2nd August 2026
So, Rob, what is your favourite camera?
Well… this… my Fujica GSW690 medium format, film, rangefinder. It is an absolute beast of a camera - big, heavy and very, very loud. It is entirely mechanical, there are no batteries other than the rechargable Keks lightmeter that I have stuck on top (and I have just noticed needs to be recharged!).
It is between 41 and 46 years old, it cost me rather more than anticipated as it was imported from Japan and I was hit with quite a lot of charges to bring it into the UK and it is hugely expensive to run as I get 8 frames per film which cost between £6.50 and upwards of £20 per roll! The images are beautiful though from it’s fixed 28mm (equivalent) lens and the negatives are huge (although not as large as my 6×17 monster which makes running even this look cheap with it’s 4 frames per roll!)
Why is this my photo for today then? Well… I have been thinking a lot about the gear I use and trying to build a daily carrying system that covers all my bases - and trying to decide how that should look. My main cameras are the Z7II and ZR for work, with a 14mm prime, 14-24 zoom and 24-70 zoom. Those are the “non negotiables”. Then I add in the Fujifilm GFX 100RF, which is effectively the digital twin to this - and it becoming my “notebook” to plan my analogue photography and create additional works to go with those prints - which will be created on this and the 617. The latter is too big for a daily carry, it is beautiful - but it is a bit of a faff. So this needs to fit into my daily kit!
At the moment this isn’t really possible - I am trying to determine how I carry stuff too. My ThinkTank shoulder bags, whilst lovely, are too small so I am working with a PYGTECH backpack at the moment - and have a lovely Compagnolo coming in the next couple of days - which I am rather excited by as it has 3 seperate camera cubes included which I can switch out and keep fully loaded with different equipment. This should, in theory, allow me to tailor my bag quickly between different scenarios.
This is the theory anyway!
4th August 2026
Has anybody found the summer? Can we all check down the back of the sofa?
Yes, it has been another absolutely miserable, dreich, day in the Highlands - which seems to have been more or less the status quo for the entire of the summer so far! I noticed that the radiators had turned on last night!
This isn’t stopping the work coming in though and it looks like a pretty busy week, although I can see Friday being re-arranged as most of the jobs I have lined up require decent weather and, looking at the forecast, I am honestly not sure when we are going to find any.
6th August 2026
Yesterday and this morning I have been fighting a bit of a dose of the ole lurgy… it seemed to calm down by about midday though so we popped over to the Black Isle Show, something we have been meaning to do for ages and never quiet making it! It is a big old shindig and really well attended.
Angus particularly enjoyed the fairground.
And I bought a guitar stand - just the thing you expect to find at an agricultural show, of course!
At least I am feeling a bit more with it now though, as tomorrow is a long day up to Golspie, Bonar Bridge, Comarty and Rosemarkie… and North Kessock… so I best top the car up to the max tonight!
12th August 2026
It was all looking so promising for the eclipse, right up until about 5pm when a bank of cloud rolled in and spoiled the party! Still, we got a brief glimpse at around the moment of maximum coverage.
Otherwise today was spent heading to Elgin to drop the car off for a wheel refurb, I get it back in a few days time… but the 6am start was a shock to the system! Then it was hot tub construction and filling… and a failure to convert the 135N back to 135W. The whole thing was a battle, but I was generally getting there until the second half where even my smallest screwdrivers (which are pretty tiny) were too big. I have a set of watch repair drivers coming tomorrow which should be a whole lot finer and then I will get the job finished! A bit frustrating as the 35mm film arrived today and I can’t load it yet!
Tomorrow is a busy day though, and I am hoping for some reasonable weather to make it easier!
16th August 2026
A pretty quiet day today, we had a visitor - which was lovely - and washed the cars - which was necessary.
Otherwise it is just preparing for next weeks return to school and my own busy schedule of work!
1st August 2026
Today is Lughnasadh, the mid point between the Summer Solstice and the Autumn Equinox, the mid point of the season of summer. Usually around now everything gets much, much darker green and the photography interest in the landscape starts to deminish… unless we get some good storms! The evenings are getting earlier again though which makes sunsets at a more reasonable time!
It’s been a busy summer so far with the first half of the school holidays showing no let up as it traditional within the property market, so we shall see how the last almost 3 weeks pans out before the market traditionally wakes up on the run up to autumn.
There isn’t much other news today. It has been a bit of a slow one with Belladrum on and a general feeling of exhausting. This last week was a bit of a nightmare with my punctured tyre rearranging everything into a couple of days - next week sees more disruption as I am in for fresh tyres on Monday and then the week after I am in for a wheel refinish which will create more chaos!
8th August 2026
I have just finished Friday’s edits. It is 1:30am on Sunday! What a day that was!
Today has been typical of this summer which has been pretending to be autumn most of the season! Yes - rain again, this time a dreich Loch Ness for my photograph of the day. We were supposed to be on a boat trip in Gairloch today, but it was postponed until Sunday. And then postponed until next Saturday. The wind is, apparently, a bit much!
Anyway, it’s been a good start to the month work-wise. Not a mega week, but strong enough (with Friday being absolute bedlam). Next week - well - next week is looking pretty busy again too! Maybe summer will actually turn up again (although I doubt it!)
