2nd February 2026
I was early to this morning’s first job, and since nobody was about, I popped down the road to try and scratch a photography itch! The Nairn Viaduct has been defeating me lately as I couldn’t get the angles I needed to really show the full structure. If you can’t do it from the ground though, perhaps the air?
I am quite pleased with how it came out - maybe not my definitive version, but it’s a step in the right direction!
1st February 2026
So, the start of a new month and a fairly low-key day with just some chicken coop cleaning, laundry and household chores to attend to. And chasing the accountant! I have decided that I am going to switch to Quickbooks for 26/27 to try and simplify my financial life and also come compliant for MTD, which may also be a good time to go VAT registered too as everything will be under one roof and, with a bit of luck, I can more or less automate everything… perhaps!
So plans for this month… I thought it would be a fairly quiet one but with a client extending a current offer for another month I am starting to think it’s going to be carrying on where January left off! This may reduce the chances of me getting out on any adventures to shoot some landscapes, but it does make the annual bottom line look somewhat healthier - which may mean I can start looking to upgrade and replace some kit earlier than otherwise. All good then!
The month has started on a milder note than January and this week is looking undramatic if overcast. I am starting to wonder if the first fornight of the year was our winter, we are into the brown/grey days now… but spring is on it’s way!
4th February 2026
It’s been a very flat, grey and generally miserable kind of a day today. I went to go and check out a scene that I have visited before and then discounted for being too overgrown, but I think there is something here worth taking a bit more time over!
6th February 2026
The week has ended on a quiet note, but it’s been a pretty good few days… I hit my weekly target anyway, although didn’t get far over the line, but I am happy enough with that both for the start of the month and for February. Things tend to start hotting up towards the end of the month anyway, and this time of year also sees the market heating up as we head towards spring!
So today my only task was to pop into town and buy some chicken feed. There was little in the way of good light to be had, so I stopped off at Loch Laide on the way home (a slight diversion) to revisit one of my favourite local scenes. The red roof just gives that nice little splash of colour on a dull day.
Things are looking good moving forward though - it looks like there may be more work coming out west, and I love an excuse to head out into that dramatic landscape!
3rd February 2026
It's been one of those brown/grey February days again. There was just no colour to be had so I went for a mono shot of Coiltie Bridge for today.
Been a reasonably busy day though, so not all bad at all!
5th February 2026
Sometimes a photograph comes out of nowhere - I spotted the turquoise colours in the waters of Loch Broom on the way back from Ullapool as the sun broke through the clouds lighting it up so stopped to pop the drone up to try and make a photograph of it.
The pickup pulled out of the layby at just the right moment to add that little extra element to the whole scene!
Not what I planned for today - but I love it!
8th February 2026
It’s been a grey day again today - there was a hint of something worth shooting this morning, but we had a party to attend with our youngest. Then a little catch up with the skiing action from the Olympics (I can’t quite get over the tragic end to Lyndsey Vonn’s campaign - that was such a great story in the making).
The sky started to brighten again this evening so I have some hope for tomorrow, but the forecast for this week, and indeed right to the start of March, is not looking all that great. I am sure we will have some breaks in the cloud, but overall it is looking like a dissapointing end to a winter that never really lived up to it’s expectations.
12th February 2026
The first snowdrops I have seen this year - and that first tangible sign that spring is on it’s way!
Absolutely shattered today, just a small job in Beauly and a floorplan tomorrow to round off a quiet week. Next is looking promising to see a bit more work at the moment, so we will see how things go. I could use a decent end to this month!
14th February 2026
Not a very exciting day today - a trip into town, a spot of lunch and some shopping… home for a movie and a chilled out evening.
The imposter syndome has been running riot this last week, it’s been too quiet and my mind goes off to the worryzone when it’s like this. But I have some ideas that need to be investigated anyway - so with the boys off most of next week I will get planning and then start to actually work on my “big project” properly as soon as I can. I want to incorporate a lot more video work in with this - it’s going to become something of a multi-headed monster I feel!
I don’t entirely expect this to make me any real money, this is all about the art of what I do combined with the passions I have and a fair degree of soul searching too I should think.
7th February 2026
It’s been a dull day outside again - and I haven’t really been anywhere! A late night last night and then most of the day catching the Olympics Opening Ceremony from last night has seen the day done.
Nicely busy week though, next is currently a wee bit thin but hopefully that will turn around quickly once people start back. I could use at least another 4 jobs to come in as it stands.
10th February 2026
I am flying solo today and tomorrow, so a little tied up! Just the one quick job today though, and a bit of admin, but I did manage to swing by Dunlichty on the way back after finishing off in Inverness. This watch house has been fascinating me for ages, but I don’t think I have actually photographed it properly until now!
I am on a bit of a Black and White drive at the moment, partially to get my brain into gear for my analogue based Highland Clearances project, and partially as I am just finding the medium is resonating with me at present. My commercial work is generally in colour so it makes a nice differentiation!
9th February 2026
Croick Church sits at the end of Strath Cuileannach in Easter Ross. The road ends just past the church so the strath can only be explored by foot, horse or bike - something I will have to do one of these days as there are a good few old settlements dotted along it's length.
This is an ancient place, the rubble mound behind the church is an Iron Age broch, although there is little to really see of it - the views from there down into Strathcarron are commanding though, showing how strong a position this would have been in antiquity.
Croick Church itself is a fairly important place in the history of the Highland Clearances, and somewhere that I have been meaning to visit for some time. In itself it is a good example of one of Thomas Telford's designs for the parliamentary churches following the 1823 "Parliamentary Act for Building Additional Places of Worship in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland", and construction here started in 1825 to look after the 200 parishioners - in 1843 that number had diminished to 10 as the glen was depopulated to make way for sheep. 80 of those displaced residents made camp in the church yard making a shelter from poles and tarps, and they scratched messages into the glass panes of the windows which can still be seen today.
It is a rather poignient place, particularly on a day such as this.
11th February 2026
It’s a slow week this week, which is not a bad thing as I am really run down and exhausted. I was going to go out on a shoot today but the weather is a bit rubbish so that is pushed back to tomorrow (hopefully ahead of the forecast snow, there is a bright spell in the middle of the day I want to hit!), and my plans of supermarket/Ffordes also got pushed back.
With the schools off for a few days next week it is not suprising that things are quiet, people tend to hold off on the run up and during the holidays - a couple of things may crop up for next week (I think I have a couple booked in as it stands) and then my hopes for the month are pinned onto a bumper final week before we hit March and the spring surge (hopefully) materialises!
For today, though, here are some chickens!
13th February 2026
Loch na Bà Ruiadhe on a cold February morning, there was overnight snow at home so I thought heading up the Culnakirk would just bring me more of it, and deeper. The light was stunning so I had high hopes….
There was nearly no snow at all! This is higher than us, and only a mile or so away! It was quite a suprise!
Anyway, just a floorplan and siteplan to do today. It’s been a pretty slow week so I think I need to think about drumming up some work next week, particularly if it proves as quiet as this.
