Hot and Cold

I've been suffering from a nasty cold during this heatwave in Manchester, so unfortunately I've not been so eager to get out and get some good shots, combined with the fact I'm now essentially unemployed and needing to save money too.


However, Business Boom Bolton recently did a little feature on my work that can be found here, following the collaboration I've had with them at The Mancunianist.


I'm currently waiting for my Canon 55-250mm to sell, having sold my 18-55 last week. Then I'm going to get either a Canon 18-200 or Tamron 18-270, I like the sound of the extra reach and the fact the Tamron is physically slightly smaller and lighter but I've read the Canon beats it on focus speed and sharpness, so still undecided....


Today I'm trying to get motivated again which is hard when feeling so worn down and roasted. I've almost finished my Open Uni course but have found out something interesting. Unwittingly, by stopping working and doing this course to give myself a taste of OU learning, I may have exempt myself from the new university fee system as of September. If I decide to start a degree with them this year, I can count my Digital Images course as credit on most of the degrees and thus avoid the new £6k-9k a year fees.

I've yet to learn the full story on this, as I'm not sure how I'd get the finances for it as I'd also be ineligible for the new loans the government are running. I've also yet to decide on a degree to study. I quite like the sound of Philosophy and Psychological Studies BA hons, however their Open Degree leaves a lot more scope to study different modules that interested me. The problem is, with either of these degrees, I'm not entirely clear on what careers might be relevant at the end of it. Plus with it being OU they are designed to be done part-time over around 6 years, where as I feel I'd much rather crack on; but living costs need to b considered too, not to mention travel ambitions....


Anyway, I feel I must upload at least one picture as its yet again been a long time since my last post. Feast your eyes on this. I was wandering near Piccadilly Garden in Manchester when I noticed a swarm of bees living under some unfortunate person's bike basket...

As for the Trans-Siberian or other travel ideas, I'm at somewhat of a dead end. I've not worked up the balls to just go alone, and still found nobody interested. I don't know if it's the right thing to do now I could be beginning studies, but theres many other places I'd like to visit soon too such as Vietnam/SE asia. It's monsoon season soon, that could be fun...

The Mancunianist

I've been a busy boy the past week or so, getting stuck into my Open Uni course and taking some street shots for a Manchester based fashion site. Not to mention looking at travel and job opportunities, starting the process of getting fit again, and helping out in my folk's garden.

I've taken some nice shots for The Mancunianist (which can be seen on my Facebook Page and their website soon http://themancunianist.com/)  and I'm coping to collaborate with them further in the future. These are my first attempt at fashion based shots, so for someone with no fashion sense myself I hope they look alright. I've also been in touch with another one of their contributors, Nicole Broad, whose blog can be found here: http://www.cookoo-galleon.blogspot.co.uk/

In other news, I just acquired a Canon 50mm 1.8 lens to have a play with and I'm debating selling my 18-55 and 55-250 in favour of an 18-200 to save me the rigmarole of lens swapping! I'm trying to revamp my Facebook page, organise my archive of images spread over 3 hard disks and 2 laptops, set-up a new website for a portfolio and maybe even try and organise a joint exhibition with Jennifer Doohan.. I just wish my attention span wasn't so crap!

Here's a few recent gems, more news soon, be sure to follow me on Twitter at @jnewbiggin :-

Still here....

After months of not bothering with this blog or indeed climbing, I'm sat here on Boxing day on a shiny new laptop contemplating what this year has brought me and how at about the moment 12 months ago I was struggling up a melting winter climb in the Lake District....

Since my return from France in September life has taken a few different swings. I'm no longer working in a climbing shop, so the motivation by colleagues and customers to get out and climb/walk/run has taken a nose dive. I spent about a month looking for work, but finally found some working for a maintenance company with my uncle and cousin. It's been a strange change of pace, PAT testing, lots of driving, and the past few weeks working on Portobello Rd in London refurbishing offices. Unfortunately I haven't had the change to take my slr down there and get any sneaky street shots.

Meanwhile, I've invested in a beast of a new laptop that should allow me better image editing and to begin exploring video editing too. For now though, here's some of the few and far between recent shots, but the new year's resolution is to get back on it, and produce much more good work. Once playing Skyrim has lost its grip that is....

Departure

Finally I've sat down to give this post an attempted writing. I've been back home now for 2 whole days, and the question begs what next? This may be the last blog post for some time, as I need to look for a job and figure out my next moves. I', hoping to maybe get to a point where I can sell and exhibit some prints of my recent work, as well as join a band in some form. Anyway, this might be a long post....

Firstly, Paris was great, and really reignited my sense of discovery. I was dreading the city in some ways after being in Chamonix for so long, but I loved it. I'm not a person who loves either city or country, I like the discovery either way and both have their wonders.

My highlights of Paris weren't anything as arbitrary as the Eiffel tower, the Arc de Triomphe or even the Louvre, impressive as they were... I found the wandering about alone wonderful, exploring small streets and people watching. I could go on for paragraphs on all the little interesting things I noticed or saw, but instead for now here are a few of my favourite shots..

More can be found on my Facebook page, and soon hopefully a portfolio website.

After a nice time in Paris (Thanks again for letting me stay Alyce!), I headed first to Fontainebleau to meet Sam, then straight back up north in the car to Dunkirk to spend the next day there and catch the ferry the day after.

Perhaps not the most visually stunning or charming of the towns I've walked in France, Dunkirk still interested me in a lot of ways. Watching the obvious travellers, immigrants and businessmen going both ways makes your mind wander. On top of that, the history of the Battle of Dunkirk is impossible to avoid and must be thought on. We visited the small museum at the former French HQ of 1939. As I found in the Army Museum in Paris, the artefacts and sometimes everyday items still have a profound effect. Seeing things from cannons, guns, knives and weapons to soldiers personal rations, razors and clothing in the flesh from the seemingly distant past really make you consider what these men and by extension their families and countries went through. 

After the museum a quick visit to some of the old Atlantic Wall bunkers yielded some interesting shots. I felt strange both staring out at the now decaying fortifications and looking out at them to the sea. It may sound contrived but it was a very clear visual contrast between the world of men and the natural world. A decaying bunker made for only hateful purposes now vandalised itself, and the timeless scene of the sea and shore carrying on as always, as if the bunkers might as well never have been there... On the way back to camp the night I was struck by the strange assortment of different buildings and no seemingly real pattern to them, and knowing why this is again makes you imagine how the city looked in 1940.

The following day we headed back on the Ferry to Dover. I found my self almost enraged to see a gang of Dutch skinheads on the ferry sporting swastikas.

The drive home was long thanks to accidents near Dover, roadworks, and of course the M6. The past 2 days I've done a lot of nothing, and only now via this post as a kind of catharsis am I reflecting on the past 7 weeks and what they might mean. I don't have an answer. It seems clear I don't want to settle back to old patterns, I want to carry on doing 'my own thing' and being creative when I can - but money will be needed sooner rather than later, if anyone can suggest ideas drop me a message! Perhaps I should reject the Northern mindset that has been absorbed from a life of growing up in Manchester and try and become more Bohemian like some of the Parisians I met!