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The images in the reflection series were taken at two locations, from a boat as I sailed out of Aberdeen Harbour and on Tottenham Marshes. Those from Aberdeen Harbour were taken on a single journey as I set sail for the Scottish Islands on a bright sunny morning in May during 2008. Those from Tottenham Marshes, which is part of the Lee Valley Regional Park, were taken along the Lee Navigation, which is a canal that passes through the area.
You can read more about the Reflections by going to the Writings section of this website »
Click on any image below to see the details and enlargements.
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 This is one of several pictures taken from a boat leaving Aberdeen harbour for a tour around the Scottish Islands. As we slowly sailed past moored boats and docks which were painted an assortment of bright colours the effects reflected in the active water surface were stunning. In this picture it was if the water was on fire, and I think the pattern borders on op art. I have to confess that I stole the title from the op artist Bridgette Riley, whose work I became familiar with in the 1960’s and 1970’s. |
 This image, which is another from Aberdeen Harbour, is much more reserved in it’s colour scheme, than some of the images from this series, with the red and yellow that is injected from the top having no more than a subtle effect. The essence of this image is the rhythms of the lines that twist from the top the bottom created by the waves from our boat and bouncing back of the harbour walls. When the waves coming back meet more incoming waves the image reflected on the water surface seems to dance across the water. |
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 This picture was photographed along the Lee Navigation, which is a canal that runs through the Tottenham Marshes. Along the West bank there are weeping willows that overhang the water creating a myriad of patterns that become animated by the Coots and Moorhens when they disturb the surface of the water. Although the refection is inverted on the water, I have inverted the photograph to regain its original orientation and the lines of pattern reminded me of the form of electric phenomena such as lightning. There is also part of an electricity pylon reflected in the bottom right of the picture.
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 This picture was photographed along the Lee Navigation, which is a canal that runs through the Tottenham Marshes. Along the West bank there are weeping willows that overhang the water creating a myriad of patterns that become animated by the Coots and Moorhens when they disturb the surface of the water. Although the refection is inverted on the water, I have inverted the photograph to regain its original orientation and the lines of pattern reminded me of the form of electric phenomena such as lightning. There is also part of an electricity pylon reflected in the bottom right of the picture. |
 As I was sailing out of Aberdeen harbour and looking for images to photograph in the reflections on the water, the boat persisted in its forward motion, and the images were not only passing me by quickly, they were constantly forming into different shapes and then breaking up again. In such circumstances decisions concerning picture composition are mostly intuitive, and I think all those years photographing wildlife served me in good stead when taking some of these pictures. The title for this picture was a simple decision, as when I inverted the image, which in turn is an inversion in its reflected form, it reminded me of a sunset with a herringbone sky. |
 The title for this picture was intended to bring a suggestion of mythological allegory to the image in which the intangible (night) is given an objective form (pillars) such as the figure of Primavera being symbolic of spring. The glimmer of red on water is reminiscent of a sunset and the pillars represent the approaching, night suggesting a time shift in the picture. One of my favourite paintings is the ‘Flagelation of Christ’ by Piero della Francesca in which Christ is being beaten in a court yard lit by moonlight, whilst on the right hand side three men stand in a sunlit street. |
 The gold in this picture is the image of reeds in winter that created an vertical lines in the blue of the reflected sky. What is interesting in this picture is that the horizontal waves, created by bird activity on the water, converts the gold into horizontal lines as well. The overall effect is of a grid pattern of blue and gold creating a colour reaction between two colours which are close to being complimentary. |
 This picture was taken from the stern of the boat leaving Aberdeen Harbour, and is of the middle of the wake as the boat turns to the left. The water surface in the bottom right of the picture is the middle of the wake and is quite smooth compared to the sharply rippled water to the left of it. In the top of the picture the water is smoothly rippled, creating a third surface quality. I like the intrusions of colour into the perimeter of pictures, creating surprise, and in this case, a degree of visual drama. The title was created to enhance this suggestion of a drama that had happened on a more subjective level. |
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