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.

Inchcolm (the island behind the tree) taken from Silver Sands, Fife, on my Canon T70 with Kodak Portra 400.

Since moving from Sydney to London last year, Becky and I have been able to visit Scotland much more frequently, especially because we had our wedding to organise and wanted to see more of our nephews and nieces. Missing out on seeing these family babies growing up has to be the worst thing about living on the other side of the planet.

This time we were up North for a couple of birthdays – including my Grandma’s which involved the whole family coming together.

Guardian of the Bridges by Debbie Ryan, a sculpture in South Queensferry, near my sister Melissa’s house where I had my birthday lunch earlier this year. Canon T70 / Kodak Portra 400. 

I love this sculpture, it’s so colourful, magical and its face reminds me of playing Pokemon in the 90s with my sister who now lives nearby.

Inchcolm again, on my Canon T70 with Kodak Portra 400. My school “house” was ‘Inchcolm’ (instead of Gryffindor – though our colours were red, which I take great joy in) so I feel like I have a connection to this little island on the Forth, which I have also been fortunate to visit thanks to my dad and his fishing boat.

I’m delighted with the colours and contrast in these images. When I returned to shooting on film, the landscapes that initially inspired me were by Cody Cobb. I found his work (especially this featured one from The Island) to be warm and nostalgic, like he had found the key to capturing the rose-tinted idyllic memory of a place, rather than the cold and clinical version perhaps with a blown-out sky that you often get with digital, and especially phone, photography.

While I’m talking about landscapes, a series that I have loved for years is Nadav Kander’s Yangtze, The Long River. The tones and layers created by the thick air between distances is incredible.