With the photo library project slowly progressing and many other projects creeping along, I figured I might as well post the odd image that crops up to keep things a little fresher here. I can’t say there will be a fixed schedule at this point, but I’ll aim to be a bit more active. I may try and organise the posts into a better format if I can manage to get more images online.

To kick off this new series, here’s a shot from way back in 2010. It was part of a photo shoot on the beach for the BW R1200 GS and an adventure website that was built at the time. It was taken on my favourite camera of all time, the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, through the exceptional Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens.

It’s been a few years since I started flying drones and working towards gaining a commercial license. With the lack of time I have for personal hobbies, it should come as no surprise that none of the images are here other than this post from a few years ago. I am looking to remedy that by uploading some of my favourite shots.

What is the fascination with drones? Forget all the media sensationalism and fake news (remember Gatwick?) and consider this… it’s a flying camera . For the first time since cameras were invented, you can position your camera in places that would be impossible without the worlds largest tripod. When you live on an island surrounded by beautiful coastlines, using a drone opens up opportunities for images that have never been seen before.

Some years ago I funded a project on Kickstarter for an interesting product called “Solarcan“. In essence, it is a beer can with a sheet of photographic paper inside. Rather than pull the top off and drink, you simply pull off a sticker to reveal a small pinhole on the side. Over time, this pinhole exposes the paper inside and voila, art. I had four in the box that arrived. I gave one away and used a couple myself. This photo was taken from the roof of a house on the west coast of Guernsey. It was a 4-month exposure from March to July.

I’ve got a plan for an exposure to run from Solstice to Solstice which may be interesting as it will (should) show the full range of the sun’s motion over the year. I thought I’d already completed this but I can’t find the can or the scan-of-the-can so it may have gone missing. I’ve only got one more go if I can find the last can. I’m not having much luck with this.

Contrary to common theories about the likelihood of this mammoth task getting underway, I can report that after a couple of hours working on my photo library, all of the photos up to, and including, 2002 are complete.

My original plan was to start re-processing my older images, but I’ve realised that ancient photos don’t have much hope, especially as they are mostly small JPGs. Instead, I’ve been concentrating on getting the images rotated, and the right keywords applied. As I’ve not used this feature of Capture One yet, I’ve been referring back to the book to make sure I’m doing things right.

There aren’t any particularly “good” photos up to this point, but I did single out one image due to its abstract nature which you can see at the top of this post. It was taken on a Fujifilm FinePix 6900Z at the WRC GB in Wales all the way back in 2002. I remember this being an amazing camera at the time and I really wish I had bought a tripod for it, but that was a lesson learned after I had sold it.

It’s been a while (*ahem) but I’ve finally run the numerous outstanding updates on this site as I try to get ready for a project that I’ve been thinking about for years. I’m going to get organised. Hopefully, with everything, but initially I’ll be documenting my digital journey here. The recent upgrade of Capture One to version 21 being the main catalyst for me getting into gear and getting started. I’ve been thoroughly testing (playing around with) versions 12 & 20 for some time and have been preparing to go through my entire image library which is hovering around 20,000 images to get it into some sort of order. This project has a few targets.

• Organise and keyword my image library
• Cull images that should have been removed years ago
• Learn the Capture One 21 software thoroughly
• Set myself up for a couple of photography projects I’ve been wanting to try for ages

As part of the learning process, I’m going to try and process my very oldest images again to see how they stand up today. I’m not convinced they’re going to be great, but it should be interesting.

I’m also hoping to start adding more photos soon so it seems like a good time to get things in order and get to grips with Capture One 21 so that new shoots can be processed efficiently and creatively. With the current lockdown measures, I may try and push for a photo a day to keep me focussed on something. To get me going, consider the attached image to be day one taken today during a walk round the coast.

To set the baseline data, the current working copy of my image library (main library and not the one on my phone which will be ridiculous) contains 20,019 images. I’m intrigued to see how much this is altered when/if I get through it all.

In just one photo, we see just how insignificant we are and just how much we can achieve. It is a picture of Earth through the rings of Saturn, 1.4 billion kilometres away. Earth is nothing more than a tiny white speck, yet there we are; all of us.

The Cassini spacecraft is at the end of its nearly 20-year mission and will be de-orbited into Saturn soon. It will be sad that no more images like this will be on the way back. This video details the dramatic end planned for Cassini on 15th September 2017.

Image and further details on the NASA site:
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA21445

Mark and I headed out with our drones (DJI Mavic Pro and DJI Phantom 4 Pro) to capture some photos and video of a Guernsey Rowing Club race in Havelet Bay. We’d previously run some tests during a training session and had permission to attend the race. We’ve uploaded all the images here and this short video has a few of the highlights. Feedback has been great so far and we’re hoping to attend a few more races and even help provide some information for training sessions. I think it will be time to look at getting licensed to use these for commercial work soon.

If you hadn’t noticed, you can click the play button on the video above.

I recently signed up to Onshape so that I could have a play with 3D modelling but there wasn’t anything I needed/wanted to make and so I didn’t actually do anything with it. In most cases, I need a real life problem to learn effectively rather than a made up academic one as my brain makes longer lasting connections that way and I get a bonus sense of achievement for fixing a problem. I considered modelling a mounting system for some flat wooden panels I needed to put on a wall with no screws visible but in the end I just used velcro.

Forward a few weeks and I have a problem. The plastic buckle used on the shoulder strap of my Moleskine “MYCLOUD MESSENGER BAG” broke. Looking at where it broke, there is clearly a weak point in the manufacture.

I can still use the bag but hey, here was something I could probably model up quite quickly. Queue the new browser tab and Onshape.

Without too much effort and only a couple of sneaky peeks at the help system, I managed to create a realistic (maybe) and accurate (hopefully) copy of the broken item. I was surprised by how quick the process was and just how intuitive the software was to use.

Now; I just need to find someone to help me 3D print it.

It’s been quite a while since I last posted any news or photos so I figured I’d fill the void a bit with this amazingly textured image. It shows the remains of a large tree trunk somewhere in the fields around Henley.

My goodness. The next time I’ve had a few ales and I’m asked if I fancy racing 200 miles across the UK I must remember to say no…. especially when said race is just a few weeks before I attempt a 100 Mile Sportive like the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100.

I’d intended to write about my training adventures as I got bike fit again but this has turned into a bunch of drafts that I never finished. The idea was to motivate myself into getting out on the bike. I did manage to get a reasonable number of rides in but nothing, except participation, can prepare you for something like The Crossing. On their site, it is advertised as:

3 DAYS, 2 COASTS, 1 HELL OF AN ADVENTURE
Get ready to tackle 200 gnarly miles over 3 days as you take on the fully waymarked, stunning tracks that span through the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and the North Yorkshire Moors sampling some of the UK’s finest mountain biking as you go, alongside jaw-dropping scenery.

After the aforementioned ales, I’m pretty sure that all I saw was this:

3 DAYS, 2 COASTS, 1 HELL OF AN ADVENTURE
Get ready to tackle stunning tracks alongside jaw-dropping scenery.

… and figured it sounded pretty good.

Route details

Beyond that, some of the GoPro footage was partially usable and that can be seen here. Sorry for the shakes… GoPro didn’t have stabilisation at the time.