August

30th - Afternoon at the Barnard Castle Cricket Club - finally managed to get the picture of the bails flying in the air!

28th - Framed a print of a "Shy Mollymawk" to go in the auction for the Co. Durham charity "Lifespan" - hopefully it will raise some money for their good work when the auction takes place on the 7th October in the Biscuit Factory.

27th - Good news - heard that one of my Black Grouse images had been accepted for the Royal Photographic Society 2010 "International Projected Image Exhibition" - a nice accolade for the work put into getting same.

26th - Completed brochure for Rennie Hamilton's "Fault Lines" and had her web site go live. Now just to add more segments as and when they are required.

20th - Put together the first draft of a web site of the artist Rennie Hamilton - looking good and, even better, Rennie seems pleased with it!

14th - The Mountains of Mourne pre-1931 motorcycle run - considerably quieter than my previous assignment and probably less dangerous. Fortunate with good weather.

12th - A very different day spent on the moors making a record of the "Glorious Twelfth" - the first grouse shoot of the year. Shotguns make an interesting hazard to keep your eye on during such an event as this!

9th - Completed assessment of alternative wedding albums suppliers and now have a short list of one! Time to negotiate and determine the best packages to be able to offer.

3rd - A very interesting morning in and around the mires in Kielder Forest - you can really understand where the expression "in the mire" comes from.

July

31st - An enjoyable couple of hours at the Medieval Camp held in the Bowes museum - fascinating to see how the food was prepared and cooked. Fortunately I am not quite old enough to remember how it being done like that - despite what my offspring say!

29th - Last set of photos at the caravan Club site - had to move quickly so that I did not get painted with white lines

22nd - Amazing how some black tarmacadam completes a road - the Caravan Club site is nearly there. Some interior images next week and then the first campers arrive.

21st - First stage of road laying at the Caravan Club today - really starting to look finished.

10th - Spent some time on the moors in a hide waiting, waiting and freezing - amazing how cold it can be at a height of 500m even in mid July! To make it even worse, nothing came by...

8th - Most enjoyable evening at "All's Well that Ends Well" by the Castle Players in the grounds of the Bowes Museum capturing the evening from the arrival of the Players and guests to the close of the play.

5th - Received confirmation of the Hall booking for my next "Basic Digital Photography" course that will be held in the Scout Hut, Barnard Castle on Saturday 9th October.

3rd - Long day photographing a lovely wedding in Satley, Co. Durham from arrival of Bride to the end of the Ceilidh held to celebrate.

June

22nd - Interesting day at a "Search Engine Optimisation" course - now all I need is to find some time to update the web site!

18th - Finishing touches at the Caravan Club site - will look even better in a couple of weeks when the tarmac goes down

12th - A sunny day to photograph the pre-1961 motorbikes on the Golden Vale Veteran & Vintage run in Tipperary and pleasing to sell some photographs of the riders during the evening.

8th - The Caravan Club site is really coming on and is looking so different from the original field I started photographing last year.

5th - Spent some time framing some 20 prints for local businesses to display and for one to sell.

2nd - Day trip to the Farne Islands to photograph the auks and the terns. Amazing seeing how some people react when the terns defend their nest sites - with one lady saying what a horrible way to spend an afternoon!

May

31st - Meet day parade and a great party on the Demesne with good weather to help out. Another couple of hundred images to go on the web site!

30th - Pet show followed by "Puppeteering" and a cool (read cold) afternoon of music.

29th - The Meet Queen was crowned today - not the warmest weather, but dry enough to get a great shot of the group in front of the Castle. Missed out on the Pooh Sticks competition but got some good images of the (unofficial) boat race.

28th - Photographed the Bowes vs. Barnard Castle Veterans Football match - some of the players had a lot more energy than I did!

24th - Attended the Bollywood Bash in Spice Island as my first "Meet Photographer" engagement - most enjoyable evening with good company. Images uploaded to web site with direct link from the home page.

14-16th - Attended Veteran & Vintage run at Slievenamon, Kilkenny - all bikes pre 1931 and oldest was from 1909!

7th - Caravan Club site is taking shape well - beginning to look very good with all the planting taking place.

5th - Spent time at Black Grouse lek and rewarded with many interesting encounters to make up for the lack of sleep.

April

6th - Family in for a portrait - good time resulting in many smiles and happy customers.

7th - Early morning looking at the moths in Foxglove Covert, Catterick. Well worth a visit.

14th - The Castle Players had a promotion event "Ladies to Ladettes" which generated some great images and many laughs along the way.

17th - Ran another successful "Basic Digital Photography Course" and the full house of participants enjoyed the day judging by the feedback I have received. Now have four people for another course - probably October.

20th - 70th anniversary of the Barnard Castle Rotary Club - group images when everyone could be "rounded up"!

23rd - The joy of a Black Grouse lek - getting close to these magnificent birds at 5am - what a treat.

26th - More shots of the Caravan Club site - stone work now in place.

March

31st - Carried out a roof inspection today with the 15 metre (45 foot) aerial mast - owner was very pleased to see the condition of the pointing around his chimney and roof top.

27th - Eight places confirmed for the "Basic Digital Photography" course in mid April with several more deciding whether to join in or not - time will tell.

24th - Good meeting to start planning the photographic coverage for the BC Meet and lead in events - the end of May seems a long time away but I am sure it will be here before we know it.

17th - The Caravan Club site is progressing well - so much easier to walk around when no snow is on the ground and you can see the holes before you step into them!

16th - Photographed a house for sale and ended up helping the owner get her late husband's camera to work.

10th - Advert for next "Basic Digital Photography" has appeared in the Teesdale Mercury - date set for Saturday 17th April.

9th - Attended the Focus on Imaging exhibition in the NEC and took the opportunity to finalise details on an aerial mast. This will allow a new service to be provided taking images from 45 feet up in the air. In due course, a new web page will be created to show what can be achieved with this.

4th - At last, photographs of Caravan Club site with green grass and blue sky! Still cool, but images are no longer shades of gray!

February

23rd - Caravan Club site is making good progress - despite the inclement weather. Looking forward to taking a picture showing green grass and blue skies instead of a carpet of snow. Made a change from processing the images I took while "on Safari".

1st - 9th - Spent in the Serengeti and other Tanzanian game parks photographing the abundant wildlife - a fascinating time with many good images that will form part of an exhibition later this year.

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 Club 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!