Ice refraction, Loch Garten, Strathspey. Christmas day – loch Garten had totally frozen during the previous week of low temperatures. A slight thaw created all manner of shapes with the wind pushing ice up, which then refroze as the cold returned. The sounds were amazing as the surface boomed and creaked under the pressure from […]
Ring carvings, Achnabreck, Kilmartin, Argyll, Scotland. Achnabreck features three generously carved areas of rock, making it the most extensive group of prehistoric rock carvings in Scotland. Kilmartin Glen itself is rich in ancient monuments, standing stones and stone circles. Find out more here. This image has been somewhat “manipulated” from the original photo, to enhance […]
21/12 Solstice sunset – Clava Cairns A few minutes before sunset at Balnuaran of Clava, near Inverness, after a beautiful week of temperatures down to minus 10 with clear skies. I resonated the inner chamber with some didgeridoo playing, as the setting sun shone down the passageway. (The cairns are perfectly aligned to the setting […]
Frozen mushroom in moss. In the woods this week – a decent frost on the leaves and mosses, when I spotted this bright mushroom, completely iced over after the previous night’s rain. Suitably “festive” colours? “In the traditional shamanic cultures, healing bears little relationship to the remission of physical symptoms. It refers, rather, to becoming […]
Lichen on branch. Most of this week has been drab, dark and very wet! However, the sunshine when it happens is very intense, and illuminated the fronds of this lichen. I love the rich purple colour of the bare birch trees behind. I stood in the (ankle deep squelch) bog to take this – there’s […]
Winter Water My favourite local burn (Scottish word for a stream or small river), with a slow exposure for the low light, showing the movement of the water. I love the magic in the rocks and trees beyond the water. “Even the smallest woods have their secrets and secret places, their unmarked precincts. I am […]
Reeds, Craigellachie Nature Reserve, Strathspey. You’ve probably noticed one or two images from the reed-lochan over the last few months – and here we are again, on a bitter morning (the loch is on the north side of a hill, in shadow by 11am at this time of year) with fresh ice and a freezing […]
Pine reflections, Loch Garten, Strathspey. A favourite local loch, with the ripples creating lots of movement in the low light. “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” – Albert Einstein. “The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.” – Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
Beech trees, Strathspey. The woods still gave good colour over the last week, before winter’s first appearance – with wintry gales and a snow shower or two. “If what I say resonates with you, it is merely because we are both branches on the same tree.” – W.B. Yeats. “Handle even a single leaf in […]
Hazy Autumn Cairngorms. Bursts of light across the Rothiemurchus forest, with the Cairngorm mountains behind. Normally by now we would have experienced some wintry weather, but we seem to be in a warm extended autumn. Photography becomes more challenging for the next few months with low light levels, but also presents great contrast between light […]
Aspen, Strathspey. Yes – its leaves again – it must be the season! Aspen leaves tremble in less than the slightest breeze – making them a hard job to photograph! These ones stilled their dance for just a moment, early one morning this week. “Like an emblem of flexibility, Aspen can accept impulses from all […]
Riverbank Sycamore, River Spey. We had some beautiful light this week, illuminating these turning leaves down by the riverside one morning. The wind was shaking the leaves all over. In reply to several correspondents from last week – no, I wasn’t in Colorado, it was from a trip 2 years ago! “Connecting with the qualities […]
