Here I am in Scotland again, and without any thought of this before I left home, I have started by photographing a couple of scenes from when I was here in the spring.

Rogie Falls is just a stone’s throw from Inverness, plus a short hike. This time I did explore more of the area, up above the main falls. The water’s pretty robust up there as well.

In one chat I had with Jill before I left home, she said don’t just take photographs of waterfalls. Considering it’s been raining for weeks, this could be a challenge. But what she was really doing was reminding me of our regular mantra, that I don’t want to take photographs of “objects”, that I need to be looking for some meaning, some emotion in what I am capturing.

So there I am, looking at some great waterfalls. Waterfalls that I’ve photographed before. One of the things I like to bring out of such scenes is the sheer energy that is in the water. But I’m standing there and wondering, OK, what else, and I decided the theme would be survival, survival of habitat is an important issue, but what I want to express with these photos, and maybe not just in waterfalls, is how life can cling in on the most adverse circumstances.

After waterfalls, maybe even before waterfalls, I like trees, and now I have my project on forestry. I saw this great set of canopies / avenues after I arrived in Ullapool from Stornoway at the end of March. Now they are in leaf and look completely different. Too soon for fall colour, but a fascinating challenge.