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This blog is my first attempt at a video where I share a few thoughts on how you can get really stunning butterfly pictures here in the Uk. Earlier in the year, I spoke of the need for long lens or long and macro. This was based on the 'flittiness' of these beauties in the height of summer when they have much more energy due to the heat and sun, As summer comes to the end, there is a late hatch, in this case, of Red Admirals Vanessa atalanta.

If you look long enough, you'll see that it's actually a basket resting on a table - funny how the eye sees things differently sometimes! It's an image that would be brighter but less rustic if you were to set it up using those ultra-bright fruits from a supermarket.

We are all very aware of the environmental nego's around replacing our old toys, for a new one's, whether it's a car, boat, or latest phone. In my case it was the temptation of a new lens. Did I need to? Not really. I did think it would be worth spending a little bit of time, for your sake as well as mine, seeing if there was much of an improvement to be made, without the material waste.

Whether you're a fellow photographer, a creative soul, or just someone who enjoys a quiet moment of inspiration, I hope these 'images with words' bring you something valuable.

In reality, although the higher the IQ the better the response to greytone, it is colour that we were created to see, and it is colour that can be a huge blessing in many ways. The effects of bright colour on the brain, and thereby the rest of that body of yours, are considerable,

I'm forever referring to the 'rule of thirds', that series of imaginary lines that sit grid-like on any scene, and indeed not so imaginary on the 'viewfinder' of some cameras and phones.

With the summer holidays in full swing, it’s the perfect time for families to get outdoors and enjoy some creative fun together. If you’re looking for things to do with young people—or just want a relaxing, activity for yourself—why not go on a photography adventure? One beautiful and accessible subject this season is the sunflower. While entire fields can create breathtaking landscape photos, but don’t overlook the detail in a single bloom.

There was I wandering alongside one of the leats in the Amsterdamse Waterleidingduinen, an amazing place of grown-over sand-dunes which are used as a huge water purification system to supply Amsterdam, when I saw a toad.

The Simple Photography Tips I want to share with you are based upon a handful of photographs I took as I walked down, and which centre upon using features to lead the eye.

In this case an early sunny summers' morning, and a shuffle along the beach. Why a shuffle? It's the best way to notice things, especially small things. Crouch down if you can, and you'll see a whole bunch more. Even better, crawl if it's sandy. The whole business of looking until you see is really highlighted when looking at a beach, there are truly so many things that grab your attention, that it's really easy to miss the small stuff.

Moorish architecture is beautiful, indeed stunning, and some of the best is to be found in the Royal Alcázar of Seville. Islamic modified by later Catholic Monarchs, it is one of the finest examples of Mudéjar architecture. Photographing such architecture is challenging, and rewarding at the same time.

If you're using a phone camera then you're sort of stuck with aperture, there being relatively little difference between the lenses. The is no simple photography tip that will change that, nor a complicated photography tip for that matter! With a DSLR or similar, and depending on your lens choice, you can stick the thing on f22, or whatever is your smallest aperture, and have much more of the flower up large and in focus, along with the background scene also in focus.

Five simple photography tips on photographing coastal scenes - Camera and Phone Camera Take time looking at the options you have in the...

This simple photography tip is part of a series about the importance of looking, and taking time to see. It's only when you do this, that you start to see things

Now your eye, linked to that clever bit of creation known as your brain, takes the scene and ignores all sorts of things that distract from the scene. But your camera, whether big proper one, or phone camera, doesn't do that, so you have to learn some 'techniques'. Let's have a look at the images I took, and the progression to a 'better' picture. Lens flare can be fun in places, but not here, it spoils the picture. How to deal with Lens Flare is today's first Simple

Ferns and their fossil remains have been found on every continent, so wherever you are in the world, possibly barring Antarctica, this blog on photographing ferns may be of relevance. Over the last forty years and more I've been mesmerised by these amazing plants, especially in the spring when they go through the most intricate, and taken many images of the unfurling of the leaves.

So there we were, sitting sipping splendid coffee, my mind was on these blogs, and my strapline - "look until you see". So that I did, and here is one of the results.

Perhaps you're on holiday, perhaps you live in a city, or near a market town. There are so many similar places in the world where you can go - the local market. What they all have in common is that they are one of the best places to visit, with your camera or phone-camera. You can photograph people, often with real character showing, if the light is kind there are opportunities to take really atmospheric photographs, and you can get in close and photograph food in it's rawest

The cloud conditions lent themselves to variable and interesting photographs, and I spent some time experimenting with some of the options on how to photograph a windmill like this. I was using my iphone 14.

So you're walking along the beach, perhaps on holiday, the others are off doing their own thing. You however have your camera of phone-camera. Here are some ideas.