2nd November 2025

Last month I shot very, very little film… which was a bit of a surprise as I have been running through rather a lot up until October, so much so that this is the remaining stock which I bought for the month and had anticipated being largely used up by now! On the plus side, this should see me right through November as there are 10 rolls of black and white 120, 4 rolls of colour 120 and a couple of black and white 35mm, which gives me more than enough for a roll per camera per week (depending on opportunity this may cover me to the end of the year - it’s pouring down right now!)

Anyway, utterly exhausted today so catching up on the laundry and trying to recover from all the travel of the last couple of weeks. I am also plotting my “where next” ideas a little more - whether that is University in September or if I push that back a little to concentrate on building an absolutely astounding analogue panel.

I still feel I have something to prove in this world… partially to myself… partially to my naysayers. Probably mostly to myself to try and quiet the voice of imposter syndrome!

4th November 2025

Today has been reasonably productive. Off to Culloden this morning for a shoot, then pick up some supplies before swinging home via Belladrum for another. Both were large properties and both provided some great photography!

Unfortunately my Mavic 3 drone has developed an irritating fault… the memory card won’t engage anymore so I have to rely on the inbuilt storeage (which is a pain). I was looking at the possibility of changing one of the two drones soon anyway, and was erring towards the small one being the first to go. However, the rules are chaning in January, and the small catagory which gives me the most freedom for flying, particularly in urban areas, is also relaxing a touch which means I could step up from the Mini series to an Air which would give me some additional functionality and wind resistance that would be most welcome! So I think I may hold off for a while and do that, then perhaps replace the Mavic 3 with a Mavic 4 later on in 2026… or see what else emerges as an alternative.

One factor of the change is that drones will need to transmit location data and flyer data in future… this may finally clamp down on some of the dubious practices I see around me (although it does mean I will need to be extra vigilant flying in some of the locations around Inverness which are close in to exclusion zones which are easy to breach if you don’t keep you wits about you! Not something I have done, but it has been close on occasion!)

6th November 2025

At home today, catching up with some floorplans and editing as the weather was terrible.

I got the big drone packaged up and sent off for repairs though, so hopefully that will have me back fully operational in a few days time!

The light changed as I popped out on an errand to Abriachan though so I stopped off at Loch Laide as the reflections of the autumnal colours were just stunning. I haven’t taken a photograph from this angle before as far as I remember, but it worked out really nicely I think!

Tonight I am in for my first master class at the darkroom as I endeavor to get my printing skills on point again ready for my next big project!

8th November 2025

Today we were off to a party with Angus that absorbed most of the day - it was all good until a massive downpour soaked them all as we were preparing to leave, so a very damp child was loaded into the car and brought home!

Meanwhile Lachlan was out on a hill climbing mission with his friends and also came home rather wet!

Tomorrow we have Rememberance Sunday to get through before a busy (and hopefully highly useful) week ahead!

10th November 2025

Yesterday evening I managed to tweak my back sitting on the sofa, today I am in abject pain so my morning job was quite a challenge - and not just because of the weather!

The big drone has been assessed and they found more problems with it! However since it is old, tired and needed back as soon as possible I have opted just to repair the immediate issues stopping me flying it rather than the “it would be nice to repair” issues! This may change my plans somewhat about going forward, in that it may force me to upgrade the main drone sooner than anticipated, but for now it will do and the plan remains to get an Air 3S first.

Today’s photograph was taken on the way back from town this morning, risking life and limb to climb down the many concrete steps to do what I do best - a moody photograph! Loch Ness, indeed the Highlands, look their best when they look dark and foreboding to my eye! I also struggled down with the big panoramic camera and took a few frames to finish off the FPP film that was in there. It would have been nice to get out to Dundreggan today, but I think with the pain levels being so high I had best hold off for now!

Tomorrow’s meeting may involve some dosing with CoCodamol as yet… but for now Deep Freeze and Volturol will suffice!

12th November 2025

Today has been a "take it easy" kind of day whilst I gave my back a little bit of a break! It's slowly improving, but bending down needs to be built up to still!

The weather is about to turn a good deal colder according to the forecast and it looks like we will be waking up to frosty mornings again very soon. It isn't often that the change towards the cosy months comes with growth in my work life, but this year it seems that things are all back to front, so why not! All going well this should set things up for a strong 2026, particularly as we hope to forge on with the huts late summer and into the autumn of next year too.

