I have a desire to get back to basics for a while. Back to some classic portraits.

Although my ideas of ‘basic’ and ‘classic’ may well be different from the accepted ones.

Cover star is Beki, in an example of the kind of thing I mean.

A horse, Cornwall, 2010

I went up to the moors yesterday and checked in with the horses that roam about up there.

They told me to say ‘hi’.

Abby, Plymouth, 2010

More than OK in fact.

A quick (but likely to be final) edit of a shot from last night’s shoot with Abby. I do curse my 3-year-old camera’s rather limited ability to focus ‘correctly’ in low light, but after seeing this image I think I should be thinking of it as a ‘feature’.

The focus ‘should’ be on the eye… as any portrait photographer will tell you. But to me, the most interesting thing here are the layers and texture of the hair, and I love the way they pop out in this shot, due to it being the shallow focal point.

Yeah, it’s a portrait, but the eyes aren’t always the subject.

I’ll just have to try and remember this when I get a better camera…

Ria, cropped. Plymouth, 2009

… and then crop. Lovely.

This makes me see the point in having a bazzilion megapixels… so I can zoom in, find lovely crops like this one and still be able to print them with plenty of detail.

Hurlers, Cornwall, 2004

As I haven’t taken pictures of anybody for what seems like an age, I’ve been mooching through some of my really old stuff.

I really like some of this. It’s made me realise that I really wasn’t that bad a photographer back then. I think I may have been ‘rehearsing’ at the time and really wanted to include people in these shots, but they’re pretty strong as they are.

They make me miss film, and in particular infrared film.

They make me miss the slow process that was involved, and that shows in the results, particularly the compositions.

Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, 2004

They REALLY make me miss square images.

Ho-hum.. perhaps I’ll get some nice prints of these made up.

Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, 2004

Kate, somewhere, 2009

… we’re slowly starting to get more of it – Hoorah!

We’ve just been through a record-breaking period of deep-freeze in the UK. I know I’m overly sensitive to the seasons and the environment, but it really felt like a deathly air descended upon the country and made time stand still for a week or so. Horrible.

Anyway, looking forward to warmer times now.

I don’t know why I haven’t posted these two pictures from my shoot with Kate — typical of me to hold back the best.

Ria, Plymouth, 2009

New Year’s resolutions are so last year. Everyone knows that the sure-fire way to be unhappy is to set unrealistic goals for oneself.

Much better to enjoy what we’ve got and accept it.

Well, that’s the theory anyway…

Kate, somewhere, 2009

Answers on a postcard please.

I don’t mind not knowing where I’m going with my photography, mainly because I’m actually going somewhere for a change.

I’ve been doing things recently I thought I’d never do, but (I’m glad to say), I’m doing them in my way. And what’s more, I’m having fun doing them.

And there’s no law against that, is there?

Cover star is Kate, in an example of the type of shot that I thought I’d never do… but that I’m now very proud of.

Beki, Plymouth, 2009

It’s always great to get feedback from the people I photograph.

Happily, Beki loves this portrait as much as I do.

It was fascinating going through our shoot together and hearing from her what she does and doesn’t like. Definitely a learning experience, and something of a luxury to be able to do so.

We really created some great images together (with some great assistance from Laura H.) and I hope we can do the same again soon.

Twisted Mermaid, Bristol, 2008

Thunderstorms are forecast for the weekend. I like a nice thunderstorm. Clears the air.

I love a hot summer but a nice cool, rainy day in July or August makes me feel so very calm and relaxed.