DAILY PHOTOS SIXTH YEAR

31.01.14 - Raindrops Apparently January has been the wettest since records began in parts of the UK. We've been relatively lucky in Lincolnshire, not as much as most places, but we're still pretty sick of it. I was intrigued by the bokeh in this shot through our conservatory window. The green is the lawn, the grey is out garden fence, and the red at the top is the bricks of our neighbour's house.

30.01.14 - From Orkney to Omaha Well we have now launched our Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to support the planet wide knitting project that is making costumes for our WW1 movie "Tell Them of Us". This was the main reason for the photoshoot I featured last week. Follow this link to read more and find out how knitters from Orkney to Omaha have been inspired to join together and make this mad idea reality! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1690634677/knitted-clothing-for-a-first-world-war-film-tell-t Any more support, practical, financial or otherwise is always welcome of course :) Huge thanks for your support yesterday on my Instagram image thief issue. His site has been closed, I hope that is the end of the matter.

29.01.14 - First Snowdrops I was pleased to see these in Hartsholme Country Park yesterday, the first snowdrops are such a milestone in winter. Bizarrely they are later this year which has been wet and mild, than last year that was much colder. A strange thing happened yesterday, a friend told me that one of my most iconic images had not only been stolen by another photographer, but he was claiming it as his own work. Check this out, and feel free to tell the scumbag what you think of him http://instagram.com/p/jvmD3VDuAl/# I tweeted a low resolution version last week, and it appeared on his site soon after. I have filed an official complaint of copyright violation to Instagram and await their decision. Needless to say the guy can't produce the original image, or even say when he took it, I not only have the original image, and have had for several years, but I have sold several copies over the years, had it published in a book, and have numerous images taken the same day forming a sequence. The thief is going down big time, I can't believe he is even trying to brazen this out! LATE EDIT: It looks like the scoundrel's site has been taken down so the link is now a dead end.

27.01.14 - The Dimming of the day This is a 2 shot photomerge panorama of sunset yesterday while walking the dog. Unfortunately a bank of low cloud on the horizon prevented any sunset afterglow, but it was pretty good before then.

26.01.14 - Who You Gonna Call? This is my son Jack at an event to raise money for the refurbishment of The Ritz cinema yesterday. The Ritz is the art deco gem that has featured a few times as a daily from the outside with it's pink and blue neon lights. The ground floor is now a pub, but the upper floors had been derelict for years before a group of film enthusiasts formed a not for profit trust to take it over last year. It is a long hard road, but they are getting there. Yesterday they held a DVD sale, and if you donated a DVD you got a free ticket to see "Despicable Me 2" :)

25.01.14 - F for First Attempt at the Alphabet Challenge I always forget the alphabet challenge, but Rick Willis reminded me on Friday so when I was out yesterday I kept my eyes open :)

24.01.14 - Smile I didn't take anything new yesterday so here is another photo of Bryony in the 1917 design cardigan from the shoot last Saturday to publicise our WW1 movie project "Tell Them of Us". It looks like at least two knitting magazines are going to run articles on our project, including some of my photos, a local newspaper and magazines are also interested, it is really taking off :)

23.01.14 - Abandoned I was somewhat uninspired as I looked at the rain falling yesterday morning, then I spotted this little padlock in the garden. I don't know how it got there, sometimes odd things just seem to appear for no reason. I was laying on my stomach in the conservatory shooting through the open doorway with a long lens to get an interesting perspective.

22.01.14 - Look Both Ways Some black and white fun with a couple of images from a shoot on the University campus a few days ago.

21.01.14 - Firestorm It has been a while since I posted a light trail image as a Daily. I love experimenting with long exposures, and this is one of my favourite spots for them on Lincoln High Street opposite the art deco neon of The Ritz pub and cinema. These shots can be a bit of a lottery, you never know quite what you're going to get, but the more you take the more you understand how they work. For me the knack is to choose an interesting location first, not just any old stretch of road. Then wait for an interesting vehicle to drive past, not just any old cars. This is a double decker bus, my favourite, with a shutter speed of 5 seconds. I got lucky with the way that the bus lights didn't obscure the word "Ritz", and even luckier that the closeness of the bus didn't vibrate the flat topped railing that I was using as a tripod :)

20.01.14 - Another Old Scrapbook? I just had to share another collage from the WW1 costume shoot on Saturday. Here Bryony is wearing a dress made by my friend and fellow producer Pauline Loven. It is a simple style typical of the period, but for ordinary girls brought up in a rural village this would be their "best dress". In fact in our movie "Tell Them of Us" it will be worn as a wedding dress. Thanks again for the wonderful comments and interest you have shown this project :)

19.01.14 - Edwardian Scrapbook Thank-you for the wonderful comments on my shot of Bryony in this this Edwardian cardigan yesterday, here are a few more shots given the retro treatment to look like the original photograph that we copied. The cardigan was knitted by Sheila Cunnea from an old pattern. We have an army of knitters around the world working on many other old patterns and photos for our WW1 film "Tell Them of Us" that will be completed for the centenary. Check here for more info and to see an original photo that this cardigan was created from; http://www.wagscreen.co.uk/

