The Green Isle of the Great Deep

Invergordon harbour

2012-01-30T08:28:00.001Z

Invergordon harbour, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

Inverness at dusk

2012-01-19T20:32:00.001Z

Inverness at dusk, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

Beauly Firth on a Friday

2012-01-14T23:31:00.001Z

Beauly Firth on a Friday, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

Driving home last night after a long day - just had to pull into North Kessock and capture this view of west Inverness on a January Friday late afternoon.

A new light and a new year

2012-01-05T22:17:00.001Z

A new light and a new year, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

Magnus curing his Hogmanay hangover

2012-01-02T16:46:00.001Z

Magnus curing his Hogmanay hangover, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

This years Splash and Dash. I was the official photographer (!), and borrowed a full immersion suit to get in the water with the splashers.

Looking down the firth

2011-12-26T10:23:00.001Z

Looking down the firth, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

Rigs in HDR

Love in a cold climate

2011-12-11T16:15:00.001Z

Love in a cold climate, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

Cromarty Harbour Yesterday.....

A view down the Firth

2011-11-28T09:09:00.001Z

A view down the Firth, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

Sun, Snow and Tree

2011-11-21T21:46:00.001Z

Sun, Snow and Tree, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

From last winter. Still very mild though.

Mist covered glens

2011-11-20T09:35:00.001Z

Mist covered glens, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

In the final approach to Glasgow Airport a fortnight ago, looking north over a mist covered Drymen and Loch Lomond, just at sunset.

Henry Mackay 1891-1918

2011-11-11T21:13:00.001Z

Henry Mackay 1891-1918, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

It's the sadness and resignation on poor Hendry's face that brings home WW1 to all of us. Taken in 1917, just before he joined the 2nd Batt, Seaforth Highlanders. Hendry Mackay must have known that he was not going to come home to Coldbackie.

He was killed on the 28th March 1918, and has no known grave.

In Memory of Private HENRY MACKAY

S/23248, 2nd Bn., Seaforth Highlanders who died age 27 on 28 March 1918
Son of Mrs. Christina Mackay, of Lower Coldbackie, Tongue, Lairg, Sutherland.

Remembered with honour

ARRAS MEMORIAL

Evening sun

2011-10-30T14:35:00.001Z

Evening sun, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

The Black Isle in Autumn

Colours

2011-10-22T19:10:00.001Z

Colours, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

Black Isle pipe band, in Cromarty back in 2005 for the 60th celebrations of the end of WW2. I do like the colours here.

Little fluffy clouds

2011-09-27T10:17:00.001Z

Little fluffy clouds, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

Apologies to the Orb....

Flying Edinburgh London, en-route to Boston and a week at MIT. Great colours eh?

Good morning Scotland

2011-08-28T15:55:00.001Z

Good morning Scotland, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

The Sutors of Cromarty, August 2010. 11mm lens.

Modern monolith

2011-08-26T20:41:00.001Z

Modern monolith, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

My 11mm lens does a wonderful job of stretching and distorting a shot of the Hutton TLP hull, moored near Cromarty. Out on the CFPA pilot boat on a work trip, but a cool close up.

Low tide reflections

2011-08-21T15:45:00.001Z

Low tide reflections, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

The Cromarty Queen in Cromarty Harbour

Highland summer

2011-08-14T14:34:00.001Z

Highland summer, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

The last weekend before the schools go back - yes, the sun somes out.

Landing at lisbon

2011-08-06T08:36:00.001Z

Landing at lisbon, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

Dramatic approach over the city

The Sedco 712

2011-08-02T07:10:00.001Z

The Sedco 712, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

Long time coldstacked, but now being mobilised. Still very rusty though. Cromarty Firth, Scotland.

Sailing all day with Robert and Bob. 11-22 lens

A big space

2011-06-30T17:04:00.001Z

A big space, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

In the sheds at Nigg

After 60 years

2011-06-25T10:48:00.001Z

After 60 years, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

Grandad and Nan - my folks 60th Wedding Celebrations

Crossing a contrail

2011-06-16T08:14:00.001Z

Crossing a contrail, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

Over Gothenberg on route to Stockholm, just as the sun dipped below the cloud layer.

Late flight to Sweden, speaking at an EU Energy Conference.

