Last week I spent the week on the isle of Arran with a group of four participants. We had a good time and managed to cover a lot of different varied landscapes on Arran.

Arran is a subtle island. It does not have the dramatic peaks of Skye, nor the stunning expansive beaches of Harris, but as the tourist brochures say, it is ‘Scotland in minature’. With a ring road that is 60 miles in circumference, we found most locations were within half an hour driving distance and so set off each morning around 5am to capture some of the best light. My favourite location is Pirate bay on the east side, as you may have seen on my portfolio of Arran to date, but there’s a lot more to this island than initially meets the eye.

Where we stayed was ideal. I liked the rooms and we had a sitting room dedicated to us in the day time so we could review our images of the day and I even managed to slot in a showing of Michael Kenna’s ‘Hokkaido’ video, which he kindly gave me permission to use (many thanks to the joy of giving something http://www.jgsinc.org/index2.php). It was interesting because each day I kept asking everyone if they wanted to see the video and most folk were too interested in getting some sleep or working on their own images, but on our last day I managed to shoe-horn it in and it wasn’t soon before everyone was glued to it. He’s a master of simplicity and it’s something I’m keen to focus on during my workshops.

Many thanks to Annie, Dorin, Milan and Peter for coming along.

Just a quick note to let you all know that one of the guys on the Eigg workshop this September can’t make it.

So if you were keen to come to Eigg this September, there is now a free space for one lucky individual on my workshop.

First come, first served. :-)

I’m off to the Isle of Harris at the end of the month for a week workshop. I come here every year now – because I love the space and the beaches are a real study in minimalism.

The workshop only has a few spaces left for those of you who would be interested in coming along.

Hi all,

I’m just back from the fabulous isle of Eigg. I ran a nice small workshop there last week – hi to Adam, Brigitte, Dave & Pete.

As is usual with a great trip of any sort, I feel like I’ve returned from Mars. I can’t help feeling ‘did it really happen?’

We had a slight mishap with the Council deciding that no vehicles from outsiders are allowed on the island any more, so we had to make do with borrowing a vehicle for our early morning jaunts down to Laig bay. Eddie kindly gave us a lift a few nights along the small 1 mile track to the bay too.

I thought it would be cool to put up a little contact sheet showing a collection of images created by everyone on the trip. We had a fair mixture of ‘weather’ , most of which is ‘good’. Seldom is weather ‘bad’ for photography unless it causes problems with keeping filters and lens elements dry.

I had a great time though. Workshops tend to be as good as the people who come on them, and you get out of a trip what you’re prepared to put in. Everyone without exception on this trip got into the spirit of the week. I’m a little shell shocked to be home now, but I’m excited to think I’ll be going back in September for another trip.

I’ll probably not be on the blog much for the next few weeks. I’m away at the end of the week to the outer Hebrides for some ‘me time’. Just me and my camera and a stack of Velvia. Wish me luck. Until I’m back on the blog good and proper, good luck with your own photography.

Just a quick note to let you know that a new Glencoe weekend workshop is now available for booking. Dates are 1st to the 3rd of October.

The weekend trips are very popular. The Torridon trip for October is mostly sold out now, so if you’re interested in coming, details are available here and you can book here

I’ve got a weekend workshop lined up for Torridon this October – 15th to the 17th.

The trip is now almost full – there are currently only 2 spaces left. If you want to come, more details can be found here. But be quick, as it’s going to sell out :-)

If you want to reserve a space – email me.

I’m off to the Isle of Eigg this April to conduct a workshop there for 5 days. It’s a super island, with perhaps the most stunning / photogenic beaches in Scotland.

I have a few places left, if you are interested in coming. The dates are April 19th to the 24th, and the price is £899. All transport, food and accommodation on the island are included in this, plus tuition by yours truly.

If you are interested in this trip, it’s best to book as soon as you can, as I will have to close the final booking list  for this soon. to find out more information about this trip and view the gallery – you can see it here.

To see testimonials from my previous trip to Eigg, then you can view them here. As you will see, the group I had last year had a terrific time.

Just a short note to let you all know that the Skye workshop for later this year has sold out.

For those of you who would like to get an insight into my workshops, Norrie who participated on the January Glencoe trip has written up his account on his web site. You can find it here.

Needless to say, it’s a good review and it was very nice of Norrie to get in touch with me to let me know about it.

I love doing the workshops. It’s great to be able to pass something on, and see someone ‘get’ it. I particularly like Norman’s processing of this image – it looks very natural. Some digital images can be over-processed. The green rocks in the foreground by the way, were really that vibrant – I brought them to the attention of everyone on the trip that weekend – what the camera sees and what we see are often not the same thing.

Hi All,

For those of you who have decided to come on the Glencoe workshop this March (but haven’t told me yet!), now is the time to let me know of your intentions.

The dates are March 13th to the 17th and more information can be found here.

And a nice sexy gallery of images can be found here also.