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I recently fancied a bit of history, well French history, as opposed to the English variety, so booked a late deal to France and got stuck in.

Headed to the Languedoc region, in the Aude department, which has more history than you can shake well turned walking cane at, with ancient cities & villages, thermal springs, abbeys, cathedrals, canals and castles, to name just a few.




We stayed in the Black Mountain region, which was about 20 minutes from Carcassonne, unless you followed the sat nav, in which case it was around an hour, and up the road from such gems as Saissac and Montolieu. Plus we were but a short drive from the Cather region, which contains the ancient castles of Queribus, Peyrepertuse and Puilarens, amongst its rugged, mountainous landscape.

So what with that and such beauties as Lautrec, Lastours and Lagrasse, and others not beginning with L, it was quite a trip, with plenty of highlights.

So, take a moment to visit the blog and immerse yourself in La France.

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My image of Manarola in the Cinque Terre region of North Italy wins the Landscape category of the National Geographic Traveller 2012 photography competition.




Needless to say, very pleased. You can see the image by clicking on this very link

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Taking winter as an inspiration i have a few chilly delectations for all to see.




Those lovely people at Four Shires, a magazine that covers all things Cotswoldian take a fancy to my winter images and has me feature, not once, but for two months running, showing my wares for all to see.

The timing was pretty spot on as it happens, the week the feature came out Oxfordshire was awash with the white stuff, whether anyone took my advice and headed out for a bit of snowy snapper action i have no idea.

If inspiration struck just one person then it will have all been worth it.

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My image of Manarola, one of the villages that make up the Cinque Terre region of the North Italian coast has been shortlisted for the National Geographic Traveler competition.

This is the same image that was shortlisted for the Sony World Photography Awards earlier this year, but unfortunately didn't get much further than that, so i'm keeping my fingers crossed that this time they are gentler with it, or that the other images are all crap.

Either way i'd be happy.

That is correct, I have no shame.

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Spent the weekend with Image Seen on one of the ever popular Wales Waterfalls Workshops, or as they are commonly known by no one in particular, The WWW's.

Had a great weekend and got a few photos myself. Although in an effort to improve upon the shot you see before you (I wanted to obtain better vantage on the movement of the water around the rock), I ventured into uncharted quarters and found myself rather promptly and unceremoniously, flat on my back in the hydrodynamic landscape, yes the same aqueous arena that was once my friend, my ally.

Well you know what they say about gentle woodland streams - love them, but never trust them - or is that the sea, well whatever, it had brutally savaged me and as I skulked off, I vowed to get my revenge.....

In the meantime however, here are some pictures from a moderately eventful weekend of Welsh waterfalls that were looking rather impressive.

But as you are reading this, if you are a woodland stream, I would not rest easy if I were you, retribution is at hand and there will be a reckoning!

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My image of the famous French town of Rocamadour was placed Bronze in this years International Loupe Awards.





Sponsored by Epsom and Sofitel, among others, the Loupe Awards, which used to be called the Aperture Awards, received over 4000 entries this year so, whilst i would have preferred to finish first, can't think why, i'm happy to have received the bronze title.

I received Bronze last year as well, so whether that means my photography has not moved on that much is a point worth debating, in my mind i rate this picture above the one i submitted last year, but as ever with competitions, there is an element of luck involved, so i'm not too disappointed.

Onwards and upwards for 2012!

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As part of my relationship with the International Tree Foundation, I have donated my book 'Big Plants' to their online raffle.



Get yourself a ticket and you're in with a chance to win such prizes as a pair of tickets to the 2000 trees festival 2012, or a free pass to a real-life UK rainforest courtesy of Living Rainforest, and most spectacularly of all, although for some reason it's only 3rd prize, a copy of my book and a tree planted in your name!

So how much is it I hear you cry. Well, it's the princely sum of £1.50 per ticket, yes you heard me correctly, one English pound and fifty new pence, for all that. How can you possibly refuse?

Needless to say all your pocket change goes directly to the trees. To help them build new leaves, or whatever it is they do.

Their site can be found by clicking on the letters ITF.

And here they are, those letters ITF

You can see some samples of the book here.

And if that isn't enough to tempt you into the conjunctive world of charity and trees, then I don't frankly know what is.

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I may not have tickled the judge's fancy in the Great British Life photography competition, inexplicably they didn't shortlist a single image of mine. There really should be some kind of law against this type of thing happening. But thankfully the editor of Derbyshire Life knows her stuff and has featured the above image in September's edition.

For me, this image can be summed up with one word - bucolic. There is something about the gentle rolling valley and soft light that seems to exude a gentle country charm.

It's a shame that I had to stand perched on the edge of a miniscule ledge whilst lunatics, who for some unknown reason were allowed to drive unsupervised, thundered past at roughly faster than the speed of light itself, passing no more than a nanometre behind my quivering hindquarters.

Still, I managed, in the end, to get safely out of harms way with a few pictures and only minor psychological trauma.

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I have teamed up with the International Tree Foundation, a charity that plants, protects and promotes trees in partnership with local communities, here in the UK and around the world.

I am supplying them with a bank of images to use across the organisation and have donated my book 'Big Plants' for their upcoming online auction, more of which about soon.

They do wonderful work around the globe supporting projects that involve planting trees that provide food and income for local people, and at the same time addressing environmental issues such as habitat restoration.

In the UK they focus on tree planting where there is an environmental need, often working with schools.