Castle Varrich

2011-06-12T12:22:00.001Z

Castle Varrich, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

May Morning on the Kyle of Tongue

The Cromarty Queen

2011-06-09T20:57:00.001Z

The Cromarty Queen, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

Two cars (and a bike) on the four car ferry. Mine is the Volvo.....

Missed the formal launch with Penelope Keith, as I was in Aberdeen at All Energy. Nice to see it chuntering across the Firth though.

The Wall

2011-06-05T12:55:00.001Z

The Wall, a photo by ccgd on Flickr.

Cruise liner and Pilot Boat

May Dusk

2011-05-27T18:34:00.001Z

May Dusk, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Two Galaxy Jack-ups and an approaching storm. Looking down the Firth.

The big sheds at Nigg

2011-05-17T07:43:00.001Z

The big sheds at Nigg, originally uploaded by ccgd.

A visit to the Nigg Fabrication yard.

Drifting contrails

2011-05-14T10:23:00.001Z

drifting contrails, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Over the Kirkyard

The day before the revolution

2011-05-08T18:41:00.001Z

The day before the revolution 1, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Cromarty's Victoria Hall, just before the close of voting, 5th of May 2011. Part of my "year in the life" photo essay about this small Highland Town, the photo title is based on the Ursula K. Le Guin's award winning SF short story - The day before the revolution - which describes the quietness and emptiness of the 24 hours before a revolution that fundamentally and irreversibly changes everything.

Like the Lib Dems being wiped out in Mainland Highland, and the SNP gaining an absolute majority in the Scottish Parliament.

Who would have seen that coming?

Eary morning on a misty Charles river

2011-04-27T11:36:00.001Z

Eary morning on a misty Charles river, originally uploaded by ccgd.

April Haar, looking to Boston. My early warning walk along the river before an "All American Breakfast". I do like American breakfasts.

Morning creels

2011-04-17T13:42:00.001Z

Morning creels, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Between the Sutors

Lighthouse

2011-04-07T21:20:00.001Z

Lighthouse, originally uploaded by ccgd.

The evening sun, through Cromarty Lighthouse.

Dawn ripples

2011-04-04T21:52:00.001Z

Dawn ripples, originally uploaded by ccgd.

The Sutors, Cromarty

Dinner with the FM

2011-03-23T20:40:00.001Z

Dinner with the FM, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Last night night at the Scottish Renewables Awards Dinner in the Barony Hall a Strathclyde University. The FM was in barnstorming mode, as it was his last public appearance as First Minister, with the Election Campaign starting at Midnight.

He awarded Prof Steven Salter of Edinburgh University the first Saltire Medal for a life time achievement in Renewable Energy Development.

High ISO snap taken with my old Canon, without flash - taking flash photography of the First Minister at a private dinner is not a great career move - but having spent a wee bit of time over the past few months working with him and his team on the whole renewables agenda I was keen to capture a moment in Scottish history, and a very relaxed FM in his element.

Oh and in case you have not picked up from facebook, I've a new day job. I'm now HIE's Director of Energy and Low Carbon, with a strong focus on developing ocean renewable energy in the North of Scotland.

Looking forward to the challenge, whoever wins the election in six weeks time, and the chance to take lots of snaps of large things made of metal.

St Peters Window

2011-03-19T22:15:00.001Z

St Peters Window, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Thurso

The Lighthouse

2011-03-06T09:19:00.001Z

The Lighthouse, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Having fun with a very wide angle lens and some HDR processing.

Cromarty Lighthouse and cottages - now part of Aberdeen Universities Marine Mammal Research Centre.

Build in 1846 by Alan Stevenson, it was automated in 1985, and then decommissioned in 2006.

The pilot boat

2011-03-05T08:57:00.001Z

The pilot boat, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Passing the Nigg Fabrication Yard.

Caustic cat

2011-02-28T13:58:00.001Z

Caustic cat, originally uploaded by ccgd.

One from the archives - Spain 2006.

Oh - and Caustics are light reflections

The Red Cuillin

2011-02-11T07:45:00.001Z

The Red Cuillin, originally uploaded by ccgd.

I had meetings yesterday in Portree, in our Skye office. Glorious February day, so I just had to stop and snap this, on route.

The West Church

2011-02-06T21:54:00.001Z

The West Church, originally uploaded by ccgd.

In the snow

The lone turbine

2011-01-29T16:38:00.001Z

The lone turbine, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Lamb Holm - Orkney

Sunset over Flotta

2011-01-23T15:07:00.001Z

Sunset over Flotta, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Scapa Flow and Hoy.

