January

17th - Track side at Croft for the Darlington & District Jack Frost Rally Cross event. Pleased to see sun but it was still cold when you had been outside for a few hours.

16th - Fifteen people braved the weather and made for a very interesting and informative course on "Basic Digital Photography". Am pleased that I have already had enquiries for a future course.

13th - Recording progress for the Caravan Club - all that was missing from the snowy site was a large snowman.

December

31st - Hope all have a good evening and a Happy New Year.

30th - So far have six people for the basic digital course in January and just putting the finishing touches to the images to be used during the day.

22nd - Collected framed Panorama - looks very good - needed son to help put on the wall!

16th - Good progress at the caravan site - the roads are being put in and the layout is taking shape.

12th - More street photos in Barney for the Xmas Festival - drummers, choir and balloon man.

5th - Farmers Market and playing with fire in the main street of Barney - skillful display of what you can do with paraffin and a match.

3rd - Used power of new PC to produce 2.54Gb panorama of the view from the road to Eggleston - this will print out at 16 x 84 inches!

2nd - Finished planning the "Basic Digital Photography" course and booked a room in the Witham Hall for the 16th January. Numbers will be limited.

November

30th - First turf cutting at the new Caravan Club site - fortunately the rain had stopped but the ground was very soft.

20th - Discussions with the Council to see which of my images may fit into their 2010 accommodation brochure.

13th - Gave talk on the Amazon to Ingleton and District Community Association and those people who braved the atrocious weather seemed to enjoy it.

October

31st - Photographed "The Turrets" rehearsing for the Halloween parade in the Bowes Museum and then Inter Opera, choir and brass band. Made me wish I had not already accepted another engagement for the evening!

29th - Another visit to the caravan site to record progress - it is starting to look different.

23rd - Taking advantage of Windows 7 to upgrade my 3 year old PC - new system (now it has been debugged) makes quick work of changes to large (1.5Gb) images.

15th - Repeated my talk on the Andes for Probus in the Jersey Farm Hotel.

13th - Beautiful colours in Richardson Florists to go with the acrylic art by Gillian Tallentire that is being displayed. Look forward to seeing the images in the papers.

9th - Went to Barnard Castle School to give talk on BSES to the Sixth Form - was pleased that some 20 people appeared to want further information. I wonder if any will actually get on a trip?

8th - Gave a talk on my experiences with BSES in the "High Andes" of Peru to the Teesdale Photography Club.

7th - Was pleased to see my Associateship images reproduced in the Professional Imagemaker magazine that arrived today.

6th - Met with staff at Wellington Country Park to discuss format of a proposed photography competition they are considering holding next year.

3rd - Rode a 1965 Triumph 500cc Daytona in a a vintage run around Glendalough, south of Dublin. Lovely bike and countryside, shame about the rain!

September

19/20th - Attended the Saundersfoot 2009 run in Saundersfoot (Pembrokshire) and really enjoyed seeing all the well restored vehicles. Again, lovely weather so I could get some good photographs of the competitors.

18th - Blessed with no rain for a wedding in Barnard Castle - how nice to be able to have the bride & groom, along with all the guests, outside and not have to worry about when the rain will arrive!

15th - An afternoon at Hardwick Hall capturing a fashion parade rehearsal for the forthcoming North Eastern Ladies Charity Dinner tomorrow.

12th - Photographed the Castle Players "Mummers" show put on for the heritage day in the castle - what lovely weather they had. Also spent some time taking (yet) more images of the castle for a future presentation.

8th - Delivered a talk on the BSES and my Amazon adventures to the Women's Institute open meeting in Whorlton. Not too sure how some of the spiders were received!

4th - Very successful launch of the historical DVD of St. Mary's Church. The first showing went very well, so it looks like the Church will be able to raise some money from the sale of these DVDs.

1st - Scanned some old, badly faded and creased black and white prints for restoration. Amazing the detail you can recover - in one scene you can even see the price labels on dresses in a shop window!

August

31st - Spent some time photographing the First Team match at Barnard Castle Cricket Club - until I retreated when soaked to the skin from a sudden downpour!

30th - Visited the Teesdale Conservation Volunteers Woodland Festival and enjoyed watching metal work along with hand / foot powered wood turning. Was pleased to meet several "old" acquaintances there.

