Tom Langlands Photography Blog

The following short story was the consequence of a walk in the countryside near my home during the coronavirus lockdown. I stopped to take a photograph of a grassy knoll with this year's lambs enjoying a spell of sunshine. As the sheep watched me with interest it got me wondering what the animals would be thinking of our current situation if they were capable of having thoughts about such matters. After all, I reckoned they have a lot of experience that they could bring to bear on our current predicament. The Covid-19 Taskforce of the Wildlife Health Organisation The Covid-19 Taskforce of the Wildlife Health Organisation (WHO) was in session. Mr Badger peered over the frame of his thick-lensed spectacles, tilted his snout in the air and gave a short but audible sniff before beginning, “As you are aware the human population has been infected by a new and dangerous virus that is spreading out of control. At present there is no cure and no effective treatment.” “There...

I love a challenge and I also believe that we all have the capability and opportunities to create our own challenges in life. As a photojournalist and a writer I'm always looking out for new challenges that 'fire the imagination' and that present me with the opportunity to do something a bit different. At the end of 2016 I was staying with a group of friends in Pitlochry in the Scottish Highlands. I love theatre and in various ways have been involved with drama for much of my life. The purpose of our stay was to see several plays at the amazing Pitlochry Festival Theatre. It was during that visit that a comment was made about our local church in Annan and some problems it had been having with roof leaks. The conversation turned to how difficult it is for churches to raise money in this day and age of dwindling congregations. We had a discussion about the usual fundraising ideas but it was later that night that I came up with the idea of writing a play that could be...

As a freelance photojournalist I often get the opportunity to cover interesting stories. One such story that made a real impact on me and that has left a lasting impression was the day I covered a recording session in Glasgow with a very special group of people - namely Choirs with Purposes and the Lucy Lintott/MND Scotland choir. Lucy Lintott/MND Scotland Choir As a regular contributor to the excellent magazine Celtic Life International I offered to cover what I thought would be an interesting Christmas story. It certainly was and a very humbling experience at that. The full article is in the December 2017 edition of the magazine that is available now - see www.celticlife.com. It is not my intention to reproduce that article here but I will share with you why it touched me and what part you can play in helping someone this Christmas. Lucy Lintott Lucy Lintott is Scotland's youngest diagnosed sufferer of the horrible disease know as MND (motor neurone disease). Motor ...

Water is essential for life. We can survive quite long periods of time without food but only a few days without water. Despite the fact that we live on a planet where most of the surface is comprised of water the pure, clean, fresh water that we need to drink is an incredibly valuable commodity. Some nations have it in abundance and others have so very little. The fundamental relationship between water and life is the reason why scientists trawl the universe looking for planets that exhibit properties indicative of water-rich environments and the same fundamental relationship between water and life was what made our ancestors revere it, wonder where it came from and who was controlling it. Waterfall in a Celtic Rainforest As life-giving water often emerged from holes in the ground or oozed from cracks in cliffs it was assumed that it must be coming from another dimension, a world that we did not inhabit. It must also be controlled by the forces or spirits that...

The inhospitable but amazing Bass Rock The Bass Rock, or simply 'The Rock' as it is referred to by locals, is a  volcanic plug that rises out of the waters of Scotland's Firth of Forth and dates back some 320 million years. It shares a common ancestry with the not too distant Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh and also Castle Rock on top of which stands Edinburgh's world famous castle. To reach Bass Rock necessitates crossing the waters at the mouth of the Firth and Forth and it is only when doing so that you realise just how inhospitable and inaccessible The Rock is. Even in a gentle breeze the waters around the steep cliffs that rise from the depths have a notorious swell and dangerous swirling currents that make landing on The Rock very difficult. Trips to the Bass Rock can only be arranged through the Scottish Seabird Centre in nearby North Berwick as they have exclusive landing rights. I have made the crossing on a small traditi...

The summer sun dips behind the pine trees. A deer drinks at the edge of a rippling stream; its ears flicking with every sound. An owl on sentry duty calls, heralding the changing of the forest guard. There is a stirring on a branch above and the rising moon catches a pair of waking eyes piercing the gloom. Then slowly he descends, like amber sap sliding down ancient bark. On the ground he pauses, displaying tiger-like black markings and a distinctive broad, ringed tail. He is alert and his senses keen. Something in the heather moves and he hugs the woodland floor, silently edging forward. He pounces, lifts his head revealing a small vole, turns and melts into the night. He is a Scottish Wildcat and his ancestors have lived in these forests since the last ice age separated this land from modern day Europe. He was here before man came to these lands and before domestic cats existed. Back then, he shared this island with his distant cousin the Lynx, before the latter wa...