What I’ve been reading this week, 30 November 2018
Christmas gifts for hikers, a too-perfect picture, why we need local adventures, and the best sleeping bag for winter backpacking… Books I have finished Ubik by Philip K. Dick (what a book) and have started You Are Not a Gadget by Jaron Lanier. Outdoors and photography 50 Crappy but practical
Autumnal dreamscapes with the Pentax Super-Takumar 55mm f/2
A classic vintage prime lens with a distinctive aesthetic A few weeks ago, Mum found yet another bag full of my dad’s camera gear in a wardrobe. As I wrote in my eulogy, Ian Roddie liked photography and had many cameras, but we thought we’d already sorted through
What I’ve been reading this week, 24 November 2018
This is really what I’ve been reading over the last couple of weeks, as I was in Kendal last weekend so didn’t get the chance to post. Some interesting links for you this week. Books I am currently reading Ubik by Philip K. Dick – incredibly, my first by
The solastalgia of mountaineering
I’d last been up there ten years before. The landscape looked very different then, the snowfields more extensive, the light a purer white. I returned a decade wiser, weighed down with knowledge of what humanity was doing to these mountains that I loved, and so my sunset from the
The Poet, embracing infinity
Yesterday, I succeeded in creating an image I’ve been visualising for several years. Since 2014, I’ve been fascinated by a local landmark that makes an excellent photographic subject. It’s a magnificent dead tree, a skeleton monument isolated in the middle of the Gunby parkland. Over the years
Introducing the Travel Writer’s Field Guide
The world is full of stories. Write them. Available to pre-order now. The Travel Writer’s Field Guide is an inspirational reference book – a guide to best practice in travel writing, how to write well, how to get published, with tips and advice from magazine editors, bloggers, award-winning journalists and
What I’ve been reading this week, 10 November 2018
British Wildlife Photography Awards, hill tracks, working with brands, and the peace of paper… Outdoors and photography British Wildlife Photography Awards 2018, the winners – in pictures – I attended the awards event and book launch in London this week to celebrate James’s win in the Wild Woods category. The exhibition
New Sidetracked digital feature: No Borders
My latest digital feature for Sidetracked magazine is special – an essay on life and death, mountains and war, lightning and ethereal beauty. I believe it’s some of the best writing I’ve created in 2018, and you can read it now at sidetracked.com/mercantour-traverse/. All mountains have something
What I’ve been reading this week, 2 November 2018
Elitism in adventure, an overnighter in Glen Feshie, outdoor publishing, and the dangers of river crossings… Outdoors Plenty of interesting things to read this week: Is there a place in adventure for elitism? – this thoughtful piece from Bex Band makes some points that hit close to home. Privilege and elitism
Staying safe in early-winter mountain conditions
This can be a challenging time of year in the British mountains: no avalanche forecasts, changeable conditions, and short daylight hours. This feature was first published by The Great Outdoors, 30 November 2017. Autumn or winter? If you live far from the hills, especially further south in England, it’s
