2nd September 2025
It's been a busy old day today, not work wise, just busy! Into town to return some things to Next, get chicken food and some stuff for the cats, get some grocery shopping done, then home to work on my submission for the British Institute of Professional Photographers! So for today we have a photo of Roki having a bit of a chill in the long grass.
4th September 2025
Today started well - a good session in the darkroom gave me my first prints that I am actually quite proud of in 30 years! I was in on my own, the film was processed on Tuesday night at the group session (mostly by me, but I did mess up loading the first film onto it’s reel and needed some assistance to get me back on track - rookie error on that front!). I came out with three prints that I am happy with though (and I did 2 copies of each, the others are on the display board at WASPS, Inverness.
Then on to a little agency job before heading home. Before I could get the photos from the job off to the client the pager sounded and that was the end of my day! It was one of those shouts with a bad outcome, unfortunately… so when I got back all I wanted to do was chill and ignore the world for a bit.
6th September 2025
Magnus just out doing his thing.
He knows all my secrets… it’s almost like my best friend is a cat! Perhaps this is the downside of being a full time photographer, and a parent… I don’t really have any time to socialise and few people in my circle to do so with anyway. So I talk to my cat.
He doesn’t mind though. So it’s all good!
8th September 2025
Another day, another trip up to Tongue! I stopped off again at one of my favourite locations, I wanted another go at this scene but with the old bridge in the foreground and the cottage moving back into the middle. I also wanted to shoot it with the big panoramic again as I am not sure how the last one came out, that one is at the lab now as it was shot on Kodak Gold, this time it is on Lomography’s Earl Grey for me to process myself next time I get into the darkroom (I am very tempted to book a morning this week but think I will push back to next at some point so that I perhaps get a little more to work on).
It was also a great excuse to take Jen up to see this part of the far north, and we even had a glorious day for it!
10th September 2025
The old boathouse on Loch Osgaig on the Coigach peninsula whilst on a wild and windy trip around the north-west Highlands.
12th September 2025
Autumn is very much in the air now, the temperature has dropped and I have even succumbed to the heating. I want to get a little ahead of it this year and warm the slab up before it gets too cold! It’s bad enough doing it now, but leave it another few weeks and I would probably burn through £20 of electricity!
Today I have had one quick job in town, a heating engineer out to look at my hot water issues (he has an idea as to what may be the issue so we will get that fixed next week once he has parts) and hopefully successfully replaced the light seals on the Fuji 690! I have 5 rolls of super cheap Formopan 120 arriving tomorrow so I will run one through the camera and get into the dark room to assess how successful (or otherwise) I have been. I have plenty of material left for another go (or two) if necessary! I plan to use this entire extra batch of film to get the Fuji working right and get my technique further refined with the 617 BEAST before sticking (considerably) more expensive film stock through again! No sense wasting a £20 roll when a £4 roll could be sacrificed instead! I also plan on getting a colour processing set up at home which will save £6 a roll on processing (I already to my own black and white, with sometimes mixed results!)
14th September 2025
Today has been a long day of selecting, editing and refining a series of photographs ready for the qualifications next month with the British Institute of Professional Photography. I think I am about there now - I just need to decide on a “running order” for the photographs so that the whole body of work is cohesive. This will be reflected in how the prints are displayed for the judges as well as the digital order they are viewed in (yes, this is old school photography - it is judged on printed output not on screen!).
As a result, I haven’t been anywhere or done anything else all day, so here is a chicken that I photographed whilst chasing back into the yard this afternoon!
16th September 2025
The Kessock Bridge that links Inverness to the Black Isle and is, as far as I am aware, the only earthquake proof bridge in the UK (or at least it was at the time of construction, it may have been or be the only earthquake proof structure too...)
18th September 2025
The River Ness shot on Formopan 100 using the Fuji GSW690. Still suffering from chronic light leaks, it is either rolling the film fat or it was the second set of (missing) light seals that I just noticed! I replaced all the door seals, but there are channel seals on the back of the body too, those are now sorted and a new roll has been (carefully) set in place to see if that has it sorted.
