December came and went in a sprucey, hot minute did it not?  This year saw a return for me to working on words and pictures for Hampshire’s most fabulous and Heath Robinson farmyard; Wylds Farm Christmas Trees.

For their winter ’25 season I photographed in the farmyard and also reworked graphic visuals earlier created on Procreate which is a ( brilliant ) digital art canvas app for tablets.  Brussel sprouts, humbugs and pies of mince became features within the social platform posts alongside pictures of the plantation, trundling tractors, Grinchified childrens’ faces – can’t wait for that trend to end incidentally – and other joyful ongoing farmyard activities over the month.  

Writing for Wylds Farm also allows me to become my fullest Punderella / Pun in Boots for a few weeks since this is very much the tone on brand for their business and audience.

Their brand colours are matte bear fur brown, a muted red and an off-white which I reimagined into candy cane stripes and a texture of heavy msg Hahnemühle art paper.  I’ve popped a few examples of the work below even though in January, unless your work is within the creative space, anything Christmas-related is often the very last and most confronting thing to see at all.  Sorry about this; it goes with the territree …

Wildstonefloral is the brand name for Leanne’s floristry and we photographed her parading (albeit briefly and for the camera only) around the picturesque cobbled streets of Midhurst and ahead of a workshop she was leading.  Next month you’ll find her running a workshop at The Pig Hotel to learn how to create a dried flower crown like the one in picture here.

The Deli on Lavant Street in Petersfield is stacked to the rafters with copious, tasty products wrapped in tins, boxes and refrigerated in packages.  My brief was to photograph some suggestions for hampers and also to showcase some of the hero gifts for the season.  Madeleine’s Kitchen is undergoing a phase of expansion and rebranding.  Capturing the store setting in camera along with bakehouse hub and the flavoursome activities that take place there on a daily basis is part of this growth phase.

The Deli on Lavant Street in Petersfield is stacked to the rafters with copious, tasty products wrapped in tins, boxes and refrigerated in packages.  My brief was to photograph some suggestions for hampers and also to showcase some of the hero gifts for the season.  Madeleine’s Kitchen is undergoing a phase of expansion and rebranding. Capturing the store setting in camera along with bakehouse hub and the flavoursome activities that take place there on a daily basis is part of this growth phase.

I’m about to email parents with welcome instructions ahead of our Tuesday Photography Club which resumes tomorrow.  I’ve lots of fresh ideas for these sessions, to encourage creativity and curiosity amongst the children even though they often arrive to the room depleted from a day’s lessons and listening. 

We always begin our session with a hot drink – I delegate each week though have to mind the classroom kettle with the dodgy handle which overheats like the bubbling water inside – and a group check in to gauge everyone’s energy levels in the room.

I’m thinking that, tomorrow, since it’s first week back at school, we might do a deep dive into the work of a British institution, Martin Parr, a photographer who sadly died recently and just ahead of a major retrospective of his sizeable and distinctive work in both Paris and Bristol simultaneously.  Just look at the visceral reality of 1980’s British seaside distilled below like a strong white vinegar.

I was reading somewhere about how his flash-heavy, vivid depictions of how humans behave on holiday, can be considered a real though not preachy commentary on climate and this crisis our species has created through freedom of movement, cheap air travel and leisure.

Kate is an abbreviated version of the Greek girl’s name Katherine and means ‘pure’.  There are a lot of Kate’s in my world currently and they’re all artists.  Let me explain a few of them to you. 

Each month, I have a repeat textiles commission with Kate Titley whom you can read about in the previous journal post on here as she’s celebrating forty years in business with the fabric house Titley and Marr which she and her late husband Ken formed together. 

Last month, I liaised with Kate Box, assistant to sculptor Alison Crowther, to book in Open Day photography at her nearby Nyewood workshop.  This is an annual event and full of wonderful creative people and their energy. 

Last month was was also when we scheduled some photography for Kate Hanrahan.  We’re up to three Kate’s now, I’m counting.  A sculptor and restoration artist from West Sussex, she herself also an erstwhile assistant to Alison.  This is beginning to get complicated, isn’t it?

