Frosted Leaves. We had a stunning week – cloudless days of intense blue, with sharp frosts of -8C or so. It was like being abroad… These grasses were in a frost-hollow that the sun was just beginning to touch, I was really drawn to the flowing shapes and the contrasting colours. “As human beings we […]
Birch reflections on ice. Stones beneath. Last week’s snow thawed during this week, in the process of which I found this ice beginning to break up. I love the way the shapes combine, together with the reflected birch tree – a bit of a Tangram puzzle! I’ve really noticed the days getting longer this week, […]
Snow sculpture, Monadliath mountains, Scotland. Winter arrived properly this week, with heavy snowfalls on friday. Taking advantage while the conditions were good, myself and 3 friends went on a back-country ski expedition yesterday. I took this image as we headed up onto higher ground and into the wind. The spindrift creates beautiful shifting snaky patterns […]
Snow drops on birch. This was a “pick n mix” week. Your choice of rain, snow, sleet in any combination at any time, served with a side order of gales. This drop of melting snow was refracting the tree behind, in a brief moment of relative light. “Take January’s advice – stack wood! Weather inevitably […]
Winter Birch. The upper Findhorn valley, near Tomatin, on a day of cold winds and a flurry of snow on the tops. This week has seen a constant cycle of rain and a few snow flurries, followed by frost, leaving everywhere covered in a layer of ice! I liked how the tree and grasses caught […]
Frost Flowers. Frost-encrusted mosses, catching a glint of sun. Each spike of moss had grown a crystal of ice, with further ice crystals growing from these. “At the one extreme, we think we’re not good enough to testify for a better world. At the other, we fear going crazy, screwing up, failing, being crucified or […]
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 […]
