THE BUSHCRAFT SHOW 2013

Just finished 3 days shooting at the Bushcraft Show 2013 at Elvaston Castle in Derbyshire. The Bank holiday brought much needed sunshine and the event was very successful and busy. The work load was tough as I was producing video and photography and could have done with the ability to be in two places at once. I will thank Anne though who was a great help throughout the weekend!

The images look great and I am positive the edited film will look just as good. I even managed to eat a live bug at the Bear Grylls stand. Actually tasted pretty good!

The organisers managed to fly a group of Massai dancers over from Africa (who they and a bushcraft school have been working with out in Africa) so they could perform traditional dance. They sold beadwork and there was a charity auction to help raise funds for there village back in Africa. It was a great experience to see them dance and the auction raised several thousand pounds. 6 out of the 7 dancers had never been outside of there native village and I couldn't help but smile to see 7 traditionally dressed Massai dancers stood eating baked potatoes from the spud van, it was good to see and the whole event would have been an amazing experience for them. Great work!

See www.thebushcraftshow.co.uk to get any details for the 2014 show.

SILVERSTONE RALLY DRIVING

An awesome Birthdays present from my parents to do a rally experience on a circuit next to Silverstone. I think this is about the only time I have been happy for the weather to rain. You can't drive a rally car without some good mud! It was extremely fun, starting with a circuit with one of the instructors to explain the turns and the hand break technique on the corners and then it was my turn to do 8 laps of the circuit.

It was a great bone shaking experience and after a couple of laps it was possible to get the speed up. Very noisy and bumpy as you would expect from this kind of driving and just as I started to get the hand break turns smoother and the corners memorised the laps were over! It was a great gift and one I very much enjoyed and will remember for a long time.

My Dad also took a circuit as a passenger with one of the instructors to get a taster experience. He enjoyed the lap!

Great fun!

BREEDON PRIORY HEALTH CLUB

Just finished a day photographing Breedon Priory Health club. A health club in Derbyshire that has new ownership and a very nice renovation. The job went well and the images have turned out great and both myself and most importantly the client were very happy with the results.

Just a couple of shots from the day.

PICTURE PERFECT PART 2 - FEATURE

I have completed my second of four photography feature that is being published with the Bushcraft and Survival Skills Magazine. Its good to share a little knowledge and hopefully inspire a few people to think more about there photography. Plus its always nice to see you work published.

30th BIRTHDAY

Right, I'm going to come clean, I have posted this under my birthday date of 30th of March. Truth is, its now nearly June so that's almost two months since my last post and I have back dated the post! Still, never mind and lets get onto the post...

My Birthday was celebrated with family in Birmingham and then followed by an awesome trip into Snowdonia National Park.

My parents had hosted the meal and we had a top-notch Chinese meal with all the trimmings. I wanted a few bits to set the party atmosphere so ordered a few paper lanterns and joked with my Dad about making a table decoration. But my Dad being the creative guy he is delivered a stunning paper dragon made of 100's of pieces of paper and it was amazing! A true talent.

The night was great and everyone enjoyed themselves. A big thank you to my parents for a great meal and Birthday and thank you to everyone for the gifts.

Anne and I then ventured across to wales to the Snowdonia National Park camping and exploring. Below are a few pictures from the trip and its clear to see that the weather and mountains were spectacular. We also explored along the coast on the Lleyn Peninsula. An all round great trip and memorable 30th Birthday!  

PICTURE PERFECT PART 1 - FEATURE

This is the first of four features I am writing for the Bushcraft & Survival Skills magazine based on a beginners guide to photography. The first issue covers cameras and equipment. I will post the others as and when they are complete.

LIVE IN LEEDS

Willy Mason

Ventured up to Leeds on Friday night to see singer songwriter Willy Mason over from the US. 

Held at The Wardrobe in central Leeds, being a very compact venue mixed with this genre of music made for a very civilised gig.  

I decided to take a tricky and light camera setup to see if I could grab a couple of nice shots and challenge myself with this awkward setup. 

Using a fast f1.4 manual focus lens to make use of what light was available resulted in a good few shots that I was pleased with. The large aperture resulted in razor thin DOF and the manual focus was ultra tricky. 

I love the mood and ambience captured shooting in such an environment and I couldn't help but indulge in capturing some nice bokeh patterns from the lighting at f1.4.

30 DAYS to 30

I am 30 years old at the end of this month. I wouldn't say I was too bothered about getting to 30 but it does hit home how fast life flies past! I think its time to really focus and get that further list of achievements nailed. First on the list... up my game on the blues harp?

WINN HILL

The summit in the distance

My folks popped up to the Peaks for a couple of nights to say hi, after a long working session I decided to have a morning off and do a short hike with them, un-prepared and setup for a flat walk along Ladybower reservoir I was certainly not prepared for a hike to one of the highest points in the Peak District.

It was kind of one of them things that just happened, started off and just kept going. Amazing views and fine weather, it was a great day!

Come on slow coach!

Never far from his camera

A few more steps to the summit

What goes up must come down

Achieving 1500ft in a pair of pumps and with only minor mess - 9/10 for mud dodging

Ha ha, love that pose

Beautiful tall trees

Looking out over the Hope Valley to Mam Tor in the distance. 

NEW FLY FISHING BROCHURE

The new Wychwood Fly Fishing Brochure dropped on my mat this afternoon. A fine looking brochure filled with my location photography from New York State and the Peak District National Park, a huge and exciting range of new products from Paul Richardson, artwork from Charles Jardine and a sharp design from the Wychwood graphic designers. A fine example of skills and efforts to accomplish this awesome new brochure. Check out www.wychwood-game.co.uk to grab a copy.

Lets see what images I can rustle up this season for Wychwood!

THEN AND NOW

Keeping a watchful eye on my Dad's photography skills from a good vantage point.

A picture shot of us in 2012, roughly 28 years later!

My Dad recently showed me this photograph of us both from when I was a mere ankle biter.

I wanted to upload it and share an early influence of the outdoors and photography adventures.

Did my Dad set my fashion sense also? (See 7 pics down on the blog), nice shirt!

COUNTRY COTTAGE

Just returned from a great couple of nights stay in a gorgeous old country cottage near Kirkby Stephen in Cumbria.

A true country cottage in a remote countryside location and fully equipped with all the essential country cottage features, including open log fire, wood store and axe, exposed beam structure, charming old furniture, plenty of surrounding mud and a whopping 9Ibs trophy catch rainbow trout sitting pride of place!

Weather was mixed ranging from the usual wind and rain of our Winters, was pleasantly surprised to awake to an early blanket of snow on Saturday morning accompanied by a high pressure that created a ghostly still, zero wind atmosphere that resulted in a morning of exploring around the local area.

With the true character of the building I could not resist taking some great pictures of the cottage and also shot some brilliant strobist shots within the wood store that I knew would look great when lit with a simple wireless off camera strobe and diffuser.

I will let the following images share the look of this wonderful retreat better than I can explain them, a big thank you must go to the member of Anne's family who kindly let us stay in the cottage, so thank you very much!

www.clockworkcloud.com

I could not resist a contemplating self portrait pose of myself with the coolest churchwarden smokers pipe that was sat on the side.

9Ib Monster rainbow!