Collections of Photographs

I have grouped my photographs into collections or albums to make viewing a little easier. If you would like to use any of the photographs on my site, please contact me. Many are available with a free licence.


  • General Collections

    • Trip of a Lifetime My Trip to USA in April/May 2015.
    • Macro Photography - Fungi In November 2014, I decided to try Macro Photography. Some of the images I have seen in this skill category are quite amazing. With my very talented and patient teacher, Matthew Martin from Wildlife Workshop Photography (www.wildlife-workshop.co.uk/) I went hunting all things fungus in Epping Forest. The type of skills needed are quite extraordinary, and include having the ability to lie on the ground in the cold and wet to capture the shot! I thoroughly enjoyed the day and am now thinking about how to get my camera closer to my subjects - not as easy as it sounds!
    • Deer at Sunrise My 3rd early morning trip to Richmond Park. As the sunrise gets later, so the light show seems to get more dramatic. Was very lucky to be positioned perfectly to catch the new sun as it shone through a large oak tree. The stags were very active as the autumn rut continues. Again, this visit was arranged and organised through the London Wildlife Photography Group.
    • Deer & Landscapes Had another very early morning visit to Richmond Park in Surrey. The light played well with the morning mist and the deer were out in force. These visits with the London Wildlife Photography Explorers are great fun.
    • Tank Museum, Bovington As part of my week-long photography session, I visited the Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset. It is a collection of armoured fighting vehicles and traces the history of the tank. With almost 300 vehicles on exhibition from 26 countries it is the largest collection of tanks and the second largest collection of armoured vehicles in the world. It has several exhibition halls, and the visit includes a live display of some of the tanks. A great day out if you love military vehicles.
    • Dungeness Beach Drove down to the Kent coast on Saturday 6th September 2014 and walked along Dungeness Beach. Well, I say walked... since it is a shingle and pebble beach, I sunk to my ankles with each step so I didn't go very far. The application on my phone record 0.8 miles over 2.5 hours! The landscape was worth it though, and Dungeness is famous for being a photographer's dream. I plan to go back, hopefully on a day when the sky has a little more definition and interest.
    • Great Dorset Steam Fair Each year, Tarrant Hinton, near Blandford Forum in Dorset hosts Europe's largest outdoor event. This year, the 46th Great Dorset Steam Fair covered 600 acres and featured the largest collection of steam and vintage equipment to be seen anywhere in the World. Everything that was great in British engineering can be seen; it really is a look back at our wonderful heritage when Great Britain was workshop to the world. Overall there are 200 working steam engines at the show with around 2,000 other working exhibits. Sadly, on opening day this year, the rain had wreaked havoc and very little could move around the site. I hope to visit next year to capture some of these amazing mechanical beasts in action.
    • Avebury Manor House & Gardens Took a week off to go on a photography-fest. Started off at the National Trust property at Avebury in Wiltshire. The weather was not my friend, so I visited only a small section of the standing stones (as a practising pagan I find this site very inspiring) before paying my first, and possibly only, visit to the Manor House and Gardens. The house was not exactly to my taste, although the gardens were very picturesque. It was a good start to the week.
    • RSPB Minsmere A 4 hour coach ride out of London (yes, on the SLOWEST coach!) took us to the wonderful coastal sanctuary at Minsmere. It is a nature reserve owned and run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in the county of Suffolk. It lies on the North Sea coast around 6 miles south of Southwold and 7 miles north of Aldeburgh within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the Suffolk Heritage Coast area. The weather was good and bad - no rain, but the light was not brilliant. It didn't help that all the birds had decided to take the weekend off either! Great walk though.
    • Deer & Wildlife in Richmond Park With the London Wildlife Photography Explorers, I visited Richmond Park in Surrey one wet Saturday. The sun did come out every once in a while, and the sights were certainly worth getting damp for!
    • Flying Low over England On Saturday 21st June 2014, I went for a jaunt in a small plane, piloted by a very talented lady. We flew from Chobham, Surrey, to Sandown in the Isle of Wight, where we stopped for a cup of tea, before flying back to Chobham. It was hazy at 2,000 feet, but I had a great time.
    • Hylands Park, Chelmsford On Sunday 18th May 2014 I spent a glorious few hours at Hylands Park in Chelmsford. The house is a Grade II listed building which has some amazing views overlooking its 574 acres of historic landscaped parkland.
    • Bee Collection Taken in Mid-Wales in 2013, this is a small collection of photographs of a bumblebee, busy harvesting pollen from Antirrhinums (or Snapdragons)
    • General Collection These photographs were used to practice my post-editing skills on Paint Shop Pro (see diary entries)
    • World Graffiti I find some graffiti to be skillful, colourful and excellent subjects for photographs.
    • Stuart Byrne Taken by a gold medal winning Tug of War champion!
    • Herbal Workshops Taken during several workshops held at Treadwells Bookshop in Store Street, London
    • The Photography Show 2014 Taken at the Photography Show 2014 at the NEC, Birmingham.
    • Mobile Phone Photos Occasionally, the quality of photographs taken on a mobile phone surprises me!

