Welcome to the Autumn issue of NEWS.

Where did the summer go? I'm not sure, but it's been a very busy time.
There has been lots of travel, lots of photograph-gathering (between rain and gales), plenty new opportunities and healthy sales through my regular outlets.
Now the days are shorter, I shall be bringing my portfolio up to date and displaying some of the new work on the website for you to share.

If you have any comments, suggestions or queries regarding my work, the website
or this newsletter, do get in touch – either through the Visitor Book, or by email, phone or letter. I'll be glad to hear from you.

The October issue of the Countryman magazine published an illustrated article after I spent a wonderful day with the children and staff of Elgol Primary School in Skye. It was a privilege to be a "fly on the wall" with my camera for the day.

You can read the article here, illustrated by some of the scenery that provides the stunning backdrop to the Elgol pupils' education. I'm afraid that - with child safety in mind - no photographs of the children appear on the website, though they were certainly the real stars of the magazine article.

An illustrated feature about Lady Claire Macdonald, the well-known cookery writer, was published in the September issue of the Scots Magazine. I was invited to join one of her cookery demonstrations at Kinloch Lodge and, despite my own seriously limited abilities in the kitchen, I had a fascinating visit.

If you missed the magazine, the article and photographs are published here for you to read.

I have been invited to show a series of photographs from 1st January to 31st March 2005, at the Royal Hotel, Portree, in the Isle of Skye. The hotel has established a rolling programme of exhibitions by invited artists, in collaboration with An Tuireann Arts Centre.

This is a new opportunity and a new challenge, as the hotel provides its own frames and they are very large! I always said I wanted to make BIG photographs, so it's call-my-bluff time...

A small-scale version of the show will of course appear here on the website so, if you're not visiting Portree this winter, you don't need to miss the exhibition.

Collaboration with local businesses has been a significant aspect of the "season" this year, starting right on the doorstep with the village shop in Elgol.

A range of high-quality postcards depicting six local scenes was produced from my photographs by the island's printing company, Strath Print. The images are used to illustrate the online Countryman article about Elgol Primary School (see above). The postcards themselves are available for sale now, but ONLY from the Elgol Shop!

This promises to be the first of several such projects, as I have received expressions of interest from other small communities in the area who feel they could benefit from having their own set of postcards. If you might be interested in commissioning a range of postcards, please feel free to contact me for a chat, without any obligation.

My collaboration with the Scottish Clarinet Quartet is making steady progress. Commissioned music is almost all completed, and the pile of photographs has grown over the past few months, as we work towards a combined visual and musical performance - my images and music for four bass clarinets.

This is an exciting venture involving considerable travel and communication between Skye and Glasgow, for meetings and a continual exchange of music tapes, sample prints and ideas.

Funding is currently a limiting factor on how much we are able to achieve, but we continue to seek sponsors and venues. Any help in this area is very welcome - do get in touch.

There's a lot of work still ahead and, with a first performance anticipated in the spring, it looks as though the winter to come could be as busy as the summer that has just flown past!

To find out more about Songs of the Earth, you can read the full project proposal here on the website.