The Photography of Dr. Jeffrey P. Harper

A beautiful Sunday in northeast Scotland.  Time to get out of the house and see something . . . like Castle Fraser.

 

With such a nice day, we decided to go and see Castle Fraser, not far from our Aberdeen home. These are the garden walls of Castle Fraser.

 

It is late summer in Aberdeenshire now and the cows graze in golden fields that surround Castle Fraser.

 

Even if there were no castle or gardens to gawk at, the walk from the car park was beautiful on this clear day.

 

Castle Fraser, for may centuries the ancestral clan home of the a Fraser Clan built in 1575.  Magnificent.

 

The staff buildings of Castle Fraser.

 

The castle gate leading to the the workshops.  We had a fine lunch at the cafe here.

 

We enjoyed walking around the castle and gasping at it's grandeur . . . but I was also curious about the garden.

 

The garden was held within high brick walls, and behind tall hedges within the wall.

 

The center of the garden held a formal plan, with the flower and vegetable beds arranged around it.

 

The sun was so bright and clear, perfect for photographing the luscious flowers.

 

Lovely flowers everywhere.

 

As it is late summer, some of the flowers had already been in bloom and left their beautiful seed pods.

 

I could not help but smile at this happy flower bed.

 

A puff of white filament.

 

Many kinds of vines and climbing plants were arrayed around the garden walls.

 

Flowers and a climbing apple tree.

 

This is the first climbing apple tree I have ever seen.

 

While browsing the flower beds my eye caught these BLACK flowers!  Incredible!  What are they?

 

It was so bright and they were so dark . . . it was impossible to find the right camera settings.

 

I suppose I could have put on my polarizing filter . . .

 

I enjoyed shooting the various flowers from various angles to catch the various lighting effects.

 

We spent a wonderful couple of hours at Castle Fraser, even though we never went into the actual castle itself . . . next time.  COSTCO was beckoning!

We were just back form our vacation in Poland and my wife had a golf tournament in Angus, Scotland at the Brechin Golf Course. GREAT!  I let her off at the course and headed the few miles down the road to the fascinating village of Brechin.  It was a windy and overcast day, typical of the "summer" we have had in Scotland this year.  I love the color of the fields when they begin to turn from greet to yellow.

 

You see the most interesting monuments out in the countryside of Scotland.  At first glance I thought this could be one of the ubiquitous WWI monuments or a Queen Victoria marker.  I'm not really sure what it was, it had an Angus Utilities marker on it, but also this memorial to the Police Commissioners.

 

The village of Brechin had a lot of Old World 12th century charm. 

 

The main attraction in the village is the Brechin Cathedral and Round Tower.  The Round Tower dates from the year 1000 and the Cathedral from the 13th century.

 

A grey and cloudy day is not  bad time to take photographs in the Cathedral graveyard.

 

There were some very photogenic lichen and moss encrusted old stones here.

 

These weathered and worn grave stones convey the passing of time better than a pristine and dated stone.

 

Wonderful surface . . . telling the story of nature and man's place in it.

 

What can I say . . . I love these old grave stones as visual objects of beauty above and beyond their symbolic or 'religeous' identities.

 

I took many photos of these grave stones in the cloudy gloom when I arrived, only to re-shoot them when a patch of bright sunlight passed over the great cathedral.

 

Sweet angle.

 

Wonderful stone work.

 

Sweet light.

 

With the wind blowing and a few errant rain drops falling, I decided to visit the Cathedral interior.

 

I walked around the exterior of the great cathedral and saw many wonderful things.

 

13th century stonework.

 

13th century door handles?  Perhaps.

 

A side door into the Brechin Cathedral.

 

A empty medieval stone sarcophagus alongside the cathedral.

 

The  door to the Brechin Tower was about 7 feet off the ground . . . to make it difficult to storm.  They had some good ideas in 998.

 

The cathedral had some wonderful architectural features.  I have a big interest in the aesthetics of these old doors.

 

The sun came out, at last.  What a magnificent Medieval cathedral.  Time to see what the interior is like.

 

The cathedral main entrance.

 

The interior was sumptuous.

 

Beautiful interior detailing and architecture.

 

Brechin Cathedral is known of its fine original Medieval stained glass windows, some of the finest in the UK.

 

A steady stream of pilgrims/tourists came and went.  It was absolutely silent in this space.

 

The cathedral is an active church and the out buildings act as administrative offices for the northeast of Scotland.

 

The proportions and dimensions of this cathedral are impressive.  The longer I stayed inside the more I appreciated it.

 

Wonderful stained glass framed by the pipe organ.