I’ve shared some photos of Kate Hanrahan’s work above.  A few carving hours prior to completion of this imposing and impressive commission destined for RHS Chelsea, I visited Kate at her Bepton studio and captured some darkness and light, detail and scale.  All the while, nattering about a mutual love of The Pyrenees in France, chatting about trail running, interrogating her about her process, her career and hearing some of the detours and learns along the way.

Also above are some moments from the annual Open Day at Alison’s workshop. A sun-kissed May weekend involving many visitors being welcomed to the inviting space of The Woodcarver’s Studio.    

This month I’ve a commission coming up to photograph another Kate and, like May’s Kate, June’s Kate is a sculptor as well.  There’s a pattern here developing …  

With photographic equipment, I necessarily have to keep a reasonably tidy workspace to ensure lenses and camera bodies are safely stored. Large vessels of milky brown, caffeinated fluids are suitably distanced from the shiny, black valuable items on my desk and worktop counters which don’t much care for any liquid inundation.

I don’t much care for sterile environments.  They leave me unsettled.  I jump up and down with delight though when I get to visit creative spaces, client workshops and studios, where tools, machinery, dust and mess are allowed to accumulate and add to the ambiance.  I visited one such place yesterday morning and gawped and gazed in reverence at the delightful, rustic disorder that spewed in all directions.  This was the farmer’s barn and and also home to Kate Henderson’s studio.

An ancient barn space, all dusty beams and nested crevices, bulging with agricultural servicing tools, spare iron and mechanical fixtures.  The farmer at Love Farm has been fixing and repairing under the eaves of this barn for decades and dusty decades. The swallows squitting their guano projectiles down in earnest for likely as long.

In one partitioned sub studio at left in this barn of a tenanted farmyard on the Cowdray estate in West Sussex, a motorcycle enthusiast oils and greases shiny, silver mechanical parts to whichever vehicle is up on the blocks.  In the sub studio to the right, this is where Kate Henderson works her magic.

Next week I’ll be revisiting Love Farm to photograph Kate with an emerging giant made of a huge fallen piece of Cedar of Lebanon, lifted from the client’s woodland and destined to return and to the hallway rather than to the grounds. The wood is being reshaped into a new elegant form.  I’m planning on doing a little sun dance midweek to bring on the god light for our shoot.  

Kate is marking a milestone this week. In celebration, to acknowledge four whole decades of her energy, enthusiasm, focus and design at Titley and Marr, I’m sharing some of the highlights from working with her brand.

T&M was formed back in the 80’s and, together, Kate and Ken, Kate’s late husband and also father to Elspeth and Jack, ran the business from London.  Ken, I was not fortunate enough to meet.  Kate and I linked up shortly after Ken passed away and began working together at that point, somewhere around 2013.

I started photographing for T&M following the exchange of what turned out to be a particularly agressive cockerel. George the cockerel to give him a name.  That’s a slight avian aside from this story which revolves around weaves and threads rather than feathers and fierce beaks.  Let’s say nothing more about George and, instead, make mention that Freddie the spaniel has been a thoroughly wonderful companion and pet throughout.

It has been a massive privilege to shoot Collections and occasions for T&M over the last ten years that I’ve been present. I’ve learnt such an immense amount about textiles that I didn’t previously know in the meantime.

Kate is a complete dream of a client to work with.  It’s always fun and lighthearted capturing her collections and textile lifestyle moments that we plan together. Even lovelier when Kate herself is encouraged before the lens. The chats afforded by this work along the way are always entertaining.

Three calendar months – Aprimajune – have galloped by and I’m only now getting to write this update. That does reflect a full enough diary and lots of stretching and flexing to fit commissions into place. Thirty minutes is the time allotted to scribe today then it’s off to actual. physical bodily stretching; Ben’s yoga class is my next appointment. I have a need to stay supple and as strong.  It’s a promise I made to myself long ago.  Not only for this role of photographer, which certainly demands some load-bearing and steady arms, but also historically because I had to lug around a lot of small people and one of them didn’t reliably walk until the age of 6/7. And, going forwards, simply for life itself.  Life is long, if we’re lucky enough to be blessed with years and years – and what a set they delivered at Glastonbury, incidentally – and for as many days as I’m zipped in to this meat suit, I’m aiming to dance and enjoy them, invert to a confident headstand and hold a strong tree pose.

