The Photography of Dr. Jeffrey P. Harper

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!

ScotlandIt's always great to get visitors.  In April we had good friends, three couples, visit us from Thailand.  I had a week off, so it was a great opportunity to further explore Scotland . . . and London.

The weather couldn't have been any better: bright, clear, crisp, with fast moving clouds.

It was fun to take our friends to some of our favorite beauty spots.

Of course a distillery tour was on the tour.

It was a scrumptious day for a road trip along the Highlands Malt Whiskey Trail.

We paid took the full tour (with sampling!) of the Royal Lochnagar Distillery . . . that strictly forbade photography.

The old whiskey still itself was a wonder of craftsmanship, detail, color and texture.

The stills were works of art.

The whiskey barrel vault . . . and royal patronage emblem.  This stuff is valuable.

I can confirm the whiskey advertisements . . . whiskey is still made the old fashioned way.

Because of the alcohol vapors present, all electrical switches have to be sealed.  This light switch must have been installed when the distillery was first electrified.

Water, Sparge, Sparge, and Hot Wart.  Of course.

Old brass Victorian-era distillery devices were still in use.  It also supplied a nice opportunity for a novel self-portrait.

Our visitors are whiskey lovers, but didn't like this particular single malt.  We left the beautiful surrounds of the distillery to head further up into the Scottish Highlands.

The Highlands early spring roads are magnificent.

Our next stop was Balmoral Castle, the summer residence of The Queen of England.

The moss and lichens on this stone banister gives you some idea of how wet the highlands can be in the winter.  Lovely textures!

Yes, there really are castles like this in the world . .  that are lived in by real queens.

Balmoral Castle is actually the private property of the Royal Family, unlike all the other Royal residencies which are the property of the State.

Balmoral Castle lies astride the trout and salmon laden upper reaches of the River Dee.

We could have stayed all day taking selfies n front of Balmoral Castle . . . the archetypical royal castle.

The best liquor we had that day was the hooch our van driver Karl shared.

LONDON - The Harry Potter Studio Tour

Yes, we went here.

I confess, I am not a fan of this kind of fantasy literature and/or the cinematic spin-offs they generate.  It's just not my cup of tea.

We flew to London and went directly to the WB Harry Potter Studios . . . I went screaming and kicking, not being a fan of this sort of thing.

But . . . I have to admit that the tour turned out much, much better than I could have hoped.

It turned out to be an actual tour of the actual sets used in the actual movies in the actual studio where it was actually filmed.  My dread was dissolved.

I've only ever seen one of these Harry Potter movies, the first one, and I assumed most of the scenes were computer generated CGI art . . . it wasn't!!!

The detail of the set construction was truly impressive.  They went to a lot of work (and expense!) to create this imaginary world.

The production went to a lot of trouble . . . . including working from detailed architectural drawings, to . . .

. . . to constructing scale models of sets.  The workmanship is excellent.  This is a big production  . . .  unlike my own forays into Hollywood productions.

A fantasy of a fantasy of a fantasy: a post-modern copy of a copy of a copy of an apothecary shop that never was.

The autonomatronic creatures were impressive, as was the workshop where they were made.

Character prosthetics.  I want one for Holloween.

Again, the attention to detail in the costumes was way beyond what I expected.

I posted this one on Facebook as "Inside the Obama fake voter labs" . . . to much Democratic acclaim and vitriol from the ever-present trolls.

The model of the school was 50 feet tall and perfect in detail.

Amazing, just amazing.

The Harry Potter Flying Broom Machine . . . seems like these would be popular at Chucky Cheese at $5.oo a ride.  The background is a green screen (chroma key) used in CGI imagery.

My new computer desktop image.  After an impressive three hours in the studio, all exits funneled us to the vast and expensive GIFT SHOP FROM HELL.  The child-whining there was epic.  And shrill.  And tearful. An 'official' Harry Potter Magic Wand (a stick) was a money-gouging 55 pounds (US$75.oo).  Ouch.  This image is of how hard parents feel it is to get out of the aforementioned Gift Shop From Hell.  Off to London without so much as a key chain fob, such is the strength of my will.

LONDON

An hour drive into central London landed us in beautiful Knightsbridge.  It was a nostalgic journey for me: I lived in London for several years in the late 80s.  As you can see, London is much further south than Aberdeen, and was in full new-growth Springtime.

Ah, London Pubs!

This photo is perhaps more indicative of London's neighborhoods than Big Ben.  London is very multicultural.

London may be the finest tourist city in the world.

Trafalgar Square . . . tourist central.

A must-have-tourist-experience in London.

These acrobatic Swedish tourists put on quite a show for a Japanese tour group.

London is a very open-minded city.

London is such a visually rich city . .  there are literally too many things to photograph . . . that you want to photograph.  I was on sensory overload the whole time.  I wouldn't mind living in London again.