Flying home on Friday night after a few days in Orkney.

How the sparkler was invented

2011-01-16T21:39:00.001Z

How the sparkler was invented, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Playing with a burning stick in the middle of the night.

Streaks

2011-01-09T16:26:00.001Z

Streaks, originally uploaded by ccgd.

"Winter sun over the Gaelic Chapel. 11mm lens."

DTJW

2011-01-08T17:16:00.001Z

DTJW, originally uploaded by ccgd.

On the Ladies Walk, Cromarty.

I have no idea who DT or JW are, though it is fun speculating.

January

2011-01-07T18:58:00.001Z

January, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Flying to the sunrise.....

An old fashioned Hogmanay

2011-01-02T20:42:00.001Z

An old fashioned Hogmanay, originally uploaded by ccgd.

In Burnside at about 2:00. Sandy is playing the Northern Lights of Old Aberdeen

And the moon dripped blood!

2010-12-21T10:18:00.001Z

And the moon dripped blood!, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Shakespearean Solstice Moon - Just before the full eclipse.

Shot on Cromarty Links at about 7:30 on the 21st December.

Snowshoes

2010-12-19T19:59:00.001Z

Snowshoes, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Home for "the holidays" as our American Cousins would say, after being almost trapped in Aberdeen. It was a blizzard outside, the roads were grid locked, and the hotel muzak was stuck on a loop playing "in a winter wonderland" on a six minute loop.

The glorious dead.

2010-12-18T12:59:00.001Z

The glorious dead., originally uploaded by ccgd.

"I always wondered about the "glorious" bit.

Aberdeen, Winter 2010"

11 mm lens

2010-12-14T20:31:00.001Z

11 mm lens, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Sutor Gloaming through my new 11-22 lens (an early Christmas pressie to my self).

An Edinburgh Winter

2010-12-03T08:02:00.001Z

An Edinburgh Winter, originally uploaded by ccgd.

From the Third floor of the Caley Hotel, just as dusk is settling down over the city.

In Edinburgh for the Scottish Green Energy Awards, where I was presenting a lifetime achievement thingy to the redoubtable Jeremy Cresswell of the P&J. The trains were all being cancelled left and right, so we decided (not without some serious discussion) to drive down the A9. We used a colleague's car fitted with snow tyres,pack snow shovels in the back and set off.

The quietest, quickest and most picturesque run the to Edinburgh I've had in 20 years. Empty,black roads, and no falling snow until we hit the capital.

Just goes to show.

The door to my study

2010-11-28T19:28:00.002Z

The door to my study, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Experimentation with off picture flash.

My study is a small room accessed through our main sitting room, a room layout common in Scottish 17th Century Houses, (both also on the firsr floor, again not uncommon for Scottish houses of that era.)

The piles of books are looking for a home though.

And this is a mirror image of a mirror image so to speak. I've used a photo editing programme to mirror the image, so that it "reflects" what we would see looking this way in the real world. Confused? Join the club.

That toffee chew look

2010-11-26T07:38:00.001Z

That toffee chew look, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Those of us of a certain age will remember McCowan’s Highland Toffee.....

Autumn wood

2010-11-23T22:36:00.001Z

Autumn wood, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Along the Ladies walk - Cromarty.

There is a storm coming

2010-11-14T18:56:00.001Z

There is a storm coming, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Looking west along the Black Isle

In the morning sun

2010-11-13T19:22:00.001Z

In the morning sun, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Winter is here, and the firth is slowing filling up with rigs.

A sailor of the great war

2010-11-11T10:35:00.001Z

A sailor of the great war, originally uploaded by ccgd.

It was a few years ago, and I’d just returned from Stornoway on a very bumpy morning November flight, wedged in the window seat by a very large lady and enveloped by her overpowering perfume. The cramped conditions, the turbulance and queasiness caused by her scent made reading the weekly Hebridean paper difficult, but two items caught my eye. It was with a jolt that I read that the death had been announced of the last survivor of the Iolair disaster on the 1st of January 1919, where hundreds of returning Lewis servicemen had drowned within sight of Stornoway after their ship sank just yards from the shore.

You see, on the previous day I’d stood at the WW2 fortifications at Arnish point, and looked at the rocks where she had gone down, and thought of them and my own Grandfather, whose ship had also floundered in the same storm, but further North in the Faroe Islands.