Here’s what I’ve been up to in my work of late …

Copper, a cacophony of machine noise and Cara

There is mesmerising light and colour in Cara’s workshop. Her inspiration, she finds it in outdoor wild spaces, seams of sedimentary rocks and coastal rockpool swim haunts. For my part, I found her indoor studio space pretty wild and energising with all its thumping hammers, hissing welding noises and fizzing steamy bursts.

Imagine if, in autumn, all the richly coloured fallen leaves in your garden were to magically twirl themselves up into a globe shape and turn to shiny copper? To glint their nature shapes back to you through the longest, dark winter months.  Cara makes this kind of magic happen through her art. 

I spent a colourful, noisy afternoon with the sculptor, capturing her process. Welding, hammering, fusing, not the leaf globe pictured but rather, some smaller pieces which were looking tantalising on the bench in the late sun of the afternoon.

Oak & Alison

The Woodcarver’s Studio welcomed its first official visitors for a wonder of a woodful weekend in celebration of this newly erected creative space. Al is just one of my clients with work showcasing at RHS Chelsea this year; her benches featured as the focal point of the Jamie Butterworth’s winning garden.

Alison Crowther completed the oak-framed Studio last autumn and has grand plans to share her skills and knowledge, grown over a whole carving career, with the next generation and well into the future .

Four hearts, two signature statement pieces and RHS Chelsea

Reasons to jubilate; it wasn’t just la Reine Elizabeth. Oli Carter had ample cause for cheer also, with two pieces of scorched work featuring at RHS Chelsea in May.  This particularly distinctive stool here has four hearts to welcome each human who sits upon it. One of eight seats which surround *Bodelia* a gigantor of a cedarwood table.  To lift and transport Bodelia in her entirety, oof?! Oli, it certainly worked your (one) heart to shift all of those eight seats into position for our photo shoot. A Bodelian rather than a Herculean effort.

His second piece was a scorched bench which sat in Pollyanna Wilkinson’s garden.

This time last week I was here, at the yard with Oli, capturing the scorched detail of his piece which then was transported to the Mothers For Mothers Garden at RHS Chelsea. A contemplative space designed by Pollyanna Wilkinson and build by Landcraft UK.  A solid centrepiece in the sanctuary of greens and orange Iris ‘Wondrous’.

Before transit, we pulled together an impromptu set up in the muck & mire of a Monday golden hour in Oli’s working timberyard, hemmed between two big green containers & with a giant dust sheet for a backdrop yet have managed some slick and shiny shots nonetheless.

Raising children in a society so fractured, tail-chasing and socio-economically stretched is no straightforward task. And with so many elements to modern living urging us towards immediacy and super-urgency, we can seem to be more together yet feel ever more apart and isolated at times. Neither people nor gardens respond particularly well to attempts to *force them*.

The following words are from the RHS website.

The expression ‘This too shall pass’ is a mantra passed between mothers navigating the challenges of raising young children and the associated mental health challenges that can come with it, from post natal depression, to anxiety and isolation. This garden is a garden for mothers and represents a place of transition; from despair to hope.

Hammocks and Trout

I met a savvy puddle duck during a branding shoot for the multi-use venue of Meon Springs on the South Downs Way; Jemima knows she’s onto a good thing with hikers passing through to quack at for sarnie scraps and anglers’ bait boxes to beg from nearby.  

Meon Springs hosts trout fishing at its lakes, corporate days with on site clay pigeon, archery and bushcraft activities. There’s also a yurt village with incredible views and colourful hand-painted decor, fire pits and hammocks to unwind from as well as a boulevard of cosy shepherd huts overlooking the waterside.  I stayed overnight and feasted on yak’s milk yogurt. I actually brought some deli pastries from Madeleine’s Kitchen and had to be up for an 8:00 am circuits class, so didn’t savour the full relaxing under-the-stars experience on this occasion!

• My new Pendleton poncho towel for summer sea swimming. Well, the drying after-swim part that is.
• Confidence Man whose Glastonbury set I’ve edited several client galleries to already.
• Waking the Tiger by Peter Levine. Exploring our instinctual capacity to heal and offering a hopeful vision of trauma, this important text came to light for me recently.  Unpacking and understanding lived experiences is, I believe, a giant piece in our life’s work. 
• Kombucha ; with warmer temperatures, I’ve started up the brewing once again and am so delighted to have the kick of the K back at the start of my days. 

