The Photography of Dr. Jeffrey P. Harper

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.

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.

In late June some of my best good buddies from my old school in Bangkok paid my wife and I a visit in Aberdeen, Scotland.  First we drove down to the hometown of one of them (Liverpool, England) and rendezvoused for a Beatles week-end and combined road trip back north.

Liverpool is famous for many things, but mostly it is known as the home of The Beatles.  Yes, I have to admit it, we took the Magical Mystery Tour bus ride to the famous sights of Beattle lore.  Number 12 here is George Harrison's childhood home.  His family were rather poor.  The bus tour was excellent.  The guide provided great commentary throughout.  Highly recommended.

No Beatles pilgrimage to Liverpool would be complete without a visit to The Cavern Club . . .  the music venue where The Beatles really got their first break as the house band.  It is very touristy now, and the location is under some dispute, but I was impressed.  I bought a mug and t-shirt around the corner (cheaper!).

My Liverpool friend (cranium foreground) is a HUGE Liverpool Football Club fan, as am I . . . so we took an Anfield tour as a part of our double pilgrimage (Beatles and LFC).  He had never been in the team rooms before, and so was moved to near tears at the experience.  Liverpool players touch this door sill as they enter the playing field, er, pitch . . . I think.

Anfield drips with history.

There was much to see in Liverpool.  I loved this stenciled graffiti.

Having a friend in Liverpool is a plus: he knew of the outdoor African Music Festival.  We spent a wonderful day with the festival-goers sitting on the park lawn and dancing about.  This group was from The Congo (DRC), where I spent 10 years of my life.  I pushed myself to the front of the crowd and yelled, "Mbote, O'zali Malamu?" I got a big thumbs up from the singer.  Made my day.

I loved the name of this tattoo shop in Liverpool.

We stayed in a hotel near the Mercy River and the canal boat basin.  The hotel was developed from abandoned 18th century warehouses.

A highlight of the Liverpool visit was the Liverpool Cathedral.

The Liverpool Cathedral is a magnificent structure, of course . . . but on this day the light was magical!!

The stained glass windows on the sunny side pf the cathedral caste a light show of color upon the interior.

Amazing light . . .from above.

We managed to fit in a cut-throat game of Crown Green Bowls or two before leaving Liverpool and the long drive back to Aberdeen.

We provided the usual tour of castles and gardens . . . and rural charm (seen in great detail in may entries to this photo blog).  I never tire of giving tours of our beautiful Aberdeenshire.  Here, on top of Dunnottar Castle in all its summer glory.

A view from one of Dunnottar Castle's windows over the North Sea.

At Crathes Castle I couldn't help taking many flower photos of the extensive gardens.

Castle residents throughout the UK loved to bring plant species from all over the world into their gardens and green houses.

The variety of flowers in the castle gardens is overwhelming!

A castle greenhouse tropical plant.

I do not know what these are called . . . but I want a yard full of them.  Amazing!  We were sorry to see our friends leave, but I know we will reconnect one day, somewhere on this big old planet of ours.

We had beautiful weather here in the northwest of Scotland last summer (2014).

Of course, having 'beautiful weather here' includes an occasional splash-and-dash thunder storm across the fields of Aberdeenshire.

Summer flowers were bountiful . .  so were the bees.

We enjoy having visitors.  In late June my daughter, son-in-law, and grandson visited.  Visits are a good time to visit castles here in the shire . . . and the beautiful formal gardens which surround them.

Grandson enjoying a fountain.

We take all of our visitors to Crathes Castle, a bout 10 miles from home.  The gardens there are extensive and well taken care of.

I could spend days in these formal castle gardens.  Fortunately, I did, as we had many visitors last summer.

I spent a good deal of time taking bee photos . . . they are always moving around from flower to flower, so it takes patience to get a photo like this.

Wonderful flowers at Carathes Castle.  But we moved on.

A castle garden offers much to look at . . . and photograph.

I need a new macro lens . . . .

I'm going to get a "Flowers of Scotland" book, that's for sure.

In mid-summer, some of the flowers had already dried into seeding buds.

The garden designer was some kind of genius: the right leaves and plants near the splashing fountains.  Marvelous.

Flies play their part in pollination as well.

Tiny bugs too are all a part of the garden ecosystem.

I don't know what these are called, but I want 100s of them all around my house.  They are fascinating.

I spent some time watching this furry little bee wend his way in and out of all the budding flowers on this stem.

Castle gardens are worth a visit if you are ever in the UK or Scotland.

The metallic quality and color of this dried flower was mesmerizing.

We take all of our visitors to Stonehaven harbour . .  it's beautiful and close to Dunnotar Castle.

Hey!  The Circus Is In Town!  Many circuses visit the small towns all over Scotland in the summer.  We got stuck behind a circus truck all through a mountain pass in far northern Scotland later in the summer.

We take everybody who  visits us to Dunnottar Castle, perhaps one of the most amazing castle ruins in the world.  Magnificent views too.

Wow!

Keep on truckin'.

My Grandson's World.

We stopped at a Farm Store that has a 4X4 training course . . . and this old APC.

The Marine Hotel in Stonehaven has an excellent selection of real ales.

When visitors come you spend a lot of time sitting around the house talking. . . and taking photos of your grandson . . . and the house plants.

I planted zucchini squash in large pots in the front yard of our pervious house . .  they thrived in the long days . . . but as soon as I moved them to the new house . . . some kind of bug ate the maturing zuchs!  NOOOOO!