My only trips out of the house today have been on the school runs though, this is one from my way to pick up this afternoon.

14th November 2025

Winter came in with a bang this morning with the first frost of the season coinciding with the first snow! There was some stunning light, but I only had time for a quick shot of the village from our front garden before out to work.

Today's crisis involves my car charger which has, it seems, decided to stop working. No charge overnight and it now won't connect to the car. Marvelous. I am going to have to dig out the 3 pin sloooooow charger and see about getting a new box fitted I think. On the up side, perhaps I can get something a little smarter so that I can take advantage of the even cheaper charging tarrifs out there....

16th November 2025

Another quiet day - this time involving staying in bed until midday before we tackled the chicken and duck coop clean out. The car is now charged ready for Monday… but this is not really a sustainable situation! Hopefully the electrician I left a message for will get back to me early in the week.

This is the main issue with the EV, when the charger goes wrong up here it is a real issue with the miles I cover. I am 50/50 at the moment as to whether I jack it all in and trade it for a second Dacia 4x4 right now as Jen’s Bigster is brilliant! I don’t want to give up on the environmental aspects of running an EV but at the same time the government are lining up to make it financially challenging to stick with it… so I may cave and go back to dino juice.

Today’s photo is of Roki and myself - I was trying to photograph him, but he really wanted in for a cuddle!

18th November 2025

This is my second visit to Balnacarn just a little up Glen Moriston from Dalchreichart, and on both occasions it has been in "interesting" weather! Today was the first significant snow fall of the winter though, and since I was in the area I decided to revisit this spot where I took one of my favourite shots from the last couple of years.

It was also a good excuse to see how Jen's Dacia Bigster 4x4 coped in the snow... the answer was fantastically... so much so that I am being incredibly tempted to change my Toyota for a Dacia!

I had originally planned to take the film camera up here today and shoot this scene on 6x12, but as that was in my car I went with the Nikon Z6II and Laowa 15mm "Dreamer" shift lens to create a panoramic on digital instead.

20th November 2025

Drilling rigs on the Cromarty Firth, taken from Invergordon.

It's been a pretty busy day today with appointments in Culbokie, Tain and Invergordon. I had hoped to get a little drone job in Inverness done too, but I ran out of hours! That one really wants leaving until the big drone returns from repairs on Monday (hopefully) anyway... but the light was pretty good for November today so I would have liked to have at least a stab at it!

28th November 2025

That's the working month done, the invoices all sent out and ready to relax with the RNLI Christmas Dinner - about as close as I get to a works night out these days! It has been a good day for paperwork though as the weather outside is utterly attrocious, so I grabbed a quick frame between the rain whilst heading back over the Culnakirk this morning.

It's not been a particularly busy month, quite a bit down on last year infact, but I think a lot of that has been down to a fear in the market on the run up to the budget that was widely trailed as being an impending bloodbath. In the event it's not been too bad - but with Christmas now fast approaching I suspect I won't see much of an upswing until the New Year.

2025 has been a strange one all around from my perspective. But things are hopefully in place for a strong 2026 so I am quite excited for the future!

30th November 2025

Tomorrow we start the last month of 2025, I have been in a pretty reflective mood lately as a result - partially as I know that work is going to increasingly drop off now until (hopefully early in) the New Year… and partially as the seasons change and I get ready for the annual down time in terms of commercial work.

I have plans though, how much I am going to get into them before Christmas, however, is another matter as I suspect my time will be dominated by getting ready for the big day and making sure the family have a good festive season.

That said… I do hope to get out there and shooting a lot more over the coming weeks, particularly on film, as I start to prepare for my next big project (which, to be honest, I had hoped to have been underway with already!).

Anyway… here is to another month gone!

1st November 2025

Home at last. The weather is miserable but, even so, seeing the castle stark against the shimmering Loch always tells me that the journey is done. Today was the tail end of 800 miles over the last couple of days and I am shattered.

Last month was pretty full on between work, qualifications and, of course, the funeral bringing the month to a close. This next month I am hoping will be a little calmer, although a strong work calander would be lovely as December is generally very quiet and last year the January uplift didn’t arrive until March (by which time I was terrified!)