He had survived, just as he had survived three years of Atlantic convoys and U Boats, and Family stories have him staggering miles in a snow storm dressed only in trousers and a vest to raise the alarm, nursing a wound that would indirectly lead to his death by drowning ten years later off the East African Coast.

The second news item was a small announcement that, after eighty years of fund raising (yes eighty years) a war memorial would be raised in a small Uist township to its dead of both wars. It says a lot about the relative poverty of the Islands, and one townships collective memory and determination that a war memorial was being completed in the last year of the 20th Century.

So, back in the office and still feeling slightly queasy, I wandered down to a local shop to buy my lunchtime sandwich and yogurt. I was in the queue behind a slight elderly lady buying a very carefully selected mixture of sweets, obviously one of the few treats that she allowed herself, or her pension allowed. But it was when she opened her purse to pay for the purchase, that I saw – just for a flash – a creased, old sepia photograph of a young man, in the uniform of a Highland regiment of 1939, either the Camerons or Seathforths. He had a strong face, with a shy smile, and that glimpse told me her life story.

A Fiancé, a Husband, or a brother, one of the young men of the Highlands who had left for France with the 51st , and never come home, perhaps lost in the retreat or at St Valery, or died in a Polish POW camp, or like my Mothers Cousin, killed in the western desert at El Alamein. Or perhaps I was wrong, and he was sitting at home at that moment, in front of the fire hale and hearty with his P&J.

But no, she had the bird like movements that you only see in the very old, and the nervousness and shyness that goes with elderly ladies who have lived on their own for a very long time.

Someone who has lived with the legacy and loss of war for a very long time.

So its for her, and the ever smaller band of people like here, that we remember 11:00 on the 11th day of the 11th Month.

Turbine and Platform

2010-11-06T19:34:00.001Z

Turbine and Platform, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Circling the Beatrice No 1 Wind Turbine, with the Alpha and Bravo Beatrice Platforms in the background, flaring some major gas.

Strangely enough Ruth and I saw (and photographed) one of the Beatrice platforms being towed through the English Channel in the summer of 1979 as we returned from Normandy form our Honeymoon.

Spooky.

I took this shot at sundown the 4th of November in the Moray Firth, on a trip out to the wind farm with some Hong Kong based energy specialists.

Blast those dirty windows and reflections in the perspex. Now I know why they take the doors of helicopters when taking serious aerial shots.

Kids and stones

2010-11-05T21:19:00.001Z

Kids and stones, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Bonfire night - after the fireworks Cromarty folk tend to congregate around the last of the bonfire on the beach.

Small boys and stone throwing into the fire then tend to figure prominently in the rest of the evenings activities. It's a rock hitting burning straw thing.

Fun. Dangerous but Fun.

Moray Firth sunset

2010-11-04T20:57:00.001Z

Moray Firth sunset, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Circling around the Beatrice Demonstrator Wind-farm as the sun sets.

Hellish light, just between the showers, dirty windows on the chopper, but I do like flying in Helicopters.

A Gaelic air

2010-10-31T12:42:00.001Z

A Gaelic air, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Cromarty's Allan MacDonald (although he is a Sgiathanach originally I understand) singing a Gaelic air at the Ceilidh to commemorate the Rev Talloch's retirement.

This is the first photo in a new, twelve month project I've just started, to visually record the life and institutions of the town, in a interesting - and pivotal - period of it's 850 year history.

East Kirk Shovel

2010-10-25T21:14:00.001Z

East Kirk Shovel, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Almost finished - the last few touches in the East Kirk Renovation. Still next spring until its fully complete, but nice to see it looking almost the way it was so to speak.

I guess thats the whole purpose of the restoration though.

Sun

2010-10-23T08:11:00.001Z

Sun, originally uploaded by ccgd.

All of a sudden winter seems be here, with the hills around the
Cromarty Firth salt and pepper with specks of snow, and the higher
peaks gleaming white in the morning sun.

Walking along the beach this morning was a bracing affair, with a
gusty north wind spreading the smells of the town’s fires far and
wide. Coal, wood and Peat smoke laced with firelighter paraffin all
combine with the odours of sea and chill to produce a smell that can
only be a Highland town at the start of the day.

The Cromarty Queen

2010-10-17T15:06:00.001Z

The Cromarty Queen, originally uploaded by ccgd.

