Greek Island Hopping: Four Friends and a Shipmate Called Honda
A week sailing in Greece with Sue, Captain Claydon and Karl: blue water, harbour-side refreshments and an honorary shipmate[…]
Photography Tips: start here
Eight friendly photography articles for phone users and camera owners, with practical exercises and photographs from Fenton Life.
Barkston Ash through a lens: photographing village character
Photography Tips · Local photo trailsFeatured photograph: The Boot and Shoe, Barkston Ash (2012) — JThomas / Geograph, CC[…]
Barkston Ash and Little Fenton: a walk with village history
Church Fenton & Nearby · Village walksFeatured photograph: The Boot and Shoe, Barkston Ash (2012) — JThomas / Geograph,[…]
Paradise Wood through a lens: light, trees and countryside
Photography Tips · Local photo trailsFeatured photograph: Paradise Wood (2011) — JThomas / Geograph, CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped in[…]
Paradise Wood: a countryside walk from Church Fenton
Church Fenton & Nearby · Village walksFeatured photograph: Paradise Wood (2011) — JThomas / Geograph, CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped[…]
Church Fenton through a lens: a Carr Dyke photo walk
Turn a local walk into a five-picture story, with simple photography ideas for phone and camera users.
A walk around Church Fenton and Carr Dyke
A gentle introduction to a Church Fenton village walk, with countryside, Carr Dyke and a little local history.
Part 8: Choosing your best photographs
Build a smaller, stronger selection by looking for clear subjects, useful differences and pictures that belong together.
Part 7: Editing photographs without overdoing it
Crop, straighten and make gentle adjustments while keeping the photograph recognisable and your original safe.
Part 6: Moving beyond automatic, one setting at a time
Understand shutter speed, aperture and ISO through simple experiments, without abandoning automatic mode altogether.
Part 5: Flowers and garden wildlife: start close to home
Practise flower detail and patient wildlife photography in a garden, on a balcony or in a nearby green space.
Part 4: Making the most of light
Window light, cloudy days and sunshine: learn to notice what the light does before worrying about equipment.
Part 3: Small changes, better pictures
A clean lens, a steady hold and a deliberate focus point can make a bigger difference than another camera
Part 2: Learning to see a photograph
Light, backgrounds and viewpoints: simple ways to turn an everyday subject into a more thoughtful photograph.
Part 1: Better photographs begin with looking—not shopping
Start enjoying photography with the camera you already have. Simple ideas for light, backgrounds and viewpoints, plus a five-photo[…]
Hedgehogs in My Church Fenton Garden
The garden’s prickly visitors, caught on camera: hedgehog photographs and a video from Church Fenton.
Cobblestones and Canals: Our 2019 Weekend Escape to Bruges
Back in May 2019, my wife and I packed our bags for a classic weekend getaway to Bruges, traveling[…]
Buggies, Beer, and Bunkers: A Non-Golfer’s Guide to Barrow-in-Furness
When the lads invited me on a weekend break to Cumbria, they thought they were getting a four-man golf[…]