This year, however, I have a lot to distract myself with - and the moody weather of the coming months is my peak artistic time too, so if I am not working I hope to be out exploring and shooting, particularly on film, as I prepare for my next qualifications campaign!

22nd November 2025

A view down Glen Coiltie.

I got my Mavic 3 back from repairs and thought I best put it out for a quick shakedown flight before using it for any work, just to make sure everything was talking to each other properly really. The drone had to go back to DJI, the manufacturer, as the main board had failed and the repair shop couldn't get a spare... DJI obviously looked at the state of the thing (to say "heavily used" would be an understatement) and just sent out a brand new bare bones unit to replace it. Which is a bargain for £295 as even a very tired used one is around £900!

The best bit is - they sent a v2... which is marked up as a C1 class drone... which means that come January I can use this is the same way as a Mini can be used now! I had planned on getting an Air 3S which falls under the new catagory but now I don't need to spend £1500 on one of those either!

Things may change at the end of 2027 as the legacy rules then tighten up again, but if I can get 2 years commercial use out of this one that is absolutely fine - and this should probably push us into the next generation of machines across the board anyway.... and since I don't need to worry about a drone upgrade now, which was beyond needed, I can start thinking about main cameras which are getting very tired! The question is... do I replace the Z6II with a III.... or do I move the Z7II into the role of my main commercial camera and replace that with something a bit larger for landscapes.... perhaps medium format... depending on how the next year pans out! I am tempted to give the big Fujifilm a go!

24th November 2025

We are having a bit of a tidy up week here - today I was attacking some of the debris outside the house, and managed to fill a skip bag within an hour! Unfortunately I can’t compress the stuff down in the bag as it is too flexible, so we may change tack and get a proper metal skip delivered to finish the job!

Tomorrow I have a couple of jobs lined up - so off to the Black Isle in the morning, and I am so glad to have the "good” drone back as this job is going to be quite aerial in nature I think! Then into town for another aerial job, but just a wee one… with another two booked in for Thursday (weather dependant on one of those) and another for next week out in Torridon.

So things are looking reasonable for this time of year work wise. Nothing Earth shattering… but okay. And that will do me just fine, hopefully with a much busier year to come in 2026 - or at least busier on the direct work, 2024-25 I seemed to be running around all over the place for very litte reward!

And I still need to make a start on my next panel!

26th November 2025

It's been pretty dull, wet and windy (at times) today. I spent most the morning at the bottle bank having avoided it for about 18 months, but I no longer have to look at the worlds largest stockpile of empty bottles every time I go to my car!

So for today I just bring you a soggy Ivy Bridge/Coiltie Bridge.

Otherwise this afternoon has been spent trying to track down the other member of my brother’s band Vista… thus far without success!

3rd November 2025

Today I was off in Lossiemouth, the weather was absolutely stunning! This looks like a fine day in June not early November!

Anyway, things are afoot and hopefully I will have some good news to share soon!

5th November 2025

One from today's job just along the road!

This will be the last drone photo - at least from this drone - for a while as I am going to post it off for some much needed TLC tomorrow as the memory card no longer registers! I was looking at replacing it but I think it best to hold off for the New Year for the regulations shake up.

I still have the Mini 3 but may need to go begging to borrow something better for a week or so whilst mine is sorted! It's obviously had too much use (it looks very, very second hand now!)

Tomorrow, though, I have half a plan of a “me” shoot brewing! It’s a bit of a revisit with film, and I am hoping that the weather will be suitably atmospheric!

7th November 2025

Last nights dark room session was great - it covered that little bit of missing knowledge that I would have made it to myself in a few more experiemental sessions (probably) and rooting around in the boxes… but a little leg up is absolutely invaluable. The main thing I was interested in were the three enlargers tucked around the back of the studio - two DeVeres and a Durst - all of which are BIG BEASTS that can work with 5x4 negatives. The Durst is a colour machine, the DeVeres are both mono with built in Multigrade filters. The biggest win… finding the 6x12 negative masks for the DeVeres which means I don’t need to bodge anything to print some lovely panoramics!

Being big… they also print big. Up to 20x24, which is perfect for my plans which involve 20x16 panels!

