The Photography of Dr. Jeffrey P. Harper

It was a beautiful May Saturday in Aberdeen . . . a good day for a walk along the River Dee with my camera.  Along my route I passed the Allenvale Cemetery.  'Great,' I thought, 'a chance to shoot some black and white photos in the moody old cemetery.

It was an interesting old grave yard and the ground was carpeted with blossom petals.  A nice subject for B&W.

Wonderful compositions to be had here . . .

Nice contrast and deep shadow.  Pretty.  But what was I thinking?  The colors were incredible . . .

PINK!

Wonderful Pink Blossoms!

The further I walked into the cemetery, the more beautiful it became.

A carpet of pink and green.

I was stunned into silence amid the pink spaces of death.  And I was not alone.  There were five other quiet, openjawed photographers moving like cats among the headstones.

Yummie light.

Gorgeous.

Stunning color.

The Celtic crosses were wondrous.

The morning clouds burned off and the light became sharper.  It is a strange experience to stumble upon a grave marker with your family name on it.  I have relatives named Agnes and William . . . I wonder if these were distant relatives . . . my father's side of the family were Scots.

I left Allenvale Cemetery and walked across the road to the River Dee Walk.

Walking paths and bike trails run for nearly 100 miles from the coast of the North Sea all the way up into the Highlands along the banks of the River Dee.  Aberdeenshire is an outdoorsmen's paradise.

A stone building, used as a snack shack during summer months, had a fine green steel shutter.

I walked a few miles along the River Dee Walk to the Bridge of Dee (1527) and turned into the city back home.

The view on the way home was wet, cold, and amber.

Early Saturday morning . . . the journey begins at the Aberdeen Station.

Booked and bought months in advance. I was very excited about the coming week-end not only because of the Robert Cray concert we were going to see, but because it would be my first train trip from Aberdeen.

The train  follows the coast of the North Sea all the way to Edinburgh.  Beautiful views.

The rapeseed fields were in full yellow flower.

We made a quick turn onto and across the Tay Train Bridge.

A quaint part of Dundee is across the wide River Tay estuary.

There was always something of interest along our route.  Here we cross the Firth of Forth on the famous Forth Bridge, for many years the longest steel span bridge in the world and a marvel of Victorian engineering.  Below are the remains of WWI and WWII military emplacements.  New and old oil and gas platforms in the distance for, and from, the North Sea.

We booked our hotel within walking distance of the beautiful Edinburgh Station.

The walk from the train station to our hotel was, well, interesting.

The walk to our hotel was up a very steep cobbled street.  We stayed above this bistro, but never ate there.

Our hotel was clean, colorful, and quaint.

The original elevator was still operational.  I couldn't resist this selfie.

We dropped our overnight bags in the room and took off for a walk to the Edinburgh Castle through the early Spring streets.

Old Edinburgh near The Royal Mile is a wonderful place.

Among the wonders along the Royal Mile.

There were plenty of buskers and street performers, like this clever woman.  She seemed a bit hollow though.

All roads lead to the Edinburgh Castle.

We walked the Royal Mile to the Edinburgh Castle through the medieval cobbled streets.

We walked up the steep streets to the castle.

We entered the Edinburgh Castle through this gate.

Castle walls.

The castle guards seemed very, very young.

A young and serious castle guard.

The views of Edinburgh from the castle ramparts were spectacular.

Edinburgh is a beautiful and fun old city.

There are many views of the Firth of Forth in the distance.

We like to walk around the small streets and lanes of Edinburgh.

The castle is very organized for tourists.  There were many hundreds of tourists from around the world on the day we were there.

The Great Hall is surely the highlight of the castle visit.

There is a fine collection of coats of armor and weaponry from the across the history of Scotland and the UK.

Royal Hilts.

A nice display of Royal flintlock pistols.

Night's armor.

We spent many wonderful hours at the castle, but we needed to eat an early dinner and get on to the main event of the week-end . . . the Robert Cray concert that evening.

We had an early dinner at the Gardner's Cottage, a very cool organic restaurant where you eat communally.  The food was excellent . . . we flagged a taxi afterward for the trip across town.

We knew we found the right place when we spotted Robert Cray's tour bus parked in front of The Queen's Hall.

The Queen's Hall is actually an old Victorian era church, converted into a music venue.  The acoustics were excellent.

We sat in these colorful wooden pews for the concert. Wonderful.

The average age of the audience must have been 65 . . . so I fit right in.  Old guys like The Blues . . . and Robert Cray is among the very best bluesmen.

I was not disappointed: Robert Cray put on a great concert.  He is as good as he has ever been.  His band was tight, and his singing and guitar work were fantastic.

