Notes
Five images from this week’s walks
It’s been a week of colour after a monochrome month. Each morning, before I have breakfast and start work for the day, I drag myself out of bed and walk five miles around my local footpaths. I began this habit two years ago, and have kept it up – it’
Bringing back comments on this blog
In 2015, when I transferred this website from Blogger to its current home on a self-hosted WordPress installation, I made the decision to disable comments across the entire site. Today I am reversing that decision. The rationale was good at the time. Conversations were shifting to social networks, and it
2018 in review: mountains, editorial work, writing, and more
Triumph and tragedy They say that no plan survives contact with the enemy, and 2018 has not been a normal year. In some respects it has been the best year of my life; in others, the worst. Overall it’s been quite a ride, but there’s also been a
What I’ve been reading this week, 21 December 2018
I was away hiking in Knoydart last week, so I’ve accumulated a few more links for you than usual. Drakensberg Nov.’18 Pt.1 – spectacular images from Alex Nail. Restoring Spirits in Glen Feshie – Chris Townsend on the restorative powers of wild camping. Tents for Thru-Hiking – a fantastic compendium
My top five images of 2018
Trees, mountains and light In 2018, I captured 1,668 images. That’s nothing compared to some photographers, but even so, whittling down that list to a top five is incredibly hard. Right now, I believe the images listed here represent my best work; tomorrow I might change my mind.
The Cape Wrath Trail in winter: seeking silence in the Scottish Highlands
Time to announce my big winter project for early 2019. More: * Gear list on Lighterpack * Why go offline – and how? * Resupply plan It’s time to talk about a project I’ve been planning for a while. You may have seen hints on social media or in my newsletter about
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