The idea was simple. I asked Scottish personalities to name their favourite place in Scotland. I then undertook to photograph it in the most atmospheric of conditions. Having taken the shot, the contributor would write a descriptive piece with the image beside them about the places of special significance to them. For some it was a memory from childhood or a place to return to in order to establish a sense of identity. For others it was simply a view that continued to take their breath away. The thing they all had in common was a unique feeling of longing for and belonging to Scotland, beautifully and lyrically described.

When I originally conceived of the idea of asking famous Scots where their favourite place was, and to photograph it for them, I had no idea where to begin. While grappling to achieve an opening, I remembered a chat I'd had with an old Stonehaven classmate at a school reunion. He told me that he now lived in Crieff and that he was on the Highland Games committee with Jim MacGregor, film star Ewan's father. I sent an outline of my idea to Jim and a modest publication of Kincardineshire that I had previously published. To my surprise I got a call the following Sunday, thanking me for the Mearns book and telling me that he had just spoken to Ewan in Australia, who had thought that it was a great idea and that his place would be the Knock Hill behind the Crieff Hydro where he used to play as a boy.

I had gone from a blank piece of paper to having one of Scotland's biggest film stars keen to take part in A Sense of Belonging to Scotland. From that point onwards, I managed to enlist over 100 contributors and began a six-year journey that took me to every corner of Scotland. Volume 1 included some unusual requests including Govan for Sir Alex Ferguson, the Oxford Bar for Ian Rankin and Grangemouth Refinery at Night for Kaye Adams!

Over the years of travelling, I have had some unforgettable photographic and personal experiences. In photographic terms, there are two that stand out particularly. One is the shot I took for BBC news reporter Sally Magnusson in Mull, and the other is a winter's day when I acquired two fabulous shots in one day. This was far from the norm, as most photographs needed several visits to capture the elusive and often fleeting light

Sally wrote to me describing her place as a ruined village on the north coast of Mull, where her great-great-grandfather had lived. I had already found the collection of derelict houses, hidden in the folds of coastal fields, the previous year. I revisited the place early one August evening. Having avoided Highland cows en route, I set up the shot, although the sun was lowering behind a huge bank of cloud.

The image in my mind's eye was a cottage, spotlit by the evening sun with the surrounding land in dappled light. All in all, it took an hour for the sun to strike the cottage in the way that I had hoped. When it eventually happened, my feelings of elation and relief were indescribable. I could feel the community from the nineteenth century moving about their daily lives. Sally describes it beautifully.

The day in January also stands out in my memory. Having done my homework the previous summer for Ally McCoist's favourite place of Glencoe, I thought that the best shot would be of Buachaille Etive Mor in winter with the Coupall River in the foreground. Ally had given me free rein by saying anywhere in Glencoe would be suitable as it was all beautiful. Having phoned the Ballachulish hostel to check the snow level, and with a good weather forecast, I set off from work on the Friday, hoping against hope that I would get the shot before I would have to return on the Sunday.

When I arrived at my position the following morning about an hour before sunrise, everything was perfect. The Coupall was frozen and the waterfall was in full flow, dashing through the ice and rocks. The summit was beginning to be lit by predawn light and the moon was in the ideal position. The only things missing in the resultant photograph are the complete silence and the intensity of the cold. It was a complete sensory experience that will always remain in my memory.

Having set aside the whole weekend, I now had the shot I wanted by 7.30 on the Saturday morning! I decided to head for Arisaig and do some information gathering for a future trip. As the sun dipped below the horizon at sunset, I drove up the side of Loch Morar in the fading light to establish a future location for musical producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh. Having made my way to the end of the road, I turned to see the most magical afterglow light over Loch Morar. I knew that I would wait a long time before finding a better opportunity than this to convey the loch in such beautifully atmospheric light. This was the most fulfilling and unforgettable day of the whole project.

Similarly with Further Journeys, there were some very memorable experiences including the last light on Saligo Bay on Islay for Lord George Robertson, a perfectly still day on Loch Eck for Emma Thompson and crystal-clear morning light on Culzean Castle for Colin Montgomerie.

I am very proud of A Sense of Belonging to Scotland; it seems to have unlocked some very personal memories of places that convey a special meaning, previously undeclared, to the contributors. An unexpected feature of the project is that, in a wider sense, everyone who has listened to my presentation or read the books seems to have their own special place that they hold vividly in their memory.

In his descriptive piece in volume 1, Ewan McGregor said that the photographs would evoke a 'beautiful melancholia' for Scots all over the world that are away from home. The joy of A Sense of Belonging to Scotland is that it encourages everyone to visit their own special place, wherever on the globe they find themselves, even if it is only in their imagination.