If you have a need to commission photography, either personally or for your business, and either currently or in the near future, I’m a phone call away. Talking through your needs can help clarify what kind of photography you wish to commission; this may or may not be with me and I understand this! Phone conversations are always without obligation.  My mobile no. 07900 626865

It feels good to be writing this with all the summering months ahead. Exciting new and also repeat commissions booked in for May, June & July.

New lighting and a second camera are recent investments and subtly switching up my photography. I’ve been working with one solitary dslr for the last two years and now feel the need to have a second, as before, to enable stills + film capture options.

Chauffeuring

Last autumn, I worked on project to visually story tell a rental property. Their website just launched which is very exciting. The grounds at Chauffeur’s Cottage are a feast for the senses to walk around as is, indeed, the surrounding chalky downland area. The outstanding beauty is conveyed very clearly via the online presence that Lisa and Mark collaborated with an agency to bring alive. An orchard and walled garden which, from our drone footage overhead, looks phenomenal alongside the adjacent waving oats fields. A complete tranquil haven. With laying chickens and a flock of rare breed sheep. See it here https://chauffeurscottage.co.uk/

GourMay, June, July

With several hospitality client commissions diarised, I’m getting ready to flex my foodie muscles – always enjoyable, licking lips here – to authentically represent their culinary vision in camera, capture the personality of the front of house Team, the prep and process in the kitchen and to visually share the flavour and ambiance of the restaurant. I enjoy working alongside a restaurant to creatively assist them to express their vision in a photographic style which resonates with their identity and showcase their talent.

Oftentimes, we shoot over one or two daytime sessions in between services, to allow me to capture a bank of imagery, a wide selection of the menu items, plenty of stills of the behind the scenes process and all the significant and characterful details of the setting.  This collection of photographs then serves as a collection of consistently styled and colourised imagery to support their marketing across social media platforms, on printed media and to populate their website.

Collage, collage !

Bespoke photo collages are a new commission. Thrilled to be developing skills I first honed as a scissor-snipping teenager snazzing up binders for A level subject material. Also, how is that for a defunct turn of phrase, snazzing up?!

These are divergent from my photography, more vivid possibly and I hope to produce more in the months to come.

Sistering

A really enjoyable commission for a family celebration involved four sisters who shared a special sibling energy. I’ve included an inbetween frame of them all which is joyladen.

Lichen & Turkey Tails

I foraged some fallen branches after the storms and have had them on a shelf at home to savour and study. I’ve photographed them several times and with each camera. The colouring and fragility of the fungi captivates. The delicate wisps of lichen likewise.

Monochromutt

The monochromatic mutt is now back off lead and bolting through local woodland with me. Jumps of jubilant dog joy. It has taken a LOT of practice with the recall on the long lead which is now so knotted and gnarly, like a giant canine owner’s rosary bead string. But we persevered and we are out the other side now. I am proud. Of the dog and of my tenacity both.

He is mostly black and white in colour, hence the monochromatic reference. When sandy skittering or pond dunks have taken place, he does take on an unfortunate ochre tone.

Inspiring this month ..

• An abundant spread of art and intrigue over at Herbert Hedley. I’ll be sharing work with them for sale this summer. Currently, there is copious beautiful jewellery, art, ceramics and textiles. Stu and Fi are such open-hearted hosts too.

• Stop This Train local lilting vocals. Ward Thomas, I adore their latest offering.
• Next book on the bedside table is Wonderland; Britain’s Wildlife day by day  ‘A vibrant year in living things’ says Chris Packham
• FAIRE is a gorgeous publication which I’ve an article, a photo story on Alison Crowther, featuring in Edition 5 later this month. FAIRE features creativity from around the world. ‘At FAIRE, we want to create something joyfully physical, something to be treasured, a magazine you take your time to read and return to in moments of reflection.’ A certified CarbonNeutral® print product, using FSC® certified paper and natural non toxic inks, our magazine is printed by PurePrint in the U.K.
• Baby Bears by Julia Recht A ceramic pair of tree-clambering cubs which are pictured below.