They are one of the oldest established forestry organisations in the UK, and can follow thier 'roots' back to thier founding in 1924.

If you would like to know more about the International Tree foundation or would like to make a much appreciated donation please follow the links below.

What the ITF do

Make a donation

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My first visit to Wales in my 36 years of being alive, apart from a couple of times by accident.

Spent a couple of days down in Gower and the Brecon Beacons, which were indeed lovely, if only there was more water in those falls. Oh well, next time...

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A few new updates to my flower collection, I know, I hear you, about time to. Well thanks to pressure from literally one's of people harassing me I have finally got around to adding to it.

So we have a tulip in gold leaf, a disassembled tulip and straight forward shot of another flower of some other description.

All of which can be found here.

Plus I grabbed that flower of some other description and I took it to the speed of light.



And a couple of others here...

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I recently spent an enjoyable Sunday afternoon around the local business parks of Witney, yes i know, sounds awesome doesn't it.

I had the intention of taking purely black & white images to capture form and shape, light and shade, that sort of thing, and it actually turned out to be quite a productive afternoon in the end, got some interesting images which you can find on my Flickr site here.

Whoever thought provincial business parks could be such a hotbed of creativity?

Follow me to the aluminium prefab goodness...

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My picture 'Manarola Afternoon Light' has been commended in the travel section of the Sony World Photography Open Awards 2011. The competition, widely recognised as one of the leading photographic awards programmes in the world, received over 51,000 entries from 148 countries this year, with images being judged by renowned industry experts from the World Photographic Academy. My image will be featured in the 2011 awards book to complement the competition.

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One of the biggest calendar producers in the US, Sparta Calendars, has picked up my image of Dockey Woods in Aylesbury for thier 2011 Four Seasons calendar.

It was selected to represent March, a time of new life and the beginning of the end of the winter chill, something we are yet to enjoy ourselves just yet.

The picture was taken at the Ashridge Estate, which comprises of 5,000 acres of woodlands, commons and downland that runs along the main ridge of the Chiltern Hills and is run by the National Trust.

Which of course just goes to show what wonderful taste they must possess.

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A few shots taken last year, albeit only a couple of weeks ago, when the mighty God Ullr decided to dump all over us. Without forehought to my own personal safety and wellbeing i took the old Focus out into the frozen tundra that was The Cotswolds, to get some seasonal pictures.

Which can be found right here.

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Italy is a fascinating country, I remember thinking as I contemplated having to sleep in a very small hire car during a storm of monsoon proportions on my first evening there, the prospect of which did not fill me with the greatest of joy as I’m sure you can understand, thankfully I was saved by one of the very few hotels in town that had a room so late in the day it was almost the next one.

But to be fair to the car it was actually more generous in its proportions than the room and a weeks hire cost the same as one night at the hotel, so I shouldn't be too harsh on the little fellow. And no, that doesn't mean the car was cheap.

So I had a few lively days around the Cinque Terre, which is on the North East coast of the country, in the company of many colourful and interesting villages that tumble from the edge of the land down towards the choppy water. I can't recommend that part of the country highly enough. Apart from some young tykes trying to steal my (uninsured) camera, the time there went by a treat.

Next up was an extremely enjoyable trip down to the Tuscany region that didn't disappoint in any way, being just as lovely as I remember it. I always enjoy taking the bumpy, unpaved tracks up into the hills that pass by those remote and achingly beautiful villas and agro di tourismos that always seem to be created with the most wonderful views in mind. It's always a joy as well to take the hire car back with not a few arresting and alarming squeaks that it didn't have before.

I actually think the car hire people respect you more for it as well, shows you have used the car to its full advantage. There, they say, as you scurry off, is a person who knows how to enjoy the Italian countryside, but in Italian of course. Just before they charge your credit card with the equivalent of Greece's national debt, which you both know you haven't got a chance of claiming back.

So all in all a cracking time was had, and I managed to get a few photos into the bargain, so time well spent I feel.

The photos by the way can be found here...

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I have been selected for the final 10 in the Oxfordshire county section, this will then get judged and possibly go forward into the Great British Photograph final judging process, so we'll just wait and see.

Yep, this old chestnut again.

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My portflio of French towns entered into the landscape category of the 2010 Terry O'Neill Award have been listed for possible inclusion into this years selection.



The judging, which takes place at the beginning of November for this prestigious international competition includes Terry O'Neill, as well as photographers Julia Fullerton-Batten and Tom Stoddart.

So fingers crossed....

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My photo of a Cotswold wall and wheat field has been selected for exhibition.



The exhibition which called for outstanding images of plants, landscapes, communities and technologies in the context of global agriculture, that would be displayed in a special exhibition at the Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland, as part of Syngenta’s 10th Anniversary celebrations.

The photos were selected from 3800 entries, from 87 countries, based upon their quality, creativity and interpretation of Syngenta’s purpose: Bringing plant potential to life.

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These images where brazenly captured during a spell of brief yet unhappy weather for that region, in fact it was as brief as one week, literally the week I was there, no more, no less. Marvelous

So the light wasn't great to say the least but there were days when the sky did afford some real interest to the landscape.

Partly due to the weather conditions and partly to the overwhelming feel of the area I have processed the images with a certain 'fairytale' quality to them, well I think I have anyway, you may of course disagree in as forthright and rigorous manner as you see fit.

I won't stop you, but nor should it stop you from purchasing one or two, if only as objects of derision.

I won't take offence, so please, after you.

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