I've been reading a lot about street photography and certain photographers over the last several weeks, from the revised edition of Bystander: A History Of Street Photography and Elliot Erwitt: Home Around The World, to ordering Joel Meyerowitz' new hardcover titled Where I Find Myself.

Well, I finally shot my sixtieth roll of almost entirely Kodak TRI-X 400 black and white film since starting all this film nonsense at the start of 2017. What a ride. As for me and colour, we have unfinished business.

It feels great to be shooting Tri-X again, from street photography to portraits to whatever else. I missed the process, the grain, the texture and the craft of it all. After coming back from New Zealand, the weather has been hot and muggy, so I've not gotten out for hiking at all despite plans to. Thankfully, it's Autumn now.

I have been sitting on this post for a long while due to not shooting much black and white. These are a few months old or more but here they are none the less.

Earlier in the year, I discovered Nick Mayo's work on Instagram (@nickexposed) as well as his fantastic YouTube channel. We ended up doing a print swap and the frame print has been sitting on my workstation desktop ever since.

That didn't take long to accrue again. Street photography, urban landscapes, catch ups with friends, and plenty of printing later. Winter is drawing on and so I'm enthusiastic to get back into the mountains and hike before it gets warm and the days get long. I have done barely any this year.

Bit of hiking, street photography, urban landscapes, portraits, coffee and art. It's been a good few weeks.

On a technical note, I've finally attained an accurate simulation of the Kodak black and white film I shoot, so I've been using the digital Leica M a little bit more lately, even if I don't get the same sense of enjoyment and "effort" that I do with film.

This last month or two has been a photographic life changer. I've really started to get my stride and momentum with some new black and white techniques around composition I've been trying ever since visiting Japan and starting to print.

We return you to our normal scheduling now. Apologies for the tall verticals. I've been shooting a lot more of them since I began printing my work. Printing has given me a much greater appreciation for the notion of creating art in photography, to the point where I'm composing differently and "for the print".

I bought a Mamiya 6 medium format rangefinder for shooting 6x6 negs. 2017 has become a year of gear and I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. I have to prove my purchases with some work worthy of the investments, though at the moment, I can't scan 120 film so I'm only shooting a bit. Black and white film is amazing, digital not so much.

Film has taken over my brain. I'm shooting a lot of Kodak TRI-X black and white on my Nikon FA now. I've also retired my favourite Summarit 35mm lens to be replaced by a faster Voigtländer 35mm F1.7 Ultron Aspherical. It's twice as long but hey.

I have a goal this year, and I have photo shoots and travel plans booked. I'm excited and anxious to get the train moving with my portraits. I have no idea where I will end up but I have a purpose and that purpose is to make portraits of amazing people while building a stream of professional work and momentum.