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My main photographic focus on Christmas Eve last year may have been in colour, but the day wouldn’t have been complete without a few photos in monochrome from the beach. My chosen location this year was Bracklesham, where I was nearly blown away by high winds the previous Christmas. On this occasion it was rather less breezy, with some welcome sunshine glancing off the surf.
Photos taken 24 December 2025
Just occasionally I manage to sneak a day for myself to just follow my nose with a camera or two, photographing what I find along the way. Back in January I had just such a day, which began at adorable St Peter’s Church in Littlebury Green. It had recently been listed by Historic England and I was curious to see it in person. I went along equipped with two rather contrasting cameras - the Rolleiflex 2.8F which I have on loan from my Uncle, which produces very crisp images, plus one of Ondu pinhole cameras, which creates a much dreamier look.
Two photos from the Rolleiflex
…and two from my pinhole camera.
After a short detour to find some lunch, which took me past this beautiful scene, I ended up in the neighbouring village of Littlebury, where I concentrate on pinhole photos.
As I explored the churchyard at Littlebury I also brought out my 4x5 large format pinhole camera and reminded myself I should slow down and explore the possibilities of large format more often!
From there I drove a little farther afield, to Thriplow. I’d never been here before so I wasn’t sure what to expect but I was delighted to find the Old Smithy and a lovely K6 phone box too, being used, as so many are these days, as a small library rather than for telephone calls.
My final major stop of the afternoon was in Fowlmere. By this stage the sun was dropping in the sky, throwing some beautiful shadows onto the church from some nearby trees. I even managed to sneak inside the church where I was able to finish off the roll of film in the Rolleiflex.
My drive home took me cross-country, past a couple of very well weathered Nissen huts and it would have been rude not to stop and photograph the with the final frame on my pinhole camera!
Photos taken January 2026
It’s become a bit of a tradition now for me to head to the seaside with a pinhole camera on Christmas Eve and in 2025 the weather played ball, with some welcome sunshine. During the afternoon I took a stroll down by the quay at Bosham, with some colour film loaded in my 6x6 pinhole camera.
The low winter sun was wonderful, but shooting into the sun is always an unpredictable affair with a pinhole camera - there’s a fine line between a kiss of rainbow coloured flare and a sunburst which completely obscures the subject!
I’m usually very careful to wind my film on as soon as I’ve taken a photo, so as to avoid making accidental double exposures - on this occasion I forgot and this is the result!
At the far end of the Trippet I found a couple feeding the huge flock of swans which visit Bosham during the winter. The birds were evidently quite accustomed to human contact so I was able to get close enough to capture some slow motion wildlife photographs without putting them off their foraging.
Photos taken 24 December 2025
While I stayed in Conwy I found plenty to photograph besides the town walls. The same afternoon as yesterday’s post I explored the town a little more, taking in some of the coastal views. As you drive into the town the road follows a modern bridge crossing the River Conwy, but the original Thomas Telford suspension bridge remains, placed between the modern road bridge and a rail bridge. This is where being on foot was the right choice as I could walk across and admire the elegant iron architectural lines.
Photos taken July 2025
Last July, while I was in north Wales for the 20th anniversary recording of the Gareth Jones on Speed podcast, I had some time one afternoon to take a wander around Conwy and its ancient town walls. I took my little half frame Pentax 17 camera along for the walk to capture some of the stupendous views across the town and the nearby river.
I was intrigued by this rather neglected garden and wondered why a lone teapot had been left on the table.
Photos taken July 2025
Once I’d started exploring Saltaire it quickly became clear that some great photographic opportunities lay beside the water, either on the River Aire or the Leeds & Liverpool Canal so I decided to spend one day exploring these. I began with a stroll along the canal, where I found myself walking along at a similar pace to a canal boat. When I reached the lock I hung around for a while, using my pinhole camera to capture their leisurely route through this water level change.
After a spot of lunch I retraced my steps and headed in the opposite direction. This took me across the River Aire, where I found a weir, which offered lots of potential for some candy floss-like water.
From here I continued along the towpath towards Shipley, admiring the handsome architecture of Salts Mill. While these may be the stars of Saltaire, I found plenty of more mundane but very photogenic cottages and industrial buildings during my walk.
When I eventually reached Shipley I popped in to see my friend Andy at his workshop, where he restores classic cars and prepares historic race cars. We had a cuppa and a long chat and he was kind enough to let me take a few slow photos while I was there too.
Finally, having covered many miles already, I followed my nose back to the canal and wandered back to Saltaire, with a decent haul of photos and many thousand steps in the bag.
Photos taken 29 May 2025
One of the things I get to do infrequently these days is to just go for a drive, follow my nose and see what I find to aim my camera at on the way. During a few days in Wales for a course last summer I had a free day so I did exactly this and happened upon Talley Abbey. This ruined medieval abbey (Wales’ first and only such building) sits right beside the 18th century Church of St Michael and All Angels, so I took a stroll around the grounds of both. My camera of choice that day was my little Pentax 17, loaded with Kodak Gold film perfect for capturing the lush greens of the surrounding Welsh countryside!
Photos taken June 2025
When I visited north Wales, back in July, I took my Rolleiflex along with me for some slower paced photography. This also gave me the opportunity to use up some of my film stash, including a couple of rolls I’ve had for ages which have now passed their ‘shoot by’ date.
I started off on the west shore of Llandudno, walking towards the Great Orme, shooting a roll of Fuji Pro 400H - a film I bought in Cambridge years ago and have been waiting for the right moment. Fuji stopped production of this emulsion in 2021 so this one was definitely likely to be past its prime! One of the unpredictable elements of shooting with expired film can be the colour. Over time the emulsion changes and sometimes this results in curious colour shifts. As I expected, the negatives had a slightly green hue when developed, but with a little tweaking in Lightroom they don’t look too far from the reality I saw before my eyes.
My second roll of the day was some Silberra Color 160 - a film that’s been in my stash for a very long while. With this one the colour shifts were even more extreme, with a distinctly orange glow to the shadow areas. I’ve made some adjustments in Lightroom, but some of them retain this somewhat surreal, Martian look. This unpredictability comes with shooting expired film and I quite like the effect, even if they don’t quite reflect reality!
The west shore of Llandudno definitely doesn’t have sand quite this orange - distinctly martian!
A photo from later in the day as I drove round the Great Orme.
Despite its warm hue, I rather like this one - my favourite photo of the day!
Photos taken 19 July 2025
Way back in the summer we spent a hot, steamy day at Snetterton Motor Circuit which was hosting a day of historic motorsport. Kevin went along armed with his digital camera and a long lens to capture some action on track, but I was in the mood for a slower, more thoughtful approach. To achieve this I took my Uncle’s Rolleiflex along, with a pile of black and white film.
A twin lens reflex camera probably isn’t the obvious choice for a subject which moves quickly, but my aim was to capture some of the life around the paddocks. Here there wasn’t likely to be a lot of fast action, so I pottered along the garages, looking out for interesting scenes as the drivers and mechanics prepared their cars to go out on track.
Wandering along behind the garages which line the pitlane I found all sorts of interesting cars and the dramatic light in many of them was perfect for black and white photography.
There were plenty of people in the main paddock too, fettling their cars before going out on track.
This was one of my favourite photos from the day - very minimalist.
Up in the air…
Photos taken 28 June 2025
After all our students had gone home from Llanerchindda Farm, after our May course, I made the most of the free time to go for a gentle stroll down the hill towards the Cynghordy Viaduct. Once again the dappled sunshine was just perfect for black and white film so I found all sorts of scenes to pique my photographic interest.
Photos taken May 2025
