I can see clearly now the rain has gone - or, why fresh air is good for you
I took all the images on this walk with a Super Takumar 50mm f1.4 lens on my Sony a7r
28th January 2026
After being stuck indoors for a while now, partly due to the terrible weather and somewhat as a result of having to find the time to market my business (which I suck at and it drains the life out of me) … I awoke this morning to there being no rain and decided a quick trip to Prewley Moor would mostly likely reinvigorate my diminished mojo (and keep the dog happy).
Mission accomplished.
A couple of hours trapsing through bogs, run off and puddles; to stand; ankle deep in mud below a line of beech trees and take some photographs whilst lobbing a stick for an over enthusiastic collie and I believe I can now put the world to rights.
I’d limited myself to a single lens and had only taken some spare batteries and a packet of mints. I returned with a fully intact packet of mints, however I’d overlooked the propensity for Sony cameras to eat batteries when it’s cold 😂
Still, I made it back to the car with about 25% to spare.
I (of course) usually fail to act upon anything that my clean air filtered brain comes up with, but I am today writing this mere moments after returning home.
So, here’s my plan … and some rather splendid photographs I grabbed whilst the sun snuck past the clouds.
I have come to the unfortunate conclusion that I have zero chance of ever making enough money from my photography and probably only slightly more of putting my plan of becoming a Dartmoor Guide into practise.
I’ve always tried to be a reasonable person and play by rules (even when they are obviously heavily weighted in favour of certain groups and against others) however, it’s becoming increasingly clear to me that rather than merely feeling a little like I didn’t fit into a society that has way too many arbitrary social constructs and ridiculous invented hierarchies, I might actually be a little on the neuro-spicy side.
This is kind of a relief to me, to discover that I’m not actually all that unusual and that other people also find the whole way human beings do things, an absolute anathema.
Anybody who has actually met me will know that I’m pretty opinionated (not, I think rude) and I’ve started to see a pattern emerging where my company is avoided by some and actively sought out by others.
I don’t pretend to understand people, I never have, however, rather than keeping quiet I’m now planning to say things as I see them.
That’s not to say I shan’t continue to write more of my “Stuff I think but don’t post about on Social Media as I don’t want to add to the increasing enshittification of the Internet” …
I’m not planning on actively trying to annoy people.
That is the purpose of those who try to rule through fear!
I’m just going to be saying things that you might not agree with, way more openly.
The premise being it’s not like any of you guys buy loads of my stuff or book me for guided walks, so losing a few “non-customers” here and there will hardly effect my stupendously stupid business model 🤣
I’ve always wanted to make a living doing what I love, but it appears that this isn’t going to happen without me either no longer loving what I’m doing, bending to the will of tech oligarchs and performing rather than creating or by genuflecting whilst receiving the tiniest crumb of respect in return.
I’m through keeping quiet.
My stuff’s pretty good.
Is it “commercial” ? Probably not.
Is it worth more than minimum wage? Yup.
If seeing a load more of my splendid images appeals to you, and you’re not opposed to having a photographer rant a bit about a few things that vex him, please sign up to my newsletter 😍
Yes, I know a lot of these tree photographs are similar, I just couldn't decide which ones to show you … as I am not (and have never been) a mind reader 🤣
They’re all pretty good IMHO, so you get to see most of the ones I took.
If you don’t like that, tough 😂
I’d planned on having this written, checked and published on the day I took the photographs, unfortunately my website hosting company decided to have a technical hiccup which meant I couldn’t complete it, and today I was meeting somebody on the moor, so it’s been a bodge job to get the images sorted - eventually I’ll come back to this and do a proper proof read, but for now, it’ll do - no bugger will read it anyway 😂