This is my Orchid Mantis (Hymenopus coronatus) which is now approximately 4 months old and growing quite nicely. She originates from the tropical forests of Southeast Asia and is one of several species known as ‘flower mantises‘ from their resemblance and behaviour. She is currently fairly white in colour but will start to adopt shades…
I’ve recently gained a couple of Mantids, one of which is the Spiny Flower Mantis (Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii). This is only a 3rd instar nymph at the moment so has some growing to do. It measures approximately 10-12mm in body length and will probably grow to 35-40mm when mature). Today was its’ first photo shoot and…
Another Place is the name given to the Gormley sculptures on Crosby Beach, Merseyside. There is a collection of 100 identical statues all facing the sea at different distances from the shoreline. Now, I’ve had a really nice carbon fibre tripod for a few years and it’s had little use, I’ve also got a Hoya…
October 2018 saw the annual inter club print championship, again held in Blackburn which made attendance easy for me. To qualify for this event the clubs must finish in the top two of their respective federations or have made the final in the previous year’s competition. My club, Chorley PS qualified by finishing 4th in…
A short day trip to Liverpool gave an opportunity to photograph the are area around the ‘Three Graces’ on the Mersey shoreline. The day was overcast with dark dense clouds and some occasional soft rays of autumnal sunlight so anything could have happened. I spent time looking for a vantage point to shoot the Graces…
Recently I was asked to give a presentation to the attendees at the Lancashire & Cheshire Photographic Union’s ‘Big Day’ as part of a series of talks based on the PAGB’s ‘Awards for Photographic Merit’. There were talks on CPAGB, DPAGB and MPAGB showing how people had progressed through their successful journeys to their personal…
I was asked to give a talk on ‘My Photographic Journey’ at Maghull PS this week which is a new presentation that I have put together. It was close to a 100 mile round trip but was a most enjoyable evening. I was made to feel very welcome by this small but very friendly society…
Very pleased to have received this lovely medal from the GB Trophy (2017). Awarded by the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain for the ‘Best Male Portrait’ image which was ‘Ink and Iron’. The image was entered by Chorley PS as part of the club entry.
I was recently given a small number of old (vintage!) cameras that I initially just put in a bag under the table in my ‘cave’. Then my interest was sparked a little for some reason, so I dug them back out. Firstly I gave them a gentle clean to bring back a little of the…
Recently I achieved enough acceptances and awards to apply for my BPE4*. The BPE crowns are awarded for amassing points in the British Photographic Exhibitions with 1 point given for each acceptance. Images can be entered in all exhibitions not just the once, so if a good image is created it can score a point…
Just had a really productive 2nd year at Chorley Photographic Society – on both a personal and club basis. The club has been successful on many fronts with placed finishes in several national and regional competitions, some of my images even made the selection. Personally, to add to my earlier monthly successes, the annual presentation…
I’ve been waiting to shoot Pippa for a while now and finally managed it at Pure Preston Studios. I’d created a few ‘moodboards’ to try to visualise what I wanted out of the session and shared these before we met up. As usual, I started off with creating some simple portraits to get the session…