So now I have the printers… next step is to get a solid set of negatives building up, hopefully I will find some time to shoot a few frames this coming week… I will probably stick localish for the moment and work with some of the scenes that I have already shot digitally as I try and refine the technique for film. I have another master class at the start of December which will be working around filters (although some of that was also covered and suggests I have had it quite wrong since the 1990s - this is printing filters, not photographic filters mind) and then in January we have a fine art printing class which should really help me start to get towards the results I want.

In equally exciting news - I have a test job for a potential new client partnership next week. I could have used my big drone not being out of commission for this one, so will need to work with the Mini (itself due for replacement in a few weeks time as I step it up for an Air)

All in all November is shaping up quite nicely!

9th November 2025

It has been a busy Sunday, which is unusual!

Up this morning to get down to the roundabout to photograph the poppies created by the local Coven of Stitches ladies (usually whilst sat in the pub so far as I can tell....) then off to Kirkhill with Lachlan as the Scouts were attending the Rememberence Sunday service over there... where I got roped in to photographing the entire troop before home with a quick social call to be mauled by some highly affectionate dogs and then finally editing the last photographs from a job last week!

Couple of nicely busy days booked in to start next week and Friday is pre-booked from some time ago too. November is looking reasonable so far!

Although I could really have done with my big drone not failing on my last week and being away this! The timing really couldn't have been much worse... but I have the Mini to work with and it will just have to work it's teeny socks off!

I don’t usually get too involved in anything which may have a hint of jingoistic triumphalism about it as there was so much suffering on both sides, but at this present time - with the increasing rise of the far right - I think it is actually quite important to try and remember the lessons of 80 years ago. I fear we are sliding into a repeat of history, just with a different bogeyman to be agitated against.

11th November 2025

Today has been highly productive, which is a surprise since when I woke up in the early hours in agony I couldn't actually stand up and had to crawl to the bathroom! A liberal application of drugs and heat packs got me back to mobillity though and I got two jobs done and one meeting which will hopefully lead to a fuller work schedule going forward!

The weather hasn't been great of late and the colours are now fading fast. There are still splashes of browns, golds and reds around the landscape though! I didn't have much time to stop today, or the inclination due to my back, so stopped off at Ivy Bridge on the way back up Glen Coiltie. I do love this old bridge, not only is it a landmark telling me I am pretty much home, but it's a pretty characterful structure in it's own right too!

I have just noticed... there are only 50 days left of 2025! Where has the year gone!

13th November 2025

It is utterly dismal outside today. Wet, windy… cold… and absolutely no use to getting today’s job done which was quite drone heavy. Particularly being confined to using the smaller machine at present which is even more susceptible to the wind!

So a quick stop off at Abriachan on the way into town to get some shopping done (2 of the 3 boys are off school with a stomach bug and we were out of supplies!) and then home to give my back a little more time to heal up again. I am feeling more mobile each day, which is good, but it will probably be Monday before I am feeling something like normal again. This afternoon I am investigating some new drone training options and starting to prepare myself for the 2026 rules. I should probably also catch up with my paperwork and get that in to the accountant for the end of year which is approaching rapidly (that may be a next week job… I am not feeling quite so enthusiastic today!)

I am becoming more convinced that an Air 3S is going to be the best choice for the day to day work, which would replace the Mini 3 for as a lightweight urban drone that can be used over uninvolved people/uncontrolled property given the rule changes which are coming in. This gives me better weather resistance and the results are a good deal better than the Mini in terms of image quality. The Mavic 3 is now with DJI for repairs as the repair shop was unable to obtain a new main board for it… I am waiting to see if the manufacturer can do anything - if not then I will certainly need to think about a Mavic 4 Pro sooner rather than later!

Anyway, enough pontification - it’s just one of those days!

15th November 2025

Today was a good excuse to kick back whilst Jen was on a course and, to be honest, I really needed a quiet weekend. Back pain is still really bad, it has usually lifted after a week but this time… not a chance. I have been trying to manage without medication for a couple of days but caved this afternoon.

This is a quick drone photo taken from the door because I couldn’t really face going anywhere (and the car was still on charge anyway!)

