Koh Samui, 2015 (Canon T70)

The photograph above is a shot of a pond reflecting the trees on a backstreet of Koh Samui, flipped upside-down.

The weather is noticeably changing and the light is disappearing earlier each day. I’m sad to see the back of summer but there’s something about the autumnal atmosphere that I love.

This weekend I’ve been working on a book of my photographs, with writing and notes. A single prototype copy is being printed just now and I’ll have it in a few days. In it, I try to be honest about my work, my process and where I am in my career (not far). I’m not sure what to do with it yet but I’m hoping to use it as an introduction to my work, hopefully to get jobs in the near future.

I don’t find self-promotion easy and feel like I should be reaching out to magazines and companies much more than I currently am (not much).

As for my home darkroom equipment, I’ve ordered chemicals and a dark bag (for loading film onto reels to be developed), so I’m getting close to starting this process – exciting!

We’re also heading up to Scotland at the end of the week, so I’m looking forward to seeing the family and having a (not long) mini break.

Hope you all have a fab week.

A still summer night in London. T70 / Portra 400.

I’m up in Scotland again and tomorrow I meet my new niece, Aoife! It seems like the next generation of our family appeared out of nowhere and all of a sudden there’s loads of kids and they’re all fab. Living in London, I don’t get to see enough of any of them but it’s better than when we lived in Sydney, as we’d only see the family once a year, at Christmas.

I’ve been shooting some portraits and tests recently and feel re-energised and creatively productive. I also feel less precious about what I should be doing and in the mood to take on all types of work. This year I want to drop any pretence and be myself without guilt.

Activities like running, reading and gardening all feed into a positive mindset and the more I do, the more I’m able to do.

Lots of fun things planned while we are up in Edinburgh and, like always, it will be over in a flash and we’ll be back on the train to London. Dinners, baby meetings and festival shows fit into a couple of days.

Alexis gave me a few of her gorgeous plates that were broken in transit and I got some two-part epoxy to join them. It worked well and they seem to be really solid under pressure, but now i need to remove the excess. I hear open razor blades are recommended, but stanley blades barely worked for me. I was looking at small planes and tried sandpaper but nothing working yet. Hopefully I’ll figure it out so I can start using them.

What have you been working on in your free time?

The end of a picnic day, Clissold Park. Canon T70 / Portra 400.

Hello pals, I thought I’d post a summary update today and focus on certain things in the coming week.

• The picture above was from the start of May; it just goes to show how long and hot this summer has been in London! The blue marks and scratches on the image are from the rough treatment which the film received after processing. I thought I’d try out a local ‘lab’ for processing, a shop where you can also get portraits taken and buy tacky photo frames, as it was a quick, personal roll. I didn’t expect them to cut the film properly but it turned out they didn’t cut it at all, they just rolled it up and stuffed it into a 35mm film canister. I’m glad I didn’t give them anything important – and i actually don’t mind the mistakes on this one.
• We’re having a relaxed Sunday today, it’s the start of the Scottish football season and Becky and I are planning on getting the rooftop BBQ going this afternoon for a trial run.
• For some time, I’ve wanted to do my own film processing and printing. Last year I did a fantastic darkroom course at Stills in Edinburgh, tutored by Caroline Douglas, where I got some hands-on experience in developing my film, printing contact sheets and making final prints. I’ve been eager to do more, but have unfortunately just been dropping all my film rolls off for processing and getting others to make prints for time-saving and ease. Tomorrow, I’ve booked a rental car to drive a couple of hours north of London to buy a collection of darkroom equipment and I’m exited. I’ll write about what I get and what I’m doing as I go along.
• Yesterday, photographer Lachlan Bailey posted an instagram story about how he got started in the industry and the mental health issues he faced. I really appreciated it and you might too – he has it saved as a ‘highlight’ on his profile.
• For the next couple of weeks I will also be babysitting mother and will update on that too.
• Finally for today, I started running again yesterday – a nice, leisurely 7k – which felt good and I’m looking forward to carrying it on and trying to get back to run fitness so I can enter races again in the future.

I hope you’re having a nice weekend!

Canon T70 / Portra 400.

Hello Friends.

Recently, I’ve been keen on venturing to the fruit and veg shop on Stoke Newington’s Church Street instead of being disappointed buying underwhelming supermarket produce. One hurdle that I’ve been running into is knowing what’s in season and what to buy, especially as the shop is always busy and I don’t want to hassle the staff when the queue goes through the whole shop. I discovered this Seasonal Calendar (thanks to a tip by Alexis of Wander) which has been helpful – this week we’ve been enjoying some fantastic cherries, peaches, yellow courgettes, radishes, and heritage tomatoes. This website looks like quite a good resource for a quick glance too.

The picture above is from our honeymoon in Italy – this one from our last stop, the island of Ischia. We loved Ischia and it was the perfect end to the trip. The food and produce is incredible if you avoid the tourist-trap restaurants around the swanky harbours and instead go to the small, local restaurants. I know this is a tip you hear all the time but it always pays off.

We also hired a well-battered convertible Fiat Punto for a day of driving around the island and found a pastry shop in Sant’Angelo that had some incredible choices like pistachio cannoli and strawberry ricotta cheesecake. You can eat on a balcony over the sea and they hardly cost anything. Perfect!

I’m going to post lots more Italy honeymoon photos over the next week.

One more thing – I finally got to ride Ofo bikes over the past couple of days. They can be collected and left anywhere in central London, there’s an app to unlock them and they cost 70p for half an hour. So much fun riding about again. I wish there were more Ofo available bikes near me, I’d definitely use them.

My dad fishing for mackerel off the Burntisland pier a few weeks ago, with Inchkeith in the background. Canon T70 (which was his) and Portra 400 film.

I’ve been doing a lot of film scanning and retouching inside over the past couple of days and was delighted when the storm in London finally broke the thick, humid, stinking heat yesterday afternoon. I love the sun but could do with a night off.

The cheese and chive drop scone from Gail’s, with Strawberry and Wild Strawberry conserve and the best butter I could get.

I thought this would be a good place for a couple of recommendations, so here you are:

• It’s Alive With Brad is a youtube cooking show from the American magazine bon appétite, mainly about fermented foods. It’s scientific, wholesome and just feels like hanging out with friends.
• In The Dark is a crime podcast, along the same lines as another favourite of mine, Serial. I just finished the second season and it got better as it went along. I really enjoy listening to long-form non-fiction audio while I am working. I get a bit lost when it’s something longer – like a full audiobook – as I mentally tune out after a certain amount of time. I wish there were more podcasts like this and would love recommendations.
• Books – Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, contemporary fiction that I finished recently and would highly recommend (but don’t think I should give anything away). Now I’m reading the latest David Sedaris book of essays, Calypso, and finding each one powerful and fascinating. I didn’t know anything about these books before I started them, but both come under the theme of family.

There are a few things I aim to do now that the weather is tolerable and I’m looking forward to Autumn:

• More cooking – and cooking for the weather/season. More visits to local produce suppliers instead of the more convenient supermarkets. BBQ on the roof terrace.
• Speaking of which, I want to get back into some food and lifestyle photography – especially with film cameras. I think I’ve grown and developed aesthetically since I last did any.
• Try my hand at watercolour painting using the set my mum gave me for Christmas.
• Get back to running. Start slow.
• More gardening, especially on the roof terrace. Swap out all the remaining plastic pots for real ceramics.

Do you have any plans for the rest of the year?