 

I decided to change lenses from my 18-55mm to a much wider 10-24mm to see if I couldn't get more of the interior in . . . the effect was amazing, as you can see from this shot at 10mm.

 

The wide angle lens takes in so much more . . .

 

Even though it was quite dark in the cathedral (and it was cloudy outside), I was able to brace the camera against one of the pews to steady this shot up into the rafters.

 

The pews in magic light.

 

I had a good time figuring out my camera settings in this challenging light.

 

I spent nearly an hour inside the Brechin Cathedral framing photos and sitting quietly in Buddhist meditation.

 

I waited around outside the cathedral for quite a while with the wide angle lens on for a passing splash of sunlight to get this photo.

 

After a wonderful hour spent in and a  round the amazing Brechin Cathedral and tower, I decided to go freewheeling around the old village.

 

Like so many villages I've visited in Scotland, Brechin was beautifully maintained and clean for the most part.

 

Such a quaint down town!

 

It is a little odd to find a vet supply house in such a small town . . . and in such a small building!

 

Walking from the old town center towards the countryside, I saw a row of abandoned buildings.  This is not a bad thing . . . if you like old restored buildings you have to keep the old unrestored buildings around!  These places will live again.

 

One can only guess what has taken place in the Brechin Arena . . .

 

I love the ambiance of these old towns in rural Scotland.  On one side of the street are dilapidated buildings, and on the other . . .

 

. . . colorful row houses.

 

Brechin is built atop a hill and has many steep hills.

 

Built of pinkish stone, Brechin exudes a sense of its own history.  Also note the huge security camera . . . the UK has more security cameras per capita than any country in the world . . . .

 

Staying the same while always changing . . . The Swan  . . . Tandoori . . .

 

I walked back up the hill and through the town and noticed that there was definitely a poor part of town and a rich part of town.  Interestingly, this house engraved both the dates of its construction (1781) . . . and the date it was extended (1911).

 

Lovely old town. The ornate building in the background has had several lives: community center, high school, and now the Mechanics Hall.

 

I walked as far as the Brechin Castle gate.  I hoped to walk up the drive to see the castle, but there were private property signs posted. I ran into an old retired man on the street late who told me  I should have ignored the sign.  He admired my camera and we chatted about photography for a while.

 

The Brechin Castle gate house was fabulous!

 

The castle gate house had a lovely . . . er . . . gate.

 

There are always many 'still life' studies to be found in these old towns.

 

Mid summer greenery.

As always, it's great to see old friend visit.  It's an opportunity to catch up . . . and to take a romp around the western end of Aberdenshire to see what we can see . . . yaking all the way!

An Aberdeenshire Road in July . . . a bit of a chilly day with the sun sharing the sky with threatening clouds.

 

The countryside here is very dreamlike . .  the clouds being pushed and rolled up in the face of an approaching storm front.

 

As is always the case when driving around the small roads and farm lanes of Aberdeenshire, there is inevitably a sign point to a castle.

 

Today it was out good luck to 'discover' Craigievar Castle - the family home of the Forbes clan for 350 years (acquired in 1610).

 

Craigievar Castle is said to be one of the finest examples of the 'tower' types of castles still remaining in Scotland.  We did not take to tour . . . .

 

Lovely scene.

 

My scouser friend enjoyed it, but said it was "not really a castle by British standards" but only a "keep."  He may have a point.

 

The grounds were beautiful too . . . with gates, paths and hidden gardens.

 

Peeking into the castle gardeners cottage.

 

Craigievar Castle stands on a hill, of course, and has a commanding view of the shire.

 

Sometimes you spot something interesting from the road and pull over to investigate.  As it turned out, this is the early 19th century Ladymill Farm, a candidate for official listing.

 

With the sunlight coming and going, I had to work fast to get these shots of the charming old farm buildings.

 

I indulged my fascination with old doors and . . . .

 

. . . and windows.

 

This may have been my favorite photo of the day.  Scrumptious.

 

Of course, Ladymill was a mill . . . and a few of the old machine parts were scattered here and there.

 

I took a walk around the back of Ladymill and was greeted with this vision from a dream: the perfect countryside scene . .  light dancing across the fields of green.  Extraordinary beauty.

 

We left Ladymill just ahead of a downpour . . . .and went looking for a place to eat.

 

There is so much to photograph in Aberdeenshire.

