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  • Morning Pages

    A couple of years ago I read a book called Gravitas, by Caroline Goyder. I read mostly on the train travelling north to Glasgow on a Monday morning. I was always happy when I could get a seat to myself and spread out, relax without worrying the person next to me would want to squeeze…

  • Notes from Susan Sontag On Photography

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    I recently came into possession of a copy of Susan Sontag’s On Photography, and was delighted to see it contained hand-written notes made in pencil by a previous owner. It has that wonderful musty ‘old book’ smell, and I’m finding it fascinating to go through, picking up on some of the notes and highlights. The…

  • An Interview With Myself

    Introduce yourself Hello. I like to take pictures and nearly always have a camera in my hand. How and when did you get into photography? I’ve been taking pictures since I was a child, so most of my life. Digital photography wasn’t around when I started and my parents didn’t have much money so I…

  • Rediscovering my Canon G9

    Ten years ago I bought myself a Canon G9 compact, and absolutely loved it. Me and that camera went everywhere together, but inevitably when I got my Canon 6d the G9 was relegated to ‘The Drawer’, where it has resided ever since. I recently rediscovered it, charged it up, and tried a few test shots.…

  • Spicy Breakfast Biscuits

    I should perhaps add the word ‘Christmas’ to this title, because this is a ‘biscuit’ recipe containing mincemeat and various other spices that never fail to bring the spirit of Christmas to the tastebuds. Firstly, let me say I’m absolutely not a baker. This is only my third ever attempt at cooking something sweet, so…

  • Why do photographers take pictures?

    I attended an interesting talk last night that asked a couple of questions I’ve never really considered before in terms of my own practice as a photographer. As a photographer, do you enjoy the thrill of the chase involved in finding a good picture or do you enjoy the final image more? For me, the…

  • Finding your purpose in life

    This thought kind of follows on from this one, where I question the reliability of asking yourself to think back to when you were at your happiest. While I still think it’s near impossible to answer this question – and indeed find your purpose in life – I do think there are some questions you…

  • Why you don’t really know when you were at your happiest

    I had an interesting conversation with a client recently. She was advocating the practice of sitting quietly and asking yourself to think back to when you were at your happiest. The idea is that when you find that moment, you should plan your life to go forward in that direction. While this is a nice idea in…