If you think you’ve cause to commission photography, either personally or for your business, and either currently or in the near future, I’m a phone call away. Talking through your needs can help clarify what kind of photography you wish to commission; this may or may not be with me and I understand this! Phone conversations are always without obligation.  My mobile no. 07900 626865

The days are getting longer again, the light warmer.  Forgetting Eunice for a moment, as she whips through with all her inclement gusts and (many unwanted) gifts. I’ve noticed the frosts this year; they were seldom to savour and so all the more noticeable. I like the crump, crump sound underfoot on a woodland walk, do you? 

This rich, red profusion of petals below, these brilliant blooms, they warmed my eyes to photograph. Thankfully, not shot on a frosty day since we were at an outside studio on this occasion.

The flowers belong to one of the abundant arrangements captured for florist Wildstone Floral earlier in the month. They’re about to launch a website and I’m certain it’s going to be a beauty.

If I were a stem within this bouquet right now l’d be the eryngium. All spiky and hungering for my dinner. Cue, head to the kitchen and eat once this sends to you.

This warm and wooly embrace between siblings, we captured it before so much as a Weetabix was wolfed. It was a fine and frosty sunrise moment and there are not many sunrises to go before their Mum’s book publishes.  Shakira Akabusi is where to head for all the details, dates and do’s & don’ts for post-natal rebuilding.  

We also photographed on the beach and in warmer conditions with a whole lot of success and just a few wet feet and sandy toes to prove it; golden glow on golden sands.

To showcase what can be achieved in post production, I’ve included a before & after image of a beautiful table scape. With all kinds of agricultural & seasonal guff in the background in the SOC ( straight out of camera ) image. Disappeared and magically calm and free from distraction in the second image which pleased both my florist client, Leanne, and myself equally.

I can’t post this until Eunice moves on through and broadband restores. I shall take a keyboard pause right here, wish you all well for Spring and scoot to the three heads of cauliflower that await their curry fate in the kitchen. I know, it’s a Marmite vegetable for sure. My children relentlessly recoil, but still I persist!

Hopefully, you’ll have dodged any falling debris and suffered no storm damage? Keep safe and tread sensibly.

• Delicious oat milk farmed locally within the SDNP 
• Flavien Berger and his music which I’ve edited loadsa commissions to it lately.
• Next book on the bedside table is Conflicted and I cannot. wait. to. read. it. ‘Invaluable. The world will be a better place if everyone reads this book, and because it’s so entertaining they probably will.’  says Philippa Perry. I’ll take her esteemed vote of conf as a recommendation. Malcolm Gladwell also gives it a front cover thumbs up which is high praise indeed.
• This is Going to Hurt the British healthcare system, oof? Don’t get me started. I’m not usually a huge Mike TV but currently am on a bit of a gorge / series roll having consumed this in one single sitting. Confessional.

If you think you’ve cause to commission photography, either personally or for your business, and either currently or in the near future, I’m a phone call away. Talking through your needs can help clarify what kind of photography you wish to commission; this may or may not be with me and I understand this! Phone conversations are always without obligation.  My mobile no. 07900 626865

For almost a decade now, I’ve been supporting a small and local family-run business during the autumn / winter period as they prepare for their season. Wylds Farm are the Hampshire based purveyors of festive joy and also Christmas trees which come in all sizes and many varieties.

Not only photographing for them, I also donate my progeny; all four of them have, at one time or another, worked a Wylds winter and therefore are now proud and veritable Wylds Things like myself.

This season it was the turn of the younger pair of elves to head to the farmyard. My youngest and I share a birthday and worked it together on the day, lugging log loads to feed the burners and braziers within the barns and shop.

This winter, there has to date been very little crump, crump, crumping sounds as we’ve barely witnessed any frost or snow. Though I did sneak out at daybreak to capture Jack’s beauty crystals across our garden on several occasions.

Beautifully crafted woodwork chimes with me. I had the pleasure of capturing two Hampshire-based artists and their respective biggest, behemoth pieces to date in the last month of the year.

