Hello and welcome to my blog. In it, I describe some of my recent activities. Photography has been a lifelong hobby and passion for me. I purchased my first Digital SLR camera – the Canon 350D – in September 2006, and have always been keen to seize the opportunities from new camera, lens and processing technologies … Read full article
My aspiration is to photograph many of the world’s greatest cathedrals and churches, capturing them in the best quality and resolution possible so that others get a sense of the amazing scenes I’ve seen with my own eyes. On a recent cruise, I met a well-travelled fellow photography enthusiast who proudly told me that he … Read full article
For my type of photography (mainly capturing and recording scenes that I see with my own eyes), I use very little of the full potential of Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Camera Raw. However, these tools have proved invaluable for basic tasks such as cropping and recovering highlight areas (such as blue skies) in the conversion … Read full article
On holiday, I met a fellow photography enthusiast. I was quite surprised when he told me that he shoots JPEG, following the online advice from Ken Rockwell. After we discussed the merits of RAW, I promised that I would publish an article on my blog. When I returned home, I was intrigued to understand the … Read full article
In this article, I share my experiences with the cameras on the iPhone 14 Pro Max smartphone and show sample photos. I believe this represents a substantial leap forward for some types of photographer, including landscape and travel photographers. My experiences with the iPhone 14 Pro Max have made me revaluate the value of a … Read full article
In the last few weeks, I have expanded my guides for households looking to significantly reduce their heating bills. Here’s my latest guide for those with oil heating: Top Tips to Halve Your Oil Heating Bills, and Increase the Value of Your Home While the heating cost savings achievable with each individual tip are … Read full article
Among the practical options to reduce heating bills for households, installing a combination of smart thermostat and smart radiator valves represent a cost-effective upgrade to a gas or oil-fired central heating system that can pay back within a few months. I am really pleased to be working with Rob Hutchins to provide an affordable smart … Read full article
Having had the iPhone 14 Pro Max for some weeks now, I thought it would be interesting to directly compare the new iPhone 14 Pro Max 48-Megapixel camera with Sony’s flagship A1 50-Megapixel camera in good lighting conditions. I will be discussing results from my testing of the iPhone 14 Pro Max in different situations … Read full article
Back in January 2022, I wrote an article entitled Best Sony Mirrorless Lenses For 2022, in which I gave my view on the best Sony lenses based on my experience with many Sony lenses. I’d now like to add a new lens to this list – the Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM II lens. This was … Read full article
In March 2021, I announced an online partnership with Paul Braybrooke Limited. After a successful first year, we are expanding our geographical online reach beyond Cambridgeshire to include parts of Norfolk, Suffolk, Lincolnshire, Rutland, Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire. While there is the option to expand even further, our preference is to remain local to deliver an extremely … Read full article
During 2021, Sony released some amazing lenses for its full-frame mirrorless cameras. Apart from a missing 85mm F1.2 lens (which hopefully will appear in 2022), Sony now offers a comprehensive range of lenses with superb performance. I’m often asked for lens recommendations so, in this post, I identify my favourite nine Sony lenses and provide … Read full article
Earlier blog posts providing sample photos with various Sony lenses have proved popular, so here I continue with another great lens – the Sony 12-24mm F2.8 GM model. In an earlier blog post, I provided sample images from the superb Sony 14mm F1.8 GM lens, which has just won DPReview’s 2021 award for “best prime … Read full article
During 2021, Sony has been on a roll with the launch of some outstanding lenses, including the Sony 50mm F1.2 GM and the Sony 14mm F1.8 GM lenses. You can view sample images in my Sony 50mm F1.2 GM Gallery and Sony 14mm F1.8 GM Gallery. Well, Sony has done it again with the updated … Read full article
The Sony 100-400mm GM lens has quickly become one of my very favourite lenses, and in this post I provide some sample images taken in the last few weeks with this superlative lens. Paired with the Sony A1 camera, its amazing autofocus performance means that you can capture fast action easily, and sharpness is superb. … Read full article
Living in rural Cambridgeshire, I have enjoyed visiting places across the county and taking photographs. However, despite living relatively close to Norfolk, I’m rather embarrassed to admit that I’ve rarely visited Norfolk, apart from day trips to Hunstanton and Norwich. Well better late than never! My friends Nick and Raine (shown above) adored the North … Read full article
The introduction of Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) – often known as ‘Full-Fibre Broadband’ – in my local area will kickstart the production of lots of new content on my Increase Broadband Speed website. My new article (below) details what’s involved in an FTTP installation, with lots of photographs. An FTTP installation is usually relatively straightforward and quick, and … Read full article
