn, there were still a few summer blooms hanging on.

The proverbial late bloomer!

Summer's end: time to disperse seeds.

There were some fine large mushrooms pushing their way up though the overgrown forest floor too.

These black mushrooms looked positively DANGEROUS! I was scared to get too close.

A forest is a living thing: it takes life from parts of itself when they die.

We saw these red "berries' everywhere, but knew, somehow, that you could not eat them.  How do we know this?

Evidence of a job well done.

We left the beautiful Aberdeenshire forest rivulets, flowers, and treed behind . . . .

. . . and bid farewell to our little friend the inch worm (he better hurry: winter is coming!), and drove to Banchory.

We arrived in Banchory in late afternoon under greying skies.

It was a Saturday and lots of people seemed to have driven out from Aberdeen for the small town charm.

We did a little shopping ourselves in this butchery that seems little changed from its 1921 origins.  We bought the perfect mint sauce for lamb.

One last look around town to discover this marvelous flower shop before driving home.  We only put 30 miles on the odometer.  There is so much to see that is near to Aberdeen.  We are really loving exploring the city and the region. Fortunately we are having one of the driest and warmest summers anyone around her can remember.  We plan on taking advantage of every minute of it.

We had a 3-day week-end and new cars . .  . what to do?  ROAD TRIP!  We headed up north for a week-end of trail walking, golf, and photography.  At Macduff, we discovered the Duff House forest grounds.  Very beautiful.

It was a grey day with cool air . . . perfect for a walk in the woodlands.

A week earlier there had been several nights of near-zero temperatures.  A few leaves had started to turn . . .

These ferns reminded me so much of my walks last summer in Washington State.

There is always so much of beauty to see on a forest walk.

After spending the last 17 years in tropical Thailand, the differences within this forest here held a strong fascination.

Wonderful old trees evoke old feelings.

The twist of this tree trunk tells the story of its taller neighbors come and gone.

We walked for over an hour in the coolness of this forest.

Shades of a coming Autumn.

A long, and warm-for-Scotland, summer has left the forest brimming with life.

These mushroom fungi seemed very brainy . . . too brainy!  Perhaps there has been an exchange of genetic material going on in this ecosystem!

We left the forest walk through this aged gate.

We found Duff Estate.

Mr. Duff made a lot of money when housing prices were lower than they are now. We wanted to go on the interior tour, but we got here too late.

The gift shop operator told us that Duff Estate "changed the way large estates were built in Great Britain after it's completion."

Although not of the estate-changing opulence of the Duff Estate, we were happy with The Knowes Hotel.  The room was clean and comfortable . . . . with . . .

. . . an excellent view of the North Sea and the Macduff harbour light.  I decided to grab my camera gear and headed out into the fading light.

Macduff and Banff are port towns.

Not much in Macduff has been modernized.  There are still old hovel homes left from an older time.

Although the stone houses seem cold, there are touches and flourishes of artistry set against the austere facades.

I turned left on Institution Street, and then on down the steep hill to the harbour, all the while wondering how the street got its name.

Macduff had a fine man-made harbour lined with Victorian era store fronts.

A girl was trying to fish for her supper in the Macduff sink . . . without luck.

A fine harbour light on a fine last day of summer in Macduff, Scotland.

I walked up the harbour road toward Banff, hoping I could get a photo of the old stone bridge.

On the way out of town I saw this image . . . telling the history of the internal landscapes of those residing below.

In the fading light the contrasts between light and shadow grew.

Perfect late light.

I  took many photos along the road and was infatuated with the church dome against the sky . . .

  . . . when I realized I was missing this old derelict building . .  my favorite subject: dilapidation!

Amazing dilapidation.

I kept walking along the road to Banff and took this photo of a friendly dancing bus mechanic.  He came over and said . . . "I hope my boss never sees this photo!"  So here is his photo . . . not the one of him dancing!

I got to than embankment in time to take this photo of Banff . . . unfortunately the old stone bridge was too far away to walk in the fading light.

I sat for a while on the a bank of the River Deveron estuary and watched the sun set.

It was a beautiful evening.

I climbed some steep steps and took a high road back to the hotel.  Along the way I shot this view of Macduff, Scotland in the last of the light.

 I reentered the town center from a side street.

Although Macduff is made of dark stone masonry, it is a habitable town.  People add color which, standing off the dark stone, make a beautiful effect.

Along "Main Street" Macduff.

Macduff streets are steep as they rise up from the catchment.

 I rounded the corner and went up Market Street to the hotel.  There were many pleasant architectural arrangements to enjoy along the way in the last of the light.

My last photo of the day was taken on the steps of the hotel.

The next morning broke clear and cold. This view of Banff was taken from my hotel window.

Macduff, Banff, Scottish coast.

It was time to leave Macduff.

The Knowes Hotel sits on high ground, but just above the hotel stood a Castle turret monument in remembrance of local war dead.

We spent the rest of the morning playing the very, very difficult, but very, very beautiful Royal Tarlair Golf Course.  The views were breathtaking!