April '25 We arrived in Bangkok at around 21.00 on Friday 25th April. We had 3 nights there before we joined the Intrepid tour of Cambodia and Vietnam. We spent the Saturday exploring the local area firstly by foot and the by Tuk Tuk. We discovered a splendid Castle and gardens on the bank of the river and then the most beautiful Buddhist Temple complete with huge gold Buddha's and Spire. We then took a Tuk Tuk to the quay where the river trips departed and visited a floating market and 'The Big Buddha' which was enormous but unfortuate covered in scaffolding as it was being restored. The evening was spent enjoying the vibrant atmosphere and the excellent local food.It was only a brief stay in Bangkok, but thouroughly enjoyable. It was a shame we didn't have longer there.

June '25 On June 5th I made the short journey to Bury St Edmunds for a shoot with Bobbi Castle at the Visions the Venue Studio. Bobbi was a pleasure to work with who had a bubbly personality and had lots of constructive ideas. Here is a small selection of the images I took. As with the session I had there before Christmas with Georgia Brown, they tend to lend themselves to Black & White

May '25 May saw me complete my first full season as a member of the Halstead & District Photographic Society and I would have to say it has been a pleasure to be a member of the club. During the course of the season they hold 6 competition evenings, 2 each for Colour Print, Mono Print and Projected Image and I have enjoyed taking part. I am pleased to say that I ended up winning the Mono Print section and also end of season the Mono Print of the Year competition. The winning image is pictured ; The Girl With The Far Away Eyes. To see all 6 of the images I entered for the Mono Section please click on the link.

April '25 After three weeks of a pretty full on time travelling and road trips, we arrived in Bali on Sat 19th April for some much needed R&R. We were based at the Sevn Legian Hotel which was just a short walk from Legian beach, with its parade of bars and eateries, colourful sun beds and surfers. I loved the vibe down there. Although often cloudy, the weather was hot and humid with temperatures around the 28-30c mark. We did spend some time lounging by the rooftop bar and pool sipping ridiculously cheap cocktails and generally unwinding. We also ventured into the Ubud area of Bali, where we visited a coffee plantation, temple, waterfall, monkey park and rice terrace. It was a busy day and the traffic was testing, but it was good to see a different area of the island. Sadly, we never quite reached the countryside, the city sprawled on forever.

April '25 On April 7th we arrived in Perth for a 12 night stay in the Tuart Hill area of the city where our son is now living. This time we had rented an apartment through Airbnb and we experienced what it must be like to live in Perth. Fortunately Ben had a car and was happy to show us around the local area and also further afield. We visited The Pinnacles which was a 2 hour drive north along the coast and York, which was about the same distance inland as well as Fremantle. It was just as well we did have Ben to show us around as some of these places weren't accessible by public transport. Being in Perth was a totally different experience to being in Tokyo. It was less busy and built up and the climate and terrain were totally different. Gone was the Cherry Blossom, Temples, Neon Lights and bustling, but orderly atmosphere and in was the sunshine, beaches, palm trees and Gallah's. Perth had a lot in common with England which made it easier for us to settle in, but even in the autumn the weather was warmer than a British summer.

March '25 From March 31st - April 7th we had the pleasure of spending 7 nights in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo. We timed our visit to coincide with the famous Cherry Blossom season and although the weather did it's best to spoil our time there, the Cherry Blossom didn't disappoint. It was absolutely stunning. We also visited the Hakone area south of Tokyo where we saw the more traditional side of Japan. Our only disappointment was that Mt Fuji was shrouded in clouds and wasn't visible. I have narrowed down the 400+ photo's that I took to 65, just to paint a picture of what we saw.