Thanks for visiting my tiny corner of the internet. I live near Edinburgh, the surprisingly sunny capital city of Scotland. Sometimes I run and make photographs in the Pentland hills, which lie just south of the city. When I can, I go north to the Highlands and Islands.

Photographs in the Portfolios are available as high quality prints. I now print these at home on a modern pigment printer (Epson 3880), which is capable of excellent print quality. If you’re interested, drop me a message.

Like many photographers I used to spend too much time contemplating gear, but for many years now I’ve used the Micro 43 system (I like the Panasonic GX8) and haven’t seen the need to ‘upgrade’.  I used to make photographs with medium format film gear such as the Bronica SQ system, and some of my images are from scans of those lovely 6x6cm negatives.

Some brief comments on the M43 ecosystem:

• I dislike the 3×2 aspect ratio prevalent in modern photography systems. Micro 43 uses a ‘squarer’ 4×3 ratio, which I find much more pleasing, and indeed easier, to use. Even better, it allows for non-destructive in-camera 1×1 (and other) aspect ratios (i.e. images eventually appear in an editor with an adjustable crop).
• This camera has, for the most part, some of the nicest ergonomics I’ve used in any camera system. It’s mostly a joy to use. The grip is substantial enough to impart confidence, and there are sufficient customisable buttons and functions.
• The viewfinder is great, both in resolution/clarity, and usability. The tilting function puts me in mind of my old medium format film gear, which is definitely a good thing. Super practical for use on a tripod below eye level (i.e. most of the time).
• Micro 43 is plenty good enough on technical grounds for my purposes. The extremely expensive full frame systems out there, such as the Sony E-mount, seem endlessly attractive, but for me fall down on an least three important points (sensor aspect ratio, extortionate price, and massive/heavy lenses).
• I have several nice lenses for my Micro 43 system, which are small and very light (12mm f2, 20mm f1.7, 45mm f1.8). A three lens kit, including the GX8 body, is considerably less than 1kg. Given the state of my knees, this is a good thing.
• I recently started using filters made by Haida, and have been generally pleased, even when compared to the better known brands in the UK. The smaller size models balance very nicely with my wee lenses.

I like single malt Scotch whisky (Clynelish is good, or anything from the SMWS).

I used to write blog about fly fishing, over at Tamanawis. The word Tamanawis is the name of a fictional river in the book The River Why by David James Duncan.