2nd December 2025
Today I was off on an adventure - over to Torridon! The drive over was absolutely spectacular with stunning light… unfortunately when I arrived on the site I was shooting the light was replaced by rain!
Still… I think I got what I needed!
But a return trip just to phtograph some landscape is absolutely required soon!
4th December 2025
I stopped off at the old Church of St. Lawrance in Glen Convinth today, an old 16th or 17th century structure which is now so ruined that there is very little left to see. Rumours of a couple of cup marked rocks and a Pictish carved stone are, unfortunately, impossible to confirm as nothing has been seen of them in recent searches (certainly since the 1970s).
Nethertheless I do like these old sites and try to visit anything I see on the map when passing! This is my second attempt at this one, last time I shot from ground level with little success so today I tried some low angle aerial to see if anything came up. Alas it is still a bit of a wash out!
More interestingly, perhaps, I popped into Ffordes to have a little hands on with the big Fujifilm cameras. My Z6II is really past the point it should have been replaced now and I can’t quite decide what to do! I really like the idea of perhaps uprating the bigger Z7 for the Fuji GFX100 SII though, and then replacing the tired Z6 with the little used Z7 for a while. It probably won’t be in this financial year mind… but perhaps next if things go well!
1st December 2025
Well, the month started off with a little more drama than I would have liked, which has semi derailed my plans for the day! I think I got there in the end though!
The sky came dark over Loch Ness on the way back home with just a small patch of light illuminating Urquhart Bay so I just had to stop for a quick photograph!
3rd December 2025
Conon Mains just outside Dingwall today - the light was magnificent, so much so that had I more time I would have been away back to Torridon! It didn’t last though, the cloud bank that can be seen on the horizon came over and turned the second part of the day very dark, wet and miserable! I got the work done though, so not to worry!
We are edging in to the dark days of the year, in more ways than one. The longest night is not so far away and I always struggle with past events at this time of year, as well as missing those who have passed on - the number of whom seems to grow with every year. I try to keep the associated black dogs at bay, and this year I am going to try and employ creativity to keep me from sinking.
I am hoping to rekindle the YouTube side of things in the coming days and share some of the places I go, as well as the techniques that I employ… and perhaps a wee bit about the equipment I use too. This will be as much a distraction for my mind as anything else - and it is another way to create things, which is always good!
Tomorrow I have a dark room evening, which I am looking forward to. I haven’t really been in much over the past month or so as work has been just too fragmented to do anything constructive. Christmas is going to be a bit of a blockage to getting in I suspect, but I want to try and find a couple of mornings this month to process some film and perhaps run some prints!
5th December 2025
And so begins my 17 days of beating myself up for my various failures in life. It happens every year, and it is something that I can’t shake, no matter how hard I try. It is getting less bad each year I think, but I still struggle to focus on the here and now in the way that I should - which is manifestly unfair on everyone else…. I do try and fake it a bit, but it’s just not the same as really being able to enjoy the season.
Anyway, today has been slightly productive with a job out in Invergordon this morning, then dropping Jen and Ros off in Inverness for a works do… and grabbing a couple of night shots of the city on the way back out - this one of the cathedral and another of the castle. Next week is looking pretty quiet at the moment, a couple of jobs lined up, but December is not going to be hugely busy I don’t think.
I had a good session in the dark room last night though and was reminded of a few things regarding printing, as well as learning a new technique which I am itching to try soon! I am booked in for a long session next week (although a job has cropped up the morning I was planning on going in which will reduce my time by an hour… but financial concerns outweigh “me” time! I really need to get in more often again though, as well as shooting more with film!
I also popped into Ffordes yesterday for a poke at a Fujifilm GFX 100 SII, an absolute beast of a camera, and now very much on “the list”, although that depends on next year being hugely productive!
