The Photography of Dr. Jeff Harper

This blog entry is a little late in getting posted . . . my wonderful wife and I took this trip in mid-October 2014 . . . but the busyness of my life has, unfortunately, kept me from post-processing (I do very little) and posting.  ENJOY!

Oban Bay sunset on our Tattie Hols road trip.

In Scotland the schools have either a one or two week holiday, called The Tattie Hols, so the students can help harvest the potatoes. Not many young people harvest potatoes today, but the holiday remains.  I had a one-week holiday and, as we have done the past several years, took a road trip somewhere in Scotland.  We headed due west over the Grampian Mountains. This is the upper River Dee.

A beautiful glacier-cut valley in the Scottish Highlands.

We love our Scottish Highlands road trips.

Autumn is our favorite time of the year to be in the Highlands . . . the sky is so magnificent.

Highlands Fall colour.

Although there are very few houses in the Highlands, the ones that you do see are stately.

Our route skirted the Grampian Highlands along Loch Awe where we discovered the amazing St. Conan's Kirke.

It is rumored that a bone fragment of Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland 1306-1329, is buried here . . . but the LIGHT!

So much to see.  After a couple of days through the Highlands, we arrived at the Bridge of Lochay, near Killin.

We stayed the night in the old world Bridge of Lochay Hotel. 

The interior of the Bridge of Lochay Hotel had recently been tastefully renovated.

The Bridge of Lochay Hotel had a wonderful old intercom system that must have come when rural electrification arrived.

The hotel dining room was quaint . . .

. . . and the barman friendly and skilled.

I took an early morning walk across the bridge next to the hotel.

A thin light filtered through the trees.

Early morning along the River Lochay.

The River Lochay quickened as it fell under the bridge toward Loch Tay.

As we rounded a bend in the  road coming into Kenmore at the foot of Loch Tay we were stunned with this otherworldly sunset.

We stayed long enough with our mouths agape in wonder for the sunset to become golden.

On another morning near Loch Awe, we set off on a wooded trail.  There are many, many well-marked trails all over Scotland.

Tree.  Forest walk.

Our trail brought us along the shore of the loch.

Such beautiful scenery in Scotland.

Scenery to inspire a landscape artist.

The sky and light ever-changing . . . .

Migrating ducks were happy to dive for fish in the shallows.

We crossed Scotland to the west coast and the town of Oban for another fantastic sunset.  My wife loves oysters, and Oban has the best oysters in the world, she says.

We strolled along the Oban Esplanade during a stunning sunset one evening.

I had a wonderful amber ale with my seafood dinner in Oban, so we decided to see if we could find the brewery.  Loch Fyne, and the Fyne Ales, were only a few hours away.  We drove there and bought four cases of Jarl before heading on . . .

The bridge at the upper end of Loch Fyne.

The autumn hills across Loch Fyne. We had great oysters near here too.

Based on a restaurant tip, we headed down to Argylll from Oban . . . to find a brewery . . . and this sweet village.

 Our return route took us along Loch Lomond where we stayed overnight near the house-proud village of Aldochlay, before driving on to Glasgow.

I can't resist another photo of this lovely cottage and garden on Loch Lomond.

We stayed in Glasgow a few days before driving home to Aberdeen.  We love Glasgow, a city of 2.5 million souls.

We like walking around Glasgow.  There are many parks, but our favorite is the Glasgow Botanic Garden.

The greenhouses are fantastic.

It's nice to visit the tropical houses . . . we miss the tropical plants and heat of Bangkok sometimes.

The 12th century Glasgow Cathedral is certainly worth a visit. "It is also one of the few Scottish medieval churches (and the only medieval cathedral on the Scottish mainland) to have survived the Reformation not unroofed."

It goes without saying that the interior of Glasgow Cathedral is a phantasmagoria of images, light and shadow.

The pipe organ of Glasgow Cathedral.

I could have stayed all day in this old space.

The Museum of Modern Art in Glasgow with the famous statue of the Duke of Wellington with the traffic cone . . . yes, it is an art installation.

The interior of the Glasgow Museum of Modern Art.

We love to walk around Glasgow.  There is so much public art there . . . .