Having good clean fun in London.  It is good to have older sisters.

Yes, we frequented hi-brow cafes and sampled delicious cakes and edible whatnots. I brought my medication.

Where the rich and famous hang out in Knightsbridge.

People say that the food is bad in London.  Not So!!!  We had excellent Korean, Chinese, Thai, Turkish, Lebanese, and Indian food throughout the whole trip.  The aftermath of a great Korean meal near Trafalgar.

I think the real reason our Thai friends wonted to visit London was to take a pilgrimage to Harrods . . . The Temple of Shopping!!!!

 And when I say Harrods is a Temple of Shopping, I MEAN Temple of Shopping. This is the escalator in Harrods Department Store. 

We caught London at the very beginning of the Spring blossoms.  Nice.

London is both an ancient and a modern city . . . but it feels like it is in a human scale . . .

London from the steps of the gallery, Tate Britain.

OK, not entirely on a human scale.  Prince Charles let this thing get by his architectural scrutineering.

I remember lots of parks in London for my daughter to play in when we lived there . . . it's still a pretty good city for children.

I HAD to take this post card shot of Big Ben and the London Eye.

In the  government building section of London there are protests here and there.  I guess this fellow didn't want to wait in the que for a permit . . .

Ah, Knightsbridge squares.

One day we took a drive out into the London suburb of Wimbledon.

No, we did not go to Wimbledon to see the grass tennis courts.

We went to Wimbledon to visit, and to pay respect to, the Thai Wat Buddhapadipa.  We could scarcely believe our eyes!  A perfect Thai Wat "beamed down" to suburban London.  Fantastic!

A Wonderful Thai Temple.  We spent a good long time inside the Wat.  It felt good to be back in a Buddhist space.  I have missed it since moving from Thailand.

The Thai Buddhist spirit was strong in this place.

The interior was a astonishingly beautiful.  I wanted to stay forever . . . a feeling I always have in Buddhist temples.

Yep, you gotta watch out for that pesky Mara . . .  thanks for the reminder, Lord Buddha.

As luck (good and bad) would have it, they were setting up for a Songkran Festival event on the temple grounds.  Unfortunately it didn't fit our schedule.

We were back in London/Knightsbridge by nightfall.  London is fascinating at night. Near our hotel.

Lots of people out and about.

We went everywhere on the Tube. Bayswater Station.

The nearest London Tube stop to our hotel was Glouchester Station.  We took the London Underground a lot.  After a couple of days exploring and shopping London, it was time for another road trip.  The eight of us boarded a van (with a Thai driver!) for a trip to . . .

BRIGHTON BEACH AND THE SOUTH COAST OF ENGLANDIn the van on the way we thought we were going to the White Cliffs of Dover, but they were too far away . . . we settled for equally impressive cliffs nearer to Brighton in East Sussex.  The coastal countryside was gorgeous.

We parked the van and walked abut two miles along an estuary to the sea and cliffs of the Cuckmere Valley.

The gate into the Chyngton Farm trail we took to the cliffs.

The cliffs on a misty day.

It was well worth the long walk to the sea cliffs.  We took about a million photos of each other and then walked back . . . on to Brighton.  We were hungry . . . for fish and chips.

The drive into the old seaside vacation town of Brighton.

It was cold and windy when we reached the Brighton Beach Pier.

A lovely stoney beach and Victorian pier. 

Even though they assured us the Ferris wheel capsules were heated, we did not take them up on their high priced offer of great views.

Mission Accomplished!  Fish and Chips in Brighton . . . and not too bad either.

The Brighton Pier was not as seedy or tawdry as I had hoped.  It was nice . . . and family.

We all had a great time in Scotland, London, and Brighton.  We were sad to see our friends go when we boarded the plane back to our Aberdeen home.

It was a beautiful Sunday a couple of weeks ago . . . and I didn't want to stay inside an iron clothes, so I drove the mile to the Aberdeen Esplanade.  I wasn't the only person with this idea.

I parked at the far northern end and vowed I would walk all the way to the harbour entry . . . two and a half miles away . . . and back.  There was a steady North Sea breeze, a calm sea, and large rolling waves, some quite large. As it was a Sunday, the horizon was full of offshore oil platform tenders, the trucks of the sea.

I enjoyed capturing the waves crashing on the embankments of the Esplanade. . . it was high tide.

I walked slowly along, camera at the ready.

Some of the waves crashed with a loud THUD.

Although it was sunny, the air temperature was only about 3c (39f), and breezy.  People are passionate about their sports and hobbies like this guy and his sea kayak.

This fellow was quite good at it.  His rides were not long, but he caught a lot of waves.  Fun.

2 1/2 miles up the arc of the Aberdeen Esplanade to the tall harbour control tower was my goal . . . I had never walked the full length before.  There were many people out for a stroll: couples, old people, women walking their dogs, and whole families strolling along the North Sea shore.  After I got up to speed, I left the camera in my backpack  . . .

