Belper Food (and Drink) for Thought…
The Belper Food & Drink Festival is an event to make any local proud, especially considering that at the first festival in 2007, there were 40 stalls and 3,000 visitors. It peaked in 2013 with 105 stalls and an estimated 10,000 visitors. I enjoyed the event but I do wonder if complacency has set in. […]
Faces from Belper Farmers’ Market
Having just posted on Facebook the October image of my Belper Calendar – depicting Belper Farmers’ Market – I thought that the Facebook viewers would struggle to see the 12 images in the montage as they are a bit small, so I have reproduced them here. If you see someone you know, tell them about […]
A reflection on Belper River Gardens
Wednesday… and I am itching to get out into the autumn sunshine to capture the richest colours I have ever known in this photogenic season. I headed off down to Belper Mill and River Gardens, though after I took a few shots of the Horseshoe Weir, I noticed that the sun wasn’t at the best […]
The Queen in Derby – Royal Maundy
To celebrate the Queen’s record-breaking long service today, here are a few of my pictures from the Royal Maundy at Derby Cathedral in 2010 (see gallery below). This main pic is my favourite image from the day, a shot no other photographer got. Having stepped into the Royal limousine, off she went down the street […]
Take A View…
This image – On The Beach – was taken in Scotland, though you might think it’s the West Indies or similar. This is a slice of the Caribbean on the Isle of Harris, overlooking Luskentyre Bay. The two figures, though tiny, really make the image for me. This picture probably represents my best chance of […]
‘The Ultimate Art Gallery Above’
As I build up to my Crowdfunding appeal for my book of the Derwent Valley Mills, here’s one of my favourite images – showing Long Row Belper – which will definitely go in the book. I like the fact that it’s so timeless, having cropped at the bottom to hide the parked cars, and if […]
Duffield Carnival 2015
Had a fabulous Saturday afternoon shooting the Duffield Carnival. It was wonderful to see, as always, a proper carnival with a parade and floats (remember those?) and so many from the community dressing up. The Storybook theme of this year’s event produced two of the finest floats seen at the Carnival since I started photographing […]
Isabella Art Sale
I was delighted to offer one of my photo art prints (of Belper Mill) to help the Isabella Peatfield Memorial Fund. My friend Louise Dunning, a visual arts curator, is goddaughter to Isabella who died when she was just five years old, ten years ago next Boxing Day, in the Tsunami that hit Sri Lanka […]
Meeting Paul Cummins Poppy Artist
An enjoyable and rewarding commission this week: photographing the opening of the Royal British Legion’s Advice & Information Centre in Derby. What made it so memorable and poignant was that the centre was opened by Paul Cummins, the artist behind arguably the greatest cultural event of this century: the ceramic poppies at the Tower of […]
Pictures at an Exhibition – Second Movement
The Artisans’ Weekend in the village of Montreal is over but effectively my exhibition continues. Sales on the second day were again disappointing. Another 250 plus visitors came and I could sense plenty of admiration. Alas I didn’t smell their money. A few mounted prints were sold but only one framed picture went over the […]