7th December 2025
Not a bad start to the day… bit rubbish out now though so going to pop to the village shop for some more milk, then I think it will be trying to fix my coffee machine… then give up and order a new one (not really… that will have to wait until the new year if I can’t revive it I think!)
9th December 2025
No work on today, but an appointment in town with the youngest. With Storm Bram inbound, and finally starting to get here late afternoon, it seemed a good day to drink tea and wait it out!
13th December 2025
A day out in Edinburgh didn't entirely go to plan... but it was awesome to catch up with many people - and with the boys in tow! Shame we couldn't have stayed any longer... but we will be back in a couple of weeks!
This is a photo of Angus as we were about to start the long drive home having eaten probably every bag of sweeties in Gord and Lilly's house!
19th December 2025
A view over the Cromarty Firth from Culbokie today. I was out on the last job of the year (I think - certainly the last scheduled job) when the rain briefly slowed and the sky looked dramatic, so I popped the drone around and photographed this view facing north.
It has certainly been "one of those days" today with all sorts of things derailing my plans and progress - but we got there in the end! My main clients are all shutting up for the Festive break now and I think most re-open on Monday 5th so it looks like I am having an enforced fortnight off!
Lets see what January brings... with the rates cut and the budget a few weeks ago not being particularly relavent to the north of Scotland maybe people will suddenly start thinking about where life can take them next! It would be nice to see a more bouyant year for 2026!
21st December 2025
Not to be outdone by Pickles, tonight it is the turn of her brother, Haggis, who was being very sleepy.
23rd December 2025
With yesterday passed, and that anniversary acknowledged, I can now move on to actually enjoying the festive season - even if the weather is being decidedly uncooperative at the moment! The boys finished school today too, which dovetails nicely with the shift in gear.
So we have decided to do something different this year. Something more Scandivavian. We are going to have Christmas Dinner on the 24th, allowing Christmas Day itself to just be about relaxing and enjoying the moment. Other than being on call from 12 until 4 that is… RNLI duties are still required!
I haven’t had much time to stop today as we rushed around getting the last bits of shopping done. Tomorrow morning is going to be a tidy and clean up, plus present wrapping I suspect, then cooking.
Maybe next year we will just go away somewhere instead - it is my quiet time after all! Unfortunately I suspect we won’t be able to afford to go and visit friends and family down under though! Perhaps someday….
25th December 2025
The big man has been...
Going Scandi on the timing of Christmas Dinner has worked out well, today has been a much less stressful event with mostly leftovers being eaten, and I think we will get away with that tomorrow too mostly.
It has been a pretty quiet day today, tomorrow is back to doing stuff though with the chickens and ducks needing a good clean out and perhaps a wee trip out too if the weather is kind.
I feel a little like I have let my feed down with this one today, but it really has been a very low-key kind of a day!
Whilst much of December is spent missing those that have passed away who I can no longer speak to, today I always have that part missing that is my daughter. She is still with us, but contact was withdrawn (despite an expensive court order) during Covid and re-establishing it was beyond my financial means. It would be nice to know how she is doing, wonderful to hear from her and even better to see her again. Perhaps someday… perhaps it has just been too long now. I am not hard to find though and will keep it that way.
29th December 2025
A quiet kind of day today after all the travel yesterday!
The weather has been a bit rubbish though!
Not that this was an issue as we are all just shattered and wanting to chill out. Tomorrow I will get on with the “need to get on with” stuff… and perhaps book the A2 course that I have been meaning to book!
31st December 2025
So that is another year done, and I thought I would close out with an old faithful view!
I had hoped it may be a bit more wintery today, that is coming... probably in the next day or so... but for now here is a less cold looking view across the old village of Eskart and on to Urquhart Bay on Loch Ness.
Happy New Year and see you all in 2026
6th December 2025
Today has been strangely busy, off to a market at Belladrum then a quick stop by the CoOp for some supplies… then a small counter demonstration… before back to the market and home.
Not my usual Saturday then!