29th - Called in to the Barnard Castle Truck Show and spent a pleasant time wandering around admiring the vehicles there. Amazing how much effort is put in to keep them looking so good. Took some photographs of a 12.5 tonne "Monster Truck" airborne over some old cars - they were fit for the scrap when the truck landed on them!

26th - Portrait time today - client needed a print to give as a present - inclement weather meant staying in the studio rather than using an external location.

21st - Phone call today to say I had been awarded an Associate Distinction from the Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers. The icing on the cake is that my portfolio should be featured in the next edition of Professional Imagemaker magazine. Very pleased with this accolade.

17th - Excellent meeting with Emma of the White Wedding Planner who is offering to help co-ordinate your wedding and suggest local businesses that can supply your needs. Am looking forward to working together on a number of projects.

16th - Photographed the Eggleston Kite Festival and, while the high winds prevented some of the bigger kites from flying, there were some very interesting "apparitions" in the hills over the Moorcock Inn. The one on the left is not a ghost but is called a "spirit". Many of the other kites were equally fascinating and the technology behind them was interesting.

13th - Very interesting day at the top of the Middlesbrough / Stockton Transporter Bridge - some 160 feet above the River Tees giving great images and scenes. It will be 100 years old in 2011 - hopefully there will some good celebrations.

11th - The Historical DVDs were delivered - all 1,000 of them. Printing looks great and it played faultlessly on my DVD. I also took it around to some long suffering friends just to check it out on their players! All now ready for the "launch" on the 4th September. Thanks to all who helped out in this project.

6th - Anyone interested in bird watching or photography in the Amazon for August 2010? Positive discussions with an "eco-lodge" to take a group of 10 people for 7-9 days. A chance for Hoatzin amongst some 560 other species of birds they have seen. When the legalities are finalised, a dedicated web page will be put up.

July

29th - Unusual request today - "Did I still do black & white developing and printing for archival images?" Unfortunately not - the developer and enlarger are safely stored in the attic. It did serve as a timely reminder that there is still a specialist market for this service. Now, where can I make a darkroom?

28th - Signed off the artwork proofs for the historical DVD - the replication company has done a great job (they did not change anything) in copying the artwork over to their format. Now I just have to wait for the 1,000 DVDs to arrive - am getting impatient! The DVDs should be here in mid August - well in time for the first public showing on September 4th.

27th - Posted off the final DVD along with the artwork and prints of what I expect. A great relief to know that this project is finished and looking forward to the finished product.

26th - Carried out a further recording of organ music for the DVD to remove a small imperfection. Delighted with the final soundtrack when it had been inserted.

21st - Awake at 4am to capture the sunrise over Dunbar harbour - a beautiful morning. Enjoyable boat trip to the Bass Rock and 150,000 pairs of gannets (via the Scottish Seabird Centre). You certainly do not need a long lens over there - it is more a case of ensuring that they do not land on you! It was a bit rougher coming back and waterproofs were needed to stay dry!

16th - Some very old black & white (or even yellow) images to be scanned and restored. Amazing the amount of detail that can be retrieved with good technique. Emailed small versions to the family so they can decide between themselves which images get priority.

13 - 15th - A lot of time spent getting the DVD - A history of St. Mary's Church, Barnard Castle - finalised and listing the remaining minor issues for resolution. Now with some 160 images and lasts 27 minutes. Am very grateful for the help I have had from the narrator and the organist.

11th - A beautiful, but very energetic, labrador pup for her portrait this morning. Got some great shots despite her best efforts to confuse my focus and lick the lens.

6th - Spent the whole evening photographing the Castle Players first dress rehearsal of this years play - The Tempest - at the Bowes Museum. A cool and slightly damp evening but well worth the effort. Was delighted with the images I obtained (some can be seen here) and there are a couple that I will be entering for exhibitions.

5th - Traveled to Anglesey Trac Mon to photograph the races promoted by Leinster Motor Club from Ireland. The weather was better than expected and some of the racing was very close with not everyone making it around all the corners.

4th - Ran a successful portrait stall at a Gala held in the grounds of Raby Castle. Only problem was a large English sheepdog that refused to pose and just wanted to lie down. Made it difficult to get the owners into the picture as they did not wish to lie down with it!