2nd July 2026
Bit too windy today for a couple of the planned jobs up in Sutherland, so I have put those back until next week in the hope that things improve!
The schools are off now so I am going to be working my schedule around both the boys and Jen so that I am not miles away on a day she is in the office!
4th July 2026
Today was the start of something new - a group of photographers getting together to share ideas, work and support. It was fantastic - particularly for someone who works alone and tends to shy away from events… like me (these days).
I even spoke about my work. Badly I am sure. But that was so far out of my comfort zone that I actually suprised myself!
On the way back I was directed to this scene which it was suggested may be my bag. How right they were!
6th July 2026
A brave new world… no… no, it’s “new laptop day” - something I utterly dread as I try and make a new system behave like I want it to. In this case the situation is complicated because the new laptop runs an ARM processor not an x86 so I am having to finally bite the bullet and learn new software whilst also making a somewhat alien system (to me) operate in a manner that I can handle.
Today’s photograph took 2 days to process. And it still isn’t quite the version that I wanted!
But… we will get there. Having a version uploaded that isn’t just the straight out of camera file is a huge step in the right direction. Although I am not sure about working on such a small screen!
8th July 2026
Progress - I managed to run an entire job on the laptop today - it was a little slow, but we got there… which gives me the confidence to open up the desktop next week and give it a good clean out, replace the thermal paste, add heatsinks to the SSD drives and try and get it running properly again. I have a USB 4 PCI card to go in as well to boost throughput! The danger was that if something went wrong I would be unable to work until it was fixed, now I don’t have that issue… and I have a fairly capable (if very leftfield) option for travel and sofa surfing in the evening!
Today’s job though - that went well… below is a gallery of the shoot, edited on an ultraportable notebook… not something I thought would be possible - particularly at a fairly modest pricepoint by today’s standards.
1st July 2026
I can’t quite believe that we are into July already! It has been a busy start to the month - not a massive amount of new work, but a whole load of finishing off and paperwork to get done and out.
July is often a bit of a quieter month, but just now it is looking reasonably bouyant. This is, of course, entirely subject to change… but if nothing else were to come in it would not be a complete disaster as it stands!
I have another sociable weekend lined up with a meeting of local photographers on Saturday. I don’t really spend much time being sociable these days so this is all quite a turn up for the books!
3rd July 2026
Today I had a job in town, followed by a session in the dark room catching up on some film processing - disaster struck (again) with one of the rolls of HP5 tearing as it went on the spool! Just one frame was impacted, which was a relief, although another frame or two of the 8 were a bit mangled by the remedial winding onto another spool. I decided to have a go at printing the damaged frame anyway as I had a film in the dryer - just an experiment to see what would happen - and I actually rather like the additional imperfection!
Anyway - the week is done and next week is building up to a nice workload.
5th July 2026
After the busy last couple of days today has been a bit of a chill. Some housework that needed doing has been done and I have made a start on the proper edits of the Iceland photos - I am not doing them all, but enough to give a nice reminder of our adventures to the north!
Things are looking a little quieter than I thought for next week - it’s not a bad week by any means, but a lot more sporadic than of late - which is more in keeping with my expectations for early July to be fair!
The bits needed for the PC repair are slowly arriving with the last part due next Friday so I will get on with that at some point (probably after next weekend as we are going to blitz the house first and get it back to ship shape!)
7th July 2026
The frustration is growing - colours in Capture One are way out of whack - it works okay in Photoshop using Adobe Camera RAW, but that lacks the fine control to actually work the image.
There must be somethink I have configured wrong - or something in my process that is incorrect… but getting guidence is proving a challenge.
I really want to like Capture One but it is doing so much to make me dislike it at the moment….
So… we have a work around, of sorts. Which is a botched together version of my standard workflow.
If I use Lightroom in emulated mode - it more or less runs. At least, it does what I need and I have been able to import all my standard “ballpark” settings to save myself a lot of time on edits. It won’t export to Photoshop properly, this is the only bugbear - and it is a pain - but I can set Photoshop as a third party editor and export to that. It’s slower, it doesn’t sync the files and it’s a pain, but it works.
Luminar - which I use for batch merging to HDR is also not working quite right - but it is giving me enough that I can get the merge and export done if nothing else.
I will have a bit more of an experiment tomorrow - I may stick a live job through and see how it works - I just need good enough that I can keep working if the desktop is out of action for a while! Then hopefully Adobe will catch up with an ARM release of Lightroom….