8th December 2025
Today turned pretty dark, wet and miserable. My first job in Inverness went well enough though, but my second in Fort Augustus I had to abandon as it was entirely aerial in nature, and my drone doesn’t like rain!
I popped up to Glendoe whilst waiting to see if the weather would improve though and took a couple of shots up at Loch Far, which is a favourite (if obvious) location in that area before turning back to the village when I spotted Keeper’s Cottage sitting in such magnificently moody surroundings that I had to stop! This has been on my list for a while, but I wasn’t expecting to get anything today of all days!
11th December 2025
Ardmair Beach - Fuji GSW690, Ilford Delta 100. Developed in Rodinal 1:25, scanned on Epson V850.
I had a real battle getting this film on to the spool in the darkroom so was pleased to get anything out, the film was, unfortunately, quite heavily scratched along the way though. I suspect that the changing bag had got a little hot and sticky from the first pair of films so the second pair done straight after had developed tacky surfaces that made life complicated.
On the plus side, the exposures are looking a lot better now that I am remembering to err towards over exposure rather than under exposure!
I still haven't decided on the film stock for the big project, I am about to load some Ortho Plus though as I have high hopes for it, and want to run another couple of Delta and Pan F rolls through both the 6x9 and the 6x12 (and I have a single roll of CiniStill XX that I want to have a look at too, but after the trauma of the FPP I am not feeling overly confident!)
I also still REALLY like the look and feel of Formapan, which is cheap as chips and so nice to work with, but want something a little more refined once I start this big shoot!
15th December 2025
Stage 1 of the repairs to the bank are completed. The trees in the slide area have been cut down and the area generally prepared ahead of the spring when nesting birds may have made work impossible. Now we are waiting on the salmon so our road can be finally reinstated late next summer/early autun!
17th December 2025
The year is almost done - I needed a new photo for my Wayward Spirit Studios socials so thought I would do something today whilst wrapping up my penultimate job edit of the year (unless something comes in last minute!)
It hasn’t been a terrible December, not great… but not terrible. Friday will be the wrap up and then I will start on next year’s campaign to better myself! I have some work to do over Christmas to refresh my AirBnB experiences to see if I can drum up some other work there but otherwise it is back to the commercial work in the New Year.
I am starting to look into the whole “Making Tax Digital” thing too, and wondering if I should go VAT registered at the same time since most of my work is in the B2B sphere it makes little difference to my main client base… and with an urgent replacement/upgrade cycle about to start it may be a good time to make the switch.
I am also thinking of doing my A2CofC qualification over the shut down… keep myself busy!
10th December 2025
Storm Bram is slowly departing, it's been another wild day out and about but the light over Loch Ness was just stunning this afternoon as I headed back into Drumnadrochit.
It’s a bit of a difficult day today, it would have been my eldest child’s 17th birthday - so long ago and taken by such cruelty after just 12 days, that little tot is always on my mind at this time of year. I never forget the promise I made to him, and failed to keep, although the guilt should really belong wholy to the person directly responsible for the events of the subsequent 12 days, why do I carry such guilt whilst they carry on regardless and change the narrative to suit their new found vision of events.
What was said that day almost 17 years ago will always remain with me, and any story given subsequently to try and remove their guilt is a pure fabrication. I honestly don’t know how anyone comlpicit can live with themselves.
12th December 2025
A quick morning trip to Fort Augustus to catch up with some aerial work that has been outstanding for a couple of weeks as the weather kept pushing it back!
14th December 2025
Another day, another plan gone awry. But here is the Nairn Viaduct.
16th December 2025
Looking up the Great Glen from Dochgarroch towards Inverness and the Moray Firth.
It is just over 5 years since we landed here in the Highlands, pretty much at random. We (by which I mean I) had to get back north and over the border but we didn't actually know where we were going to end up - it was pretty much fate and chance working together that brought us to the shores of Loch Ness.
It isn't a bad place to find yourself though!