10th August 2026
It was a genuinely nice day today, the first one of those in a while... and it looks like we may be in for a decent week!
Been a busy day though so I only had a moment to stop off in Cawdor to take a quick photograph of this cottage that I have been wanting a go at for a while.
24th August 2026
Today has been a lot of running around! It was an absolute stunner of a day though, the best of the summer… and I don’t think we have many left this year to try and better it!
This was taken in Rockfield, somewhere I love to get to - and it is a rare treat to be shooting in this tiny hamlet on the coast near Tain.
3rd August 2026
The Highland “summer” just keeps on giving! Another cool, wet and dreich kind of day today. I spent the morning finally getting my tyres sorted out - which was, obviously, a cheap way to spend the morning… or not. But they are done, and we are now shod with All Season tyres, the same as are on the Dacia - although the Ford does have a touch more power and weight to deal with - but I have high hopes from them keeping me out the ditch this winter.
There was just time to rattle off a couple of drone jobs whilst the weather wasn’t too bad before heading on to Loch Flemmington to shoot a property. The weather held just about long enough to get everything done!
This week is not looking too bad. A lot quieter than of late, other than Friday that is… Friday is going to hurt!
5th August 2026
Another wet day… I managed to get 3 of the 4 jobs done before it really became too damp to do anything - the last one on the list was a drone job, and flying in this… well… not really going to happen!
But three is better than none.
I think I am going to have a look at the weather tomorrow and look at my schedule for Friday and early next week and perhaps rejig things a little. Hopefully the rain will stop… eventually….
14th August 2026
The last day of the school holidays (proper) - the kids are still off for Monday and Tuesday mind due to in-service days… but life should start getting back to normal again! This last couple of weeks have been somewhat derailed further by the tyre and wheel shenanigans which are also now resolved… I just need to catch back up with myself as it has been rather disruptive!
20th August 2026
Carn Liath just outside Golspie on the A9 today whilst waiting to see if a job was still active or not… it wasn’t… which made the trip this far north somewhat redundant! Although I did make good on a promise to get some extras for a property in Golspie so that was, at least, something!
I finally got the conversion of the Bronica 645 to shoot 35mm Panoramic format up and running. The first roll of HP5 is in the modified holder so I will see how that comes out shortly - along with another back loaded with 120 HP5 - as a bit of a quality control spool.
The light was quite interesting today at any rate with some nice definition, would have been nice to have a little more time though to explore some ideas!
22nd August 2026
Highland Games day in Drumnadrochit today - which means a fair and shenanigans galore.
7th August 2026
Today has been manic! I started in Golspie, then headed to Bonar Bridge - but I was too busy chatting on the phone and turned off too early and found myself in Lairg instead! Eventually found where I was supposed to be and, much to my suprise, managed to get the shots. The weather was against me all day! Then off to Cromarty, just outside Cromarty, Rosemarkie and finally finished in North Kessock where I realised I hadn’t taken a photo of the day/photo diary shot so decided on an homage to The Professionals, one of my absolute favourite TV shows when I was wee!
I even made it look like a still from a 70s show with some colour grading, grain additions and some subtle reworking!
The Capri is a bit bigger than the 70s original mind….
18th August 2026
So that is it - the last day of the summer holidays and tomorrow is back to reality! But today has been all about battling the video gremlins again! Seems that the main issue may be with my desktop as I have just run the same footage into the laptop and the issus seem to be much less, and it is considerably less powerful than the main PC (although it does run on ARM rather than x86 so it is a different kettle of fish entirely).
Today’s photo is harking back to simpler times when photographs were made on celluloid!
26th August 2026
Another day with a fair few miles today as I headed up to Ullapool and then back to Inverness to pick up a couple of jobs. The usual road I use is closed for the rest of the week so it was a bit of a diversion which slowed me down a fair bit... and my plans to shoot some landscapes whislt out was scuppered by the Inverness work.
I had time for just the one frame when I arrived in Ullapool though, mainly as my satnav took me to the wrong bit of the town so I took the opportunity whilst realigning myself!
9th August 2026
Sunshine! Not for long, but we had a little bit of brightness today so I popped the drone out with the new RC Pro controller to test it’s functionality ahead of tomorrow’s rather packed schedule. It’s always worth getting a feel for a new bit of kit before you use it in anger afterall!
This is the old village of Eskart just over the other side of the glen from our home, close enough that I can take this without actually leaving the garden!
I shot a wee video too, it was a touch windy for it to be honest (the system was telling me to land - but it was just about within tolerance - just a bit too windy to get a nice smooth flight!)
28th August 2026
It has been a bit of a bleak end to the week, but there are some hints of autumn starting to appear in the landscape which I am hoping to start exploring in the next few days!
It has been another full week though, which has been great. Next week is looking somewhat quieter at the moment, which is the usual pattern for the start of the month (I have been spoiled lately!) so it’s a wait and see how September pans out. This is usually the first of the busy months on the run up to the winter wind down from December until Spring….
