just get out.

In my home town of Carlisle (voted by 'The Sun' Readers as 'The Most Cosmopolitan Near To Scotland) I was delighted to hear the Jem Southam was having an exhibition at the school trip favourite Tullie House Museum.
So to coincide with my meet up with fellow contemporary John Diddy Darwell I arranged to meet at the museum and sample the delights of JS. I was most keen to see this body of work as its all shot along Cumbria's coast and an area I know very well. The show itself is a breath taking orgy of fine images shot in the only way I know, large format and film, of course.. The prints are exquisite and done at the same printers I myself use and I have in fact chatted with Jem there a few times when our paths have crossed.
Its a wonderful show, I just wonder if it has a place up here.
So there I was eating cake in the gallery cafe bursting with enthusiasm for photography when in came my old pal JD. We chatted for a while and was delighted to hear that he was out shooting again and starting new projects. I always find it inspiring when another photographer has projects on the go and so by the end of our chitty chat I was bursting with inspiration and eager to make it to my destination before sun set. 111 miles on winding country roads in two hours is not easy, even in a sporty Mini. But I made it to my second destination along the Northumbria coast in good time and was delighted to behold dramatic cloud, a slight breeze and lots of interesting man made structures. Quite a contrast to the day before and my soggy long John's and chaffing on the old chap..

Todays shooting started in a melancholy mood of insane hunger as I thought about beating up several slack petrol pumpers at the Tesco garage (I go there for the pay at the pump which I consider the only good thing about Tesco the corner shop destroyers). But my mood soon improved as I remembered that I was out for the day free from mobile phones, computers and the general public. Once again I was blessed with beautiful light, this time in the form of a misty softness excellent for large format work. I thought I would work on my 108 project a bit which I started last year (admittedly losing interest and thinking it was a load of old tush, but now I think its super) and made my way to the Borders while stuffing my face with the local shortbread biscuits. An abandoned caravan, an old smelly pink mattress and the find of the day, an aeroplane fuselage, and I was done and dusted like a Victoria Sponge....