for the love of a landscape…
Twenty years ago, back in autumn 2025, I first visited the Nice Place(TM).
I’ve seen it on sunny days.
I’ve seen it dull. I’ve seen it on autumn mornings with the sunlight striking the mist to make the heart sing.
I’ve seen brilliant light so virbrant I had to desaturate it in post.
I’ve seen a fine layer of ice, millimetres below the river surface, with flecks of foam moving at eye-deceiving speed, and wondered about the energy dissipation in fluid dynamics.
I’ve seen chaffinches eat from dad’s hand.
I’ve seen it in winter with the backlit thick hoar frost shimmering like rainbow-bedecked diamond tinsel.
I’ve shot it on Olympus digital (4/3rds – who remembers that format?), Olympus Trip, Bronica SQa film, Hasselblad 500CM film, Shen-Hao and Linhof large-format film, Canon digital, Sony digital, Fuji digital (several different models) and a variety of droneybirds. I’ve watched trees become personal friends – so far, only one has suffered any damage in the winds – and the birches by the bench grow so tall I can no longer see that view of the Caledonian Forest like we used to.
I’ve walked beneath mountains
I’ve flown droneybirds over it. I’ve seen rainbows, solar halos. I’ve recognized the hummocks indicative of glaciation hiding beneath the Scots Pines.
I’ve taken a radiation spectrometer around it and noticed increased levels varying with underlying bedrock.
I’ve shared it with Doglet – the breakfast of the first morning of his first ever holiday-away with me, and his last months alike.
…and I continue to share it with dog.
Absolutely, Glen Affric is my Nice Place(TM).