Oli Carter is a cabinet-maker and his most imposing and impressive rustic cedarwood table will by now be in its forever home but, at the time of photographing it, was cunningly sheltered from the snow within a protective polytunnel which we jointly shifted to reveal the enormity of the planed and jointed surfaces. They smelled so incredibly good! I had to clamber up onto the container roof to grab the whole length in frame. The ladder rungs were well worth it.

Alison Crowther’s gargantuan ovate, Uovo, her most uncompromising piece of work to date, is phenomenal to behold and we’ve photographed it throughout it’s evolution from felled English Oak to to precision-carved egg on several occasions.

My favourite image of Uovo features Alison herself. She’s smiling and the very fine lines on her cheekbone, they ripple and meander as if mirroring the gouged carve lines made by her very own hand, lines which roll rhythmically and joyously across Uovo. As the annual growth rings circle her trees. As the undulating chalky flanks of the South Downs which stretch out beyond the workshop windows.

Recent inspirations

• vintage tins from Vintage North in Brampton, Cumbria, to store the mutt’s biscuits in
• the music of France Gall, rediscovered after a winter film watch
• Pendleton blankets; used to have a beauty, saving up pennies for a replacement
• Lora Webb Nichols who photographically documented life in Wyoming from 1899 at aged 16 when she received her first camera

A Squash and a Squeeze is a favourite children’s title by Julia Donaldson. The morale of the story is perhaps, be grateful for what you have and feel your cup become fuller rather than emptier no matter your circumstances. At this time of year, I tend to feel that way with the imminent return of the older children from university to look forward to, winter gatherings and family regrouping. Rather than the loss of long warm days and the wilt of garden flowers. There’s plenty to anticipate with joy.

Photographing seasonal squash and the bounty of nearby pumpkin fields is an annual ritual which sees me return to the field full of both smooth & gnarly oranges and greens at Rogate. This year, we captured the spooktastic and ghoulish creations that the Team had constructed to entertain visitors and also managed portraits of Mr & Mrs Pumpkin themselves, Pete and Sophie, who together with their Patch work tirelessly to deliver an outdoor experience with fabulous views over the South Downs as a backdrop. It’s a colourful palette to capture.

One of the commercial branding shoot projects we realised in the autumn was for a salon and included headshots of the entire Team and product + treatment imagery to support the business in their year-round and also seasonal marketing.

Product shots for Christmas sales were popular. Jess from Tabs&nut had an array of handmade signage in striking goldleaf and a soothing colour palette.

Travelling to mainland Europe for another branding commission, I shot for Gostar in Lauzun, France enabling some terrific tasting as well as much feasting for the eye. A restaurant with a strong, small Team who use only the very finest and seasonally available local ingredients to create contemporary Gascony délices.

The pup continues to assist on certain select shoots, usually outdoor, and generally keeps himself out of mischief. It’s mostly working well and encourages his socialisation. We did however, stumble into a situation during a shoot where the client’s lab and my mutt romped around in circles and, not being familiar with the terrain, mine skittered inadvertently across their frozen pond and took his first plunge. The shaking off shot shows him attempting to warm up after his dunking.

I’m typing these words with both office doors propped wide open and breathing in the last warmth of an autumnal afternoon and the scents of the season shifting.  

Cartwheeling children and, in the background, a spaniel and terrier cavorting on the lawn, this was my final family session of summer. The light was good and, when I rocked up to photograph them, the family 50% still in pjs. Which I thought brilliant. All relaxed and with a complete ease and acceptance of the lens.

There was plenty of outdoor shooting this month. Team headshots for a US/UK corporate wellness organisation, we captured these all outside and miraculously evaded sheets of rain which poured relentlessly for most of the day in question. 

My fir tree friends down at the Christmas Tree Farm hosted their first Wylds Wedding with a caravan of bell tents. These popped up across the field and looked so completely inviting under a clear and starry sky. The drone footage of the wedding procession is magical and the yard looked phenomenal once again this summer.

With a new website about to launch along with new zing brand colours, it was only fitting that I try them out and incorporate these into some vivid edits to populate said website. I am a big fan of the shades and the result. In fact, it was me that picked the zing limey lemon shade originally, some three years back, and we’ve had it hovering in a side folder ever since, awaiting the Wylds Events business to take shape.