22nd September 2025
That is it - we are officially in autumn now! The Equinox is upon us and I am really looking forward to the coming season!
Work is bobbing along nicely, not over busy but the work that is coming in is the higher value type so things are looking pretty good. I have just ordered the test prints for my British Institute of Professional Photography panel and should hopefully be in a position to order my final prints in the next few days, all well in advance of judging in October, so fingers crossed that goes smoothly!
I ran a roll of 120 through the Fuji GSW690 today and the roll came out reasonably tight, so if I have got the light leaks under control now that will hopefully give me a second, more traditional, medium format option for my analogue work too. I will process that one on Thursday, but I have made a couple of tweaks since unloading to see if I can get the roll a little tighter just to be on the safe side.
So hopefully that is me all set up for a brilliant season! I even have 5 rolls of Ekta 100 ready to shoot some analogue colours!
24th September 2025
Today was a challenge - it started really well, three jobs all with perfect weather is unusual in September! Unfortunately around where this photograph was taken I managed to lose my phone. Which is in a wallet. With all my cards.
After a few stressful hours of searching Jen managed to spot it at a timber yard near Nairn, and by the time I had tracked it down it was enroute back west with a timber wagon driver who had amazingly spotted it on the road, stopped, retrieved it and then kept it safe. He had worked out I lived in Drumnadrochit (yes… my driving licence was in there too) so was hoping to find me or leave it somewhere it could be found from, however I caught up with him in a layby on the A82 first, halfway between Drum and Inverness.
Disaster averted - I hadn’t really thought about how much is on the phone and how critical it is for… well… everything in modern life! Work included!
So more care in future - I was very lucky this time!
26th September 2025
An absolute belter of a day today - sunshine and blue skies with a trip around the Black Isle to shoot a house in Avoch. The photos were lovely, the video is probably one of my best yet (for a quick and dirty “socials” video that is!)
Back home and everything is sorted out and uploaded to everyone it was due to, my invoices are all ready to send out on Monday for the month and I “accidentally” ordered a couple of vintage cameras and films from a drop (both Soviet rangefinders). At some point I am going to rationalise down my vintage collection, but I am still searching for “the one”. Which is probably going to be a Leica M. But I am short of a couple of grand for that!
28th September 2025
What a stunning morning today - the autumnal mists are back and some unexpected sunshine was making them glow!
30th September 2025
So this is one of the hardest days of the year, rather than thinking about all the good things my mind wanders off to those who are no longer with us. Another lap of the sun completed… but always fewer people left to acknowledge it. It probably doesn’t help when your friends and most your family are unaware… or the crew down at the lifeboat who are always sharing birthday messages. I have always felt like I exist on the margains of society and this is probably a large part of why I often think I am invisible.
I guess, as a photographer, being invisible is probably a good thing. I get to blend into the background and draw no attention (it’s actually quite a feat when you are 6’2 and look like some kind of viking!
Anyway, I usually find my mood lifts from the 1st October as I get to move on from thinking about everyone no longer here and start to look ahead to the next revolution. There is a lot going on next month, although the self-doubt is creeping in again (hopefully just an end of September thing)….
1st September 2025
So here we go, the end of summer, the start of autumn… and a bit of a weird month for me. I have mixed emotions running through September, I often feel very stressed and tense, unable to really enjoy the light and the change of seasons, because I always battle the sense of loss through the month. This is when I really miss those who have gone, the only people whom I have ever really let look after me…. I was always fiercely independent, but there were a few who overcame that!
Anyway, today we were in Avoch on the Black Isle. I had never really given Henrietta Bridge much of a thought but today Jen pointed it out and as soon as I saw it from this different angle, with the tall grasses and babbling burn, it gave me serious Constable vibes (who is one of my big landscape influences anyway) so I took this shot. I would quite like to come back with the film camera in a few weeks once the leaves really start to take on their autumnal hues.
If I remember!
Or have time come to think about it. I am really hoping that this month is the moment that the late year boom kicks in, last month was just so quiet that I think we are due for something a little better!