17th November 2025

17th November 2025

The River Oich and Caladonian Canal sit along side one another as both head towards Fort Augustus and Loch Ness, one is the picture of calm tranquility whilst the other is a typical Highland river full of rocks and rapids!

The weather had started to turn by this afternoon and time was tight so my planned shots never happened, but I took this still whilst creating a video for a lodge that is going up for sale nearby as something of an introduction to the landscape of the Great Glen.

And the good news... my drone may be fixed - find out tomorrow... and my car is charging now. Just not at the cheap time... so it's kinda expensive! Seems to be an issue with the power load on the house when the timer starts, and decides there is too much draw down and aborting! I may just have to manually plug in late in the evening to catch as much of the cheap stuff as I can! I shall experiment tomorrow!

I also have a bit of a plan for some “proper” photography tomorrow…. depending on the weather!

19th November 2025

It was a cold, snowy, November morning so I decided to take the scenic route into town after dropping the boys at school. I hadn't really intended on stopping by Loch Laide but the light turned quite spectacular!

21st November 2025

It was a cold night with lows around the -6C mark, so I popped over to Loch Meiklie in Glen Urquhart this morning to see if there was a wintery scene to be had. Whilst it is too early in the winter for the loch to have frozen over entirely I liked the patterns in the frozen margains.

I didn't stay long - my Mavic 3 is due back this morning (perhaps) so I need to wait in to sign for it! Fortunately today's job has been pushed back into next week so I think today I will crack on with my end of year paperwork (and perhaps put an online order in to Tesco!)

The thaw is due to set in over the weekend so this may be my last wintery scene for a little while! 4 days with snow on the ground is pretty remarkable for November these days though, and I am curious to see what winter proper holds for us now!

23rd November 2025

Haggis the Cat tonight. Today has been spent cleaning and then Lachlan baked a Christmas cake, which is rather a sizeable thing! It also includes enough rum to terrify any passing pirates!

Next week is looking rather quiet, I have a couple of jobs booked in for Tuesday but nothing else much happening at the moment, which is fine. I am caught up with my paperwork though so I have sent that all down to the accountant for year end (24-25), it was better than expected actually so now I am worrying how this year will compare!

Well, not really worrying… curious! It’s not been a bad year so far, although we are into the quiet times now…. I am really excited about the New Year though when things start to wake up - and also deciding what to do regarding my upgrade cycle and building my next panel for assessment. I have plans, and ambitions… which I haven’t had so much of for a long time!

I do think I know what my main New Years Resolution will be though. I think I need to be more sociable. Last time I had a real circle of friends and a wider social life was in Stirling - and that was a long time ago now. Unfortunately that circle has long since dissipated through people moving on or a few passing on… but apparently not having a social life is a terrible thing for ones health.

25th November 2025

Pretty good day today, particularly for late November and an impending Budget that is giving everyone “the fear”. I started off on the Black Isle where I took this on the way out from the job, and enroute to Inverness to drop off some business cards and shoot a quick promo video.

The new drone is taking a little acclimatising - it is a lot more sensitive than the old Mavic 3 (probably as it doesn’t have many, many hours of flights under it’s rotors!). I think I need to get a few more practice flights in to get my smoothness back up to scratch!

27th November 2025

A lone trawler heads up Loch Ness on a wet and windy afternoon, picked out by a lone shaft of sunlight through the clouds.

It has been a pretty miserable day today - managed to get one job done and bumped the other off to next week!

29th November 2025

Today we were in town - no camera... which was frustrating as sunset over Loch Ness was absolutely spectacular tonight!

This month has not been a great one for building my analogue skills, which is a little frustrating. It's just all been too "bitty" and I haven't really got anywhere particularly exciting either. I suspect December is going to be rather similar, so this little lot is going to roll me right into the New Year and beyond! This is my test stash to get my eye dialed in and decide on a "standard" film stock for the upcoming project - the odd one out here is the CineStill XX which is quite exciting stuff designed for motion pictures (this is the emulsion that Schindler's List was shot on) and which I have quite high hopes for. It isn't cheap though... the Ortho Plus is another slightly left field choice too.

Anyway - the plan is to run through all of this by the end of January, have everything processed and then start on the project in earnest as the days start to extend a little bit further! I am still working out the locations at the moment too, but have a pretty good list of places to go and look at over the coming weeks too!