As August began, the farmyard also came alive with faerie folk and laughter as the PSF wove their story ribbons with a midsummer production. The giant Red Oak – Quercus Rubris – turned green, brilliantly lit for the occasion. 

The weather for the performance which I covered, well, it held. On at least one other occasion, I know that twas indeed a tempest that did cometh and disturb the picnicking with Puck. That was such terrible Shakespearean English. Do you forgive me that? I hope yes. But the whole show was a feast for the senses and I captured lots of film also which the PSF will be receiving shortly.

On a side note, we welcomed a rescue pup into our home. His name ‘was’ Rolo but he is black and white with a pirate patch over one eye and doesn’t in any way resemble any toffee / chocolate confection. So he was renamed. To the phonetically very similar Roscoe. We are smitten and he is being photographed a fair bit. Of course he is. You wouldn’t expect otherwise. I can recommend the charity who enabled this very rewarding and heartwarming opportunity. A New Leash for Life is a locally based rescue charity.

I also stopped by The Kings Arms Project, a Hampshire-based youth charity, to capture their headshots and also a team picture. My youngest came along to assist as he himself is supported by the KA. Absolutely he managed to leap into the group image. And got the dog in the frame too.

Here are a few recent preoccupations …

• Open your Mind by Ward Thomas who happen to live quite close and once played a set at my local.
• Tiffany Francis-Baker for Equinox essay writing and delightful illustrations of the natural kingdom
• Pilea + Spider plants they’re taking over here.
• Feel Better, Live More the podcast by Rangan Chatterjee whose guests and conversations are teaching me a lot.

These words are being tapped by an unsightly, flagging and overheated shambles of a human in not so very many clothes; today’s temperatures are not amusing me.

Attempting to stay in good spirits during this scorcheroo of a week is proving an almighty challenge. I’m reminded of the two unholy heinously hot summers spent ‘existing’ in the marshy hellhole that is Virginia, USA. Four very young ( often uce-faced ) children, ridiculous humidity, twelve weeks of summer holidays #bizarreidea and barely any access to outdoor water for swimming. Out there it’s all neighbourhood pools with a contract tied to your property. And we didn’t have one!

One swim option was the River Potomac and the temperature of lukewarm bathwater, writhing with water snakes and humming with mosquitoes. I loathed the place. Here is better than there this week; that’s a helpful reminder for me right now, she says scowling and huffing the stray hairs from her face.

I almost had the offer of tickets for Gifford’s Circus last week.  They were withdrawn at the final hour unfortunately. Boo, hiss.  Dashed hopes sent me into the garden with my camera to warm up for a morning commission. I found a beauty of an agapanthus, towering.  About to burst her magic mauve and with the fine silky threads of a weaver diva’s high line taut against one of the buds ( see picture below ). For the next couple of days, I watched spidergirl & intermittently captured her altitude tightrope act, marvelling at her skills. 

Elsewhere, silky gowns were sashaying across lawns at Churcher’s Leaver’s Ball. That was a glamorous hoot to capture.  

Whilst this garden here is decorated with bulging, ripening peaches ( excitement builds .. ) I’ve been filming in some exquisitely designed Surrey client gardens – check out that wildflower meadow shot, only six weeks growing too – and capturing headshots for a regular client along with headshots for a new client.

I’ve been filming + capturing still images over two days for a beautiful venue ( details to follow ) near Chichester.

I delivered actor portraits for an exciting 360 immersive film I worked on behind the scenes earlier in the year. Releasing later this summer.

Right, off out on my bike to feel the wind on my face now. Enough of this clammy indoors nonsense. This garden may well be the Big Top of arachnid acrobatics but I need to find motion on a larger scale.

Emphatically quashed by these searing temperature yet finding inspiration in plenty of shady places this month. 

Here are a few recent preoccupations …

• Rone is calming my overheated head when necessary
• The Harrow Inn, Ploughman’s doorstops of white farmhouse loaf l and it’s bulging, blooming idyll of a garden sanctuary.
• Fentiman’s Rose Lemonade. A seasonal & scentful fave
• This Farming Life and wooly, land-focused living enjoyed with the farming son who’ll embark on a Masters in Sustainable Agriculture in the autumn.