2nd October 2025

A somewhat bleak day today… I got into the dark room for a good session, despite forgetting one of the films I really wanted to process! I still haven’t quite got my printing on point but the negatives are getting better!

I have a stack to scan now… this may take a while!

14th October 2025

We had a family day out to Culloden for Jen’s birthday today, it is a fascinating place where the course of British history could have taken a very different direction (probably more so some time earlier had the Jacobite army continued it’s march into London rather than the ill fated decision to turn back at Derby). There is always a heavy air of sadness about the place though, a site where 1500 Jacobites from all corners of the British Isles were mowen down by Government Forces led by a vindictive Duke of Cumberland. This retribution continued down the line with the proscription of Highland culture, the removal of any item that could be used as a weapon - which consisted of many agricultural implements and intensified the impact of the following famine - and ultimately would have contributed to the both the Highland Clearances and the brutality which some of those evictions were carried out.

It feels like the suffering has seeped into the soil in this place, yet it is still hugely compelling to visit and understand more about the battle, who was fighting whom and why… and the sheer barabrity of the aftermath.

16th October 2025

Vintage cameras are always fun to play about with, and can be quite challenging to adapt to!

I have always had a bit of a thing for a rangefinder style camera, and always planned on picking up a 35mm one at some stage… but now I have 3 plus a 120 roll film one! I don’t think I am quite done yet though as I always intended on getting something with a Leica M Mount, which none of these are. The Zorki 4 is an LTM as is the Canon 7, so both can use old Leica glass but there is little in the way of modern options. The Kiev 4 is a Contax mount so, again, there is nothing particularly new for that either. They are all a load of fun though, and all are currently rocking soviet glass too from Industar and Jupiter (the Kiev has just switched to a Jupiter 12 35mm lens ready for next weeks urban adventures, which has necessitated a protrusion growing off the top as the viewfinder only manages 50mm lenses)

My plans for analogue photography are still in their early phases, but I am certainly having pretty serious ambitions in this direction!

1st October 2025

A great start to October - what a day! I had a couple of jobs on this morning but plenty of time for a wander between them to take in some scenery!

This boat house has been on my “to shoot” list of ages! I quite fancy a go at it on film at some stage too….

3rd October 2025

A pup behind bars… mainly because he is just too friendly and would photobomb the entire shoot!

I quite liked the sad eyes and bars though so decided to take a photo of him too!

Home now, getting everything uploaded and charged ahead of the incoming Storm Amy.

4th October 2025

This photo a day project started many, many years ago on the suggestion of a friend as I tried to make sense of the world following a death. It didn’t start straight away, it took me quite a while to be with it enough to think about anything to be honest… but that was always the catalyst. Since then it has recorded a few other sad events… my Mum, Grandma and big brother, Neil - the original Wayward Spirit and whom this whole enterprise is named in honour of.

Today’s news was not unexpected, my Aunty Margaret has been fighting an aggressive and rare cancer for some time and had moved into a hospice in the last few days. I thought she would be with us just a little longer… I had a letter in the process of being written to her which will never now be completed or read. But the Lord of the Rings was her favourite book so today I thought I would simply photograph one of our copies and commemorate her in that way.

There is not much else I could have done to be honest today either, Storm Amy had us directly in her trajectory and we have been battered overnight. We are still in the tail end but at least the power was restored in a lull earlier (hopefully it stays on overnight now).

But today is a day of sadness for a life now spent, but a life well spent.

6th October 2025

Today the weather has lifted, although it remains blustery, and I have a day of admin scheduled so stopped off for quick photograph of the River Coiltie on the way down to the shop on a breakfast things run!

This is the last week of the first term at school for this year, the holiday is going to be pretty busy by the looks of things with my qualifications and associated trip to Preston on the one hand (along with a visit down to the grandparents for the boys for a few days whilst I am away) and probably a funeral falling at some point too.

But it was nice to be out and enjoying some fresh air and autumn colours this morning, however briefly.

8th October 2025

A nice, busy, day today and another on Friday… tomorrows plans are, I think, shelved until next week though as the weather is looking pretty poor for a drone job. Looks like Angus is getting a road trip in the holidays as a result!