I had never seen Robert Cray live before.  It was a memorable show, to be sure.  He played old favorites and some off his new album (which I have ssince purchased - it's great!). As my daughter said, "That's one more item off your bucket list."

We wandered around Edinburgh on Sunday morning shopping and trying out a new seafood resturent (pretty good).  I heard music across a park and followed it to this city biker gathering.  Nice folks and very good music.

Nice Scottish Harleys . . . and properly dressed bikers!

We boarded the train in the late afternoon for the beautiful trip up the northeast coast of Scotland to our home in Aberdeen.

We arrived back at Aberdeen Station just before dark.

30 minutes from our house is the Bridge of Feugh Cafe.  We like going there on a week-end day to have tea and scones.  We also like to bring all of our visitors here too.  On this beautiful early May day the flowers were out in their full glory around the old stone cottage.

Early May at the Bridge of Feugh Cafe.

The Scots in these parts love to garden.  I have seen so many flowers here I have never seen before . . . like these climbing vines with their pink and yellow blooms.

Yellow clusters of light.

I love the red stems . . .

A row of exquisite irises to thrill.

Beautiful ground cover everywhere.  The tea and scones were delicious too.

After tea and scones we headed ut along the one-lane country lanes of Aberdeenshire to see what we could see.

It was so beautiful out that I nearly forgot to take any photographs!  This elephantine tree trunk drew my attention before we went back to our Aberdeen home.

It was a nice Saturday and a time for another road trip south along the coastal highway to a town famous for its smoked fish, smokies - Arbroath.

Picture perfect Arboath harbour on a late April Day. Arbroath dates from the iron age and has played a major role in Scottish history: "On 6 April 1320 the Scottish Parliament met at Arbroath Abbey and addressed to the Pope the Declaration of Arbroath, drafted by the Abbot of the time, Bernard. This document detailed the services which their "lord and sovereign" Robert the Bruce had rendered to Scotland, and affirmed in eloquent terms the independence of the Scots^" 

Wonderful 18th century quay side buildings painted from a colorful pallet.

An Arbroath trawler ready for action.

It was a perfect early Spring day along the northeast coast of Scotland.

As luck would have it, some restored historical fishing vessels were in port for the final day of the Arbroath Harbour Festival.  The Arbroath smokies have been coming from here for centuries.

Festival-goers doing what festival goers do . . .

Festival-goers sauntering and waiting for homemade ice cream.

The Arbroath Harbour Tower was a very photogenic structure.

There was a carnival associated with the festival.  Children, the brave, and the foolish partook of the rides.  Being none of these, we sat and enjoyed the visage of others terrifies, shaken, and stirred . . . and suffocated in clear plastic balls.

This ride we dubbed the Hipster Vomitron 5500.

No, no, no.  Just NO.

Hundreds of feet off the ground.  You cannot see the look of abject terror on these festival-goers faces.

I wasn't sure what you won at this dart toss.

As is our want and habit, we scoured the little town for interesting things to bring back home . . . and eat.  We bought smokies (smoked haddock), scallops, shrimp, and sea bass filets.  We had a great day out and about in Arbroath.

As is our custom during the cold and grey days in northeastern Scotland, if it is sunny on a Saturday or Sunday, we abandon our household chores and head outdoors.  This day we remembered seeing a bicycle renting shop in the Royal town of Ballater from when took our Thai visitors to the Highlands. There was a marvelous walking and biking trail, known as the Deeside Way, leading out of town which followed an old railroad grade.  Perfect . . . no big hills!

The Deeside Way leading out of Ballater looked promising.  There were other bikers and a number of ramblers.

The trail crossed several burns (the Scottish term for creek).

The sky was blue and the light was clear and strong.  The vegetation was a mix of winter hibernation and early budding.

Occasionally the trees that lined the path would open up to a view of the bucolic Scottish Highlands countryside. 

Farmers had been out preparing their fields.

Early Spring planting.  There was still snow on the higher mountains . . . it was a crisp day . . . perfect for biking.

In a few places along the Deeside Way the trees were beginning to bud and blossom.

We rested under this shadowed tree on the green hill.

An old chapel ruin provided some photographic interest.

I assume the area farmers still bury their dead in this cemetery.

We went as far as this grove, about three miles.  We felt a very strong Nature Spirit here.

The way back, on the same trail remained interesting and beautiful.

Such an inviting trail . . .

We left with great memories of the great day . . . and sore butts from the bike ride.  We vowed to buy saddle pads before our next mountain bike adventure.  [Note:  we did buy a pair of gel saddle pads!]