I received an email in July asking permission to make a painting based on one of my photos. The request came from Ruben in Brazil and was refreshingly polite. I took it as a great compliment that someone would want to do this and of course said yes. Imagine my surprise and delight today when Ruben emailed a photo of the finished painting. Love the red background!

I visited Simon Annand’s excellent exhibition The Half at The Lowry in Manchester on a wet saturday afternoon. Black and white portraits taken over 25 years give a rare glimpse into those intimate moments as actors prepare for the stage. Everyone from Daniel Craig to Joss Ackland is here, and beautifully captured. It was certainly an inspiration for my own theatre photography.

Because I regularly photograph the Yorkshire & Northumberland coasts, I was keen to see The Sea, an exhibition of paintings by Maggi Hambling and L.S. Lowry also at The Lowry. Maggi’s sumptuous, dramatic sea studies contrasted perfectly against Lowry’s calm, fragile paintings. Thankfully, not a matchstick man in sight!

Note: The photo was taken on my iPhone and I recently came across a website devoted to iPhone photography. Have a look:  www.iphoneography.com

Arriving an hour early for a 9am meeting in South Yorkshire, meant I could have a walk around the Yorkshire Sculpture Park this morning. This is one of my favourite places – the grounds are full of sheep wandering in and out of Henry Moore’s finest sculptures.