Today I took a lovely analogue photo of this old croft, Blairconnich, on the Culnakirk road. At least… I thought I had. The problem with rangefinders is that you don’t look through the lens at any stage… so you don’t know that the lens cap is on! I think about half that roll of film is blank as a result of multiple ooopsies!

Anyway, this would work much better on the panoramic anyway, in a similar style to the digitally photographed version here. So perhaps a return visit very soon is in order… maybe even tomorrow as I am itching to see what the FPP Mummy film is like! I haven’t booked any darkroom time for tomorrow anyway and may just put it off until Tuesday and try to take a few things to process with me, and a chance to be sociable too as it is the group night!

5th October 2025

Still feeling a little off kilter today… and exhausted.

Tomorrow is hopefully going to be a bit better. I need some good rest and the weather to pick up a bit!

I am working on a plan for a project though - just need some filters to arrive! Its a development of one I have already been working on really, and it does make me want to bin my entire panel for the BIPP and come back in 12 months with a fresh body of work… but maybe that can just be the next set instead. I don’t feel the current one is as good as I would like it to be (which happened last year and I binned everything and started again… now I want to do the same but I am registered for this month’s judgement and have paid for it so I guess I am committed to run with this set!)

10th October 2025

It’s been a crazy busy morning today - the last day of term… but two jobs to squeeze in. This would usually be a bit tight, but today the first was in Inverness but the second in Ardersier, which is a little out of town and on the wrong side for the Friday lunch time finish in Drum!

I made it though… and even found 2 minutes to take today’s photograph which I have been planning for quite some time but have been thwarted by the weather, the light or a lack of time until today. It was very, very much a grab and go job though!

Not much else to tell today, next week the boys are off for the fortnight so I will have Angus in tow whilst working… Tuesday is off for Jen’s birthday and otherwise just waiting for my prints and portfolio case to arrive for the following week! After we get back from that adventure/trial by fire it won’t be long until the clocks change and we are on the descent into winter (which I am seeing predictions for that suggest it may be a cold one! Thankfully we pick up a 4x4 for Jen next week!)

12th October 2025

It’s been a pretty good day really - the sun was out, the sky was blue and the air was warm. It felt more like summer than autumn, which was great since we were out for the afternoon pumpkin picking at Cawdor and exploring the forest… and eating cake. It was also the first proper outing for Jen’s new car (as of yesterday) which I think handled itself rather well (she thought it was a bit lacking in power but as a passenger the ride was way better than the van).

Still feeling a little bit down and a little bit like I am failing at life - I have no idea why, but I have just been feeling like things are not going right for a couple of days. It’s probably a mix of being tired and recent family news that, whilst expected, was not what anyone had hoped for… plus a little anxiety about the quals round a week on Wednesday (which I still haven’t had the prints for, I hope they arrive soon!).

There is a lot happening now between here and the month end, so hopefully this fug will lift as we move into November. But for now I am looking at a big day tomorrow as I head into Inverness for a house and then up to the north-west coast for a plot. Fortunately we managed to squeeze Angus in to holiday club at the last minute so I am not having to drag him on a massive road trip with a 45 minute car charge along the way too!

18th October 2025

A beautiful inversion this morning over Drumnadrochit with the autumn colours surely at their peak now. I fully expect a storm to roll through any day to spoil the fun!

I am still feeling a bit off kilter - I think it is a mix of getting everything ready and nerves about the assessment process next week, plus the funeral the week after. It’s all building up in my mind and feeding into the exhaustion. It probably wasn’t helped by not getting my work finished last night so I have spent all day so far catching up with myself!

Margaret was one of the avid followers of my work, so her loss is going to have an impact on what I am doing in a strange kind of way. She was one of the regular followers of my blogging, along with Neil whom we lost 8 years ago this spring… I am not sure who else really follows my ramblings these days.

The project will continue though, mainly as it has been going too long to stop now. Even if it is just for me!

26th October 2025

Absolutely stunning light tonight and the autumn colours that I thought may be all done by the time we got back from the Midlands are still going and, if anything, are even better than when we left!

I am hoping that we get a little longer before the wind comes and takes them away, along with some good light and time to explore the scenery! Currently next week is looking comfortably busy, and I have a little time in hand - so perhaps I will manage a little trip out somewhere to shoot some more?