 

We stopped at several roadside hotels and tea houses but for some unknown reason they all had signs posted saying "Closed on Tuesday."  Why?  We followed a small road for a few miles to "Leith Hall and Tea Room."  We arrived in a driving rain only to discover it was closed too.  Leith Hall was a private estate built in 1650.  Leith Hall is said to be haunted by a ghost:  "The hall is reportedly haunted,^[3][7] and has been subject to an investigation by Most Haunted. This ghost is believed to be Laird John Leith III who was killed on Christmas Day in 1763 in Aberdeen at Archie Campbell's Tavern in the Castlegate during a drunken brawl in which he was shot in the head, after he reacted angrily to a fellow diner who accused him of adulterating the grain sold from Leith Hall.^[3][7] The ghost of John is said to appear in great pain with a dirty white bandage over his head and covering his eyes, wearing dark green trousers and a shirt.^[3] In 1968, one guest awoke during the night to see John in highland dress, his head covered in bloody bandages, standing at the foot of the bed.^[3] Other apparitions have also been sighted. Several writers who've stayed at the manor have reported seeing paranormal phenomenon. Elizabeth Byrd wrote about her experiences in her book A Strange and Seeing Time and describes the time that she rented the East Wing of Leith Hall with her husband in 1986.^[3] Alanna Knight has also written about her ghostly encounters at Leith Hall."

 

If you look closely through the trees, sometimes you can see an old castle ruin.  Aberdeenshire!  This is Corse Castle, c. 1581.  We finally decided to drive to the proper town of Huntly where I knew there would be an open restaurant.  We did, and it was.

 

After a fine greasy spoon lunch in a cafe nest to the Huntly Police Station, we consulted the GPS for the nearest distillery . . .  it would be a shame for my friend to visit Scotland without going to a distillery.  Our luck was good:  the GlenDonronach Distillery was nearby.  Being too late for the tour and tasting (it closed at 4:15pm!!), we instead took the very helpful gift shop lady's suggestion and bought a mini-bottle of their 21 Year Old Parliament . . . and WOW!  Delicious . . . and I do not drink whiskey! My friend IS a whiskey drinker and proclaimed it a 97 out of 100.  "Matured in a combination of the finest Oroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks for a minimum of 21 years, the 'Parliament' continues the great GlenDronach tradition of offering fruit-laden intensity in its single malts.  Bottled at 48%, the 'Parliament' is non chill filtered and of natural color.  Highly recommended, even if you do drink whiskey!

 

After the distillery we headed back home to Aberdeen.  We spotted a grand church up on a hillside and went up a farm lane to take a look.

 

A beautiful road and church.  St Margaret's Episcopal Church was built in the mid 19th century by architect William Ramage.

 

The church had some fine old gravestones.

 

Wonderful patterned symbol.

 

There were some broken stones in the cemetery that had had the pieces sweetly leaned against each other.

 

I couldn't tell if these stones had been vandalized or broken by falling tree limbs.

 

The view from the cemetery.

 

It had been a wonderful day of just driving around talking in the car . . . through some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.

 

Aberdeenshire.

I had a week of vacation in February 2015 so I decided to take a couple of days and drive the two hours north to the mythical village of Findhorn, on the Moray coast.  I say mythical because during the high times of the 1960's hippie days (daze?), stories from and about 'Findhorn' (actually the Findhorn Foundation, one of the first intentional communities . . . essentially a commune) played large in the mythopoetics of the counter culture.  Tales of giant vegetables, communing with extra terrestrials, and telepathy were often associated with 'Findhorn.'  But Findhorn is also a quaint village and one-time major sea port.  I stayed in the 287 year old Crown and Anchor Inn.  Lovely.

 

I was very lucky with the weather . . . well, the light , anyway.  The temperature was around 36f (3c) in the daytime and 32f (0c) at night.  Good fro February.  Findhorn village was a treat to photograph.

 

Years of salty wind has weathered the town.

 

I scouted the town for lighting conditions before I brought my camera out (Fuji X-T1 with 56mm f1.2 lens).

 

The colors and textures of the aging surfaces were beautiful.  I enjoyed this door with the home-made vent holes.

 

I took a walk out on the 300 year old quay to get a look at Findhorn.

 

Time, weather, sea water, and an invisible hand . . . .

 

I have no idea how old these quay stanchions are . . . hundreds of years?

 

Too much color and texture.

 

The village of Findhorn has a lot of Old World charm.

 

Lovely old stone buildings with slate roofs.

 

I enjoyed walking around in the quiet streets and lanes, looking for color and pattern.

 

The house next to the Crown & Anchor Inn was lovely.

 

Although it was late Winter, everything was trimmed in Findhorn Village and waiting for Spring.

 

In these far northern latitudes it seems like every hour is the golden hour for photography.

 

You could make a fine arts book on these small Scottish coastal village houses.  Such a warm and lovely feeling.

 

The austere rough stone masonry has a beauty all its own.  I like it . . . it is so organic.

 

Nice color at this artist's house.

