It was around 2007 I first started staying away from home regularly in connection with work. I was working with Scottish Water and had been asked to work 2-3 nights a week in Inverness. I’d always liked the Highlands, so jumped at the chance. After moving to SSE I worked on Beauly Denny, and spent quite a bit of time on Beauly substation in RJs site office, or on Murphy’s site office near Aberfeldy. I’m thinking “I’m getting paid to work in some of the most scenic parts of Scotland – can’t be bad!”

From there I moved to Global Energy and had a couple of years at Nigg. Even a rig can look alright in the right light!

From there I worked for ENI on a chemical project at Grangemouth. I rented a place just outside Stirling which was convenient for visiting some of the cities and Lochs nearby, as well as the Kelpies, the Falkirk Wheel and Glasgow etc.

Below – The Clyde Arc (Squinty bridge) – built by BAM and the Kelpies.

After ENI I worked for BAM on Loch Budhie substation. It was a fantastic project with fantastic people and I loved my time there. The picture below was taken at Sunrise in Feb 2016 and remains one of my favourites to this day. The light was stunning.

After BAM I was on Lynemouth Power station and was again up early to take this image at St. Mary’s lighthouse.

That image was the first every I’d put into a club competition – and when it got a 19 they all started clapping. I didn’t know what that meant at the time! I’d rented a place in North Shields, and took the opportunity to photograph locally and take the train down to London on a couple of occasions.

I’ve always been fascinated by bridges, and love photographing them. Both of these made it into my final 10 for my LRPS

From there it was on to an energy from waste on a refuse dump, where the photo opportunities were limited! I did see the Queensferry crossing under construction and had spotted this composition; later I saw the exact same composition win a major prize and get published in one of the leading photography publications. I congratulated myself for seeing it at least!

Next project was with Robertson, where I worked on a new build Fish Farm for Scottish seafoods. The Company had rented a place near Loch Eil, which was idyllic. Each night around 7.30pm the Jacobite – a steam train – passed the window. Below is Etive Mor and Loch Achtriochan in Glencoe.

The next site was Moray East, working for Siemens. There I joined Deveron camera club, which was a friendly little club which punched above its weight. The coast from Peterhead to Inverness is spectacular with the best sunrises and sunsets in the Country. Below is Dunnotar Castle, on the way up to Turriff, then Spey Bay where you have a chance of seeing Dolphins. I have seen them there but never when I had a long lens on the camera. Finally Bow Fiddle Rock at Portknockie.

Following Siemens I ended up in Hungary for a spell, before working for Linxon on Seagreen.

My next project was on Viking Link, and had a very happy 2 years there. I joined Louth Photographic Society. I found the people in Lincolnshire very friendly. Lovely people. I was fascinated with the history of the area, especially in WW2. I’d seen Typhoons flying over the site every day, but one day saw the BoBMF Lancaster, both flying out of RAF Coningsby. Went along a couple of nights to see Typhoons. Literally 5 mins from the site was East Kirby Airfield, which was an operational bomber base during the war. It has been preserved and I would spend many an hour there, photographing “Just Jane” and some of the other treasures. Steeped in history, you can drink the atmosphere. One weekend I had a trip to Wellesbourne to see Vulcan XM655. If that was not enough, I had the honour of actually meeting Wing Commander Mike Politt, who flew Vulcans and explained what happened on 17 Sept 2022 when XM655 overshot the runway.

My next project will be Orkney. I’m over the moon being back at BAM, and looking forward to being on site. I’m also hoping to join Orkney Camera Club.

Working on projects wherever they may be can be challenging. I find having interests off site helps. Joining the local camera clubs gives a focus midweek. It gets you out of the digs, and you are meeting people with a similar love of photography, which is excellent for mental health. It is a good thing to take an interest in the people and in the area you are working in, and places like Lincolnshire and Orkney are absolutely crammed with history. Life on site does not need to be boring!