. . . and only stopped once to take this photo of the lighthouses out at Rattray Head.

The southern end of the Esplanade is at the entry to the medieval fishing village of Footdee, known locally as "Fittie".

Footdee sits directly on the sea, protected by a small-ish sea wall.  I wonder what it is like here at high tide (like today) but with a big storm!

Such a pleasant place.  Old stone terrace houses, short doors, benches, and interesting trinkets in all the windows.

The poured glass window testifies to the age of this old door.

I am forever being surprised by Aberdeen: wonderful new places to visit right here in my new home town. Footdee.  The first mention of Fittie was in 1398.  The current village of Fittie "is a particularly interesting example of a planned housing development purpose-built to re-house Aberdeen's local fishing community. Laid out in 1809 by John Smith, then Superintendent Of The Town's Public Works." [citation]

So sweet.  These little places remind me a great deal of old Danish fishing villages . . . although the Danes would have plastered them and painted them with ox blood.

The sharp angle of the winter sun on this rough stone house created an interesting effect.

I walked back by the same house later as the sun was lower in the sky and the light yellowed from time to time.

In and among the more permanent stone structures of Footdee were these fabulously textured fisherman's sheds.

This weathered green shed caught my eye enough to want to do a study of its incredible surfaces . . . .

A late winter's sun's sheen on an old green fisherman's shed.

Yummie textures, light, shadow, detail, and color.

A nautical decorative feature added by who-knows-who, from who-knows-where, affixed who-knows-when.

I made it all the way to the old harbour tower . . . that had an inscription:

The inscription commemorates the 850 years since the founding, in 1136, of Aberdeen's Harbour Board!  That'd be 878 years this year . . . WOW!

At the Aberdeen Harbour I encountered this screaming fellow waving the Jolly Rogers. I kept my distance; I didn't know if he was protesting the oil company docks nearby, or he was a football (soccer) fan, so I walked back through Footdee toward the Esplanade and the 2 1/2 miles back to my car.

They don't make fishermen's sheds like they used to.  Too bad, as this one was beautiful in its own dilapidated and decaying way.

Corrugation!  I've got corrugation!  One of my favorite photographic subjects is corrugation and sundry things attached to it.  This shed was divine, but the window was worth a closer study.

Astonishing beauty.  I love this dilapidation . . . a picture of history itself . . . the work of time and weather upon a manmade object transits to a work of The Elements.

I left Footdee, a real, living, working, fishermen's village, for the crowds of the Esplanade.  I will be back here again . . . maybe to see if it is possible to rent one of those little sheds . . . I imagined a week-end retreat . . .

I joined the late afternoon throng that had come to look at the North Sea, and then quickly walked the 2 1/2 miles back along the Esplanade to my car.  A great day, yes, a great day.

New Slains Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland is perched on cliffs above the crashing waves of the wild North Sea.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just outside of the little Scottish village of Cruden Bay, on a muddy track, sits the amazing New Slains Castle . . . the true home of Dracula.

On a very cold, clear, and windy morning I walked out to a seaside promontory where the [intentional] ruins of Slains Castle was situated.  It was the first sunny day in weeks, so I grabbed my camera for the opportunity for a castle shoot.

New Slains Castle is privately owned and is not developed for visitors.  Heavy rains over the past week made the walking torturous.  In fact, the entry was blocked by a fence, a cliff, and this wooden barricade.  But . . . . .

I found an inviting entry point to the castle property and went in.  I walked along a path that took me by some of what I thought might be out buildings.  I wanted to see the North Sea before I entered the ruins.

As I walked up on the North Sea cliffs, I could see the rough waters.

New Slains Castle sits high on the edge of cliffs that look down on a craggy coast pounded by the wild North Sea winter surf.

The waves were ferocious!  The wind at the edge of the cliffs was powerful: I could barely brace myself enough to take a photo.  What DRAMA!  What inspiration!

I was riveted by the constant pounding of the huge surf on the rocks.

Is there nothing more infatuating than watching big surf crashing on the seaside, with the wind blowing the tops off of the waves?  I do not think so.  I must have taken 100 photos here . . . and thinking each time that I had captured a momentous occasion of extreme importance . . . the Sea and Land in rough embrace.

The castle placement atop cliffs above the wild sea . . . a marvel.

I walked along the windy narrow strip of long grass between the castle on my right, and . . .

. . . the jagged rocks at the base of the cliffs on my left.

Forced to stand so close to the castle, I studied the construction detail.

The weathered plaster-over-stone construction method was coated in sea salt deposits.