The new ferry has arrived - almost four months late. Looks rather fine, and at four cars has double the capacity of the old Cromarty Rose. Build in Southhampton, here she is at her berth in Cromarty Harbour.

Punts

2010-10-16T20:42:00.001Z

Punts, originally uploaded by ccgd.

River Cherwell, Oxford. Just back from a week in deepest middle England, where our Charlie and Sarah now live. We had a wee house just to the south of the Magdalen bridge, and saw these punts every day when walking into the centre of the city.

The Beauly Firth

2010-10-06T20:32:00.001Z

The Beauly Firth, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Looking West from Kessock, as the sun sets in a late summer afternoon.

I had not been down to the old Kessock Ferry Terminal for 10 years or more, but I'd just done a quick radio piece at MFR up at Scorguie and noticed that the light was low and unusual over the Kessock Bridge.

A drive down over the Black Bridge and trip through South Kessock and this shot was the result.

Billboard moustache - Princes Street Edinburgh.

2010-10-01T12:07:00.001Z

Billboard moustache, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Had a Cary Grant moment in Wednesdays torrential rain in Edinburgh. I was escorted from the front door of my hotel to the taxi by the doorman (in Top Hat and Inverness Cape) sheltering me with a Umbrella.

Ahhh - just once in a lifetime.

Ferro Cottage

2010-09-27T12:13:00.001Z

Ferro Cottage, originally uploaded by ccgd.

A real autumnal Sunday afternoon, warm in the sun, but cool in the shade. Cromarty was busy all weekend with visitors, it being the “Door Open” day weekend, and half a dozen properties in the town were part of the scheme.

However whilst museums and Cromarty House may catch the headlines, sometimes it’s the smaller properties that hide interesting stories. Ferro Cottage, in the Towns Bank street, dates from the early years of the 20th Century, and was built using that new building material, reinforced concrete.

Us!

2010-09-19T19:44:00.001Z

Us!, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Boys all home for the weekend, as Charlie was on route to Head Office in Skye for a week. Just back from a very pleasant long Sunday Lunch at Sutor Creek, still great under the new management.

The fuss involved in getting this shot, you would not believe. Oh and even though the E-30 has a great built in Flash, the limitations of the genre so to speak finally made me buy a proper new pro flash on e-bay.

Fair isle

2010-09-14T06:40:00.001Z

Fair isle, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Flying Sumburgh to Inverness via Kirkwall last Saturday.

I've often flown past Fair Isle, but never managed to get a good aerial shot, either its been clouds (quite common) or I've been on the wrong side of the aircraft, or the wrong seat.

But this time everything just worked out perfectly, and an almost perfect shot from 12,000 feet.

Young gull

2010-09-06T21:05:00.001Z

Young gull, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Wildlife photography is not one of my areas of expertise, so I'm practising on that most common of birds, the seagull.

Serious pests as well though.

Cromarty beach.

The welder

2010-09-03T06:52:00.001Z

The welder, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Arnish Fabrication Yard, Stornoway.

Starfish circles

2010-08-29T13:48:00.001Z

Starfish circles, originally uploaded by ccgd.

The beach was littered with starfish the other morning, but all very much alive and making their way back to the water in a very determined, but not almost very accurate way.

A most unusual sight. Slighty disturbing.

Wasp and spider

2010-08-28T10:11:00.001Z

Wasp and spider, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Not a great technical shot, but interesting in what it shows, a fairly large spider dispatching a wasp on the window beside my workbench.

I was working on an old computer, and luckily had a camera beside me when the wasp was trapped by the web, and out pounced this spider.

All over in about 90 secs, just long enough to try a couple of shots, No Macro lens of course, and bright light from outside, but the effort just shows how hard this type of photography is.

Oh and Ruth has asked me to clarify that this shot is from my very messy shed - and not the house!

The Barn

2010-08-22T19:01:00.001Z

The Barn 2, originally uploaded by ccgd.

A trip around the Highland Housing Expo, on the Brae just outside Inverness. I must say that I was most impressed by the exhibition, the buildings and the architecture.

It did feel however that I was in a suburb of Stockholm, Reykjavik or Helsinki - modern low carbon building designs borrow a lot from Scandinavia, or they are just 10 years ahead of us.

This building - the Barn - was my favorite. Light without being full of glass windows, innovative timber construction, and upside down in the sense of bedrooms on the ground floor and living space upstairs.

