It been a long week which started with my hard drive failing on Sunday morning a week ago. It took a further 2 days for a new drive to be installed and all of my fonts, software programmes and work to be reinstalled. Anyway it’s business as usual now and thank goodness for backups!

So I have been up at 4.30am each day trying to catch up. The weekend was spent at my desk but it was the usual bank holiday weather so I don’t feel too bad. One of the jobs now at print is the Programme for GB Theatre Company, just in time for the start of their tour next week. I will be in Dublin photographing the shows this time next week. Will have to sample a Guinness or three!

A year ago I built a photo website for myself using SimpleViewer. However, I had failed to recognise that it was Flash based and as such would not show on computers that did not have Flash installed and on iPhones/iPads. So here is photo website 2, built in WordPress with Lightbox and incorporating a Blog. It’s only taken a couple of weekends (when I do my own projects) and there are still a few bits to add. I expect it will perform better in Google as well.

I will post articles about photography on the new site and not on this blog, which will concentrate on design. UPDATE: At the end of the first month visitor figures more than trebled. In the long term, as more posting are made, I expect the numbers to increase tenfold.

It’s been busy the last few weeks with several new websites underway (to be launched soon) and a couple of corporate identity projects. Standinwave is a start-up business in the specialist field of high tech electronics. A number of designs were explored including one where the electronic waves create an ‘s’.

Working on a Bank Holiday monday and suddenly a Sparrowhawk lands on the perch out side my window. This majestic bird is probably 2 feet from head to tail. A few minutes later, a smaller male Sparrowhawk lands, sadly with one of the blue tits in it’s claws. But it instantly spotted me and was gone!

Today sees the launch of a new theatre company - GB Theatre Company. I have been working on the branding, website and venue leaflets throughout February and March.

Another grey saturday. Using slow relatively shutter speeds (mostly 1/60th sec) and a wide lens aperture, I photograph the blue tits in flight. I have no chance of catching detail or freezing the wings sharply – it’s more about the sensation of flight.

I have been working on a new identity and website for Hangfast Climbing for several months now. The site will be launched in the next few weeks. Hangfast have two sides to their business – designing, building and maintaining climbing walls, and rigging, which includes hanging huge screens at sporting events and concerts.

The project involved upgrading the existing logo of a figure abseiling (left) which had become well recognised with the company.

Wildlife photographer Greg Du Toit was in the news recently with stories of spending 2 months lying in African rivers to get shots of Lions, Baboons, and hippos up close….really close! He managed to contract bilharzia and several parasites from the waters.

Following his inspiration, I spent Sunday afternoon on the banks of the River Wharfe and thought it would be a good idea to walk out on the mud. Within seconds I was waist deep and seriously thinking I was about to disappear, I got my shots and dragged myself to the bank. I can’t help thinking that anyone watching would have got a much better photo!

My final shots were of the patterns and delicate colours and textures within the swan’s feathers.

After visiting a photography exhibition at the Sutton Bank Visitor Centre in North Yorkshire at lunchtime, I drove down the coast to one of my favourite places, Spurn Head near Hull. It was getting dark and I took a few photos of the Pier. However, I know I can do better and want to go back and have another go using longer exposures.

On a grey, bleak saturday afternoon, I scour the local woodland down by the river. Among the black, rotting vegetation I find are a few mushrooms, but they are beautiful and resemble parachutes falling to the soft verdant moss below.