18.01.14 - Edwardian Shoot This is from the photoshoot yesterday to show off some of the wonderful costumes being made for our WW1 film "Tell Them of Us". My fellow producer and costumier Pauline Loven has created an army of knitters spread around the world from Orkney to Omaha, dedicated to recreating outfits from the period. Sometimes they are using genuine Edwardian knitting patterns, occasionally all they have to go on are old photos, but the results are all fantastic. These photos will now be used for the next level of publicity for the movie, including a Kickstarter crowd funding application to cover the costs of making these outfits and posting them around the world. The model is actress Bryony Roberts, who has worked with us many times before, playing parts as diverse as Queen Catherine Howard and Doctor Who's assistant "Alice" in our fan films :)

17.01.14 The Ditch! This is the sunset sky reflected in an artificial drainage ditch. Rest assured it doesn't look this nice in the light of day :) Today I am shooting some publicity shots for our WW1 movie "Tell Them of Us", watch this space

15.01.14 - Painted Sky This is a 3 shot photomerge panorama of the north-eastern sky just as the sun set behind me yesterday. It was very wet and muddy underfoot, and the dog ended up unrecognisable by the time we got home, but the sky was very pretty!

14.01.13 - Chasing Ghosts A shot from the university campus last night at dusk, one of my favourite photographic locations at my favourite time of day

12.01.14 - Follow that Dog Yesterday was cold and frosty to start with but turned into a beautiful sunny day, so long as you didn't mind the biting wind, but it is January! This was taken when the kids and I took Mr Willis out for a long walk across the fields and up the hill. Some days he dawdles along behind, but others he rushes off in front, this was one of the latter!

11.01.14 - The Big Circle! This is an unusual view of Lincoln, and a first for me. It is looking north towards the cathedral and castle on the hill from the 6th floor of the Holiday Inn Express stairwell. I think I am going to have to come back here at night :)

10.01.14 - Interesting Start It is very rare that I post a sunrise for a Daily, despite posting many sunsets. They say that a red sunrise is a bad sign, so I was wary when I saw this, but it actually turned into a nice day.

08.01.14 - Water Horses While most of the US is freezing under the polar vortex the knock on effect across the Atlantic has been a run of mild wet windy weather in the UK. Here in the east we haven't had the horrendous storms that have caused flooding in the west, but the ground is getting waterlogged nonetheless. There are many horse paddocks along the river and these get hit the worse locally. This is minor "wet" compared to how it can get, but I do feel for the horses at this time of year.

06.01.14 - Lily I've lost my mojo a bit since the new year, trying to motivate myself to keep the Dailies going has been difficult and I've missed a couple of days. I rarely shoot cut glowers indoors, I prefer wild ones outside, but the light in the conservatory was beautiful yesterday.

03.01.14 - Slave to the Screens I was going to call this "multi-tasking", but decided that was too positive a title, we are indeed slaves to the screens these days. I was flitting across the TV channels looking for something to watch, usual thing, hundreds of channels but nothing worth watching. While checking Facebook and waiting for the live cricket commentary from Australia to begin on the lap-top! I should have just gone to bed, the cricket was another unmitigated disaster for England!

02.01.14 - Pastel Bend This is a 3 shot photomerge panorama at sunset down by the river yesterday. We seem to be in a run of mild unsettled weather at the moment, this was taken during a short respite between the high winds of earlier and another storm coming in overnight

01.01.14 - Reflections It was getting late last night when I realised that I hadn't taken a daily, and I didn't want to start the new year by raiding the archives so I took this quick shot of the Christmas tree. You can just see me reflected in the bauble and the tree lights are reflected in the door through to the kitchen. It is a terrible cliché, but we do tend to reflect a lot at this time of year, what happened last year and what might the new year bring etc?

31.12.13 - Bye Bye 2013 We had a great sunset to end the old year. This is a 4 shot photomerge panorama from my back garden encompassing more than a quarter of the sky. Huge thanks to everyone who has taken the time to comment on my images over the last year. My own commenting has been very sparse in recent months, I will try to find time to do more in 2014, I promise ;)

29.12.13 - Bubble Planet Yesterday we made bubbles in the Winter sunshine :)

28.12.13 - Under the Big Blue Yesterday was a glorious day, cold and crisp but hardly a cloud in the sky, perfect for a long dog walk! This is a two shot photomerge panorama of the fields behind our house leading up to the low ridge of Lincoln Edge. The path on the left is the old Lincoln to Grantham railway line which runs along the back of the houses. Willis and I had just walked up to the skyline near the centre of the image, then along to the small wood on the right edge and down by the power lines. A short walk along the old railway line and we were home, the walk took nearly two hours.

26.12.13 - Christmas Baubles I took something similar back in October, a heavy dew on the washing line backlit by the early morning sun. I generally find that there is beauty everywhere, if you just take the time to look for it.

25.12.13 - Merry Christmas from Mr Willis We had our Christmas dinner on the 24th with my twins so yesterday we felt out of sync with everyone else, but we still managed plenty of food and general celebration, with a nice walk in the afternoon to blow the cobwebs away, at least until the next session of over indulging :)