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The images above are a sampling of the 48 included in 'Nothing But Heather!'. They were taken with a Nikon F2a 35mm SLR with a Nikon 55mm f.3.5 Micro-nikkor macro lens or with a Vivitar CF f.2.8 135mm telephoto, sometimes with extension tubes, and occasionally (in the more extreme close-ups) with other more gimcrack and improvised arrangements. Lighting was either natural daylight or a cheap hand-held flash gun. Film was the (then) Kodachrome 25. See a wider selection of my natural history images here under "Photographers".



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The images above are part of an ongoing personal project to photograph my friends and acquaintances: writers, musicians, artists, publishers. Pictures 1, 2, 3 and 6 were taken with a Minolta SLR on conventional film; all other images up to number 29 were shot on a Fuji Finepix S7000 Digital camera in colour, and greyscaled in Photoshop. All remaining images were shot on a Nikon D200 DSLR with various lenses.

1: G.F. Dutton at his home in Perthshire, November 2004.
2/3: Philip Hobsbaum peruses a young writer's text at his home in Glasgow, autumn 2002, with his wife Rosemary.
4/5: Diana Hendry, poet and children's writer, Castle Urquhart, Loch Ness, May 2006.
6: Suchen Christine Lim, the novelist from Singapore, who was a writer in residence at Moniack Mhor during the first half of 2005.
7: Cheryl Follon, poet, in conversation, Pot Still, Glasgow, June 2005.
8: Poet and website designer A B Jackson, enjoying a pint at the Pot Still, Glasgow, June 2005.
9: Johnny Hill, Glasgow-based singer-songwriter, Kyleakin, Skye, June 2005.
10: Neil Thomson, highly amused by harmonicas, Kyleakin, Skye, June 2005.
11-12: Kenny Taylor, naturalist, nature writer, authority on puffins, Canna, July 2005.
13: Linda Cracknell, writer in residence at Brownsbank cottage, former home of Hugh MacDiarmid with portrait of MacDiarmid's wife, Valda Trevlyn, Candymill, Biggar, July 2005.
14: Mike Stocks, novelist, poet and translator of Guiseppe Belli, Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh, July 2005.
15: Mike Stocks, editor of Anon poetry magazine, Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh, July 2005.
16: Petrea Cooney, classically-trained soprano, violinist/fiddler and clarsach player, Calderglen, Lanarkshire, October 2005.
17-19: At home and among beech trees, Julie Johnstone, publisher of Essence Press and editor of island, a handmade literary journal dedicated to prose and poetry about the natural world, Edinburgh, September 2005.
20: Alec Finlay, poet, public artist, publisher, and general animateur, Edinburgh, October 2005.
21: Three poets and small press publishers, Edinburgh, October 2005: from left to right, Duncan Glen of Akros, John Lucas of Shoestring Press, and Hamish Whyte of Mariscat Press, at a spot marking Samuel Johnson's stay in the city.
22: Duncan Glen, poet, designer, typographer, and founder-owner of Akros Press, The Tass, Edinburgh, October 2005.
23: Poet and founder-owner of Mariscat Press, Hamish Whyte, The Tass, Edinburgh, October 2005.
24: John Lucas (left) and Duncan Glen in conversation, The Tass, Edinburgh, October 2005.
25: John Lucas, poet and founder-owner of Shoestring Press of Nottingham, The Tass, Edinburgh, October 2005.
26-28: Jim Carruth, poet, author of pamphlet Bovine Pastoral, a poem sequence documenting the decline of dairy farming in Renfrewshire, and pictured here among cows at his family farm, High Auchinsale in Renfrewshire, October 2005.
29: Lynn Chandhok, poet, New York City, June 2007.
30: Poet-critic Dana Gioia, book signing at the poetry conference 'Exploring Form and Narrative', West Chester University, Pennsylvania, June 2007.
31: Gioia and the poet Molly Peacock as part of a panel, 'The Movement and New Formalism' at the same conference, June 8 2007.
32: The poet Dick Davis, Pennsylvania, June 2007.
33: Rhina P. Espaillat, poet in Spanish and English, reads at the West Chester Conference.
34: R. S. Gwynn objurgates in witty style from the podium. Pennsylvania, June 2007.
35: Ernie Hilbert, poet, rare book dealer, and editor of Contemporary Poetry Review, an online journal which advertises itself as "resuscitating poetry criticism."
36: H. L. Hix, poet-critic, Pennsylvania, June 2007.
37: The American poet-critic Daniel Hoffman, June 2007.
38: Jennifer Goodrich, short story writer and US Assistant Editor of The Dark Horse, New York State, June 2007.
39: Kate Light, poet and violinist for the New York Opera House, New York City, June 2007.
40: Kate Light on the New York Subway.
41-42: Joshua Mehigan, author of The Optimist, a prize-winning first book of poems.
43: Molly Peacock, poet and writer, reads at the West Chester conference.
44: Michael Peich, fine printer and the conference Director, demonstrates some of the principles of typography and layout involved in his press, Aralia which produces gorgeous handprinted limited editions.
45-46: Chelsea Rathburn, poet and writer, Pennsylvania, June 2007.
47-48: Kay Ryan, poet, book-signing and reading as part of Michael Peich's annual Aralia Press demonstration during the West Chester conference.
49: W D Snodgrass reading, West Chester, June 8 2007. Robert Lowell credited Snodgrass's book, Heart's Needle as a major influence on him in the composition of Life Studies.
50: Snodgrass and X. J. Kennedy share a contemplative platform together.
51: A. E. Stallings, classicist and poet, Pennsylvania, June 2007.
52: Poet-critics Timothy Steele and David Mason share a platform during 'The Movement and New Formalism' panel, June 8, 2007.
53: Liesel Tarquini, poet, translator from the German and Fulbright scholar, Pennsylvania, June 2007.
54: Catherine Tufariello, poet, at book signing, West Chester, June 2007.
55-57: X J Kennedy, guffawing in mutual Irishness at Gerry Cambridge's camera lens, Pennsylvania, June 2007.
58-59: David Yezzi, poet and executive editor for the conservative cultural review The New Criterion.
60: Linda Cracknell, writer, Aberfeldy, Perthshire, February 2007.
61-62: Margaret Elphinstone, novelist and Professor of Writing at Strathclyde University, Glasgow, in the grounds of Hospitalfield House, Arbroath, April 2007.
63: Artist Nicola Murray, above Lochranza, Arran, April 2007.
64: Nicola Murray waits for a typically-punctual Glasgow Scotrail express, Uddingston Rail Station, Lanarkshire, May 2007.
65: Kenny Taylor, naturalist, writer, and general renaissance man, at Laig Bay, Eigg, with Rum in the background, July 2007.
66: Kenny Taylor at the Well of the Holy Women, Eigg, July 2007.
67: Christian McEwen, writer and teacher currently resident in Northampton, Massachusetts, but born and raised in Berwickshire, Glebe Barn, Eigg, July 2007. Her books include The Alphabet of the Trees: A Guide to Nature Writing,(co-edited with Mark Statman, and available through NAWE), and In the Wake of Home, a volume of poems.
68: Christian McEwen against the background of the Sgurr of Eigg, July 2007.
69: Best-selling novelist for young people, Catherine MacPhail, Cromarty, Highland, May 2007.
70-71: Chrys Salt, writer, theatre director, editor of literary magazine Markings, Edinburgh, October 2006.
72-73: John Hudson, poet and writer, founder editor of the literary magazine Markings, Francophile and general cultural animateur, Edinburgh, October 2006.