Sony has been on a roll recently with the introduction of several groundbreaking lenses. Following quickly after the amazing Sony 50mm F1.2 GM lens, Sony has introduced its ultra-wide-angle 14mm F1.8 GM lens. Just as with the Sony 50mm F1.2 lens, it is astonishing how much performance Sony has packed in to such a small, … Read full article
Over the past few weeks, I have been trialling 4G mobile services from both Vodafone and O2. I would like to thank 4G specialist 4G National Broadband for providing me with the 4G subscriptions, 4G router and a high-gain antenna. Mobile broadband has clearly come a long way, and I’ve found that 4G delivers performance … Read full article
Despite the coronavirus lockdowns, camera manufacturers have been hard at work developing new cameras and lenses, with a major battle between Sony and Canon. Sony has just released its first every lens using an F1.2 aperture, which many in the industry said would be impossible. Pre-ordered many weeks ago, my new Sony 50mm F1.2 GM … Read full article
Do you want the very best Wi-Fi performance possible? I’m delighted to report that Ubiquiti’s newest Access Point – which uses the latest Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) technology – is absolutely superb and represents excellent value for money. Even several months after launch, this exciting product is in short supply. Deploying several of these devices in … Read full article
With broadband speeds continuing to accelerate, Wi-Fi – often the weakest link in the broadband chain – is playing catch-up. The latest Wi-Fi technology – called Wi-Fi 6 or 802.11ax – promises to deliver significantly better performance than Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac). Although Ubiquiti’s new Wi-Fi 6 Access Points are currently like gold dust with very … Read full article
I really enjoy applying cutting-edge web development techniques and technologies to help local businesses to compete with national (and often) global competitors. As reported in my recent article The Increasing Importance of Website Speed and Simplicity, the introduction of website speed as a key factor in Google’s search engine ranking algorithm in 2021 brings major … Read full article
Most broadband users have little awareness of the Domain Name System (DNS) but this plays a critical role in ensuring your broadband experience is fast and responsive. While we (as humans) distinguish between different websites using their domain names (e.g. www.bbc.co.uk and www.google.co.uk) , the Internet works in numbers (IP addresses). So, every time you … Read full article
Happy New Year! Following a downbeat 2020, which was completely dominated by the coronavirus pandemic with a little Brexit deal anxiety added in for good measure, the rollout of several vaccines brings much more hope for 2021. In one key regard, it’s going to be an excellent year where I live because ultrafast Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) … Read full article
Ethernet remains a much better way to connect devices than Wi-Fi. Speeds are greater and latency (time delay) is substantially lower. While Gigabit Ethernet (or 1000BASE-T) is the most widely deployed Ethernet standard in modern electronic devices currently on sale, it is possible to get better. 10 Gigabit Ethernet increases the transmission speed of Gigabit … Read full article
The coronavirus pandemic has certainly increased the take-up and usage of video conferencing services such as Zoom and Skype. With many people working from home, it has been an invaluable tool to keep in touch with work colleagues and customers. Outside work, video conferencing has provided a lifeline to keep in touch with family and … Read full article
To help communities across the UK to upgrade their broadband capabilities to Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP), I have written a new guide on my Increase Broadband Speed site. It can be viewed here: Guide for Rural Communities: How to Get Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) Now! With the recent improvements in the Government’s Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme and the … Read full article
I cannot think of another area to Wi-Fi where performance claims exceed the reality experienced by broadband users by such an extent. With so many people connecting every device to Wi-Fi, inadequate Wi-Fi performance often masks the underlying (often excellent) performance of a broadband connection. I’ve just written a new Wi-Fi speed enhancement post on … Read full article
One of my bugbears is the widespread overuse of Wi-Fi. While Wi-Fi is convenient, there’s generally a price to be paid in terms of performance. Wi-Fi is responsible for a substantial proportion of broadband problems. I strongly recommend that, when you have devices that do not move (such as a set-top box or TV), connect … Read full article
Back in the days that I used a Canon full-frame DSLR camera, many fellow photography enthusiasts who used prime lenses had (or wanted) the so-called ‘Holy Trinity’ of lenses. These were much-sought-after prime lenses that, between them, covered the vast majority of typical photography assignments, including weddings. Most considered that a combination of fast 35mm, 85mm … Read full article
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 … Read full article
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 … Read full article