Category: Photography
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Launching the lifeboat
Scarborough got a new lifeboat station in 2016, and shortly afterwards, in 2021, a brand new lifeboat to go with it! The all-weather Shannon-class lifeboat was named after Frederick William Plaxton, the founder of Scarborough coach building firm Plaxton Ltd. It cost in excess of £2 million pounds and is capable of reaching a speed of…
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Armed Forces Day: Scarborough
Saturday 29th June 2024 was Armed Forces Day in Scarborough; an annual event celebrated around the country to commemorate the service of men and women in the British Armed Forces. Whatever you may think about celebrating the contributions of ex-servicemen and women, it is a great opportunity for photography! Personally, I think we owe these veterans a…
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A short visit to the National Gallery
I often visit the National Gallery when I am in London. There is always something new to see or old favourites to revisit and admire. When I was younger, I was completely taken by Impressionist artists, like Degas (below), and would generally walk rather briskly through the Old Master galleries, containing Renaissance painters and the…
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Tresco Abbey gardens
People have been living on the island of Tresco, in the Scilly Islands, for over 5000 years, and visiting these islands by boats from the Cornish mainland as long ago as 6000/7000 BC. The islands would have looked very different back then, covered in oak, ash and elder trees, with roe deer and wild boar…
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Soay sheep on St. Kilda
Soay lamb in May 2023. Photo by Raymond JC Cannon St Kilda is an isolated archipelago situated about 40 miles west of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. The three main islands, of which the largest is Hirta, are the remains of an ancient volcano which blew its top about 55 million years ago. The other main islands are Soay…
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The pure joy of simple pleasures
This blog was inspired by seeing some small children enjoying themselves by sitting on a seat. I had just walked past this comfortable looking bench (outside a pizza shop), thinking it would be nice to sit down, but a sensible adult voice in my head said: “that seat is reserved for customers”. But that didn’t…
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Afghanistan from the air
I have flown over Afghanistan many times – probably too many for the health of the planet – on the way to countries in South East Asia, and back. When conditions have permitted, I have stuck my compact camera against the window and grabbed some shots of the amazing mountain scenery. Looking back at some…
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Journey to the Antarctic: Bird Island (1982)
Bird Island lies off the north-west tip of South Georgia, (Lat. 54°0’0″S, Long. 38°2’59″W) (below). There is a small research station – Bird Island Research Station – which is run by the British Antarctic Survey, and is ideally suited – being right in the middle of a huge fur seal colony! – to study the amazing…
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Journey to the Antarctic: The Antarctic Peninsula (1982)
Continuing my journey aboard the British Antarctic Survey ship, RRS John Biscoe, in 1982, we left James Ross Island, heading around the Antarctic Peninsula towards Wiencke Island in the Palmer Archipelago of Antarctica. Our first destination was to be Damoy Point, a transit point, where personnel and stores were unloaded and then flown further south to the BAS research…
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Katie the Kittiwake goes to sea
The Kittiwake nests are all empty now in Scarborough; on the cliffs and in the town, the birds have all gone. Long gone. Gone to sea. Katie did not want to go to sea; she wanted to stay on her ledge above Marks and Spencer and try all the lovely food her gull-friends on the…
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