The same old back-hander.
This article was first posted on my old blog three weeks ago. “Oooh what a lovely photo, you must have a really good camera” If I had a pound for every time I’ve heard that over the past eight years I would be enjoying a prolonged visit for myself and said equipment to some exotic location. Imagine standing in front of a Monet or a Rembrandt and saying ‘how lovely, he must have had great brushes’ or better to a top chef ‘ that meal was fantastic, you must have a brilliant oven’. You wouldn’t dream of it but for some reason the camera gets the credit for a photographers work....
Read MoreLandscape Photography. It’s a bit of an animal.
One of the many things that influenced me to move to Scotland years ago was a television series called Wilderness Walks. Six episodes hosted by hill walker and writer Cameron McNeish where he traversed wild and remote regions of Scotland with the likes of Chris Smith, Chris Brasher and David Craig. Inspired by the stunning locations I began to visit Scotland and walk its hills, I also subscribed to The Great Outdoors magazine to gain further knowledge and inspiration for future visits. I remember a series of short interviews run in the back of the magazine where one of the questions asked...
Read MoreWhy So Serious?
Now that my gallery has been closed for nearly a year the majority of my imagery is sold through other galleries and retailers across Scotland. I have an agent to cover this side of the business but unfortunately following a terrible accident in which both his legs were crushed below the knee he has been out of action for over a year. I find it difficult to sell my own work as I have too personal an attachment to it to be able to treat it purely as product. My wife has been capably managing sales for the past eighteen months while I concentrate on making images and all the...
Read MoreThe story behind….Cold Dawn Inverpolly.
The second in a series describing the story behind some of my popular images. The mountains of Assynt and Inverpolly have inspired me for many years. Studying books by the likes of Colin Prior and Colin Baxter ten years ago these hills (not the largest in Scotland by far) stood out as the most unique landscape to be found here in Britain. Isolated peaks, often surrounded by miles of wet moorland each one had its own unique profile, their Norse names ( Suilven, Canisp, Quinag) sparking my imagination and sense of adventure. Living on the Leicestershire/Northamptonshire border travelling so far...
Read MoreGetting back to basics.
Last Sunday, with limited time on my hands due to the imminent return of my children from a weekend break I decided to haul all my large format gear up the 1600ft (488m) to the minor top on the approach to Meall Garbh, itself a minor top on the approach to Beinn Sgulaird. NB, Meall Garbh provided me with my Earth shadow images back in the Winter. Recently I have been suffering with some knee and hip pain while on the hill that I now attribute to the road running I started back in July (no mentioning my age now). Due to that I have been hill walking without all of my heavy gear but with the...
Read MoreA worrying trend
I’ve noticed over the last six months or so that all of my suppliers are regularly running out of those essentials items that I use to keep my business going. Even those that have been reliably providing me with food for my camera, printers and framing rooms for years are sometimes leaving me waiting for two to three weeks while they build up enough orders to buy in their next stock. I can understand the need for businesses to keep their stock levels low to maintain cashflow in the current difficult climate but it can’t be only me whose workflow is getting regularly interrupted by...
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