The flash of a distant camera, reconnecting thoughts and actions.

Back in my first blog post I mentioned wanting to improve my photography skills so I searched online for local classes and found Photo School; a series of workshops and photo walks organised by Pete Ashton in and around Birmingham.

I signed up for the beginners course which consists of three 90 minute sessions for £40. I thought this was excellent value for money; most other classes I found were far more expensive and more advanced for my needs.

The aim of the classes is to get you used to the settings on your camera, what all the different buttons do and help you move away from the automatic setting so you're in control of the photographs you take. I was still struggling with my new camera and although I've been producing some decent pictures I'm still mostly working through trial and error and I found it frustrating when I wasn't able to manipulate the controls to achieve specific results.

Pete's lessons are great, easy to follow and he really helps you understand the fundamental basics of photography including aperture, exposure, ISO, shutter speed and composition. We were given the opportunity to ask any questions and provided with handouts of all the information we were taught. Each week homework tasks were set so we could test our newly acquired knowledge and skills and then the following week we would discuss our photographs and learn where we went wrong. And mostly I did go wrong! But that's why I was there, I needed to learn.

Here are some of the photographs I took for my Photo School homework. Some were so painfully boring that I've spared you the tedium!

As you can see, I seem to favour the portrait aspect, which I never realised until I submitted this set of photos. By no means do I think these are great photographs, they're just an example of stuff I was experimenting with.

After completing the three lessons I signed up for one of the Photo School photo walks. Pete puts on several different walks around Birmingham and I chose the Digbeth walk. I work in Digbeth every day and thought it would be interesting to take a stroll through the area and have a proper look at what's around me every day. Pete takes you on a guided tour, giving you plenty of opportunities to take photos, look at the views and architecture whilst listening to him tell you some facts and history about the things you see around you. I went along with a friend and there were three other people on the walk; it was a lovely way to spend a crisp, clear February afternoon. Here are some of the photographs I took during the walk, including one my friend took of me. 

Next time I'll wrap up warmer, my fingers and toes were completely numb by the time we finished up at the Custard Factory; so we headed home for coffee and cake! 

If you like walking, photography, local history and generally getting out and about in this fair city, I'd highly recommend signing up for one of the walks and you can do that here. Thanks for looking!

When the fog's over and the stars and moon come out at night, it'll be a beautiful sight.

At last, after years of wanting to travel outside of Europe, I finally made it to America. I had enough money saved (plus some extra from generous parents) and I'd recruited a willing accomplice. The trip is fading into distant memory now but I'd like to keep it alive and share some of my favourite photos I took while I was there. But before I do that I'll explain a little about where we went.

We flew to Seattle, stayed for a few days and explored the city and the surrounding Washington state countryside, we then hired a car and drove south to the Oregon coast enjoying some epic scenery on the way. We made one stop before driving inland to Portland. This was probably my favourite stop on the trip. Portland is an amazing city and there was a heatwave! I definitely could've stayed longer but we had to move on. We flew from Portland to San Francisco, mainly to save time. The drive would've been interesting but we just didn't have enough days to fit it in. San Francisco was interesting but not how I expected. I would definitely go back but I feel we didn't see and experience the best elements of SF life. Again, this was due to the constraints of time. Two days in such a diverse city is just not enough!

After SF we were back on the road, and what a road it was! The incredible Highway 1, which is probably one of the most famous roads in the world, so many road trips have been embarked upon both north and south along the beautiful and ever-changing coast of California using Highway 1. Immortalised in films, literature and music, Big Sur, as it's known, has got to be seen to be believed. A paradise for surfers, hikers, adventurers, hippies, runaways and anyone else with a passion for exotic sunsets, vast beaches, wild water and rolling hills. All of which can be seen only if the famous fog ever rolls away!

We made a couple more stops on Highway 1 before rolling in to our final destination, Los Angeles. What an incredible, sprawling, scary, exciting, completely bonkers, busy and ridiculous city!

Reminiscing over these photographs has inspired me to think about my next American adventure. Although I am really not sure when this will be possible, I guess when I've saved up enough for a trip as awesome as this one. I think next time I'll go south. Why? Well, Texas is the reason!

If anyone out there has recommendations for Texas, Tennessee or Louisiana road trips and the must see places, I would love to hear them! Thanks for looking.