21st October 2025

A day in Hartlebury doing not a great deal of anything in particular.

22nd October 2025

A very stressful day - off for the train from Wolverhampton to Preston in the morning carrying a vast portfolio of work to be judged by the British Institute of Professional Photography to see if I made the grade. There was a lot of walking and carrying, a judgement, a lot more walking and carrying, a meal out at a fantastic Itallian restaurant in Preston and then falling into bed at Premiere Inn.

I got the award I had hoped of, if not the one I dreamed of, but I learned a lot about the whole process and am now planning my next steps. But I got what I needed to take those steps and that is the main thing.

I also know why the hope was achieved whilst the dream was beyond the scope of the panel. I know what I need to do next… although I may go totally off piste (again) anyway as I do like pushing the boundaries!

7th October 2025

Today’s adventures took me out to Burghead on the Moray Coast, just a quick floorplan job, but with the driving it has taken pretty much all day! The plans are done though, I just need to do a site plan and invoice now.

On the way back I stopped off at Kinloss Abbey, somewhere I usually drive past! It is well worth a stop and a look about though, even if most the stone was robbed out post-refimation and used to build the Cromwellian stronghold in Inverness (now also long gone and used elsewhere in the city!)

28th October 2025

The weather has taken a turn for the worse today - low cloud, low temperatures and damp… which made today’s job a little more challenging than ideal. I may have to go back and shoot some fresh externals either Thursday (if I have time… which is unlikely) or next week.

Even in this weather, though, the scenery is just stunning. I actually love “bad” weather for shooting, I love the atmospheric quality that it lends the image.

Tomorrow I am off to Skye, and the weather is looking… mixed! I am looking forward to seeing what I come back with after the challenges of a commercial shoot!

9th October 2025

So I didn’t get back to the old croft today… or indeed anywhere else. The weather is just not being conducive to the job I was planning (a drone flight, the wind is just too strong to chance a 5 hour round trip to end up abandoning it all). So that one is going on to next week and Angus will be getting a road trip!

The scenery is getting nicely autumnal now though so at least a drive down into the village was seasonal!

Feeling very, very tired and a bit rough still too. Which isn’t helping. I think it’s a mix of fighting off a cold and the end of the school term coming up.

It’s not long now until the clocks go back either - which I kinda hate… and kinda love at the same time. It restricts my working hours (although I try and time in the school runs now anyway so always plan on being back in Drumnadrochit just after 3pm at the latest - but on occasions I use afterschool and extend the day), but bringing sunsets and evening light an hour earlier is quite convinient to my current lifestyle!

11th October 2025

Busy day today - so no time for a particularly deep photograph!

To be honest I have that imposter syndrome rearing it’s head again - my panel is all in the process of being printed and sent back to me ahead of the quals in 10 days time… and I have that “they aren’t good enough” feeling building. I have a new vision of what I want to do… but it’s a bit late to throw everything out now and start again!

So this new concept… this will be the next one. I may have to build a dark room in the house though to pull it off over the winter as I want to hand process and hand print the whole thing! I also want to shoot it all on either 6x17 or 6x12, at the moment I am slightly leaning towards the latter - but we shall see. I also need to decide on a single film stock to shoot on - I have loads of Delta 100 and Pan F at the moment but want to give Orthopan a shot too as that looks like it may give the look I want. Once I have the negatives I can start working on the prints, which will need some decisions on paper choice and print sizes to be made later, which will be slightly dependant on where I am printing and what enlarger I have available to me (this is also making me think 6 x 12 may be the route to follow as that size negative I have access to an enlarger for already, and I can probably get an Intrepid set up for home that can handle it too).

The theme is going to be on the clearances in Sutherland… so I need to track down 20 really interesting ruins next!

13th October 2025

Loch Assynt was millpond calm as I was heading up to Drumbeg today... it's not somewhere that I often pause due to the over popularity of Ardvreck Castle (even this late into the autumn it was still hoaching with tourists), but from a distance and with the still waters reflecting the sky and landscape I decided it was worth breaking with my own rules about over photographed scenes (and I did try to do something different rather than close in to the castle!)