Most of my day to day work takes place within this photograph, although I do enjoy it when a job takes me further afield.
18th December 2025
Today has been just one of those days… too much on… but not enough time. And too much health stuff tangled in to all that.
But anyway, tomorrow is another day so hopefully everything will look a bit brighter and a bit more productive then. For today though we just have a quick snap of the tree topper taken with the mobile late on after RNLI training (which was, to be fair, mostly eating incredibly good venison stew and doing a quiz… which we didn’t loose).
I think tomorrow is my last commercial job of the year, next week I may be trying to do some community shoots for a big village project as well as a couple of images for the local church as they are advertising for a new clergyman - neither of which are jobs that I am charging anyone for, these are all about giving a wee bit back. Then we will hopefully get everything wrapped up for Christmas in terms of the house being clean and tidy over the weekend so that next week we can just relax.
Although I am now on duty with the RNLI on Christmas Day afternoon… so no breakfast bucksfizz for me!
20th December 2025
The next few days are going to be full on with Christmas preparations, then I will hopefully move on to planning some things for next year both in terms of business and personal projects.
But for now here is Pickles the cat.
And yes - she really does have HUGE dark eyes!
22nd December 2025
Today is one of the tough days of the year, it has been that way for the last 17, so I wanted to mark it by doing something with a little meaning. I wanted to shoot the dawn over Loch Ness on the morning after the longest night - that moment that the sun really promises to come back and return wamrth to the land… albeit after we get through the winter that has only just kicked off.
Loch Ness is a strange and mystical place, shrouded in myth and legend. It is also, despite many reports to the contrary, a stunningly beautiful place. It acts more like an inland sea than a body of fresh water largely due to the volume of liquid held in its staggering depth.
Moments like this are a good time to reflect… reflect on what was, what could have been and what is.
24th December 2025
I popped over the Culnakirk to Beauly for some last minute shopping before our experimental Scandi style Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve - and finally got the conditions I had been waiting for to take this photograph!
Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve is a complete game changer too - so much less stress, plus it means I get to relax tomorrow (other than the 4 hours on call).
Tomorrow will be the proof of the pudding, as it were, we have mountains of left overs plus some snacks and sides… and I will get around to making some fresh sausage rolls too!
I really, really hope to get out for a bit of a walk as well as I intend the festive period to be a wee bit more active in the hope of building some good habits into the New Year.
27th December 2025
The weather has turned a good deal more murky today, although there is a calm and stillness about the place which lends it’s own kind of beauty and keeps me feeling somewhat more reflective than of late.
I am rolling the Photo a Day project on into another year, it’s mainly been a social media based project but I have quite enjoyed sharing it here too. I am not quite sure what I am going to do with this version of the project for 2026, I may be able to archive off 2025 so it is still accessible and create a new set of pages for the new year… this is going to be a suck it and see in a few days time kind of affair I think!
26th December 2025
Today we *FINALLY* made it to Ullapool to take a look at the Creel Tree, a rather unique Christmas Tree made of lobster pots! It's just over an hour from Drumnadrochit to Ullapool so not *really* all that close, but not too far away!
28th December 2025
Attempt Number 2 of doing Christmas in Edinburgh... just a couple of days after the event rather than before!
We made it - the wheel was traversed and the Botanic Gardens walked through. Plus hanging out with Fuzzy and Gráinne which is always awesome. The boys were utterly finished by the time we got back to the Highlands at something past midnight!
30th December 2025
Today was a trip into Inverness to get some last minute shopping before Hogmanay, enough that will see us at least a couple of days into 2026! The light as we left town was looking pretty good, but as we wound our way back up Loch Ness a bank of dense cloud rolled in to spoil the party. By the time we reached Urquhart Bay it was dark and moody… but in some ways lent itself to a more interesting photograph!
Very Turner-esque infact.
Just one more entry into this years project to go and then it will be time to start building next years edition!
