There are so many stories I could tell from my time in Europe, so many memories tied to each photograph.  I wish I could share all of them with you.  To be honest, I didn’t take an extreme amount of photographs.  Capturing these places wasn’t my main goal.  I’m a people photographer.  People are what jazz me.  Getting them to open up and share their lives is what energizes me… trees just don’t really do it. The things about landscapes is that they’ve been done before.  There’s not much I can do to make those landscapes look any different than the next guy.  I don’t know… maybe that makes me a poor photographer.  All I know is I’m a true believer in following my bliss when it comes to photography.  Nevertheless, I took a few obligatory landscapes of a few scenes that did intrigue me.  It was a stretch for me, but I actually had fun.  More to come on The Abstracts, The People, and The Tourist of Scotland and Sweden. For now, The Landscapes…

The Royal Palace of Sweden, where I brushed shoulders with the king, queen, and crown princess of Sweden.

Stockholm, just outside the Vasa Viking Ship Museum.

The world’s largest IKEA. Um.. yeah.  It was pretty cool.  Swedish meatballs and all.

After a quick flight from Sweden, I landed in Edinburgh, Scotland.  Taken from the top of the Edinburgh Castle, overlooking Princes Street.

Cannons of the castle.

First time pulling over in my sweet, new rental car.

Sheep were everywhere along the country roads throughout my journey from the east coast to the west coast.

After reaching the west coast, I boarded a ferry to the Isle of Mull where I stayed at Tim and Linda’s bed and breakfast which looked out at this landscape.  Photos of Tim and Linda to come.

From Tim and Linda’s B&B, I boarded yet another ferry to the Isle of Iona. Taken along the way.

Approaching the Isle of Iona.  Taken from the ferry. Love love love this little boat.  Note the isle’s historic abbey in the background.

The background of my Iona bed and breakfast, run by Lindsay and Joyce.  You’ll meet them later, too.

The only other “attraction” on the Isle of Iona, other than the abbey, is a very, very old nunnery.

The intriguing little post office of Iona.

The prime real estate, the “downtown” of Iona.

One of my favorite shots of all time.  Even though it wasn’t taken close the place I described in the post below, it still helps take me back to that experience.  The green and blue are the same as those in the previous post.  I adore the simplicity of this shot.  While sharing a glass of wine with Joe Buissink in Vegas at the beginning of March, he told me to study my favorite images and I’d be surprised at what I’d find. He said to sit in a room with them… become students of them… and in the end, “you will find yourself in those images,” he stated.  I did just that while I was away, and after looking at this image for so long, it’s easy to see it as a reflection of myself. Simple, calm, peaceful, colorful, a little mysterious…

My bed and breakfast on Iona.  Spent a lot of quiet time in this little house of Lindsay and Joyce’s.

A couple easy shots of the columns surrounding the courtyard of Iona’s abbey.

The abbey’s chapel. I had a pretty awesome quiet time in one of these little chairs reading through a few letters from some dear friends. This was also the point where I got serious with God and made a commitment to start “being still.”  Whatever that meant.  I wasn’t entirely sure.  What was to come after this moment,  in a post entitled “The Bench,” about knocked me to my feet.  More to come on that…

After my time in Iona, I spent the last day driving around the northern half of Scotland.  From the west coast, starting in Oban, and continuing north along Loch Ness to Inverness, and then south through the Caringorms.  I ended my journey in Dundee, where I met some new friends at the University of Dundee to watch the Scotland/Ireland rugby match.  The most gorgeous reflections I’ve seen in a long time.. Take that Maroon Bells!

I think tilted landscapes are my thing…

And that’s it!  Wahoo!  Here’s to the first post of my trip photos!  Many, many more to come! Hope they’re not too boring. :-/