Proud dad moment!
This week has been crazy busy, and it’s a long time since I have said that about work! Which is great… and if the year carries on in the same vein then it is going to be fantastic! There are two things I need before June which rely on decent work levels - a new laptop/tablet for using whilst away and ideally for completing my 360 tours on, plus a travel camera and ideally that will be in the form of a Fujifilm GFX100RF. Yes, this isn’t a cheap option… but it is going to be a fantastic companion camera to my 120 film set up!
I have decided that whilst I want film to be a big part of my fine art portfolio I am not turning my back on digital too, so the longer term plan is to add in at least one mirrorless GFX body and a few lenses to see how it works for me. If it goes as hoped then I will probably add a second body and a couple of choice architecture lenses and use those for both my mainstay commercial property work but also as a springboard into architectural photography. My Nikons are good enough… but better is always… better!
The big news from today though, Lachlan (the eldest of my three boys) managed to score 100% in his maths test! These are not graded for qualifications, unfortunately, but are government driven in order to inform of the teaching standards. It will hopefully also send him down the National 5 path for next year. The system in Scotland is a wee bit different to down south of the border - so for our relatives down there - a National 5 award is equivalent to a GCSE grade A-C. We do those in S4 rather than in the 5th year of High School, although with the way that the school year is divided Lachlan’s former class mates in Ulverston will all be into their GCSE year next year too. In S5 they can then move on to Highers which are equivalent to A levels, but it is a 1 year program rather than the two years in England. At the end of S5 they can either carry on to do another year and obtain more Highers or sit Advanced Highers which are an HNC equivalent qualification… or they can head of to University to start on that education path. My daughter in Glasgow is a year ahead of Lachlan, unfortunately I don’t get any communication from down there so I have no idea how she is doing or what she is studying (and yes, it breaks my heart on a regular basis), but she will be sitting her Nationals this year and Highers next… and then no doubt be deciding on her future plans. I do hope that someday she comes to find me (I am really not hard to track down!)
My foot is still giving me all kinda of grief, the original injury to my left foot is almost entirely cleared up but the strain injury that I managed to inflict on my right is still causing all sorts of issues but is slowly on the mend.
23rd January 2026