It did however remind me of a modern version of our 300 year old Cromarty home - Albion House - similar proportions, similar living spaces (our living space is on the 1st floor, and has been since the 17th Century) and similar use of local relevant materials.

Well worth a visit. Its on until the end of the month.

Little and Large

2010-08-19T12:14:00.001Z

Little and Large, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Cromarty has been busy with visitors this year, the Firth has been busy with Liners but the harbour area has been significantly quieter.

No Ferry, you see.

Not for want of trying I’m sure. The Cromarty Ferry Company sold the 25 year old Cromarty Rose last winter, and bravely invested a significant sum six figure sum of there own cash in a brand new larger four car ferry from a yard in Southampton. All credit to a local firm investing in a new facility.

The new vessel was supposed to arrive in May, then June, then July. But its not here yet, and one can only image the problems that has caused to the ferry company, and to travellers looking for the Ferry. It’s the cyclists I feel sorry for, as the short journey across the Cromarty Firth is a popular short cut for both touring cyclists and the Lands end to John O Groats lot.

A 35 mile detour at the end of a long day is not a great option.

So lets hope the new ferry arrives soon and rescues just a little bit of the end of the visitor season.

Equinox morning

2010-08-18T07:13:00.001Z

Equinox morning, originally uploaded by ccgd.

The North Sutor at 6:30 on an August Morning.

Constant blue skies, can be a bit overrated.

Dry would be nice though.

Alcazar sunrise

2010-08-07T12:50:00.001Z

Alcazar sunrise, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Toledo, August 2010

Sierra Nevada Sunburst

2010-08-03T15:41:00.001Z

Sierra Nevada Sunburst, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Some times there are just a couple of clouds in Southern Spain.

Nightfall

2010-08-01T07:00:00.001Z

Nightfall, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Looking west over the foothills of the Seirra Nevada

July 2010

Hamish and Cairine

2010-07-11T09:40:00.001Z

Hamish and Cairine, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Our Hamish and his girlfriend Cairine. Hamish got a First Class Honours degree in Accountancy and Finance, and Cairine a First in Accountancy.

Clever kids eh?

Graduation day - Strathclyde University Business School 2010

Splash one

2010-07-08T07:37:00.001Z

Splash one, originally uploaded by ccgd.

The Invergordon Lifeboat motoring past Cromarty, on Sunday night in Forth 7/8 seas.

It was returning from a "shout" at Nigg, where a workboat was driven ashore by high winds and seas. They returned on Monday Morning to tow the vessel back to its moorings.

Sunset over Cromarty

2010-07-02T16:29:00.001Z

Sunset over Cromarty, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Cromarty can be a remarkable place for dramatic sunrises and sunsets, with the Sutors framing the morning sun, and the Ardross Hills and Ben Wyvis acting as a backdrop for the “setting of the sun”. The really spectacular ones tend to be more Autumnal, which made last nights almost midsummer display quite special.

You would hardly know that there was a large Port and quayside in this photo, with only the single light – reflected in the Firth – drawing your attention away from the almost Jovian display of clouds and colours.

Been home for a few days after what seems weeks of travelling. So its nice to take a walk along the beach in the very soft summer air and see this type of light display.

Moving the sheep

2010-06-19T11:50:00.001Z

Moving the sheep, originally uploaded by ccgd.

North of Wick, Summer 2009

Barclays Natural Resource Investments

2010-06-17T18:28:00.001Z

Barclays Natural Resource Investments, originally uploaded by ccgd.

When you sell photos through a photo stock library like getty you have no real idea where they will end up.

Then, just occasionally, you stumble across them.

In the wild so to speak.

Oh and its this one - looking to Invergordon from Balblair Point.

The Kingston Bridge

2010-06-12T11:59:00.001Z

The Kingston Bridge, originally uploaded by ccgd.

From the 20th Floor of the Hilton.

Did you know that the Hilton had rooms with Balconies? No - nor did I.

First time I'd had a room on that top floor. The balcony was interesting, it had a nesting seagull that attacked you whenever you ventured out. Just like Cromarty.

And its not raining

2010-06-10T16:27:00.001Z

And its not raining, originally uploaded by ccgd.

I'm in Glasgow and just one Cloud in the Sky.

Skypark - Anderson.

Gloaming Clouds 3

2010-06-09T06:29:00.001Z

Gloaming Clouds 3, originally uploaded by ccgd.