Not only did the stills come out well - the video is one that I am genuinely quite pleased with. I think it marks a bit of a step change in my hand held work which continues to improve. It isn’t where I want it to be yet, but we are starting to get somewhere!
12th July 2026
After yesterday’s shock news we decided that we would go and do something positive today. I had already booked tickets to go and visit Dunrobin Castle - which we have been meaning to do for the last 6 years - and today felt like a good day to make good on that plan.
Dunrobin is a wonderful building with a very mixed past, largely overshadowed by it’s association with the Highland Clearances - and some of the worst attrocities of that time in particular. The Sutherland family were no longer either in control or holders of the Earldom by that point having married into southern aristocracy which brought with it new ideas on land management that were very much at odds with the old clan system.
But it still remains a magnificent piece of architecture which I wanted to photograph in a different way, the shadows of the woodland hopefully adding a slightly darker tone to the fairytale castle image to reflect it’s place in the history of the northern Highlands.
14th July 2026
Today I was out to Fort Augustus after finishing off the edits from yesterday… although it was so busy that I couldn’t get parked so had to do all the planned shots from the air!
It has been another magnificent day here in the Highlands though, and I am hoping for more of the same tomorrow, in which case I may pull a couple of exterior only shoots forward to get everything wrapped up over the next couple of days so I can take Friday off.
Mainly because we are getting a new fridge!
In other news - the fibre broadband install looks like it is going ahead in October! I have pre-signed up for a very, very fast connection which costs a lot less than Starlink!
10th July 2026
The first week of July and the first proper week of the school holidays is supposed to be a quiet time. This week has been fairly manic! Today saw me out to Aberdeen and Elgin on a crazy, full on, day of shooting and driving. I honestly have no idea where I have been or where this photograph was taken!
The laptop is kind of behaving itself and working after a fashion. Annoyingly some of the plug-ins and applications that I rely on just aren’t working and the main alternative just doesn’t want to play ball either. I have another couple of trials to attempt to see if there is an option c, but the work arounds are good enough for most things (commercial work, I am struggling a little more on the fine art side of things at present).
As for next week - it looks okay at the moment but could easily become another big one!
9th July 2026
Not a bad day - just a couple of jobs on and a drive out to Lairg. The fridge is playing up so I have been defrosting it and seeing if it will come back to life otherwise I sense a trip to Currys in our near future! But first I have a big day on the cards for tomorrow which sees me heading off to Banff.
16th July 2026
Today has been a busy one, with rather a lot of driving… again. I started off with a quick job just outside Drumnadrochit before two in Inverness and then up to a place just next to Carbisdale Castle (well, close enough anyway). Somehow I made it back to Inverness just in time to get chicken feed too!
So the photos from today are sitting untouched tonight as I catch my breath, they can be dealt with tomorrow once I am a little more together! I have, however, had a quick go at this photo using On1 RAW MAX software which seems pretty good - and is stable on the laptop. Ish. It has come out pretty well I think, although I really want to play with the software on the bigger screen and using a mouse rather than touch pad. It seems to have some features that I really want to get using, although others are not so apparent (they may be there, somewhere) so a bit of a learning curve is ahead of me!
18th July 2026
Today has been one of those days that just never really got started. I had plans, but since I didn’t get on with them straight away I kind of lost my momentum! I don’t like hanging about when I have something to do, it throws my mojo right out the window.
Anyway, the errant chicken turned up again tonight in the main coop with the others… and with her three chicks still in tow. She isn’t in the actual coop with them, but in the enclosure - which is at least margainly secure against predators. I have moved a low coop in there that she could get in to with the chicks but, so far, she just isn’t interested. I may have to try something else tomorrow to make them all a wee bit safer.
11th July 2026
It has been a sad day today… I don’t really have any words.
13th July 2026
We kicked off the new working week with a lot of driving! Nairn first then on to Cove near Poolewe in Wester Ross! The photos from today are all looking pretty good, the video of the second property was a bit of a battle as my gimbal had a bit of a melt down - I am not sure if the heat got to it or something just wasn’t set correctly!
I didn’t intend to do any editing, other than my Photo a Day shot, tonight but I wanted to run a rough cut of that video to satisfy myself that I had enough footage to make something work, which I do!
A big part of the picture in terms of developing the video side of things is having the right kit. The camera I am using at the moment is a bit of a hybrid with the emphasis firmly on the stills side of things - so whilst it does video… it isn’t that great. This is changing, however, as I should have a more cinematography centred camera arriving fairly soon which should give me cleaner, better footage to work with! I have the software and the gimbal (when it isn’t having a hissy fit) so this - plus probably a couple of lightweight prime lenses - will form the foundation that should really lift my output. Having a native ISO of 800 and 6400 will make a huge difference compared to the 64 and (I think) 800 on the Z6II. I am hoping that this is going to be the start of a big upswing in output!