3rd September 2025
Another day... and another trip out to the Black Isle. Unfortunately, the weather was a bit meh so I didn't really hang around to get anything spectacular to photograph, but did find some lovely spots on the way over that I want to revisit when the light and sky are a bit more interesting!
Tomorrow I have a morning booked in the darkroom and a load of negatives to play with from Tuesday nights developathon! I don’t think there is anything groundbreaking as both films were just testing out cameras and messing around rather than doing serious work… but that starts now. Ish. Because I have a couple of (very) second hand cameras to test out over the next couple of weeks.
I still really, really, really want a nice 35mm rangefinder though… and an XPAN… and probably a Pentax 67. And maybe a really, really nice manual SLR come to think about it… probably a Nikon, but I may be swayed by an Olympus OM as, along with the Nikon F3, that was always on my wish list “back in the day”. Hopefully I will find my Nikkormat one of these days, and even better… my Canon EOS 3 (probably the only Canon that I ever had a lust for!)
5th September 2025
A better day today - two jobs, first in Inverness was a breeze then a second back in Drumnadrochit where I happened upon this barn in the garden. Absolutely loved it so decided it would feature in my Photo a Day for today!
I am absolutely spent after this week though so now looking forward to kicking back for the weekend before heading to Tongue (again) on Monday. I was planning Ullapool on Tuesday but the client hasn’t got back to me so it looks like that will, instead, become Culloden and I will see about Ullapool on Wednesday instead (I possibly could do both in the one day, but it would be a bit of a rush with the school run so I think I will split them and perhaps see if I can pop something else in on Tuesday to make it a bit of a fuller day!)
I think things may be starting to stir again on the housing market so I am probably going to be busy for the next couple of months, perhaps extending into November.
20th September 2025
Today it was Angus’ 7th Birthday - and he celebrated with a highly explosive cake (Japanese Strawberry).
7th September 2025
I am really having some fun with film at the moment. This is the old Air Sea Rescue Station at Meikle Ferry shot on an absolutely terrible Lomography Sprocket Rocket toy camera. It exposes 2 frames per shot, so my 24 exposure film gives me 12 photographs. The focus is… well… shocking, but it is so much fun!
The Lo-Fi vibe on this shot just adds to the 1940s war time aesthetic. I don’t know how much I am going to use this camera but I think it is worth keeping just for some occasional forays! I also have the very capable Nikon F401S on the go at the moment and am putting a Minolta Hi-Matic G2 through it’s paces. Then tomorrow there is the Fuji GSW690 arriving (it was very cheap!) and another charity shop find of a Canon 7 with another charity find of a Soviet 50mm lens! I may stop there for now, but I quite like playing about with old kit and seeing what it can do as a foil to the very perfected digital world!
9th September 2025
The second of my 3 long days in a row - today I didn’t have time to stop as I started with a wee job in Culloden before hot-footing it up the A9, past Wick, and on to somewhere near Wattan. It was glorious, and on the way back there was beautiful light as the weather started to change.
Unfortunately, due to a slight boo boo in planning, I had to get home quickly so no time to indulge in anything creative until I got home today!
Tomorrow is the final far-flung day, albeit not quite so far flung! I am off to Achiltibuie to photograph a couple of crofts. Another beautiful area and I hope to have a little time in hand for myself this time, so long as it takes less than 2 hours on site anyway!
11th September 2025
Bit of a disaster day today in the darkroom… but its all a learning experience! I took a photo of Loch Ness on the way home as the rain came in.
13th September 2025
Today has been kinda good. The boys and some friends went go-karting for Hamish’s birthday treat - amazingly Hamish just pipped Lachlan to come in second (behind Eva, but she is an absolute speed demon!). By pipped we are talking 0.01 of a second! He was, to put it mildly, rather pleased with himself as in the past he has always been a noticeable amount off Lachlan’s pace!
We got home and my Formopan 100 had arrived - 5 rolls of the stuff - so one has gone straight into the Fuji to test the light seals and a darkroom session is booked in for Thursday to do some processing. I may have the roll of Earl Grey finished in the BEAST by then too, I am desperate to get a decent set of negatives out of that to assess the film’s properties after 2/3 the rolls I bought were ruined by either fate, poor equipment or downright incompetence on my behalf (delete as appropriate!).
