We’re Off Again

We head to Europe via the UK on our first proper road trip in five years, and perhaps it’s not just the number of wheels that’s changed. Will we enjoy familiar routes as much in the car as we did by bike? Can I still take the occasional photo of a set of bends or a balcony road? Is the wine still good in France? Read on …

Hiking Greeba Plantation from Glen Vine

HDR image of a track just inside the edge of mature woodland, green field just visible beyond

An easy 3 hour ramble with sweeping vistas and ancient shaded woodland, starting and finishing on the Steam Heritage Trail which links Peel with the Isle of Man’s capital, Douglas. Don’t be fooled by the short distance and minimal elevation gain – this route includes a river crossing and several squelchy bogs.

Picked up a classic Lamborghini today

Detail shot of a red and blue Lamborghini tracked crawler in front of the Isle of Man Motor Museum

All right, all right, it’s not a supercar and it’s not mine, I was just helping a friend collect it from the docks in Ramsey. But it is a real Lambo, and since it was a bright sunny day I decided to bring along the X-T3 and shoot a few snaps in Classic Chrome and Velvia, two colour profiles based on film which would have been popular when this little crawler rolled off the production line in Bologna.

Douglas Soapbox Derby

Action photo of a soapbox cart going down the hill

A small selection of pictures from this year’s Soap Box Derby in Douglas, an annual event during which competitors race self-built carts down a closed street in the Isle of Man’s capital.

S.T. Cevic Shipwreck, Ramsey

Black and white archive image of S.T. Cevic

Low tide and no rain? Must be time to explore another shipwreck, this time the S.T. Cevic near Ramsey. The remains of this unfortunate steam trawler are testament to the fact that you shouldn’t use a large unwieldy vessel to chase down a smaller one in a storm, close to rocks. Luckily nobody was hurt.

Easy Backup for Lightroom

Screen-grab showing a bunch of windows on my Mac's desktop

I found an easy, free, and robust way of backing up my Lightroom catalogue to an external drive without any third-party software, and thought I’d share via this quick how-to post. Prepare for Terminal geekery.

S.T. Pasages Shipwreck, Jurby

Archive image of the ST Pasages

The Manx coastline is dotted with many interesting wrecks, including the Steam Trawler Pasages. Originally built in 1917 for the Canadian Navy in Toronto, she made her way to the UK in the 1920s and was converted to a fishing trawler. In 1931 she ran aground in foul weather near Jurby, where she’s been quietly rusting ever since.

Why Batteries Die and How to Stop Them

Without a single shred of scientific evidence, I’m going to make sweeping generalisations about battery technology, and give some personal recommendations on how you can help your rechargeable devices live longer. I’ll also touch on Battery Health Management in macOS, and why that’s important if you’re user of Thunderbolt 3 devices which always want to charge your laptop. Hold tight, this one’s gonna be geeky.

Running with Kahtoola Microspikes

Rattling through the list of subjects I wanted to share with y’all but haven’t gotten around to, thoughts naturally turn to winter sports, and the issue of sliding about on ice like a drunken uncle at a wedding. Don’t you just love lockdown? With that, here’s a couple of words on a product that’s made me look forward to getting out on icy trails and frozen paths: my Microspikes.