26th July 2026
My first “still” taken with the Nikon ZR - intended to be my video camera but with the ability to act as a stand in should my main camera fail on a job. I am impressed… very impressed. Everything is spot on with the exposure and whilst the body isn’t as easy to use for stills as a dedicated stills camera it was not too difficult to make it all work as I wanted. Or approximately as I wanted! I can’t quite get it to fully mimic the Z7II as yet - I think I need to work out the Custom User settings so that I can dial everything in as I want!
What is impressing me even more though - this was shot using a Viltrox lens, which I plan to use for video. It’s good… I mean, not as good as my Nikkor 14-24 f2.8S, but it cost about 1/10th of the price of that!
Otherwise today has been spent sorting clothes for the boys and some of mine into recycling and not recylcing piles and then ordering up new school trousers for all of them ahead of the new year in just over three weeks time. I am actually ahead of myself on this front for once!
28th July 2026
Out to Muir of Ord today enroute to the supermarket in Dingwall (I like to shop their rather than Inverness as I find that, although it is a smaller store, it has more of the “nice” stuff in it… and it tends to be less busy and less likely to be stripped bare by the tourists!)
I had one wee job to do on the way, which I couldn’t find… and wound up down this small lane leading out from the distillery. I have been down it a few times and think I have stopped to photograph something every time! It really is rather lovely!
Tomorrow is supposed to be another quiet day. It is starting to look anything but!
30th July 2026
Today has been so busy that I don’t know if I am coming or going! Jumbling in yesterday’s jobs and todays to make a mega double day has been hard work… two drone jobs got dropped and most the edits are going to happen tomorrow and over the weekend as I am just totally out of steam.
This old farm in Strathnairn caught my attention the other day and I was passing again today and thought I would stop and have a go at it. It isn’t the approach I was thinking of at the time - that needed to be shot from further back with a longer lens - but it’s quite interesting in it’s own way with the road leading off and the sun highlighting it all the way to the bend.
20th July 2026
Nairn today and then a bit of a complicated journey back to Inverness due to a road closuse! The back roads turned into a bit of a nightmare with the volume of traffic - and the tour busses trying to circumvent the closure on singletrack roads were a little uncalled for - particularly as they were heading east and could have taken the main road unimpinged by the heavy roadwork delays heading west (which I was trying to avoid!)
Never mind though, it has been a busy day and I am just tired and grumpy!
Tomorrow is, mostly, an admin day!
22nd July 2026
Bit of a disapointing day today in that my one job I had scheduled was pushed back, on the plus side this did allow me to get on with some long overdue tidying - or at least making a start on it!
Anyway, I popped over to Beauly to do some sign work and get some food in for tonight then filled the car with much debris to go to the tip first thing tomorrow ahead of my actual jobs. A busy couple of days coming up and then what currently looks like a quietish end to the month the following week.
15th July 2026
Another absolute belter of a day up here in the Highlands - it started off with low cloud which slowly lifted and with it the temperatures shot up. The resulting haze was a bit of a challenge… but I think we got there in the end.
Tomorrow is my busy day, then I am taking a long weekend off… well… not really because a wee job sneaked in on Saturday morning, but otherwise it’s a long weekend before it all kicks off again on Monday!
I thought I would share a short video I shot today too. Just a drone job today!
24th July 2026
The weather today has been against me - not good for flying for the drone jobs, and not good for bright and sunny holiday accomodation photos either. So a bit of a wash out!
I did manage to get a couple of things done though, which included an object lesson in the capabilities… and the appetite… of the ZR. I am going to need a lot more, and a lot larger, memory cards! Which is a problem as they are terrifyingly expensive! For the moment I shall curb my enthusiasm and shoot in a more appropriate format for what I am doing!
Which is probably a good thing as otherwise I will need a HUGE drive array too for the raw footage!
17th July 2026
It has been a rather eventful day today. The new fridge was delivered and the old taken away, which filled most of my morning. Then it was on to the edits from yesterday’s busy schedule - which was interupted by chicken drama when a wayward chook returned with 3 tiny bundles of fluff in tow after being missing for abour 4 weeks! She has vanished again, along with the chicks, so I hope we see her again tomorrow and I can try and get her and the brood into a coop and run that we have set up around the back of the house.