30th August 2026
It feels like the seasons are changing, an Indian Summer seems highly unlikely now… this summer has not been anything like they have had down south in the Highlands, which isn’t to say it’s been wet - but blue skies have certainly been a rarity. As for heatwaves, nothing to see here (which, I have to say, I am absolutely fine with!)
The view from my office window this afternoon is a reminder, though, that autumn is almost upon us. Depending on who you speak to - the MetOffice would tell you that Tuesday is the first day of the new season whilst I maintain it is another 3 weeks later when we pass the equinox. There is a chill to the morning air though so perhaps we will see an early change this time around.
11th August 2026
Tain and Lairg today with a stop off at Bonar Bridge on the way home… it has been a long one, and an early start tomorrow.
The only news from today, other than work, was getting the Bronica working! Looking foward to having a proper session with it now! More film is inbound and tomorrow I hope to butcher the 35mm holder into a panoramic version!
13th August 2026
It has been a pretty long day again today - but a productive one!
This old ruin has been on my “to photograph” list for quite some time - it is a bit of a cheat shot version, but I am glad that I got something of it today. Now to go back with a film camera….
15th August 2026
Something a bit different for today - we had a last family adventure of the holidays on the Glass Bottomed Boat from Gariloch to go and see some wildlife. We got more than we bargained for too, a pod of dolphins were in the bay and came to play around the boat! So close we could have touched them! Unfortunately I was rocking a 500mm lens and, to be honest, too mesmerised, to photograph the moment!
17th August 2026
Today has been pretty full on, a completely different kind of shoot first (a medical practive doing some training and proceedures) followed by a couple of property shoots. The video edits from the first of those shoots has been causing some headaches though so I am going to take a break for the night and go back to it all tomorrow and try to work out why it is just not running smoothly on playback.
Frustrating as the footage is starting to look a lot more how I want it to! The learning curve with a new camera is always steep, when that curve is also moving into more heavy video it is like a mountain! Today’s approach was to cut back to the basics, get that right first, and then start to add some more ambitious stuff in later! I think my problems are coming from mixing formats so I have changed everything to shoot the same format for tomorrow and I will see if that resolves the issues.
I have big plans for video!
19th August 2026
A lot of charging about today for the return to school - I have been to a village outside Nairn, Nairn itself, Elgin and then back to Beauly to get ahead of a job for tomorrow. A productive first day back to routine then!
I have also stripped down the film carrier that I am trying to convert, which involved cutting some screw heads off as the heads were mangled and the screws siezed. They came out with mini mole grips afterwards okay, fortunately… so a box of tiny screws has been ordered along with some bearings (because most of the tiny, tiny metal balls fell out) and tomorrow I will possibly be able to start the reconstruction (although the one pan headed bolt that fell out I won’t have a replacement for until Friday… but if I can get the rest reconstructed tomorrow that would be awesome!
Will it work… will project X-Bronica come to fruition… I will be amazed if I do get it to work, but I am determined to have a go! I have found an alternative solution if not, it just involves ordering a 3D printed back from China that isn’t entirely as compatible as this solution!
21st August 2026
It was a strong end to the week after a rather disapointing day yesterday (well, yesterday was okay… but it could and should have been better!) and with next week building up nicely I am feeling in a good place at the moment.
Today saw me travelling around The Aird, Inverness, Stratton and back to Beauly. Next week has a couple of long range days lined up already… actually… three I think technically! I hope to at least one of the two films loaded into backs from the Bronica through over the week too. Then I just need to find a quiet day to get to the darkroom (I may take the Fuji too and finish the film in that, and perhaps the Panoramic Beast too). I am trying to get my mojo on ahead of the autumn and winter, which with El Nino brewing up could be rather a dramatic time ahead of what the pundits are talking about as being a very hot summer to come. Whether we see that in the Highlands, though, I don’t know as this year has been a bit of a wash out up here!
23rd August 2026
Tonight did not quite go as anticipated with a late night shout on Loch Ness.
25th August 2026
This month continues to be flat out - today I was off to Torridon and Sheildaig… and when out west you just have to stop for a couple of frames! Actually… a few more than that today as I shot a load of film too!
27th August 2026
Another good day, and a new location for landscapes too, which is reasonably local to boot!
29th August 2026
Today has been all about preparing for Hamish’s birthday tomorrow - he has really changed a lot in the last few weeks, becoming more confident, outgoing and self assured. Next year he moves into the first round of qualifications from school and I think he is getting himself together ready for the challenge. Lachlan is already embarking on that path and doing well.
On a similar vein I have taken the next step in my own professional and personal development path by entering the “International Print Masters” competition. I don’t really expect to get anywhere this time as this really is a leap into the rarified air of the high end professional world. I like to think of this first forray as more of a statement of intent rather than expecting to get anywhere!
For starters… it is a digital image that I have presented. My main focus on the more artistic side of things at present comes in analogue formats… and I have some really big plans for that!
31st August 2026
Another month done… and things are looking a little quieter at the moment. I had a couple of jobs on today though, just wee ones, that I wanted to get wrapped up whilst it wasn’t raining!
It is a bank holiday today, apparently, so perhaps things will pick up either later in the week or next as everyone falls back into the normal routines!