I had my first visit to an intensive care ward over the Easter weekend, visiting someone who was in there. I was struck by how serene it is, and – obviously I guess – high tech. Each bed is surrounded by machinery – syringe drivers, drip stands, ventilators, and banks of monitors showing vital signs, […]

My new phone does instagram really nicely, and I’m finding myself taking more and more photos from within instagram. In fact, most of this month’s “365” photos have been on my cameraphone. It’s actually quite nice to be removed from the technical quality constraints. My phone is never going to match the quality of my […]

And in the spirit of ambition (and possibly inspiration) these are some of the photos/themes I hope to capture this year. PP Camera School Modules Light spirals Coffee beans Smoke trails Flash-freeze I intend to continue with abstracts, selfies, macros, and I may even dust off good ‘ol Danbo again!

As has been my wont in recent times, I like to list a list of ambitions for the coming year. I’m initially focussing on maintaining rather than improving this year! So, this year, my ambitions are: Devise a pocket money system. Go climbing at least 8 times, and either manage another 6b+ top rope, or […]

A rather surprising 1,000+ tweets this year, it would seem! Fortunately I have my scapel to hand… As usual, edited “highlights” of my year on Twitter… Well, first ambition of 2013 achieved. Times crossword 25,361 completed correctly without looking at any answers. (Sun Jan 06 19:01:19 ) I love waking up to see a snowy […]

Well, only 14 days to go, so I think I’ll review how I’ve done this year now! Continue climbing regularly, 10 times over the year, and improve by a grade (to 6b+, think) – ✔ ✘ Both a tick and a cross! I only managed 8 times according to my climbing log, but I did […]

Well, the Practical Photography Photo School is over (although the next one has started straight away), so I thought that I would collate my 6 homework assignments in one place! Module 1: Landscapes Bridge over Ure Taken in Ripon, just after sunset. Tripod, 50mm lens. Grade: Bronze Comments: Image is underexposed Image isn’t sharp enough […]

GCHQ ran another recruitment campaign/competition this year (2013), called “Can You Find It.” I had a stab at it, and though I’d record the puzzles and solutions. I’ll hold off publishing until the competition closes on the 21st October. Puzzle 1 AWVLI QIQVT QOSQO ELGCV IIQWD LCUQE EOENN WWOAO LTDNU QTGAW TSMDO QTLAO QSDCH PQQIQ […]

I think, with a slightly heavy heart, I need to draw my 365 project to a end. One of my principles is ending well, and  I would rather finish it definitely than have it just flicker out. For the past two a a bit years, I have had a picture to assign every day – […]

I love geeky jokes – these ones are all thanks to the Grove Boooks newsletter. Incidentally Grove Books are awesome – theology bookettes on almost any subject you may care to think of. To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is half-empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice […]