Blog

Review of Disney Plus

March 27, 2020 by Mark Heath

As an AV enthusiast and broadband advocate, I’ve been very excited by the rapid roll-out and take-up of TV streaming services. These have increased consumer choice and introduced Ultra HD 4k content and Dolby Atmos sound. Disney has just launched its Disney Plus service in the UK and at the great price of £5.99 per month. Because of the coronavirus crisis, UK streaming providers have reduced bit rates to lessen their load on the UK’s broadband infrastructure so the service currently does not look or sound as good as it should. However, the service is certain to prove popular among families isolating in their homes and with children not going to school.

I have produced a review below (which will be updated when bit rates return to ‘normal’):

Review of Disney Plus in the UK: shame about the picture and sound quality

Photographing and Videoing the Transformation of Manor Farm in Spaldwick

March 20, 2020 by Mark Heath

How amazing Manor Farm is looking currently. After speaking to Richard Johnson, Manor Farm is being prepared for being sold, although the Coronavirus pandemic is causing a great deal of uncertainty. Richard’s face was full of pride. I’ve agreed with Richard to take some internal photographs shortly. Here are some external photos from my latest visit:

Manor Farm Photo Gallery (Mar 2020)

Manor Farm in Spaldwick was built in 1547, and proudly stood as a major landmark in the village for many years. As you can see in the photo above, the main building stood alongside many sizeable outbuildings. In more recent years, it became a shadow of its former self.

Happily, Manor Farm is in the middle of being restored to its former glory by Richard Johnson Restorations. Richard Johnson has asked me to take photographs on a regular basis to record the transformation. Richard has had major challenges with the project and it has been far from easy for his family. I do hope that he realises the true impact of his efforts – now and for many future generations.

The first photo I actually took of Manor Farm (above) was in 2006, immediately after purchasing my very first full-frame Digital SLR camera (the Canon 5D). The photo hides well the major structural issues with the building. These became more and more evident as time progressed. The photos below were taken of Manor Farm in November 2014 – near the start of the restoration project. At the time, the building was close to collapse. The outbuildings were also in a terrible state.

You can view more photos from this period here:

Manor Farm (internal photos) (Nov 2014)

Manor Farm (external photos) (Nov 2014)

I popped back regularly to take more photos. You can view the galleries here:

Manor Farm Photos (Feb 2016)

Manor Farm Photos (Oct 2016)

Manor Farm Photos (Nov 2017)

Below is a video I captured (in Ultra HD quality) of Manor Farm in May 2018 – nearly four years after restoration work initially commenced. Already, there had been a huge transformation.

You can view photos from this visit here:

Manor Farm Photos (May 2018)

I visited Manor Farm in November 2019 – five years since the start of the restoration. It was certainly looking much more finished. You can view all the photos here:

Manor Farm Photos (Nov 2019)

I look forward to continuing my support for Richard Johnson and the project by capturing the amazing restoration project he is undertaking. I cannot wait to see the final result!

Videoing Angie Collins Singing ‘Broken’ in 4k

March 10, 2020 by Mark Heath

Local songwriter Angie Collins came in so I could video her performing a song she wrote, called ‘Broken’. While I have recorded several songs (sound only), it was nice to capture visuals as well. While sound recordings allow you to use large-condenser microphones, room treatment and portable isolation booths for better sound quality, video can be easier to share with others, particularly on social media.

The video was recorded with four Sony 4k Ultra HD cameras, using broadcast-standard Aputure LED lights. The piano was the Yamaha P-515. Vocals were recorded using a Neumann KMS 105 stage microphone into an Apogee digital interface at 192kHz 24 bit sampling.

To hear recent recordings of Angie playing piano, visit our article:

Recording Angie Collins Playing Piano

Photography for Posterity

February 24, 2020 by Mark Heath

I am currently building up an online library of old photographs of the village where I live so that these amazing images can be shared as widely as possible. Thank you to the people and local museums that have provided these. These images have proved immensely popular, being viewed about 50,000 times in the last year, mainly by local people. The photos shown were taken by the Reverend Holland and James William Church.

I am so grateful to the photographers at the time who put considerable effort into capturing the world around them. The photo on the left shows James William Church, who was a keen amateur local photographer.

We would be so much poorer if these people had not done this. They have really inspired me to capture images for posterity, and in the best quality possible. Even things that may seem normal and even mundane at the time often become fascinating later.

View more old photographs

Other pages you may be interested in:

History of Spaldwick (Spaldwick website) | Other Blog Posts for Spaldwick

Recording Angie Collins Playing Piano

February 23, 2020 by Mark Heath

Known to many people in the local area, Angie is the regular pianist at our village Christmas carol singing event and teaches music at the local school. Angie also composes her own songs, being influenced by Carole King, Amy Winehouse and Nina Simone. I recorded two pieces on a Yamaha P-515 piano (replicating the Yamaha CFX grand piano).

‘Bête Noire’ was composed in the memory of her friend and pupil Ed Sloper, who died recently.

The second piece was composed by Angie to play at a wedding. She did not get to play her creation at the event, so wanted to record it anyway to send to the bride and groom.

One Million Views of Spotlight Photographs

February 20, 2020 by Mark Heath

I really enjoy working with Graham and Sarah Wilkinson (below) at Spotlight Productions – which is a youth musical theatre group based in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. I’ve now taken photos of several productions. Graham and Sarah are an inspiration and have made such a difference to young people in the area. To date, they have put on 16 major shows to sell-out audiences, with over 1600 young people performing in these shows. Several performers have written to me to express how their lives were transformed by being part of the Spotlight ‘family’.

Graham, Sarah and their whole team really go to town with tremendous attention to detail with scenery and costumes so it has been a real pleasure capturing images (and increasingly videos) for posterity.

I am delighted to report that, this week, I had the millionth view of the Spotlight photographs on my site! The traffic levels show that the photos are really appreciated. Also, thank you to all those performers and parents who regularly get in touch with me.

As well as being a great reminder of the shows for the performers, parents and audience, the photos are also used to promote the scenery and costumes, which are hired out to schools and musical groups across the country to raise funds for the forthcoming annual Spotlight production. As you can see below, the scenery and costumes are stored in an aircraft hangar! I don’t think many people realise the huge amount of time Graham and Sarah devote to their scenery and costume hiring ‘businesses’ to raise the large funds necessary to put on a show every year. It takes up a huge amount of time from them both. I just hope they know the impact they are having.

For more information about Spotlight Productions, visit their website:

Spotlight Productions website

Other pages you may be interested in:
Gallery of Spotlight Productions Photos | Grease Rehearsals for Spotlight Productions | All Blog Posts Associated with Spotlight Productions

Photographing Anglesey Abbey in Cambridgeshire

February 16, 2020 by Mark Heath

The National Trust describes Anglesey Abbey as a Jacobean-style house with gardens and a working watermill. Over 100 acres of grounds contain a range of gardens and walks, which were laid out by Baron Fairhaven in the 1930s. This includes popular rose and dahlia gardens that house a large number of varieties. The Lode Water Mill, dating from the eighteenth century, was restored to working condition in 1982.

To view all the photos, visit:

Anglesey Abbey Gallery

For more information, please view the National Trust using the following link:

National Trust Anglesey Abbey website

Ten Years of ‘Serious’ Photography

February 12, 2020 by Mark Heath

Time has flown so quickly. While it does not seem that long since I bought my first Digital SLR camera, it’s now ten years since I became ‘serious’ about photography.

I purchased my first digital SLR camera back in 2006 (the Canon 350D), and I had just one lens – the Canon 50mm f1.4 – the so-called ‘nifty fifty’. The main initial driver for my purchase was to capture my young, growing family in as high a quality as possible. Before this purchase, I relied on different types of compact camera to essentially take ‘snaps’. I look back in horror at some of the images I produced where, often, little attention was paid to subject, composition or technical aspects. In September 2008, I created and launched the website for my village (which I still operate today) and this spurred me on to use my developing skills to capture village landmarks and events. My first ‘proper’ self-assigned project was to photograph my local village fete in 2009, and the images shown in this article are from that event.

At the time, I didn’t realise that I was capturing history. Tony Wakefield – my friend George’s dad – gave a demonstration (alongside George) of the British Magnum 4 sidecar. This was very impressive, and noisy at the time. I had not realised that Tony was part of the British Magnum 4 sidecar racing team, which was headquartered at the Spaldwick Service Station. You can view more photos from this era, including a clip from Motor Cycle News in 1967 with the title ‘Wakefield – bright hope’ here:

Spaldwick History Photos

As with all photographers, I’ve better defined my own style and preferences over time. As painful as it has been, I’ve tried to become more organised, for example, creating and regularly uploading images to my Smugmug-powered online photography site as it makes sharing images with others so much easier. The other day, I was rather shocked to realise that I now have about 30,000 images online, with more than six million views to date!

If you are thinking about purchasing a ‘proper’ camera rather than, say, using a mobile phone I would strongly recommend going for it. Realise that you are on your own journey, and just enjoy it. Photography has given me immense pleasure over the years and I just cannot imagine not having a high-quality camera to capture the world around me.