  • London Photography

    • Camden Lock A particular meeting sparked my interest in January 2015. A walk around Camden looking at graffiti. I am an admirer of some graffiti so I tagged along. To be honest, the graffiti itself was interesting and varied, but the walk was cold, so rather than walk very slowly around the streets, I decided to branch off and take a stroll along the canal and Camden Lock. I will transfer the graffiti photographs into the World Graffiti folder soon, but for now, I am leaving the group together.
    • Highgate Cemetery Those who follow my work will know that I love cemeteries. For some time I have wanted to go to Highgate and the day I turned up there was bright (perfect for photography) but cold (not perfect for me). I liked the architecture and the way the cemetery is laid out. I intend to go back again soon when it's slightly warmer. I have to explore the other half of the cemetery.
    • St. James Park I did something rather unusual for a confirmed night owl - I got up early enough to meet the dawn! I made my way to the London Eye in order to capture the sun's first rays over the ferris wheel before taking a bag of breadcrumbs and biscuits to the wildfowl in St. James Park. The early morning light was brilliant and the birds (and squirrels) were grateful for breakfast. Worth getting up early for? Definitely!
    • Ice Skating, Somerset House I am constantly looking for new challenges and ideas for my photography, and through a meetup group, I had the chance to go to Somerset House, London, to practise "panning". The idea is to get the subject of the photograph in focus whilst moving the camera to blur the background and show the movement of the subject. People ice skating is the perfect setting to practise this. I spent a few hours there and was delighted that the afternoon session was "wear your Christmas jumper" day. The evening was lovely as daylight faded and the coloured lights were switched on. Somerset House was a lovely setting and I will, no doubt, go back.
    • Trinity Bouy Wharf Just east of East India Dock lies the secluded Trinity Bouy Wharf. It houses London's only Lighthouse, Faraday's Hut, Fatboys Diner and a host of art installations. It was a fascinating walk; I will be going back.
    • River Thames Foreshore In between HMS President and Wapping lies the gate to Alderman Steps. When open, this gate allows access to a part of the foreshore of River Thames. There are some excellent sights; unfortunately, the day I went the sky was overcast which simply means I will have to go back when the sky is more interesting.
    • Poppies at the Tower In remembrance of the British fatalities in World War I, 888,246 ceramic poppies are being planted to fill the Tower's famous moat over the summer. The poppies are encircling the iconic landmark, creating not only a spectacular display visible from all around the Tower but also a location for personal reflection. On Sunday 16th November 2014, I was honoured and privileged to be able to pick some of the poppies which formed the remembrance display. It was hard work, inspiring and emotional.
    • London Long Exposures I went back to the London Eye and Waterloo Bridge one evening with the Street Photography Meetup Group. I enjoy taking long exposures and really like the end results... expect more!
    • Tower Hamlets Cemetery Spent a lovely afternoon wandering around the Tower Hamlets Cemetery in Mile End, east London. The cemetery opened in 1841 and closed for burials in 1966. It is now a nature reserve, and other land has been added to the park, including "Scrapyard Meadow". It was originally named The City of London and Tower Hamlets Cemetery but was called Bow Cemetery by locals. It has been designated as a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation and a Conservation area. The high brick walls which surround it are on the national register of listed buildings as are 7 individual memorials. Many areas are overgrown but are home to many species of wildlife, birds and insects.
    • Long Exposures at Battersea Following on from the Night Photography session where I learned about long exposures, I went to Battersea Power Station to experiment with the same technique but during the day. I need to practice this more!
    • Street Photography Walk The South Bank in London offers a variety of scenes showing all aspects of London visitors. I hope to add to this collection soon.
    • Tower of London I am very fortunate to live within a 5 minute walk of one of London's most famous landmarks. The buildings ooze history and the ravens never fail to raise a smile.
    • Photos from The Shard The Viewing Gallery of the Shard on London's South Bank rarely opens its doors to photographers. In March 2014, we were allowed to ascend the tallest building in Great Britain with all our kit and capture some unusual shots.
    • City of London Cemetery The City of London Cemetery and Crematorium is a stunning Grade I listed landscape in the heart of east London that has been open since 1856.
    • Alexandra Lakes, Wanstead Flats Just up the road is 334 acres of open grassland with a large lake, Alexandra Lake, home to a variety of birds.
    • London by Night I tried expanding my skills into Night Photography. Katrina from Photography Tours at Night was very patient, experienced and made the whole evening very enjoyable.

