In the mid 1990’s Macro photography became something of a hobby within a hobby for me. It morphed from a simple dalliance with a close up filter and extension tube into a voyage of exploration, and in the course of a couple of years I had kitted myself out with some of the finest Zuiko macro lenses of the day, along with a host of peripheral equipment to support them.

Autumn is a fantastic time for outdoor photography. I took advantage of one of the few sunny days we have experienced this season and spent a few hours walking through Padley Gorge, Derbyshire. Accompanying me was my Leica SL2, 16-35mm lens and tripod. Sadly due to the unsettled weather this was the only opportunity I had to capture this Autumns magnificence.

We fell in love with the Messinia region of Greece many years ago when we discovered it on a couple of road trips around the Peloponnese. The area is immersed in history from the archaic period to more recent…simply pick a point in time one is interested in and jump in. Away from the suburbs of Kalamata the landscape soon becomes very rural and begs discovery. Earlier in the summer we returned on a journey of rediscovery and were relieved to find that the passing decades had been kind and not experienced too much in the way of development.

A collection of local images taken using various Kodak and Ilford film stock in the late 1990’s which was recently scanned using an Epson V850 Pro scanner. Equipment used to make the images were Olympus OM1n and 4Ti camera bodies and Zuiko 24mm, 50mm and 100mm lenses. An opaque IR filter was used for the Infra Red images and a deep red filter used for all others to increase contrast.

In June we returned to the Halkidiki area of Greece, specifically to the Sithionia peninsula. It is a part of Halkidiki that we briefly explored on previous visits to the country but only as part of road trips. This time around we made it our base for 12 days, allowing us to explore it in a bit more depth. Much less commercialised than the Kassandra peninsula, it has a more sleepy and traditional feel. Apart from a day visiting the Petralona cave to the north of the peninsula we spent our days trail walking and exploring many of the small villages in the area.

A small collection of images taken on some recent woodland walks in and around Matlock. Locations include Farley and Matlock Moors, Clough Wood and Northwood. A selection of equipment used that included Leica SL2 and Pentax K1 mkii camera bodies with SL 35mm APO Summicron, SL 50mm Summilux and Pentax DFA* 85mm lenses.

Continuing our life-long odyssey of Greece, we visited the Saronic islands of Agistri and Aegina in September 2024. Travelling from Piraeus we spent 4 nights on Agistri to walk the wooded forest trails. We then hopped on a ferry across to the larger island of Aegina where we spent a week. The two islands contrast and complement each other well. Agistri is very quiet with tranquil views out to sea. Aegina is more developed, larger and busier. It was bustling when we disembarked as our arrival coincided with the annual four-day Fistiki festival. My Leica Q2 Ghost accompanied me on this trip and all images shown here were made with it.

The 1990’s was a decade that found me experimenting with many different film types that ultimately, in 1999, led to me switching solely to transparency film. An ongoing project to digitise my entire film library has started bringing to light these experiments. Some amounted to nothing more than a very brief dalliance with specific emulsions that were soon forgotten about.

Inspired by tales of bustling souks and the winding maze-like alleys of North African Medinas, we booked a trip to the Moroccan city of Marrakech. Our base for the week was a traditional Riad located in the old town. This meant we were in the heart of the bustling city that, for the uninitiated (such as ourselves), is a full-on assault of the senses. The first 24 hours were a bewildering experience as we adjusted to the sights, smells and general disorientation that came with navigating the labyrinthine network of such an ancient place.