The Photography of Dr. Jeffrey P. Harper

It's Autumn in Scotland . . . and my garden is alive with color and wonder.

The days are getting shorter . .  and many of the birds have gone.

The leaves have gone red . . .

. . . or golden.

The apples are ready to harvest in the far end of the garden.

The garden is very old and the original planter created a garden that has continuous flowering . . . when one plant fades, another comes into bloom.  These are still flowering in late October.

These miniatures grow from the nooks an crannies of the garden wall.

The garden hedge sprouted these blossom buds recently . . . although they have not opened, they attract large numbers of bees, wasps, and flies.

There is a great variety of foliage throughout the garden.

The roses were among the first to bloom . . . and they are still producing amazing flowers.

And there are more roses yet to come.

These popped out a couple of weeks ago . . . right before I was going to pull them out, thinking they were weeds!  Close call.

Autumn weather can be wet and wild in Scotland . . . and occasionally throws up amazing rainbows.  I watched this one go through many phases . . .

This rainbow ended in this striking streaked image.

Fast moving clouds full of rain cross the landscape continuously.

Rain and shafts of light.  Beautiful.

Occasionally there is a  window in the storms and a glimpse of the sky appears.  Sometimes there is magical light that pours through the holes in the sky . . .

And when the sun pours through . . . .

These back-lit 'silver dollar' leaves . . .

So beautiful.

And when the garden stops flowering . . . I have house plants.

A nice day in northeast Scotland . . .

The grounds and permission to build Drum Castle was granted in 1325.  It is the ancestral home of Clan Irvine.  It is about 15 minutes from our home in Aberdeen.

Drum Castle is a part of the Scottish National Trust properties. It sees a fair number of tourists during the summer months, but today there were only a few people wandering about.

Yes, Scottish castles are wonderful, but many of them still maintain their gardens and grounds in spectacular fashion.

Plant species from around the world were often brought back to the family estate by adventurous colonialists during and before the Victorian era.

There are always so many fascinating flowers to look at in the gardens and grounds.

The walk to the formal, walled gardens took us past a delightful nature pond.

Although it is May 21st, Spring has not fully arrived here in these far northern latitudes.  I was hoping for more flowering  . . . .

The walls that surrounded the gardens were covered with magnificent espalier.

Climbing vines on the interior, shady side, of the castle garden were only just beginning to show signs of budding . . . in LATE MAY!

The gardens themselves were lovely, hedge-lined masterpieces of architecture.

There are many such lovely scenes through the gardens.  As you might imagine, there are weddings, and wedding photography taking place here almost every day.

So inviting on a sunny day . . .

In late summer these arches are covered in fragrant honeysuckle vine . . . perfect for a bride and groom!

The beds are still being planted (and transplanted).

The plantings await some sunny days to bring out their full beauty. 

There were still a couple of cabana tents left here and there: evidence of recent weddings. Ever-changing lighting conditions made the photography challenging.

There were some novel tulips still in bloom.

A purple flowing espalier.  Beautiful.

We walked out past the castle and wondered at its magnificence.

Drum Castle.

The road that leads out of Drum Castle passes through a wonderful wood in early foliage.

I wanted to say in this forest for the rest of the day . . .

Instead we went home . . . . somehow my back garden does not seem so impressive to me anymore!

So, I added a couple of extension tubes to my Canon 5D Mark II and put on my favorite macro lens, the Sigma 70mm f2.8 EX DG, and headed to the back yard.

We are just now at the beginning of the "damn hot and damn wet" season, so there were new buds coming out all over.

Depth of field is an issue with macro photography.  I decided not to use a tri-pod, as there seemed to be a lot of light.  Of course, I needed f16 for some of these shots . . . but couldn't because of camera shake.  Still, I used the lack of depth to my advantage . . . I think.

These tiny red blooms coming up out of the green mist is a nice effect.

Some flowers I only see once a year, like these arbor blooms.

These pink wax flowers seem more animal than plant when the come out . . .

. . . they eventually produce these thick, waxy pedals . . .

. . . and look like this when they have been through their cycle.  Always beautiful.

We have orchids all year round.

My super macro study (with the extension tubes) did not really work out all that well.  I will need a completely calm afternoon with lots of bright sunlight and a tripod to do this right.  More to come.

Just a few minutes and a good lens is all you need for a good day.

I may go back and shoot this one with a tripod . . . . some additional depth of field could improve the feeling.

So fresh and sweet.

An intriguing tiny world.

There is a canal (khlong) behind my house that has its own ecosystem. 

The other morning I spotted a large, 1.5 meter, Monitor lizard sunning itself on my garden wall . . . and happened to have my trusty Canon 5D Mark II camera and the great Canon L-series II 70-200mm lens on it.  What luck!

Wildlife photography from my loving room!

What a great opportunity to finally photograph this Monitor lizard I have been stalking for several years.  I ran up stairs and added the 2X extender onto my long lens and ran back downstairs for a closer shot . . . but it (he? she?) was gone.  Darn!  I'll keep my camra gear in the living room from now on . . . I might also get a chance to photograph the 2.5 meter long Python that also lives in the khlong that likes to eat the local cats.