  • Steam Trains and Tunnels

    • Moorgate to Hammersmith On Saturday 9th August 2014, I was on the steam train which ran from Moorgate to Hammersmith in celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Hammersmith & City line. It was a fantastic experience to hear the whistle echo through the tunnels and smell the steam come wafting through the open window. At Hammersmith, the London Transport Museam exhibited a WW1 Battle Bus.
    • Rickmansworth to Chesham On Saturday 16th August 2014, a steam ran o the Metropolitan line from Rickmansworth to Chesham in celebration of the 125th Anniversary of the opening of the Metropolitan Railway's Chesham Branch. The steam, Locomotive No. 1 last ran on the line in 1960. It was overhauled in Gloucestershire and returned to service in 2013. On this trip, it pulled the Chesham Ashbury Carriages which normally run on the Bluebell line. It also pulled the historic Metropolitan Railway Milk Van; a reminder of the commercial journeys of the line.
    • Harrow to Uxbridge On Sunday 8th December 2013, a steam train ran from Harrow-on-the-Hill to Uxbridge along the Metropolitan line, for the first time since 1992. TFL say its the last time this is likely to happen on this section of the line. A Metropolitan Loco No.1 Steam Train pulled the train from Harrow-on-the-Hill to Uxbridge, and a Class 20 diesel took it back. I travelled in a restored 1892 ‘Jubilee’ Carriage 353. It has been restored with great care and attention to detail.
    • Brunel's Tunnel I was fortunate enough to be able to walk through a very historic tunnel. The Thames Tunnel is an underwater tunnel, built beneath the River Thames connecting Rotherhithe and Wapping. It's 1,300 feet in length and 20 feet high. It was built between 1825 and 1843, at a rate of 7 feet a week. It was the first tunnel known to have been constructed successfully underneath a navigable river, by Thomas Cochrane, Marc Isambard Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It was originally designed for, but never used by, horse-drawn carriages and now forms part of the London Overground railway network.

  • Montroy, Spain

    • Moorish Castle * NEW COLLECTION The day started off looking for a waterfall which, we discovered, is no longer flowing. So the day ended with a visit to the Moorish Castle, Castillo de Chirel.
    • Montroy Mutts I am very lucky to have some wonderful friends in Montroy, Spain, who allow me to stay with them on a regular basis. Their family consists of 4 very cheeky, loveable terriers who love being the subject of my photographic trials.
    • Montroy Wildlife & Landscapes The wildlife and scenery around Montroy , Spain, is very varied and picturesque.
    • Montroy Sunsets The sunsets in Montroy really caught my eye, and camera lense.
    • Valencia Street Photography Taking a wander around Valencia, Spain, was inspiring. The city is beautiful with some fabulous architecture.
    • More Spanish Street Photography In December 2013, I returned to Spain and spent a couple of days taking photos in and around Valencia, Montroy and neighbouring villages.