A photo shot from the hip of a woman standing inside an elevator, with lit buttons and floor numbering visible.

From the archive: Liverpool, UK, 2013.


A doll's body is propped onto a pole, wearing a shirt saying I'm Hungry Mum during a protest in the city of Hull.  In the background photographers are capturing the scene.

From the archive: Bedroom tax protest, Hull, UK, 2013.


Auto-generated description: A colorful wall with vertical bars in various shades is accompanied by a woman standing on the right.

From the archive: Liverpool, UK, 2012.


Currently reading: Lock In by John Scalzi 📚


Auto-generated description: A young child in a red coat is being carried above a crowd in Liverpool city centre.

From the archive: Liverpool, UK, 2012. #streetphotography


Auto-generated description: A man and woman are working at a food stall filled with various condiments and supplies.

A shot from the archive: Beverley, UK, 2012.


Auto-generated description: Portrait of a black and white cat who is gazing attentively, with a soft background.

Another from the archive. It’s Caturday, so how could I not include one of my lovely Panda! Sadly no longer with us, but never forgotten.


Winging it

I’ve been threatening to start photography again for a long time. I’ve said it several times over social media, posting in the hope that I will feel accountable and actually start doing it. Thus far it hasn’t happened but lately I’ve really been feeling the urge to create again and nothing scratches that itch for me quite like photography does.

Yesterday a friend asked if she could have a copy of one of my images (you know who you are, thank you!). She’s intending to not only print, frame and hang it on her wall, she also wants to do the same for family christmas gifts. I was genuinely floored by this (and definitely flattered) and I think it’s helped to give me that kick up the arse that I needed.

So today I’ve ordered a couple of new camera batteries. On 7 December I’ll be going to my second gig on The Skinner Brothers tour and I’ll try my hand at some concert photography for the first time. Keeping in mind that my skills are extremely rusty as it’s been 10 years since I used my DSLR, and also my camera isn’t the latest and greatest, I’ll be thrilled if I get one or two good images!

Past experience in low light settings has been minimal too, but I’ll just push the ISO up as far as I can, prioritise shutter speed and shoot in burst mode. Then hope for the best! The band are very dear to me, so I’ll be over the moon if I do manage to pull off some good shots.

If it’s a complete disaster and I end up with no useable images, it’s still valuable experience and I’ll know better for next time. Also the gig is in Liverpool, so I may spend some time in the city the next day doing some street photography which is much more within my comfort zone.

The only other snag is editing software. I’m really only familiar with Lightroom but am hesitant to become trapped in their god awful subscription model! That said I don’t have bundles of spare cash to lay out on a full license for other software either, so I may be forced into the hostage situation that they call their monthly plan.


Auto-generated description: A close-up of a wooden train carriage door displays the numbers 43654 and the label 1ST, along with a leather handle.

Today’s image from the archive. Taken at Pickering train station in Pickering, UK. (It’s a lovely place if you ever get the chance to visit!)


Auto-generated description: A large, lifelike puppet of a girl is being maneuvered by operators in red clothing amidst a crowd in an urban setting.

Thought I might post an image each day from my archive. It might motivate me to pick up the camera again!


Tonight’s adventures in procrastination have brought me this: jac.omg.lol

Actually seems like a nifty service for the price. Haven’t really looked into all the other features besides the hosted profile yet, there’s a lot for the money!


Just testing the ios app. Then I’ll maybe see about setting up cross posting to Bluesky and / or Mastodon.

I need sleep though, so that’s a job for tomorrow.


Ok, it’s gone 2am now. I should probably stop exploring micro.blog and go to bed.


Welcome to winter

Auto-generated description: A rusty chain with a lock is wrapped around a metal gate, with a wind turbine visible in the snowy background.

Winter is closing in once again. It’s felt pretty chilly the last week or so!

What better time to re-evaluate your online presence? During the past week I’ve torn down my old blog with the intent of starting fresh. I’ve toyed with the idea of using Hugo again, or a different static site generator. I will eventually get that set up, but it’s going to take a while to learn new things.

So, for now at least, here I am. I’m quite excited to have a new toy to play with!