The food shoot last week was amazing, a busy day but excellent. Chef Alex really worked hard putting together all the dishes. His house mate Paul stepped up to the challenge of Stylist/Art Director and I shot what I think looks good....

I have also been busy building my interiors portfolio and had a very interesting meeting mid week, hopefully the results of which will give me a great project to get my teeth into....

Off to spend a bit of time with an old friend around Oxfordshire tomorrow and looking forward to the week ahead and what it brings....

Another busy week has gone by and interesting things are happening. I am off to Bury St Edmunds tomorrow and getting set for a very busy Monday shooting the food photography for Alex and my planned book, lots to do but I am sure we will get all the shots made and in the bag.

I have been a long way off from sitting on my butt doing nothing this week. Other than seeing my good friend and great photographer Chris Leah...

I also got busy building my interiors portfolio, It has been a learning curve, but it is good to learn. I have just about got it sorted and with a little more practise will have my technique down. I received my new tripod head which should help keep things steady and straight...

So next up is the food project, I am very excited about the week ahead, see you soon.

With an eye on the my Architectural portfolio I headed off yesterday to search for good light and see what I could get. After a very pleasant lunch with Stuart Ross (a very talented graphic designer and artist), which included a walk through Tate Modern I wandered along the river.

I had some idea about where I wanted to head to, and made my way slowly toward Tower Bridge. I knew this would be a very mainstream photograph but there is nothing wrong in that, and it will be nice to have things to remember London while I am overseas. After all the times I have been riding on my bike and thought how lovely these iconic structures our, I should endeavour to make photographs of them for my London book anyway. I am not sure if I prefer colour or black and white and feel they both offer different qualities so you can see both....

Turning away from Tower Bridge I saw a great opportunity to make a shot. As ever around this area it was filled with tourists. Option A, just take the shot and not worry about the tourists, never going to happen. Option B, take the shot several times and hope everybody moves enough so I can layer and mask them out in post, too many people. Option C put the big stopper on and see if a long exposure will erase the moving people, give it ago. So with the ten stop nd fitted I started the shot, standing and wishing everyone to hurry up and not stand still for a second. I became aware of a security guard approaching, obviously using a tripod makes me different from all the other thousands of people taking photographs on what is apparently private land. He turned out to be kind of a cool guy and I guess he is only doing his job, he let me continue my exposure and we chatted about Mayor Boris (who I once photographed), and then I was on my way again. I would have liked a second exposure to be sure but have to admit, I am fairly pleased with the result, feel free to let me know what you think....

  See you soon, and don't forget to keep spreading the word, or of course contact me if you need a photographer.

An opportunity presented itself this weekend to take my camera and a trusty, nearly 20 year old tripod down to Brighton and get a shot or two whilst there. What joy I felt as I dragged my sleep deprived self out of bed at 06:00 (it was still dark) to see a very overcast sky. Checking the dawn time I decided to grab 40 winks on the couch and wait for at least a touch of light.

The gloomy sky began to relinquish a mild glow, and optimistically I set out toward the sea front and pier. As I got there it the drizzle had started and a fog began to come down. At this point it is easy to think "blugh, there is no point even getting out of the car", turn around and head back to the comfort of the couch. I however have made a decision to follow the mantra of, and I quote the late great Roger Hickman, "a photographer makes a photograph, everybody else just takes one". I had an idea of what I wanted to achieve, with this in mind stepped out of the car, got my gear, set my alarm to get back before I'd get a ticket and set off. I looked at the Brighton wheel, set up a shot and made a 3 minute exposure. Looking at the result I was none too impressed so packed up and moved on.

"Stick to the plan Duncan, better one good shot than two mediocre".

I trudged across the wet pebbles and was surprised to see two swimmers in their trunks walking up the beach. Well I assumed they were swimmers, that or it was a good night and perhaps they need to find new friends!

I found a spot near to where I thought the shot would be. Getting out my camera I started to have a look at the best way to work the scene. The sea was murky and fairly flat, the sky totally white and flat and the fog was almost covering the far end of the pier, splendid.

Feeling glad that I brought my sturdy Brembo monster tripod I set up, composed the shot, locked everything down solidly and put my hat on the camera to protect it from the rain. to a casual observer it must have looked like the worst scarecrow in the world built strangely to protect a pebble beach. I didn't have long, maybe enough time for two exposures. Not wanting to make any errors and miss my chance I ran through the checks; iso 200, f16, view finder shutter down, bulb, remote shutter release connected and no rain on the lens. Stopwatch ready and click 8 minutes.....

It is exactly the photograph I had imagined and set out to create, thank you Roger, you are and always will be a great inspiration...

Well I hope, like us you had a lovely Christmas and New Year. So here it is 2013, the noughties have now become a teenager, are we to expect hormonal unrest? With our plans to head east and all the hard work hopefully starting to pay off I expect a few ups and downs, hopefully more ups though.

I am thinking about a list of goals to achieve this year, nothing extensive, maybe 10 things. The photographs I have been mounting from Yangon only need one more window mount cut and they are ready to show, just need a space or willing coffee shop/pub. Chef Alex and his crew are all set for a shoot on Monday the 21st so hopefully we will call pull hard together and get a stack of shots made for the book. If I can get those things done then that would certainly be 2 ticks off the list.

The real pressing issue for me now though is getting my website updates up and running and making my self portrait for the home page. I think I can shoot that this weekend so that will be another tick. At this rate maybe I should add a few more things to the list......

With my new darkroom (Photoshop) skills I have been revisiting some earlier work, there is plenty to get through. I hope you enjoy these three, I think I may look to shoot enough shots around London over the next 2 months for a good collection which I may print and release as a limited self published book.

As ever, remember to spread the word and keep watching....