Next week is looking reasonable too, not too busy, but not disasterously quiet. this could, of course, change rapidly on Monday, but I am a bit off target as it stands, but not too far.
15th September 2025
It has been a wet and miserable day today, fortunately my week is looking pretty relaxed at the moment so I have rescheduled today's job through to tomorrow as there was little sense in shooting a property in North Kessock in the rain... particularly as there is no chance of getting the drone up in this.
I stopped off at Ivy Bridge on the way back from the shop though as the misty and damp weather works quite well for something a little more intimate and woodlandy.
On the plus side, I think I have everything in place ready for the qualifications round in October as a result of my unscheduled day off! The print selection is made and the images have been tweaked ready for the print run, a design meeting is scheduled for Friday afternoon with the print house to ensure I get as good a set of prints as I can and the supporting evidence is all in order. I just need to upload all the digital files now (once I find out where to send them to!)
17th September 2025
Today I went for a bit of an adventure! This is somewhere I have been wanting to get to for a long while, but I also managed to run a whole roll of 120 through the panoramic without messing up (I think!).
Tomorrow it is dark room and check the results!
19th September 2025
An actual night out… usually I am driving others around, but tonight Jen decided that I needed an early birthday present so it was off to the Eden Court and the Rocky Horror Show.
They were really good… it is my third time seeing it live, having watched Tim Curry, Jason Donovan and now Stephen Webb who can more than pull off the role. The cast, as a whole, were absolutely brilliant and it was a great night out!
21st September 2025
All a bit under the weather today, so here is our neighbourly bull wandering around his field as I popped into the village to collect another duck to join the menagerie.
23rd September 2025
A beautiful autumn day today, and a job down almost on the shore of Loch Garten, so I figured it would be rude not to go and shoot some extras!
I also put another roll of Formopan through the Fuji so… fingers crossed… it is now sorted, otherwise I will have two duff films on Thursday to work with! I am hoping to finish at least the roll that is in the little Minolta too so I can see how well that camera is working.
25th September 2025
Not the most successful day today, a bit of work but both Jen and myself are still fighting off a bout of the lurgy.
I went out with the intention of catching a sunset tonight though… but by the time I had dropped Lachlan at Scouts the moment had pretty much passed and I had to make do with the afterglow!
27th September 2025
Today I stepped well out of my comfort zone and went on the FotoWalk in Inverness. I have spent a lot of years avoiding social engagement so this was quite a thing! Along with the darkroom evenings and next weeks planned attempt at a camera club (I tried one before - it wasn't for me - but I am going to have another go).
Anyway, it was all fun today, some lovely folk and attempting a type of photography that I never usually go near (street photography). I am quite looking forward to seeing what I got on the big Fuji now!
Many thanks to Iain Farrell for putting this together, and my fellow photographers for being so lovely!
29th September 2025
29th September 2025
Angus... he drives me to absolute distraction, but he is very cute really (and a really sweet little boy... most of the time)
I have spent the day booking accommodation for the quals session, and a train ticket from Wolverhampton to Preston and back so that I don't need to borrow the car overnight whilst we are away! The photographs are all ready to go once I decide between the remaining 4 paper choices in the next few days... it is slowly all coming together! Just 3 weeks to go!!!!
I have also just loaded the panoramic beast with some Film Photography Project “Mummy” 400, which was an absolute chore! The backing paper is so slippery it kept falling off the spool after I put the back on so wouldn’t wind into position. I have it on now and I am looking foward to seeing what this stuff is like! I have also popped in the spacers to shift the camera from 617 mode to 612 as I seem to be using that format more than the wider when I create digital panoramas at the moment, so perhaps that is my natural home? We shall see… it would allow me to print the negatives traditionally too though as I have access to something large enough to handle those negatives at present, and it would be an easier size to buy an enlarger to suit too…. but I will see how I get on before coming to a final decision (6 shots per roll is a lot easier to swallow than 4 too!).
I also ordered a dark cloth (finally) for the camera, plus a set of magnetic filters… it’s time to start turning the dial up a notch on my analogue work!