I entered the ruins of 'Dracula's Castle.'  I say Dracula's Castle because  . . ." On [Bram] Stoker’s return to Cruden Bay in the summer of 1895, ‘the’ book [Dracula] was written. It is said that when the winds blow into Cruden Bay, the sea is churned into such violence that it fills the onlooker with fear. It was on such a day that Stoker sat near Slains Castle in the wind and rain like some sea bird perched on a rock and slowly, his creation, Count Dracula began to emerge in his mind’s eye... “... I saw the whole man slowly emerge from the window and began to crawl down the castle wall over that dreadful abyss, face down, with his clock spreading around him like great wings...” [ Citation ]

"That Dreadful Abyss" that Bram Stoker saw from the window of New Slains Castle.

Dracula's view!

"In her book The Essential Dracula, Clare Haword-Maden opined the castle of Count Dracula was inspired by Slains Castle, at which Bram Stoker was a guest of the 19th Earl of Erroll. According to Miller, he first visited Cruden Bay in 1893, three years after work on Dracula had begun. Haining and Tremaine maintain that during this visit, Stoker was especially impressed by Slains Castle's interior and the surrounding landscape." (Citation)

"In 1925 the roof was removed to avoid taxes,   and the building has deteriorated since. It is now a roofless shell, with most of the outer and inner walls standing to full height. In 2004 it was reported that the Slains Partnership was preparing plans for restoration of the building and conversion into 35 holiday apartments.   In August 2007 the scheme was granted outline planning permission by Aberdeenshire Council, but the plans were put on hold in 2009 due to the economic downturn." ^[Citation]

The tower of New Slains Castle was begun in 1597, and was built, remodeled, and rebuilt for many centuries afterward.  It was occupied up until 1906.

The castle has a very complex floor plan.

Wherever I went in the castle, I invariably came back around to a window opening that looked out onto the wild North Sea.

With the windows, doors, and interior wall panelling taken away, the spaces left were . . . quite spooky.

Long halls went off in all directions.

Halls everywhere.  You can see the joist supports coming out of the wall at right, indicating where the second floor would have been.

It was very interesting walking down these halls.  Openings would appear and new views would present themselves.  With the wind whistling through these passages, it was a very exciting experience.

One of the best things about the day was studying castle construction methods.

This must have been a Great Hall or Dining Room.

I had fun trying to figure out the intended use of each room.

Construction materials and methods varied throughout the castle.  I couldn't tell the difference between the 16th, 17th, or 18th century renovations and remodeling.

Previous doors and passages are bricked up here and there throughout.

I wondered if some walls were broken in order to get large fixtures out of the building, like fireplaces.

A rare historical photo of the interior of New Slains Castle while occupied (circa 1900).

This photo illustrates how wood panelling was attached to the stone and brick walls: wooden dowels were inserted in the stonework as it was being mortared so that panels could be affixed later.  They are still there, so presumably, they could be re-used.

It was such a beautiful day.

At this time of year, February, in the Northeast of Scotland the sun is always at a perfect angle for photography.

Of course, all of my wanderings were leading me to the feature that defines a castle, the tower.

The five-story tower in all its glory!

The tower spiral stairs.

The colors, textures, shapes, surfaces, and shadows in this scene create a complex and magnificent portrait.  The doorway to the castle tower steps.

The 'wall history' underneath the castle tower stairs.  At some point a plaster grout was trowelled in and something, perhaps tiles, were laid in, and since vanished.  Seeing the medieval craftsmen's scratches and marks humanizes these spaces.

The tower interior view from a different corner.

As it was getting late, and the sun was falling fast, I left the tower to go outside . . . .

I left New Slains Castle through this door.

I stepped out into the gale force winds to see the tall grass, laid over, where it met the weathered stone of the castle . . . too beautiful.  A still life portrait to remember.

A turreted element of the castle architecture.

The south exposure of New Slains Castle in all its glory.  The 14th century tower at right.

A similar view of New Slains Castle when it was still a living residence (circa 1900).

As I walked around the exterior of the castle, I realized these weren't the ruins of out buildings, but the exterior wall of yet another expansive renovation in the past.

I wanted to walk a way up the coast to get a long shot of the castle and it's precarious position on the cliffs . . . . when I turned around I saw this view . . .  WOW!  The tall grasses laid over in the ferocious wind.

It was a struggle walking in this slippery, grabby grass in such a strong wind.

I took my last photo of the rugged Scottish coast before walking back to the car and heading home.  It had been a magical day in a magical, if somewhat creepy, place.

As I drove back through the village of Cruden Bay I realized I hadn't eaten all day, so I stopped in at a small hotel and had a traditional Angus steak pie and tatties.  It was, of course, delicious.

I set the GPS to take me home . . . but I began to defy its instructions, making it compute an alternative route  in the hope that I might find something interesting on a new road.  I did.

The Belhelvie North Parish Church (circa 1870).  I was happy, the sky was beautiful, and I had spent the day outside on a wonderful winter day.