By the end of summer, I had heather on my mind. The plant, not the person, I should say. Every year, when the days start to draw short and a chill creeps back into the early morning air, the moorlands and hillsides of northern Britain become ablaze with hues of pinks and purples as the heather blooms. Having been in the area that day, I found myself in Royal Deeside between Braemar and Ballater in the late afternoon. I decided to wait out the sunset on a small hill just across from Balmoral Castle. The view westwards from the 460m promontory of Ceag a’ Chlamhain looks right up the River Dee valley. Having got lucky with some decent light, I got down low to maximise the heather in the scene and used the dark line of a centered deer track to lead the eye out and down towards the river, to the royal residence of Balmoral and the higher ground of the Cairngorms beyond.