The Photography of Dr. Jeffrey P. Harper

My friend Steve lives just south of Aberdeen and Stonehaven in the tiny Scottish seaside village of Catterline, Scotland.

One of my favorite places to eat is the Creel Inn, Catterline.  It's a 200 year old inn with great food and a fine selection of real ales.

After a significant conversation about literature, philosophy, and being-in-the-world, and after a fine lunch at the Creel Inn washed down with a winter ale, we set out on a walk down to Catterline Cove in a bitter, biting 33f degree driving wind.

The cold wind drove zephyrs across the cove.

Only a handful of fishing boats go out from Catterline Harbour any more . . . mostly to supply the tables of the Creel Inn.

The old Catterline Harbour jetty.

Bitingly cold, and blindingly beautiful.

A rugged North Sea coast spreads north from Catterline.

It was odd lighting: a dark cloud coming from the west, full of snow, darkened the foreground while an early setting winter sun lit tall clouds out across the North Sea.

A fisherman's cottage below the Catterline cliffs.

The old fisherman's cottage had a fine weathered red door.

Fisherman's cottage wall detail.

The old boat winch, lost in the weeds.

We walked back up the hill in the fading winter light.

Steve's old fisherman's cottage, up on the cliffs above the North Sea.

I was walking down a dirt road in Hua Hin, Thailand on New Years' Day 2016 and saw some nice light on this palm trunk.

The colors and patterns, and contrast was superb.

Wonderful pattern and color.

On my recent vacation back home in Thailand I took a walk along the Gulf of Thailand shore to take some seascape shots.

I took a number of photos of the low surf crashing against a retaining wall.  As I zoomed my camera view screen to see if it was a clear shot, I noticed something interesting . . . .

. . . there were astounding patterns and forms in the splashes.

Each wave splash created an ethereal and aesthetic world that passed with the gravity it had defied.

These were not large phenomena, maybe only a foot or two high.

But I was mesmurized by their fleeting beauty.

Patterns in patterns, shapes within shapes.

Fascinating.

Some of the captures were suitable for artistic post-processing, including a black and white study:

[All photos captured with a Fuji X-Ti and 56mm f1.2 lens]

I recently returned home to Thailand for a brief vacation.  While there I stayed in an old hotel with a marvelous stairwell lighting fixture.

The light, color, repeating patterns, and ambiguity of space were astonishing.

I climbed those stairs many times choosing multiple angles and compositions.  Pakkred, Thailand, January 2016. [Fuji X-T1 and 10-24mm f4.0 lens]

My darling wife qualified for the Scottish Senior Lady's Open Golf Championship at Carnoustie Golf Links this past summer . . . and I tagged along.  They have played golf here since the 16th century.

Carnoustie is a beautiful links course along the Firth of Forth.

I followed my wife's group for a few holes before heading off on a walk around the adjacent countryside.

The course was set up so that non-golfers could enjoy the course as a nice place to walk, like a park.

The Carnoustie course sits in some very beautiful countryside.

The Firth of Forth and the village of Carnoustie in the background.  I sat here for 30 minutes enjoying the rare sunshine and the foft breezes.

There were several nice beaches with walkers enjoying the view.

I found this painted rock along the sea and wondered if it was Art or just spilled paint.

A dirt road ran around the outside of the course lined with summer wild flowers.

A fine summer day in Scotland.  Ah Nature!

Wild flowers everywhere.

These yellow wonders were everywhere in the serene nature.

Oh!  Maybe not so serene after all!  Well . . . where's the warning flag?

I heard the pop-pop-pop of semi-automatic weapons about the same time I saw the red warning flag.  It seems the beautiful golf course and beaches were right next to a rifle range!

I went up over a hill, still behind the fence, to see if I could get a glimpse of the shooting range and instead discovered this sleeping soldier playing hookie!  I dared not wake him.

I encountered several commemorative signs in my walk around the course.  I'm sure true golf aficionados would love these (and know what they were about).

I saw this all summer:  flies doing the work of bees . . .

The Aberdeen-Edinburgh main train line ran along one side of the course.  This old Victorian era foot bridge was a work of art.

As I sat at the 18th hole waiting for my wife to finish her round, a wedding party suddenly materialized around me.

I had the chance to practice my wedding photography . . . until the real wedding photographer gave me the evil eye.

This little boy in his kilt was lost in a fantasy of the olde days.

It had been a good day, but we couldn't leave without visiting the Pro Shop for some Carnoustie memorabilia.