 

The main avenue in Findhorn makes a loop . . . and comes back around to this church.

 

Along the end, and behind the town of Findhorn is the North Sea.

 

I wasn't the only person out along the sea coast . . . but this man was a bird watcher . . . he had strong binoculars only.

 

I went to the beach several times, once along this foot path.

 

The sun came and went all day long.  The beach access though the dunes.

 

Very handy.

 

The inviting North Sea.

 

The wind was so strong it blew the sand from around any pilings around. . .

 

FINDHORN FOUNDATION - the place hippie dreams are made of.Although Findhorn village was sweet and quaint, I had come to pay my respects, and to personally see for myself, the famous Findhorn community, or commune as we hippies thought of it in the late 1960s, now known as the  Findhorn Foundation.

 

I thought it funny how few expectations I had about Findhorn  before coming here.  I only knew of the stories of a community in Scotland that had people who could communicate with the nature spirits . . . who rewarded them with giant vegetables that grew out of unfertile, rocky soil.

 

This could be anywhere in Jackson or Josephine counties in Oregon . . . hippie architectural chic.

 

Findhorn community was a trailer park (caravan park in the UK) before it was an intentional community and ecovillage.  There are still some wonderful old trailer homes dotted around the property.  This one has the requisite gnome and Beatles homage display. I'm glad there are trailer homes here . .  if one is a renunciant, living a spiritual life, it doesn't really matter what you live in . . . and better to recycle than to cut trees or use other energy sources to construct a house . . .

 

On the other hand, there were clusters of these rather Scandinavian eco-condos around the property as well.  This is a part of the Findhorn Ecovillage, I think.  I didn't get a map at the visitors center.

 

It was a beautiful morning . . . the earliest signs of impending Spring were everywhere.

 

There were plenty of unconventional structures everywhere . . . .

 

It was nice to see that there is another spiritual traveller on this planet who will return again because of attachments to fast and cool cars.  Yes, this is a 1953 MG-TD.  Findhorn is NOT a monastery.

 

There are many interesting things to look at around Findhorn.  The old sits beside the new and the funky beside the modern.

 

The '60s counter culture aesthetic abound.

 

The Findhorn Foundation runs a program of spiritual and therapeutic workshops throughout the year.  I am assuming these come from a sensitivity training workshop, but I am at a loss as to how the therapist/facilitator uses them.  Very photographically interesting, however.

 

This is the current Findhorn Foundation program as of April 1, 2015.

 

I hoped these were where they were as a result of a Graffiti and The Self workshop.

 

Workshop activity or resident youth protestation, or both?

 

I'm glad I had my camera with me . . .

 

I am in the habit as seeing human artifacts as just that: the work of an individual person on a particular day and time.  I have this feel about almost everything I see and touch that is of human origin.

 

The sales office trailer home for the new, yet to be started, condominium project - £78,000.oo for a one bedroom flat.

 

Time and weather.

 

A good place for  old friends to meet and shoot the spiritual breeze . . . some time ago.  How about fixing this one up . . .

 

I decided to see if I could find my way from the Ecovillage through the dunes and on to the North Sea.  There must be a path.

 

Indeed, there was a beautiful path though an extraordinary wood.

 

The woods are managed, not wild.

 

A quiet wood.

 

If you erect a wind power generating tower near a hippie commune you have to expect the graffiti is going to be cosmic.

 

The wooded path led me through the dunes.

 

The Scots are great about providing well marked trails through nature . . . nature walks everywhere.

 

Down to the beach . . . again.

 

The dunes were sandy, but the beach was a stretch of small pebbles for five miles all the way to Burghead.

 

A stones' throw from the spiritual community were these WWII bunkers that had been eroded into the sea . . . I guess there might be a silver lining to this sea level rise . . . .

 

WWII bunker . . .

 

BurgheadI spent a good part of each day exploring the other seaside villages in the area.  This is Burghead . . . a village built on a small peninsula.  The town is surrounded on three sides by the North Sea.

 

Fishermen's houses in Burghead . . . a very windswept and austere town.

 

Burghead harbour looking west from up on the promontory park at the end of the town.

 

The views from the Burghead Visitors Center looking east were scrumptious.  I could barely stand up or hold the camera steady in the 80-90kph wind!.

 

The Burghead Visitors Center marks the end of the peninsula . . . along with a monument marking the site of an ancient Pictish fort dating back thousands of years.  In fact, Burghead is believed to be the city Castra Alata in Ptolemy's early geography of the British Isles.

 

Not much is left of the Pictish fort as a result of the harbour construction in the 19th century.  The ocean views here were fantastic. The wind was incredible!

