A man, a van, and the great outdoors
See the work
The van is the reason for most of it. It is slow, it is loud on a motorway, and it has cost me more than I ever meant to spend. It also puts me on the Applecross Pass at seven in the morning with nobody else on the road. Every journey is unhurried by design, and that turns out to be the whole point.
Frames from the road
A nuthatch at Pennington Flash. A macaque on the steps at the Batu Caves. A sheep in the Peak District that stared me down for a full minute. Wildlife does not arrange itself, so the craft is mostly patience — sitting still, watching the light move, and being ready when the moment finally arrives.
Frames of wildlife
Glencoe from above. Mam Tor before the walkers. Manly Beach in the early heat. A drone shows you the shape of a place — the way a pass folds into a glen, the way a beach curves. I fly with a DJI Mini 3 Pro and I fly it slowly, because a rushed shot always looks rushed.
Watch the films
The west coast, at the pace the road allows.
Glencoe from above, on a morning that stayed clear.
Fuel, paperwork, paintwork. The unglamorous half of running a van that is older than I am, written down in case it saves someone else an afternoon.
Prices at the pumps are reaching record highs. There is a cheaper alternative, at least for water-cooled Brazibay owners. We just can't easily get to it.
ReadSee you out on the road