If you’re wondering where i got them from it was from the online shop Moo who specialise in making business cards with images on them. This was just a test run to see if the quality looked any good and i’m definitely pleased with the results.

I can’t think of many better ways to spend your day then at a ghost town. When travelling to new places i always try and see if an abandoned town of some sort is around as it always makes for atmospheric photos and a good chance to pump up your adrenaline as your mind plays tricks on itself.

Today i had the chance to shoot snowboarding at an abandoned mining town in Colorado and it was one of the highlights of my trip. The day included a military style mission getting from our drop off point through a clearing into the town as i attempted to run with 30kgs of camera gear to avoid being spotted and arrested for trespassing. Luckily the day passed without much incident, we got a few shots and spooked ourselves a little. Always a good day out.

Here’s a few ghost towns i’ve been to over the last few years. I find modern ones tend to be far more scary than the ancient ones……

The two above are an abandoned mining town in Hokkaido, Japan. Everything has been demolished except the movie theatre and hospital and the forrest has grown deep around it. The hospital is unbelievable. Its about 3 stories high and so big. As you walk into each ward shivers go down your spine.

These images are the town of Kayakoy in Southern Turkey. Now this place is more beautiful than scary as the town has long been deserted. It was a greek town until 1923 when all the inhabitants were forced to migrate back to Greece from Turkey leaving the town completely abandoned. In amongst  the ruins we actually found the most amazing restaurant with some of the nicest red wine i’ve had in a long time. Not spooky at all!

Which leads us onto today. The town was only abandoned in the 80’s and very much all of it is still intact. Above is someones telephone and the scoring board in the bowling alley. Hopefully i’ll make it back to this great town another time as i’d love to shoot there again, military style mission and all.

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I’m being serious when i said i’ve made no unnecessary trips this week. I’ve made none. Now before the BBC or ITN claim victory for their inspiring news broadcasts, i’ve actually been glued to the computer 12 hours a day attempting to give the portfolio section of my site a boost. I love working with this blog but have been well aware over the last few months that my actual site laid dormant collecting dust.

After a week of redesign, selecting images etc my brain is close to being fried. I feel now is the time to put it out there and let you decide what you make of it. I’m looking for any feedback that you have, either positive or negative, and your thoughts on it. Things that work, things that don’t etc. If you’ve got anything to say just leave a comment below.

So, here it is. Just click on this image below and it will send you over to the site…

I’ve wanted to try one for a year or so but haven’t been in the right circumstances for it. When i found out late last week that i’d be attending the Freeze event but with a really loose commission leaving me with plenty of free time, i knew that it was a great opportunity to experiment with the lens. Calumet photo based in London rents all sorts of professional equipment and they have a great system where you can rent from Friday until Monday for the price of a one days rental. For a lens that retails for around £1000 its great to try it out for less that £50.

Here’s a few example shots of whats possible with the lens. I can imagine the novelty would wear off after a while but if used sparingly then you can achieve some great, and totally unique shots.

I’ve not found myself in the position that often where the surroundings make a cool time-lapse video but hopefully i’ll find myself in these type of situations more often as they’re fun and super easy to put together.

The download is free until Adobe releases the actual version in the spring of next year. Until then i recommend downloading and seeing just how many uses Lightroom has for the digital photographer. If you take a lot of images and need ways to catalogue them then Ligtroom should be your first port of call, simple as that.

As well as trying out the new Lightroom i also had chance to play with the Canon G10 all of last week. I’ve wanted to try one out for a long time now and i found it so much fun, versatile and a whole lot lighter then carrying around a Canon 1d mark III which is often the case.

I like the G10 so much that i’d really like to get my hands on the new and updated G11 which has started to hit the shops now.

Last week appears to be a busy one as Canon announced a new version of my Camera in the 1D Mark IV. Tech specifications are springing up over the internet now and it looks juicy to say the least, although price may be an issue for many with talk of a £4500 RRP in the UK. Ouch.

G10 and 1D Mark IV images taken from Canon Website

I agreed with him at the time but it wasn’t until today whilst i was waiting for my disposable camera to be developed that i had the same feeling. There’s something so great about being handed a wallet containing photos that you haven’t had the chance to see yet – in todays digital world you hardly ever get that feeling.

So yeah, as i just said, it happened today when i went to pick up my photos for the Million Little Pictures Project. I blogged about this project here back in May. When i was last in the Uk i picked up my little new camera friend and it then accompanied me  on a snowboard trip to France. There are a couple of shockers in there including an image that was taken in my bag but overall i’m super happy with the memories that came out.

There is a timeline that these images follow of which i haven’t remotely stuck to whilst making the mosaic above. The images are random to say the least, mainly a case of where i was at specific times. The one that made me laugh the most was the one from in Zurich airport. I was on a moving walkway at the time and had to keep running back to get the shot. Please check out a better quality image here. I can imagine it now……”Welcome to the Alps, in no time you’ll be able to snowboard like this!” Genius photo editor at work…..

These images will now be shipped off to Atlanta where they will form part of a gallery of 24,000 images from around the globe.

Disposable cameras = good times.

Once you’ve filled your 24 image quota then they get shipped back to The States to form a gallery show on the 25th September. This could prove to be a fun little project for the summer, especially as it’s back to the fun old days of disposable cameras. Sometimes, less is more. If you like the sound of it then get involved, i’ve just applied for mine this morning and am looking forward to the cameras arrival. Let me know if you decide to  join up and see how the community grows.

My first camera was a Pentax K1000 which was a brilliant camera to break into the world of film SLR cameras. I was largely self taught about the progression into digital photography so went back to basics studying everything about my new camera, which at the time was a Canon 300d.

Since Canon introduced digital slrs they have sold over 10 million worldwide. With so many people now owning them there is always going to be a belief in some peoples minds that they will make better pictures if they have more expensive equipment. When i was around 15 i blamed my downhill mountain bike race times on the fact that i didn’t have a full suspension bike. The reality was that it was completely down to my lack of skill at that level of riding, not at all to do with my bike. The same can be said about many things. I see it a lot with young snowboarders blaming their equipment for their downfalls. It all relates back to the saying, “i’ve got half as much as i want, and twice as much as i need”. People want automatic results; they buy the best, it will make the best….or so they think.

The moral of the story? Get out there and experiment. Study the theory and put it into practice. Should you be saying, “just press the button” with a very good digital camera? No way! Get it off the automatic setting and start playing around learning what each twist of the dial does. Don’t make excuses about your photography based on your gear.

This all stems from two nights ago where i was lucky enough to bump into a ticket tout and get tickets for the UEFA Cup final in Istanbul. As i was literally just wandering the streets before the game i had only brought the bare minimum gear out with me (a Canon 40d and 50mm 1.8 lens). Did i enjoy the game? Yes. Did my gear have its limitations? Yes of course it did but i was still able to use it to make images that i’m happy to look at and show to others…..surely the original aim of buying a camera?

If you really want to purchase a lens to make great images then look no further than the 50mm 1.8. Check out the reviews on Amazon here. I’m sure you can find it for around £50 and if you’re walking the streets of Istanbul, or any other city, then it looks nice and conspicuous not attracting attention.

If you fancy checking out a couple more from the evening just click on the image below. Right, off to do some real work…..more to come.

Need to hear what i’m doing the minute you read this? you can check me out on Twitter for those kind of updates

And yes, that button at the top of the page isn’t lying. I really am running the Eurasia marathon raising money for UNICEF. If you can spare any change then please consider donating.