 

These homes were situated out on the unsheltered tip of the Burghead peninsula. 

 

Every house in Burghead has this view of Findhorn Bay.

 

I drove through the little sea port town of Hopeman on my way to Lossiemouth.  I loved the place names in Moray.

 

Although most of the coast is rocky, there are are also beautiful beaches around Hopeman.

 

The sea and beaches here were beautiful, but there were many low flying jet planes near Findhorn and Lossiemouth, both of which have major British Airforce bases nearby.

 

The road into Lossiemouth passed yet another golf course.  Yes, Scotland is the home of golf and you see golf courses everywhere you go.  I tried to go to that lighthouse you can see in the background but failed to find the access road!  I was disappointed.

 

Lossiemouth has been a settlement or town for over 1000 years.  It also has a fine, photogenic harbour.

 

The city fathers of Lossiemouth did a fine of developing the old warehouses along the quay into shops and restaurants.

 

Lossiemouth harbour is protected by mammoth sea walls.  The North Sea is a wild sea.

 

A wonderful old launch and it's reflection at rest in Lossiemouth Harbour.

 

A surreal Lossiemouth breakwater holding back the pulses of the North Sea.

 

Many beautiful scenes to see . . .

 

I stopped in at a picturesque 19th century hotel for a delicious double latte.

 

There was a nice beach just outside of Lossiemouth.

 

Lossiemouth beach access.

 

I hated to leave Lossiemouth and vowed to return one day to explore it more thoroughly.  But I had a few stops marked on the map to see before it got dark . . .and I didn't want to be out on the small roads on my way back to Aberdeen in the dark.

 

My next stop was the rural Birnie Kirk, founded in 1040, but burned and sacked many times. The structure you see here is still the original 12th century construction.

 

The old folk had no trouble accepting the fact that we would be bones one day . . . and our dearly departed would be bones too.  I've seen these skull and bones grave stones throughout Scotland.

 

Although it was a beautiful (but cold) day when I was there, the moss and lichen on these grave stones indicate a wetter climate.

 

Birnie Kirkegaard (that's 'churchyard' in Danish) was a beautiful place to contemplate my mortality.

 

Ironically, although it was mid-winter, the first signs of an approaching Spring I had seen this year were these snow drops blooming on the graves at Birnie Kirke.

 

I really enjoyed hustling my little boy-racer Juke NISMO around the twisty country lanes of Moray.  It is the perfect car for this purpose . . . it even has torque-vectored AWD for when the road gets slick.  Fun, fun, fun.

 

A perfect mid-February winter's day in Moray, Scotland.

 

The Amazing Spynie PalaceSometimes you get lucky.  While driving home to Aberdeen on a small shire road I spotted a sign that directed me up a drive to Spynie Palace.  I arrived at this gate house and parked.

 

I had no idea what to expect as I walked up the tree lined gravel road.  It was a perfect day.

 

I began to make out the shape of something though the trees . . . .

 

At last  . . .  I got a good glimpse of the palace tower.  Wow.

 

There it is.  Wow!  Spynie Palace, also known as Spynie Castle, was the fortified seat of the Bishops of Moray for about 500 years. The founding of the palace dates back to the late 12th Century.

 

Talk about serendipity! Spynie  Palace has a fabulous history . . . "Ruxby, an agent provocateur of Elizabeth I of England, who had tried to lead Mary, Queen of Scots, into a plot with English Roman Catholics, was imprisoned in Spynie Castle in 1566 for eighteen months.

 

The palace is surrounded by spectacular Scottish countryside.

 

The clear light, deep shadow, and color of sky and castle were perfectly coordinated for these wonderful photographs. 

 

I enjoyed walking around the tower thinking about what would make an interesting angle for a photograph.  I didn't have to think too much . . . . I'm glad I had my new polarizing filter with me to try out.

 

There was a visitors' center . . . closed except for the toilets (thank goodness!).

 

This was the only decorative element on the otherwise austere tower structure.

 

Spynie Palace was built in many phases over it's 900 year history.  The chapel (left) and other structures were under restoration by Historic Scotland, which I am a member.

 

Chapel and quarters.

 

Partially restored chapel and former main gate.

 

The Moray countryside in winter on a clear, cold day.

 

I took hundreds of great photos here . . . but, alas, I can only share a few of them here.  It was a magic afternoon in Scotland.

 

I'll be back in the summer to be able to go inside the tower.

 

I made a wrong turn, as if pulled by an inviable force, into a little village and suddenly stopped beside a dilapidated corrugated shed . . . my obsession!

 

I made it home before dark, and this big rain cloud . . . . Another memorable couple of days in Scotland.

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!