The weather turned shortly after, I managed to get the job done, but it isn't the end result I had been hoping for! This is the challenge with commercial photography in the Highlands... the weather rarely plays fair!

There has been a lot of driving today and I am absolutely spent! Time to chill out now though, all the photos are edited and I am busy planning some future trips! My drive out today from Inverness took me along the Kyle of Sutherland and there was so much potential there I could have easily lost several days (particularly with the light and colours on display today!)

15th October 2025

Evening light through the trees for today, taken on the way back from town.

I am not feeling entirely myself at the moment, things aren’t going badly… but I still feel like an abject failure and I can’t work out why. Maybe it is just stress and worry about next weeks qualifications along with the funeral not long after and all the upheaval that seems to be following us all around at the moment.

It’s hard to believe that we are already into the middle of October, before we know it the year will be over and I will be starting to think ahead to 2026. I am hoping for a really good winter for building some striking monochrome landscapes though with plans already being hatched to kick off as soon as I have a little space in my schedule (so not this week or next then!)

I just need to find my mojo once more….

20th October 2025

A long day of driving and into our home for the next 4 nights in Hartlebury. On the way we managed to catch up with my Dad which was good.

25th October 2025

Home and the certificate is framed and on the wall… it has been quite a week!

I have learned a lot though, and am now itching to both put it into practice and start building my new panel because… after all… there are another two of these to collect yet!

The next panel is, I think, going to be entirely analogue… if I can pull it off! Not only that but I plan to develop the film myself and then hand print the pieces. I may go so far as mounting them myself too - I want the whole process to be as organic and part of myself as possible! I haven’t decided yet if they will be black and white or colour, but I am quite fancying a go at really stunning moody monochrome at the moment.

Watch this space… it is probably going to take a year or three to get everything to where I want it for next time around!

17th October 2025

Today I have been busy - 3 good jobs and a 3 hour dark room session in which I got to grips with some Ilford Delta 100 (which I am very impressed by) and a roll of Formapan Creative 200, which has been a mix of jaw droppingly refined and then really old school such as in this frame from Culloden! This one looks like it came from a 60 year old camera and lens (which it did) whilst some of the prints I have made today look really beautiful and refined!

Maybe this just isn’t a scanning film? I may print and scan more prints….

Anyway - a good day with a couple of prints I am finally happy with and quite a lot of learning along the way too! I still have so much more to master!

19th October 2025

An autumnal scene heading over Culnakirk to Beauly this afternoon. Home to pack our stuff (mostly) ready for heading south in the morning.

I am just hoping that the colours are still in full swing when we get back in a few days!

23rd October 2025

I fell off the train at Dudley on the way home and was scooped up by Jen and the boys so we could head off to the Black Country Museum, which we tried to visit last year by the place was closed as they were filming Peaky Blinders.

It’s a great place though, and well worth the visit. We also booked a ride on the canal boat through the tunnels which was probably the highlight of the day.

24th October 2025

A day of driving - we left the cottage at 10am and fell through the door home just a little before 10:45pm

It has been quite the adventure.

27th October 2025

Today has been a bit nuts - back and forth between Invermoriston, Milton, Inverness and Auldearn… not actually in that order… and it involved passing through Drumnadrochit twice!

For a first day back it was a bit chaotic! Then an Ops Meeting with the RNLI tonight so I have just finished editing the most important property for today and will catch up with everything else tomorrow.

Then Wednesday is a bit of a daft one again. And Thursday may be a bit busy too before heading south for the funeral on Thursday night.

29th October 2025

Today was a mad drive over to Portree on the Isle of Skye to shoot a property, and then turn around and drive the 100 miles home! Anyway, on the way out I passed Eilean Donan Castle and it was looking particularly atmospheric! Since the judges appreciated my more atmospheric work rather than the more postcard shots last week I decided that I should probably concentrate on that which I am good at… and to be fair… that which people know me for.

So one moody photograph five minutes later and I was back on my way to Skye.

I don’t think I have ever seen smoke rising from the chimneys of Eilean Donan before either, which made it doubly worth the stop!

When I have more time to explore I want to get back over this way, and onto Skye, to shoot some really thoughtful scenes rather than just reactionary work when I spot something on my travels elsewhere!