"Lost in the archives, but sunset over the Borders on a flight from Edinburgh to Helsinki late October 2007.

Real colours - just great."

Pollen and weed

2010-06-08T06:50:00.001Z

Pollen and weed, originally uploaded by ccgd.

No - not the gulf, but Cromarty Harbour and Oilseed rape pollen and seaweed.

Robert the Bruce

2010-06-05T10:59:00.001Z

Robert the Bruce, originally uploaded by ccgd.

missed a connection by 2 mins (thanks Scotrail) but as they say every cloud has a sliver lining. A quick trip up to Stirling Castle on a glorious June day.

All in B&W though - it was that kind of light.

Harbour blockhouse

2010-06-03T21:33:00.001Z

Harbour blockhouse, originally uploaded by ccgd.

There is something slightly sinister about the sewage treatment works on Thurso Harbour in this shot.

I used to hang out here as a kid - fishing round the corner, and in my Granddads shop and pub just up the hill.

The blockhouse is newish though, early 80's I seem to recall, and in this picture looks almost military.

Spring on the Black Isle

2010-05-19T20:11:00.001Z

Spring on the Black Isle, originally uploaded by ccgd.

You just have to love the colours.

Near Munlochy - I drive past these trees almost every day.

The Custom tower

2010-05-17T17:52:00.001Z

The Custom tower, originally uploaded by ccgd.

On Boston Harbour - now a Marriott Hotel.

Evening sun on the MIT Campus

2010-05-09T23:59:00.001Z

Evening sun on the MIT Campus, originally uploaded by ccgd.

I’ve been in Boston a week now, and still have a couple of days here before I head back home for the end of the week, Icelandic Ash permitting. My problem is that my body has now completely adjusted to US Eastern time, and I know that I’ll suffer when I get back to Scotland.

So, even though its only just before 8:00 on a Sunday night, I’m going to try to get to bed and get up at 5:00 (Not least to e-mail phone folk back in the office). Helps that I’m now alone, as my work colleagues all caught the afternoon plane home, after a fun late lunch with Tony Knopp, our MIT Liaison contact, in a Sandwich bar in deepest Cambridge, MA.

So bed, in the Boston evening gloaming, as I can see the planes stacked up over Logan Airport from my 21st Floor room, as well as the flood lights of Fenway Park, where the Red Soxs seem be suffering badly at the hands of the Yankees.

Boston Skyline

2010-05-06T10:31:00.001Z

Boston Skyline, originally uploaded by ccgd.

From Cambridge - looking over the Charles. Taken a couple of days ago on a slightly damp misty morning.

The weather the past two days has been glorious, except I've been inside various MITT buildings and classrooms for 14 hour days, and missed it all.

Sigh.

Farewell Nokia

2010-05-02T12:56:00.001Z

Farewell Nokia, originally uploaded by ccgd.

I have been a Nokia mobile phone chap since my very first phone back in 1994. I have been a Communicator buff for almost the same time, ever since I saw a pre prototype Nokia Communicator at the University of Helsinki about 96.

I've used Nokia's (mainly their Communicator models) almost exclusively since then. I did have a little fling with a Sony Ericsson about 2000 ( I needed a phone that worked in North America as well as Europe and Nokia did not make one - imagine...) but that only lasted a year.

But - the office has standardised on new Smartphones, a Taiwanese model, and my Nokia days are over.

Farewell.

Blue walls and reflections

2010-05-01T09:44:00.001Z

Blue walls and reflections, originally uploaded by ccgd.

Sitting on a train, heading for Edinburgh, and Edinburgh Airport, and hence London and finally Boston sometime later tonight.

It's been a couple of years since I was last the city, and I'm going to be there for about ten days, long days by the look of my work schedule, but hopefully I'll get a couple of hours to try out the new camera on the cities dramatic architecture.

This is Boston Waterfront from back in 2008.

In the style of J Arthur Dixon

2010-04-29T18:56:00.001Z

In the style of J Arthur Dixon, originally uploaded by ccgd.

A view of Cromarty from the South West, looking over fields of ripening barley. This shot, and the deliberate colouring, is in homage to the Highlands and Islands Postcards of J Arthur Dixon - Isle of Wight and Inverness. They produced the vast majority all the postcards sold in the Highlands during the 60's, 70's and 80's, and almost all their shots had a bright, over-saturated feel.

Like the above......