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Urban and street photography news and essays

A bit of Burns on a snow day!

A bit of Burns on a snow day!

Just as John was battling an over eight hour nightmare journey to Newcastle-upon-Tyne during Storm Emma, I set out for a nice snow walk around some Robert Burns Dumfries locations. Because our town is sheltered by Galloway hills, local winters are normally quite mild and snow storms are a rare…

D-LUX illuminations and Burns Night parade 2018

D-LUX illuminations and Burns Night parade 2018

D-LUX illuminations brought a breath of fresh air into Doonhamers’ traditional Robert Burns’ birthday street celebrations in 2018. This year’s lantern procession was a much scaled down version of the previous street extravaganzas orchestrated by Big Burns Supper crew, with their huge moving puppet platforms and 3,000 strong lantern carriers that I…

Urban photo project with Ivor Gott (Part 3 – Loading Bay)

Urban photo project with Ivor Gott (Part 3 – Loading Bay)

Let’s continue with Part 3 of my photo story about my urban photo project with young artist Ivor Gott on the streets of Dumfries (Part 1 and Part 2 are here). When I scouted my favourite side alleys and urban grunge locations with textures and character I came across a…

Close Encounters walk with artistic interruptions

Close Encounters walk with artistic interruptions

If you were in the town centre recently and saw a strange bunch of people walking under the rain inside a rubber band and wearing periscope construction helmets, please don’t doubt your sanity. It was all part of the participatory Close Encounters walk run by the Stove artist network! Close…

Two Billy Connolly murals – on Glasgow Mural Trail

Two Billy Connolly murals – on Glasgow Mural Trail

Although I saw these new Billy Connolly murals commissioned by Glasgow City Council to commemorate the actor’s 75th birthday in my Instagram feed, I decided to walk around the city and experience them in person. I was not alone. A whole flock of Glasgow Mural Trail visitors with bright orange…

Kayleigh and Rio – autumnal portraits at Castledykes Park (Part 1)

Kayleigh and Rio – autumnal portraits at Castledykes Park (Part 1)

As my Urban Portraits Dumfries project progressed I noticed that shooting in an urban environment was not particularly encouraging for recording the natural flow of seasons, but not impossible. That’s why I came up with an idea of autumnal portraits at Castledykes Park and was very happy when Kayleigh and…

St Enoch – Glasgow urban photos

St Enoch – Glasgow urban photos

During my urban photo walks I often set out to challenge myself with one camera one lens restriction. This time I focused on the ephemera in the heart of Glasgow, exploring coincidences or chance encounters in the area near St Enoch. I noticed a set of interlinked shopping trolleys from…

Dramatic urban light portraits at disused car park

Dramatic urban light portraits at disused car park

I am in the process of re-thinking my post-processing workflow and I need to test and time my new speed-editing shortcuts by applying them to a large number of raw images from the past portrait and documentary photography sessions. These dramatic light urban portraits are such a re-edit. The photos…

Decorating your home with retro prints

Decorating your home with retro prints

I walked past the Primark window in Glasgow recently and noticed a lovely bronze frame with little pegs for mini Polaroids suggested as an item for high key bedroom or dining room decor. I thought decorating with retro prints was a great idea and started collecting pins leading to more…

Nithraid 2017 night time

Nithraid 2017 night time

Nithraid 2017 was the first time when this popular Dumfries river Nith festival continued into the night time with live music, film projections, tasty vegan stew, campfires and stories by the Vikings. I was privileged to document the efforts of talented artists from the Stove Network that masterminded and ran…

Street photography – Glasgow encounter

Street photography – Glasgow encounter

It was dark(ish) and damp as if the sky couldn’t decide between drizzle and light rain so it intermittently served both. I picked up my most weather sealed camera with a conservative 35mm prime for this Glasgow street photography walk and was resolved to keep taking photos in spite of the…

Morrisons Nith Inshore Rescue photo in D&G Life magazine

Morrisons Nith Inshore Rescue photo in D&G Life magazine

My big thanks to Myra Smith, Morrisons Community Champion, who alerted me that my photo of Morrisons Foundation donating £17,000 to Nith Inshore Revenue was published in D&G Life Magazine! And here’s the photo: