This is a turn up for the books! I haven’t written a single blog for this website in months and in the space of a few hours here I am writing my third!! When I started this blog all those many years ago, I had very little idea what I was doing (still don’t) and no idea who I was writing these blogs for - I just felt that I had something to say and blogging felt like a good medium to say it. All these years later and whilst there is an audience (demonstrated by the numbers of visitors) I think in lots of ways - I write this blog for me. And while I am very grateful that anyone at all might stum ..read more

Ok, so last time I was banging on about my main reason for getting into the 4X5 large format Speed Graphic was so I could shoot with the legend that is the Kodak Aero Ektar 178mm 2.5 lens - I’ve waffled on about this mythical beast HERE and also possibly HERE but TLDR it’s a lens that was made to fit on US Air Force Bombers in World War 2, my copy was made in 1944 :D So what?! I hear you cry! Well….. through the application of magic and science (and eBay) I have managed to combine this amazing beast of a lens to what is perhaps my all time most fave camera ever ever ever - that’s right it’s ..read more

Join me and professional model Joanna for a workshop shooting fashion portraits on black and white 35mm film! Whether you’re a newcomer wanting to learn the basics of film photography or a seasoned shooter looking to develop some new skills - there is something for everyone! This film photography and darkroom printing workshop is suitable for all experience levels. We’ll look at how to get the best exposure from your negative, how to post your subject and compose the scene to get the best results as well as evaluating which negative to print and methods to create the best possible print from ..read more

  Blogging has been a wonderful way to share my passion for film photography - on occasion I get contacted by brands or companies who want me to write a blog for them - usually these brands have almost nothing to do with film photography or are just totally random products so I tend to say no. But recently I was contacted by The Film Camera Store who asked me if they could send me some film and some film cameras to review - HECK YES was my response and this here blog represents the first of three reviews that I’ll be writing. Yay! First up we have the Olympus Trip 35 - I’ve not tried one ..read more

Over the years of shooting film (and writing this blog) I’ve learned a few lessons (often times the hard way) about using different cameras. I regularly get questions from people asking me what camera I think they should buy - whether they are just starting out or simply looking for something new in their collection. I wanted to pull together some thoughts and reflections on my experiences to date and offer up some suggestions on choosing the ‘right’ camera - or perhaps more accurately the camera that is ‘right for you’. I will caveat the whole thing by saying that the trial and error process ..read more

I have drawn together several different strands of my work under the banner of the Social Enterprise that I run called Our Creative Connection see HERE for more details. In addition I am becoming more active with my commercial photography work, events in particular as these are now trading activities which support the social aims and objectives of Our Creative Connection. A few years ago I was invited to take photographs of the Slaithwaite Moonraking Festival which takes place in the village where I live - of course I jumped at the chance and at the time I wrote a couple of blogs about the di ..read more

It’s a sign of just how bonkers hectic things have been that I am only now sitting down to share that I was invited to write an article for Silvergrain Classics Magazine!! It features some of the community based work that I do via Our Creative Connection you can visit HERE for more details of that in general. It was wonderful to be invited by Silvergrain Classics magazine to share a project I was involved with last summer with TSL Kirklees’ Migration Team running Cyanotype Printing workshops with refugees and asylum seekers ? My work life can be a bit compartmentalised - but I have been worki ..read more

A few years ago I very foolishly dropped my beloved Pentax 67 - it was such a traumatic experience (for the camera as well as me) that I wrote a blog about it HERE. Ever since then my P67 has not been a happy bunny - frame spacing was out of whack and the film advance mechanism sounded like a bag of spanners…. I did get it repaired but this was just a patch up job and it was never the same after, I would regularly lose a frame or the advance mechanism would jam…. considering that the P67 is my absolute main battle camera (and responsible for 90% of my portfolio work) I am amazed that I manage ..read more

  This workshop will get you up and running when it comes to shooting with film - we’ll look at the different types of film stocks and how they affect your final image, the basics of making a good exposure, metering light, composition and all the other aspects of using a film camera. Whatever your photographic interests - portraiture, landscape, still life or street photography - we’ll shoot a roll of film together before developing it in the darkroom and digitising your negatives too. Film cameras are available for you to use including 35mm and 120 film formats or you are welcome to bri ..read more

  As I write these words it’s been a couple of weeks since our first ever workshop at the Adventures on Film Darkroom and I am STILL buzzing from the experience! Three people took part in this workshop - all of whom had shot with film in the past but were looking to get back into it, brush up on their skills and learn some new ones too. The format for the day was a location based portrait shoot with our wonderful model and long time creative collaborator Danni, after which we then went into the Darkroom to develop our film and create some prints. You’ll have no doubt noticed the preponde ..read more