My ongoing battles with Windows on ARM are continuing, but it seems that On1 Photo RAW may be a good solution to my problems. It doesn’t have the false colour problems of Capture One and Luminar for starters - whilst also offering - I think - a batch HDR function and sky replacements. I need to test both out this weekend once the system has finally catalogued everything on the desktop and is running faster. I want to get to grips with it on there before stripping the PC down if I can as the Windows on ARM distribution is still somewhat prone to crashing which is causing a lot of frustation. Saying that, the laptop system is showing a blue progress bar too so that must be working on something behind the scenes too! It does seem a bit one step forwards, two steps back just now with technology - but I will persevere and (hopefully) succeed!
19th July 2026
I managed to find a wee bit of productivity today - the desk, at least, is tidied up to the point of not being a complete productivity sink. I rewired most of the peripherals with proper, faster, USB cables whilst I was at it, cleaned out all the dust from the PC with a new blower (which is really effective and may get used to clean lenses now too!) and started getting plans together for “what next” to get my work life in order! It will involve shelves/storeage cabinets! I am also going to have a clear out of old camera bags this week and donate a load to the darkroom.
There is more to do on both organising, tidying and PC wrangling. Another 4Tb SSD drive needs to go in and I am also going to add a remote power switch because the CPU box has moved under the desk to a tricky to reach place! It does seem to be running a lot better though!
Back to work in the morning with a trip to Nairn!
21st July 2026
I wasn’t planning to go and photograph anything today - having several jobs from yesterday still to process. But the sun was shining so I thought I would see if i could get a wee job done - so long as the guests were out. They were, and the conditions were great so that one is ticked off the list!
I don’t like a pure blue sky, it isn’t particularly representative of the Scottish Highlands! A little less cloud would have been perfect, but it is close enough! The sun is shining and life is good!
Except I put a sold sign on the wrong house (another little job I was trying to get signed off). Oh well, one to correct tomorrow!
23rd July 2026
A busy old day today with far more driving than is strictly fun! But a good day in general with the sun shining!
I got home to a package arrived from the far east too, containing what is hopefully going to be a complete game changer on the video side of things - a Nikon ZR Cinema camera. It is pretty handy on the stills too so can act as a backup to the Z7II for that whilst stepping into the role of my main video camera, taking over from an aging (and not exactly ideal) Nikon Z6II. The switch from a stills camera that can do video to a dedicated video camera that can do stills should be quite substantial… and that is before you notice that it has been breathed upon by RED, the premiere maker of cinematography cameras!
I think there may be a little bit of a learning curve now….
25th July 2026
It has been a heavy old week and I need a bit of a weekend - next week is looking reasonably busy too, at least it is building up to be that way!
Anyway - today was about a bit of RnR and Angus throwing some axes about.
27th July 2026
Applecross… in the rain. Again.
Every time I traverse the Bealach na Bá the clouds gather, and today was no exception. That isn’t to say that it isn’t a stunning area - the mountain atmospherics on the way over were spectacular - and completely failed to translate into a photograph!
Never mind, having a bit of a stressy day anyway - my energy bill got messed up and I am pretty sure they have managed to over charge me considerably but in such a way that it is proving rather hard to work out what has happened, how and why… and how much they have taken from me that I don’t think they should have done.
29th July 2026
Today has been a bit of a wash out after a tyre blew on the way out to my first job. I had made it about a mile down the road… and that was as far as I got! The Ring tyre inflator I bought a couple of months ago after finding the OEM one was missing came in handy to get me back up the hill!
I did manage to get one job wrapped up late on this evening though, handy that it was just over the hill - although I had to wait for Jen to get home to borrow her Dacia which I do enjoy bimbling about it. Fortunately she is working from home tomorrow so I now have a monster day of catching up on loads of jobs… and then probably an all nighter to get them edited.
Still - the view at Bunloit was (almost) worth it!
And a new set of All Season tyres will be going on my car on Monday morning, a few months earlier than planned. I am so glad I took out the extra insurance now that covers punctures as I will, hopefully, only need to pay for 3 of the 4!
31st July 2026
And just like that, July was over… and it has been a busy old month, much to my suprise! This is usually one of my quiet times, but summer this year has, so far, been anything but!
Today should have been invoicing day, but between taxi duties and a couple of jobs squeezed in, plus a massive day yesterday which I have only just finished editing, invoices are getting pushed back until, probably, tomorrow.
Lets see what August has to bring - it’s not long now until we start getting to my favourite season for photography and I am starting to get rather excited about the possibilities that this year will bring in the mellow months of autumn!